Again, the Headmaster is literally who Kap is. In the case of *all* Junior Headmasters (or even the regular Headmasters if we follow Japanese canon) and God/Powermasters, the "little guy" is the main character and the actual Transformer is the addon.

Wanting those to not be Headmasters or whatever is entirely denying their identity. At that point you should just not buy them at all.

 

I find it odd that you’re so concerned about my views regarding the franchise. I just made a simple comment about a plastic toy.

I’ll elaborate. I have no experience with nor interest in the Headmasters fiction. None. I watched the G1 cartoon from ‘84-‘85 and wasn’t even heavily invested in that. I really just liked the toys, and by the time the Headmasters hit the shelves, I had stopped collecting, and the ‘86 Movie had derailed my interest in the cartoon fiction.

FH Kap— which technically is borrowed IP—isn’t even licensed to represent the character you’re referring to. It can’t legally identify with Headmasters Cab or Hosehead, or any other TF character. Which is fine, because to me it’s just a transformable robot toy. That’s it. And if I don’t like that its head must be removed to be converted to a truck, then I’m at liberty to feel that way.

You are certainly entitled to feel however you wish about it, but I don’t really need your advice on refining my interests to your standards, and you’re certainly in no position to tell me what I should or shouldn’t purchase.

 

Looks like FansHobby is definitely getting to the finish line with their Buster ahead of the XTransbots prototype shown several years ago. FH beat XTB to the Autobot Jr Headmasters and it looks like they may sell me my MP Buster as well. Wonder who will get to MP Victory figures first?

Spoiler alert, the Supergod Masterforce figures are also going to have detachable bots. If tiny suits driving bigger mech aren't your thing then the Headmaster and Masterforce threads will generally disappoint.

 

You were arguing with people how it's not weird to ask for Headmasters that aren't Headmasters and I chimed in *shrug*. It's not that deep.

 

I mean, it’s not really that weird. Some of us just like cool robot designs, completely independent of whatever fiction the character has. If he likes the overall design of Kap but dislikes the Headmaster gimmick, then he wishes Kap wasn’t a Headmaster. That makes sense to me.

 

Exactly— it’s not that deep. It’s a plastic toy that I would enjoy if the head didn’t need to be removed. It wasn’t necessary for you to go on an evangelistic tirade about my heretical views. Just like what you like and let others do the same.

 

Allthough absolutely true, to an extend I agree with @Zentropy

I've never cared for JG1. Seen it all, didn't like it. I'm a Hasbro TF fiction fan, and Marvel US as my number 1 G1 TF fiction. And in the Hasbro part of G1 Transformers, which arguably is the original, the Headmasters were originally normal TF's. And as such, in fiction while still regular TF's they could transform with their heads still attached.

So though I absolutely want them to be Headmasters, I do consider it kind of strange that their heads need to be removed for transformation. (Especially since in Marvel you rarely saw the Nebulan partner after the transformation.) Because where did the heads go before they became headmasters?

 

Ah yes, another day on the TFW boards, another weird robot fetish materialized itself.

Anyhow, I want FansHobby to know that I won't buy those if they are not in the Dreadwind and Darkwing colors.

 

Yikes, sounds like I hit a nerve.

Dude, if you can't deal when others disagree, why even launch into an argument with them?

 

Don't see why they wouldn't. FH released the Junior Headmasters in both JG1 and US colors. I would think they would do the same here.

 

Nah— I like the true argument part of it. I didn’t like that you twisted my comment into an outright criticism of Headmasters, when it was actually a double-edged compliment to the figure, which I think looks very cool. I just don’t like parts-forming, and this design requires it. The transformable head would be fine with me if it could remain in place for conversion to truck mode.

I admittedly don’t have much interest in the Headmasters story, but to be honest I’m not heavily invested in any of the TF fiction. I’m in this hobby because of the toy designs, and parts-forming is unfortunately something for which I’ve never had much tolerance. It’s why I throw away trailers and don’t combine combiners.

 

...Would this be a bad time to mention that in my fictional world, I ignore Rebirth/the Japanese series (though I enjoyed them), and headmasters are actually Maximals/Predacons from the future that had to build up larger bodies after going back in time in order to go toe-to-toe with the Autobots/Decepticons? That won't make the JG1 fans too cranky, would it?

I mean, I don't mind the headmaster gimmick for the actual Headmasters, or taking the head off to transform. But being able to transform them with the head left on is actually not that bad an idea. It's the reason I skipped a LOT of the TR line, or customized a couple of the non-HM characters to transform with the head still on. Allowing the head to remain would have been great, and I would have actually bought (or kept) other characters if only because I could leave the HM on or replace the head with a normal one and still be able to transform it in one piece. So even though I don't really care about it with actual(original) HM characters...I get it.

I'm always about options. I think the lack thereof sometimes is a hindrance on so many levels of design these days (not even just talking headmaster gimmicks on that one).

End of the day though, I have the HoseHead gray version that recently came out, and I love it--HM and all. And if the Headmaster Jr. characters all come out requiring head removal, I have no issues with it.

 

I think they will release those to. However, in my perception the US and European color scheme is more popular than the Japanese Buster and Hydra one. So to me it would make sense to cater to the bigger market first and release the other colors as a convention exclusive or so.

I could be wrong though and I don’t know how big 3rd Party transforming robots are in Japan.

 

They're usually the same size everywhere.

 

Interesting head canon.

 

I have fun with the idea. Can't say I would call it head canon though, as that's more of a "fits in between what's canon." My stuff is just head-fanfiction (because I stopped writing years ago)  

 

While I would’ve preferred to see how Maketoys would’ve done these, I’m psyched to get these. So glad at least fanshobby is doing late g1 and the engine figures are top notch.

 

Didn’t Maketoys produce a jet figure of similar name that would turn into armor for Striker Manus? I was thinking it looked more like a stylized Jetfire, so I assume that had no connection to this character.

And not to sound completely ignorant, but what is the “Buster” part of this FH equation? Is it the mini figure? I looked up Dreadwind when I digibashed the greyscale render early in this thread, but his Powermaster had a different name.

 

Maketoys were going to make a Dreadwind and Darkwing. One of them was labeled RM-11, but then that designation went to their seekers. Can't recall what they named it.

The armour for Striker Manus was indeed a Jetfire. Completely unrelated, since Cross Dimension was a "What if" toy line.

In Japanese fiction, with the exception of the Targetmasters, the Transformer is a lifeless mech. It's the Master element that's alive. With the original Headmasters that meant small Cybertronians that learned to transform into heads and operate larger, transtector bodies. The Headmaster jrs. were human children who thanks to (magical) bracelets gained body armour and then transformed into the head of a lifeless robot. And the Powermasters (Godmasters) were humans who thanks to similar bracelets likewise gained armour and transformed into an engine that connected and so operated an again lifeless robotic body. The robot itself is thus lifeless, the human (of smaller robot in case of the original Headmasters) is the sole living thing and gives the larger robot it's name and personality.

At the end of Masterforce the transtectors gained life independent of the human operator but kept their name and personality.

So Buster is the name of the human pilot and after he has bonded with the lifeless machine, also the name of that robot.

 

Buster skywing from Maketoys was their reimagined jetfire, it’s not connected to these characters, just a weird name choice. They also had a version of these MP powermasters they were planning on releasing.

Buster and Hydra are the Japanese names of Darkwing and Dreadwind.