New Galleries: G1 1988 Headmasters and Masterforce Headmaster Juniors

Glorious. Just glorious.

i remember these guys and the 2nd batch of targetmasters not enthralling me as a kid. You know you'd spend hours perusing the catalogues eying potential acquisitions... that year wasn't my favourite.. pretenders were sucky too for me... think the powermasters were the only subgroup from that year I drooled over.

I have squeezeplay though and he had good articulation and i think he's one of the few from my collection that is almost intact.

Technically, the little Headmaster dude for Goshooter is named "Shūta Gō", unless it was intentional to parse his name in the Japanese order of "last name first, first name last".

Monster robots who's heads pop off and turn into little robots (one of which appears to be a fly-man hybrid)... oh how I wish these would get a modern update.

Noideaforaname wrote:Monster robots who's heads pop off and turn into little robots (one of which appears to be a fly-man hybrid)... oh how I wish these would get a modern update.

Hell, I'd settle for reissues... of any Headmaster. (Including Juniors.)

Given the recent release and coverage of the latest Takara Tomy offering in the Masterpiece line - MP-22 Ultra Magnus - here at Seibertron.com we've taken the opportunity to look back on some older toys deserving of gallery treatment: the G1 Reissue Ultra Magnus, Movie Preview Version Ultra Magnus and Matrix Glow (Shining) Magnus!

All three appear in 2000/2001, sharing the same basic mold (the classic Diaclone redeco of Powered Convoy) with an Optimus Prime/Convoy basic robot-truck, and a trailer that becomes its armour. What the Reissue differed in from the original toy was mostly in the package, and included all the same accessories, from guns to missile launcher to fists. The other two, however, while coming with all the same parts, showed off very different decos (as you can see below): 'Shining' Magnus in its yellow translucent plastic, was somehow meant to show the Matrix glowing moment at the death of Optimus Prime in the 1986 movie, and the Movie Preview Magnus was a nod to promotional material of the animated feature, showing the red, black and blue deco (like its Diaclone predecessor) to the character rather than its final colours. Find out more about them in the galleries by clicking on the images below!



Generation One Movie Preview Version Ultra Magnus










Generation One Matrix Glow Magnus










Generation One Ultra Magnus

pretty cool

There's something beautiful about repaints standing next to each other man...

Yellow Magnus look better if it was blue and white yellow no comment what it looks like

The Matrix Glow Magnus is one of my favorite Transformers ever. Something about it is just too cool. Never looks good in pictures but in hand it's a thing to behold.

We here at Seibertron.com are pleased to present to the general public a trio of updates to our ever-expanding galleries; ladies and gentlemen, enter Generation One Million Publishing Skids and Screech and Encore Skids! Skids and Screech, redecoes of the original Skids and Crosscut respectively in decoes evocative of Revenge of the Fallen Skids and Mudflap, were released in 2009 as a mail-away exclusive to those who purchased Transformers Generations 2009 Volume 3. Encore Skids, also a 2009 release, features a slightly tweaked deco and a handful of tampographs in addition to stickers. As usual, if you would like to be taken to each full gallery, click either the links or the images themselves to be taken to them!

Transformers Encore Skids








Generation One Skids









Generation One Screech

Trivia about Screech. His bio reveals that he is actually another version of Skids (but using a different name, likely to avoid confusion with the other Skids) who accidentally got pulled into the green Skids's world by an experiment that the green Skids was working on.

As Screech's bio was written by Simon Furman, and since the Marvel UK comics not only had G1 Skids lost in limbo for a few years before he finally got out, but also had Skids drawn with the Crosscut/Screech head for some reason (after skids got freed, that is), it is loosely implied (but NOT factually stated) that Screech might possibly be Marvel UK G1 Skids (with the green Skids being the cartoon version).

Right, because geewunners want to for homages to Bayformers.

