I had a few regrets as a child
with regard to my toys & action figure collecting habit. There was one
moment where I failed to acquire the Starmax Bomber aircraft simply because I
wasn’t patient enough to listen to my late dad’s words of wisdom in tracking
down the much in-demand StarCom vehicle. Then, there was also the time when I
had to decide between the much-harder-to-find Thunderhawk or a combination of
Condor and Vampire as my first ever M.A.S.K. toy. I chose the latter.
While I can safely say that I
still haven’t given up in finding a decently priced StarMax Bomber, the thought
of actually buying a decent condition Thunderhawk at an acceptable asking price
never crossed my mind as of late. I finally got one late last year courtesy of
an eBay seller who didn’t charge an arm or a leg for his vintage items.
This was how it looked when I
first had it in my hands....
The stickers/decals were clearly worn
out and in great need of replacements. Prior to purchasing this Thunderhawk I
had read that M.A.S.K. collectors go to www.stickerfixer.com (they make reprolabel stickers for Transformers) for replacement decals. That’s just what I did. The whole sticker sheet only
cost USD8 and shipping to anywhere in the world would be USD2 per
shipment...great!
After almost 3 weeks of agonising
wait, the sticker sheet finally arrived on my doorstep. Of course before you
apply the new decals you gotta get to work first i.e. take off the old decals
and give the body a bit of polish.
And this is how it looks like
after applying the new stickers....
As a result of the decals itself
being printed on a glossy silver decal sheet, they look shiny and glossy. But
what I like most about the decals (especially those on the hood and the doors)
is the ‘raised’ feel of the decals. This set of decals had breathed a new lease
of life to this Thunderhawk!
I may want to get another
M.A.S.K. vehicle (or two...or three) to accompany Thunderhawk on my display
shelf. Seeing Thunderhawk in its full decal glory makes me wish I had taken
better care of my M.A.S.K. toys when I was younger...*sigh*. I had Rhino,
Switchblade, Gator, Firecracker, Buzzard....just to name a few but they are
either missing or in pieces. Having said that, have you guys read that Hasbro
had recently renewed their franchise on M.A.S.K. toys? What would that mean to
us cartoon series enthusiast and collectors alike?
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