So I got in a few orders of the whole Beast Wars Beast Metal and so on..All ths stuff where Prime is a monkey or gorilla..now, I got the RID version where it's magenta and yellow, and the original black red white blue version..and while both Primes have the..Prime "face" and the gorilla..what is with that whole 2nd face on the back of his head? The monster looking thing? I don't know anything about any of the Beast stuff..it's just damned odd. Thanks.
Some of the first Beast Wars toys came with mutant head gimmicks that were quickly abandoned and ignored. That mask is suppose to be Primal's mutant head.
Basically, it was something of an abandoned gimmick. They were supposed to be something along the lines of battle helmets/masks. When the cartoon was released however, the writers didn't see a need for it, and the animators informed Hasbro it would cost extra per model to add the helmets/masks in; so, Hasbro dropped the concept. I think the only time it was put to use was with Polar Claw, where the mask represented he had gone into berserker mode, or something along those lines.
Much appreciated, thanks. Boy are they stupid looking. I don't think my 10yr anniversary TRU version had the mask either..did they stop making it for the toys as well in later versions?
Yeah, it was removed for that version. Most fans just ignore them. However, some of the mutant heads are actually the canon head designs for some characters. Waspinator's mutant head is his head design on the show, so everyone just ignores his robot head.
I don't think I've ever displayed my Waspinator with his "normal" head. Same with Tarantulas. I also remove the "battle masks" from the others, as they often hinder posability (Dinobots, for example) or just look plain silly.
^ Yeah, wherever possible, I always just remove the mutant head off the figure. It improves Rhinox 100%.
What they all said. A gimmick that was dropped because of animation costs and the fact that it was useless to the BW story. Some of the worst offenders to the mask gimmick were Dinobot and Rhinox...Mutant faces just become wings on the side of the head. Megatron is guilty of this too. Scorpinok's mutant head actually adds a fullness to his robot head so it works in his favor. Tarantulas uses his mutant head in the show but his robot head is used more for the Black Arachnia repaint. Primal Waspinator and Cheetor's mutant faces can be completely hidden away. BW is my G1 in terms of Nastolgia, I'm an original G1er but became a real fan with BW. Love the toys and think they are some of the most accurate figures (at the time) but the masks did ruin a few figures.
Waspinator and Buzz Saw (though the latter was never on the show) fall into the same category with their mutant / robot heads. Just about everyone I know gives Buzz Saw the robot head.
I've noticed that too; it's kind of interesting to see that when Beast Machines Buzz Saw was made, his head seems to be more of an upgrade to the Beast Wars Mutant Head design. I wonder if he had made it into the cartoon, which the animators and writers would have gone with.
Well I think he was packaged with his robot head out and people just kept it that way. He also has the robot head in The Gathering.
If you are talking about the brown, yellow and silver one then yes it has the mask. The head was retooled for the TRU 10th Anniv BW two pack with BW Megatron who also had a retooled head.
Somehow, I never got around with removing the "mutant head" for my Dinobot T-Wrecks (Ultra Megatron Repaint) I think he looks swelling enough with BIG EARS!