Looking at all the pix of these G1 reissues makes me realize just how crummy some of them were. I know it was 80s tech, which just doesn't hold a candle to modern figures, but YUCK. It really seemed towards the end of the 80s there that the toy designers just phoned it in, and they weren't bothering to make them even look halfway decent. None of them look to have separated legs, they all seem to transform by flipping out the back end to form both legs as one solid piece. Even the ones that LOOK like separate legs are really just one leg with metal rods stabbed through them both so they can't be moved independently.

Keep your G1's. I'll take the newer figures. Sure there's no metal and no chrome on them, but they are light years ahead of the G1 figures in terms of appearance, poseability and fun.

The only reissue that MAY be of interest to me is Trypticon.

Not going to lie, I'd LOVE G1 versions of some of the good Movieverse characters. Bad cop Barricade out of Prowl? Yes please!

Shockwave7 wrote:It really seemed towards the end of the 80s there that the toy designers just phoned it in, and they weren't bothering to make them even look halfway decent.

You bring up fair points and I'm not here to debate your valid feelings towards G1 toys, but I do feel the need to go a little bit Turbo-Nerd here and point out that the Diaclone mold used for Skids was originally released in Japan in 1982, and therefore was probably designed in '80 or '81, which is very much not the "end of the 80s".

Shockwave7 wrote:Looking at all the pix of these G1 reissues makes me realize just how crummy some of them were. I know it was 80s tech, which just doesn't hold a candle to modern figures, but YUCK. It really seemed towards the end of the 80s there that the toy designers just phoned it in, and they weren't bothering to make them even look halfway decent. None of them look to have separated legs, they all seem to transform by flipping out the back end to form both legs as one solid piece. Even the ones that LOOK like separate legs are really just one leg with metal rods stabbed through them both so they can't be moved independently.

Keep your G1's. I'll take the newer figures. Sure there's no metal and no chrome on them, but they are light years ahead of the G1 figures in terms of appearance, poseability and fun.

The only reissue that MAY be of interest to me is Trypticon.

Ahem, many of the early G1s were from mid-late 70s designs. The 80s just slapped G1 names on them.

Those two look great.

Metroplex79 wrote:

Shockwave7 wrote:Looking at all the pix of these G1 reissues makes me realize just how crummy some of them were. I know it was 80s tech, which just doesn't hold a candle to modern figures, but YUCK. It really seemed towards the end of the 80s there that the toy designers just phoned it in, and they weren't bothering to make them even look halfway decent. None of them look to have separated legs, they all seem to transform by flipping out the back end to form both legs as one solid piece. Even the ones that LOOK like separate legs are really just one leg with metal rods stabbed through them both so they can't be moved independently.

Keep your G1's. I'll take the newer figures. Sure there's no metal and no chrome on them, but they are light years ahead of the G1 figures in terms of appearance, poseability and fun.

The only reissue that MAY be of interest to me is Trypticon.

Ahem, many of the early G1s were from mid-late 70s designs. The 80s just slapped G1 names on them.

Nope, still early 80's for both Microman and Diaclone, think 1982-1984. Microman started in the 70's, and in accordance with Japanese law at the time, that year was stamped on the toys even though the toys were created a decade later.

Seibertron's camera has been on fire lately, new galleries left and right, it seems. You've seen some of our newest galleries in our news feed this week and we're going to keep on trucking with our newest G1 galleries featuring the Hasbro Commemorative Series line.

Seibertron.com is proud to present our newest galleries: Commemorative Series Perceptor, Skids, and Ultra Magnus

Speaking of Ultra Magnus, if you haven't seen our gallery of the newly released MP-22 Ultra Magnus, you can see it by clicking right here.

Without further ado, we present the Commemorative Series galleries, and you can see more of each figure by clicking on the pictures below:

G1 Commemorative Series Ultra Magnus










G1 Commemorative Series Perceptor








G1 Commemorative Series Skids







Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!

Shockwave7 wrote:Keep your G1's.

I do believe I will thanks. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

The TRU Skids in the galleries has all his stickers adhered well. Mine were a struggle to get on, and I'm sure if I looked at it some fell off and got lost. Anyone else have sticker grief with that one?

