Just a quick note before I start, I did a little checking on the product code/number and it seems like they might have change them since I last checked. So, I'll just assume that the green, blue and tan coloured tape that I have are the same as the ones mentioned above. I don't have the yellow one.

Firstly, they're TOTALLY far superior than those normal 'RM5' masking tape that are selling in the hardware store. Two major differences:

1. Adhesive transfer/residue when peeling the tape off is *almost* non-existent, even on plastics.

2. You can safely polish over the tape without worrying about the tape edges peeling off or polishes sticking onto the tape surface.

3. The adhesive is strong, but somehow 3M had made it easy to remove.

I think the main concern when choosing masking tape would be no. 1 & 3, as cleaning off adhesive residue is a PITA especially on plastic trims, etc. Strong adhesion could mean higher chances of peeling off the tape together with paint, but somehow the 3M tapes have strong adhesion but easy to peel off.

Now, the differences between the three that I have.

The blue seems to have thicker edges (more like the thickness is uniform) whereas the green and tan ones are thinner towards the edge. So when you're polishing across the tape, you'd get a little bit more polish caught there.

I also feel that the green and tan are less 'stickier' than the blue, but nevertheless, all three are easy to peel off and I haven't had any adhesive transfer/residue yet with any of them.

Of the three, the surface of the green one has the most 'wax-feel'. Sometime I can even feel the wax on my fingers after taping.

Between the green and tan, I feel that the tan tape is a little easier to mould and shape around emblems, wordings, etc. and also around corners and edges.

I only see the blue ones selling in ACE Hardware. The green ones I think can get in hardware store, I know one store in Klang has them but forgot the name of the store. I got the green and the tan tape from my 'regular' supplier in KB. Both the green and tan 3/4" cost me RM9/pcs.

Another thing that you might want to take note is that these 3M tapes are normally 55m in length. I'm not sure what's the length of the 'normal' masking tape but, judging from the thickness of the roll, they sure looks lesser than that. So it *might not* be as cheap as you think.