The Energon Pub

Which Headmasters concept would you prefer ?

1. The US concept, involving little green human that partners the headless robots and becomes the head of the headless robots.

2. The Japanese concept which only involves little transformers robots controlling their bigger lifless bodies very much like controlling an exosuit.

I definitely prefer the American version. Two partners working in perfect (or not so perfect) harmony is way cooler than what amounts to cassetticons with power armor.

The American.
I like that it gave Daniel, and Spike a robot form so to speak

i think it would have been cooler if they had a combo of the 2, have tfs that turn into heads partner with tfs that turn into vehicles/animals

ChromedomeMK2 wrote:Which Headmasters concept would you prefer ?

1. The US concept, involving little green human that partners the headless robots and becomes the head of the headless robots.

2. The Japanese concept which only involves little transformers robots controlling their bigger lifless bodies very much like controlling an exosuit.

3. The comic concept, it involved human looking Nebulons instead of green humans.

I think it's worth noting that both the Rebirth and the Takara series let Spike (who had been with them for twenty years by then) do something other than say "Aw **** what are we gonna do?"

-In rebirth he helped rebuild the Headmasters/Targetmasters and controlled Fortress Maximus.

-In the Takara series he basically replaced Perceptor as the smart-guy-who-gives-the-exposition.

ChromedomeMK2 wrote:Which Headmasters concept would you prefer ?

1. The US concept, involving little green human that partners the headless robots and becomes the head of the headless robots.

2. The Japanese concept which only involves little transformers robots controlling their bigger lifless bodies very much like controlling an exosuit.

I like the Japanese concept better. I think is simple and robots having two bodies and one personality is cooler, just like Reflector.

Japanese, with the exception of Spike.

I haven't even seen the Japanese version and I like it better anyway. I can't see how putting an extra step between a body and its controlling force can be efficient, I don't really think any transformer would be especially willing to basically sacrifice their autonomy so easily, and Targetmasters were better anyway. Weapon-sized robots who can turn into weapons is clever. Head-sized people who fold themselves up in to cubes with faces is dumb.

I like the Japanese element of smaller robots bonding to larger 'exosuits' for efficiency, but I also like the partner conflict and the green humanoid aliens in the American version. Plus Spike essentially 'becoming' a Transformer seems to me to be an interesting step in the character's evolution, at least the way the Marvel comic portrayed it (I would have liked the cartoon development of that aspect even more if had followed the vein of "Autobot Spike").

I kinda have to lean toward American on this.

I must admit I never liked any of the wacky marketing extension strategies they came up with -

Headmasters
Powermasters
Targetmasters
Pretenders
Action Masters

The writers must have had a nightmare of a time. you can imagine their first thought every time a new toy landed on their desk. must have been 'How the f**k are we supposed to write this in?!?!'

Sloptank wrote:I haven't even seen the Japanese version and I like it better anyway. I can't see how putting an extra step between a body and its controlling force can be efficient, I don't really think any transformer would be especially willing to basically sacrifice their autonomy so easily, and Targetmasters were better anyway. Weapon-sized robots who can turn into weapons is clever. Head-sized people who fold themselves up in to cubes with faces is dumb.

I like how you think
I agree heartily. That is why I never liked the idea of HeadMasters even though I have never seen it. The basic premise is enough to turn me off from watching it. I do like the idea of smaller robots/Transformed Organics? becoming the Cybertronians' weapons. The Transformers get living and intelligent weapons, plus the TargetMasters are in a way like little G1 Megatrons, with their ability to turn into guns.

I like them both, separately, and for different reasons.

I grew up reading the Marvel Comix version. I remember waiting (forever it seemed) for the Matrix quest to follow through. I really enjoyed the writing in the latter issues, and I thoroughly enjoyed how Spike and FM ended up together. It seemed to fit.

Later, I got into the Japanese ideology. Little robots controlling bigger bodies (transectors) makes since. Also, as you follow the Jap story lines it leads to the Pretenders and Brainmasters. However, the Jap's have a weird since of loyalty. I mean the friggin' blew up Sebertron! How stupid is that. That still really bugs me...however, that is another story.

All in all, I still lean towards the Marvel Comix version. Then I turn a switch in my brain as I play with the Jap toys.

Go figure.

I like the Japanese version better.

Japanese version. Little robot combining with big body just makes more sense than little green men doing the same

DJDrew&ScoobyDoo wrote:I like them both, separately, and for different reasons.

I grew up reading the Marvel Comix version. I remember waiting (forever it seemed) for the Matrix quest to follow through. I really enjoyed the writing in the latter issues, and I thoroughly enjoyed how Spike and FM ended up together. It seemed to fit.

Later, I got into the Japanese ideology. Little robots controlling bigger bodies (transectors) makes since. Also, as you follow the Jap story lines it leads to the Pretenders and Brainmasters. However, the Jap's have a weird since of loyalty. I mean the friggin' blew up Sebertron! How stupid is that. That still really bugs me...however, that is another story.

All in all, I still lean towards the Marvel Comix version. Then I turn a switch in my brain as I play with the Jap toys.

Go figure.

Co-sign.

I have seen both and much more prefer the American version where they are partners and both robot and head have personalities. The Japanese version of Optimus Prime just standing there lifeless, is just plain wrong! Wish they had continued the American Headmaster series into another season, there were a lot of new directions they could have gone!

Overall, I find more story value in having two individual partners needing to work together to become more than the sum of their parts.

The Japanese concept is simpler, of course, but I never got where this tiny sub-race of Transformers who needed to build Transtectors just to be the same size as everyone else on Seibertron came from.

That, and I don't really like the way it reduces Transformers characters I grew up with in the Western version to nothing more than controlled mecha. I mean, the Headmasters series even has them interchanging Transtectors at various points! Transformers aren't mecha; that's always been one of the distinguishing things about the mythos for me.

--EDIT--
Re-reading, that comes across like I don't enjoy the Japanese version at all. I do, just in a different way to the US version. Like DJDrew said, I basically switch to Japanese mode and everything's fine, but overall I prefer the 'partners' angle.

ChromedomeMK2 wrote:Which Headmasters concept would you prefer ?

1. The US concept, involving little green human that partners the headless robots and becomes the head of the headless robots.

2. The Japanese concept which only involves little transformers robots controlling their bigger lifless bodies very much like controlling an exosuit.

i like the Japanese version.
way cooler and makes WAY more sense!

perhaps a twist in the two:
the big bots care massive firepower and fighting skills but lack the energy, intelligence $ Speed required to be of any use. acting as a vehcle for the smaller bot, the larger having 2 forms, the personalities combine and Spark is shares between the two.
Like doucons with only one being a vehcile and the other being the caretaker/brains.