Mask collection retrospective: 2015

 My mask retrospective continues into 2015. Here are the previous entries in this series: 2013, 2014.

This time, I'll be featuring masks from:

• Fulgor I
• Guerrero Maya (Sr.)
• Pentagón Jr.

Fulgor I

I got this mask at the very beginning of 2015. This mask is interesting because it's the only mask that I have that is signed in English: "This mask was used in El Oro [de Hidalgo], Mex[ico]." This was actually the first mask that Fulgor sold internationally. He's is actually conversationally fluent in English. Mask purchase negotiations are interesting when the native English speaker is trying to practice Spanish while the native Spanish speaker is practicing English.

Guerrero Maya (Sr.)

It's hard for me to relate to periods of lucha that I didn't actively follow, but when the opportunity presented itself to buy a Guerrero Maya Sr. mask, I gladly agreed. This is the oldest mask in my collection, and is fact is the oldest known Guerrero Maya Sr. mask still in existence, dating from the early 1990s.

In case it's not obvious by now, I am counting masks by year of acquisition, not by year of use. I think this makes the most sense in terms of looking back at my collection. As we move further along chronologically, there will be fewer of these discrepancies.

Pentagón Jr.

Although this mask is unworn, I'm a sucker for masks with detachable parts, and this one is no exception, with the mouth covering as the detachable portion. The sequins throughout the mask and Pentagón's relatively spacious head dimensions make this one of the heavier masks that I own.

I got this mask through Masked Republic's LuchaShop, which was at the time one of the only ways to get original masks stateside through an online store. Of course, these days, Rey Fénix and Penta have their own Republic of Lucha, and many more luchadors work in the US regularly, but back then, LuchaShop was a blessing for those who didn't want to deal with the logistics of international shipping. I felt that I needed to include at least one of the masks that I got from LuchaShop because of the role that they played at the time, and this might be my favorite mask that I bought through them.

This concludes the retrospective for 2015. I'll be back with masks from 2016.