Makina Great White (Shark) and Portia (Gloria Baker) by Ramen Toy

Back on March 31, 2022, Ramen Toy fired their opening salvo in what would kick off their MAKINA line, which are paying homage to the beloved Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (M.A.S.K.) line from the 80’s. In a few simple words, “Posting this to get the ball rolling…Code Name : Great White,” the line was off to the races as Ramen Toy teased a color digital render of the Shark from the M.A.S.K. cartoon, a vehicle that was loved by fans but curiously missing from the M.A.S.K. line.

What we love about Ramen Toy is that they share their progress and stages in the design process, which gives fans a more personal view in to what goes into making world class action figures and vehicles. For example, they shared this Digital render of The Great White where they said, “Adding in some details, sorting out some function, not yet the final product, just thought we’d share the progress.”

Flash forward to May 2022, Ramen Toy about blew up their Facebook page when they posted a prototype of the Great White and asked fans to hold comments, which of course they did not! This image accomplished two things where they got to show off progress on the Great White AND they also threw in a sneaky tease of the yet to be named Gullwing, which was the first vehicle and figure to ultimately go up for preorder. In Ramen Toy’s words, “This is to make sure we get the shape as close as what we remember it as an 80’s kid seeing it on the TV.”

Back in May 2022, Ramen Toy dropped a not so subtle hint that they were venturing into the beloved Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (M.A.S.K.) line from the 80’s when they announced their Makina line. They dropped this logo on their Facebook Page and their followers were elated!

The second Ramen Toy showed a prototype of Gloria, we knew something amazing was in the works. The Aura (aka Collider) is Gloria Bakers’s main mask and she wears it no matter if she’s driving her own vehicle Shark and/or co-driving Gator or Thunderhawk. The mask, can envelope her, her vehicle or other objects and shield them in a protective aura of energy that absorbs any energy directed at it, such as lasers and dissipate. It then absorbs back it into the mask itself and be fired back at the source or wherever Gloria decides to project it. The mask sculpt for the Aura is spot on to the cartoon!

Up until this point, Ramen Toy just referred to the figure as the driver of the Great White but on June 6, 2022, they gave her a name: “Working on Portia White, driver of MAKINA code name Great White. Coming soon,” and posted an image with dimensions and a full breakdown of the figure.

In an updated, also in June of 2022, Ramen Toy dropped image showing off two designs for the wheel, “An added feature of the Great White, we have the wheels turn into turbines for propulsion while submerged. (Actual model does not submerge in water).”

Revealing the final sculpt of Portia White, they revealed more details of the figure by saying “Final sculpt of our 3 inch tall Portia White figure that is included with Great White (approximately but not exactly 1/24 scale).

They wanted to call out that the figure was NOT resin recast, as it will be tooled and injection molded and colored. The figure will feature 14 points of articulation:

• neck swivel
• shoulder rotation & swivel
• elbow bend and swivel
• waist swivel
• leg swivel
• knee bend

In a post that also nearly broke their Facebook page, Ramen Toy revealed a color render of Portia White, which was show she appeared in the M.A.S.K. cartoon in the 1980’s.

Like we alluded to earlier, what we love about Ramen Toy is they give you a sneak peak into the design process:

“We have adjusted the shape of the base of the periscope and the front wheels now folds inwards like the animation before the front wheel fins extend.

We are still working on the side extension of the rear most fins as well as to make the rear wheel fins to have a bigger surface area.

If a bigger surface area is to be had, then the fins cannot retract into the wheels.

So there are some decisions to be made.”

Great White Prototype

You really get a sense of the work and effort that goes into designing a vehicle from scratch when they share these types of images.

Great White Details

In a massive update they posted on their Facebook page back in October of 2022, Ramen Toy detailed out specifications for how the various parts of this vehicle will function. For example, they stated that the periscope transformers via a spring loaded action and the front wheels transform inwards. They also noted that the turbine fix needed to be enlarged and they showed an image from the cartoon to give you a sense of what was in store.

We love when toy companies use magnets and what a stellar design decision to use them to attach exterior pieces to the Great White. What was amazing about the MASK tooling back in the 80’s was the use of springs and buttons that made the vehicles function in alternate mode and Ramen Toy is using these in the Great White. For example, they stated that the side fins shoots out via spring loaded activation. Can you just imagine the sound? We can and we are so excited for this!

Final 3D Render

Back on January, 12, 2023, coming down the home stretch in the design process, Ramen Toy posted and update and detailed out the final 3D renders from what they referred to as a “pain staking process.”

This process includes:

1) 1st creating an overall shaped 3D of the model

2) Printing the 3D into a physical form to work on a hand sample of the functionality of the model

3) Going thru 5 iterations of the hand sample to finally reach our confirmed methodology of making this

4) scanning the hand sample into 3D and refining to this 3D which we will then output as a final prototype to color and take pre-orders in (estimated) April 2023, so that the Red Gullwing can be shipped into collectors’ hands before supporting the Pre-Order on this Great White from MaKiNa by yours truly, Ramen Toy.

Gloria Baker and Shark History

Gloria Baker is the sole female agent of M.A.S.K. According to the M.A.S.K. Computer in the episode The Artemis Enigma, Gloria received a college education in Athens, Greece. She appeared in more MASK episodes than most MASK characters but, funny enough, a figure and vehicle were never made by Kenner for the M.A.S.K. toy line! Gloria’s skills included being a champion race driver, a Black Belt in Kung Fu and Karate, having knowledge of structural engineering, a background in Archaeology and a former student of anthropology as she received her college education in Athens Greece. The Shark is one of M.A.S.K. vehicles often driven by Gloria Baker. It transforms from a white Porsche 928 sports car to a white attack submarine.

Gloria Baker Figure and Stiletto M.A.S.K. Vehicle

Gloria Baker is not new to the M.A.S.K. toy line as she was released as part of their Split Seconds line in the final wave. What is new, and what Ramen Toy is doing is filling a gap where Kenner origianlly did not have, which was a Gloria Baker figure and her Shark vehicle.

About Ramen Toy

Its Singaporean founder, Noel Lee SK has 8 years experience in plastics & toy manufacturing while working in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2013, and a further 15 years experience in the collectibles industry. As stated on their website:

“We are fans of the 80s and are making collectibles from the 80s for those fans like us. We are a small startup but we had worked for action figure companies before. You may even have some collectibles made by us.”

Source: Ramen Toy

Follow Ramen Toy on their Facebook page as they share their journey with you on making their high quality and remaking memories.