Here's another two galleries on Seibertron.com to help you through the final Friday lurch and the start of a good weekend - and another blast from the past it is! We're proud to finally show two very interesting redecos of Powermaster Optimus Prime and God Ginrai from Super God Masterforce.

First up is Nucleon Quest Super Convoy and Nebulan Powermaster partner Hi-Q, a 2001 Japanese Toys'R'Us Exclusive black redeco of the Optimus figure, including beam cannons and rifle, and the super robot head. The second bot is the fantastically orange Fire Guts God Ginrai (homaged in the 2014 BotCon set) formed by Godbomber and Super Ginrai, released in 2002 also as Japanese exclusive. Head below and through the galleries for more!


Super God Masterforce Nucleon Quest Super Convoy












Super God Masterforce Nucleon Quest Hi-Q




Super God Masterforce Fire Guts God Ginrai












Super God Masterforce Fire Guts Godbomber






Super God Masterforce Fire Guts Super Ginrai












Super God Masterforce Fire Guts Ginrai

One of the best reissues from that era, something about that mold where my reissue feels higher quality than the original.

Love the Fire Guts deco. Passed up on a great deal for Nucleon Quest back at TF Con. Damn this whole "making responsible choices" thing! Always wished that version also had the God Bomber done up in black too.

Maybe if they ever get around to an MP Ginrai we can see some of these decos again!

one day.... one day...

Super Convoy is pretty cool from a fictional standpoint. Though he's part of the Japanese G1 cartoon continuity, his backstory contains elements from the Hasbro packaging backstory of the Action Masters and the Marvel Comics origin of Powermaster Optimus Prime. The toy's backstory introduced Nebulos, Nebulan Binary-Bonding, the Hasbro Powermaster concept, the Nebulan scientist Hi-Q, and Nucleon into the Japanese continuity; and placed the setting of this toy's backstory after Operation Combination right before G-2, sort of in a "G1.5" era.

In 1990, the Transformers Zone OVA videocassette was released in Japan, collecting the entirety of the Victory sequel - consisting of just the one episode! The 'series' follows new Autobot leader Dai Atlas, and focused on the Micromasters, in their Planet Zone defense base. Among them, Rabbicrater, commander of Zone City's lunar base and pilot, the newest offering in the Seibertron.com galleries!


The Rabbicrater figure itself is a blue redeco of the 1989 Skystalker mold, and transforms into a Porsche 959 sports car. Purchasing the OVA videocassette was the only means to acquire the figure too, and you can take a look at both items in our galleries, by clicking on any image below!

Zone Rabbicrater

This is exactly the kind of stuff I love. Beautiful artwork and an obscure toy.

Didn't realize how similar Metrobomb looks to both Skystalker and Rabbicrater, essentially using the former's altmode colors and the latter's robot mode colors.

Woo hoo, Zone stuff! Love it. The bots from this era really need more reissues, there are some plain stellar toys from Zone/Return of Convoy that take the Micromasters to another level of fun.

It's things like this that make me realize how many holes there are in my collection

Rabbi-Crater? that might be the oddest TF name since Erector.

monstrinhotron wrote:Rabbi-Crater? that might be the oddest TF name since Erector.

The name comes from the Japanese folklore legend of the Rabbit of the Moon, as opposed to the Western forklore legend of the Man in the Moon.

Desslok2201 wrote:It's things like this that make me realize how many holes there are in my collection

Yeah. I've got a Dai Atlas-sized hole in my collection.

RhA wrote:

Desslok2201 wrote:It's things like this that make me realize how many holes there are in my collection

Yeah. I've got a Dai Atlas-sized hole in my collection.

I don't Got the Kabaya kits of the Powered Masters, and they're great!

Sabrblade wrote:

monstrinhotron wrote:Rabbi-Crater? that might be the oddest TF name since Erector.

The name comes from the Japanese folklore legend of the Rabbit of the Moon, as opposed to the Western forklore legend of the Man in the Moon.

Japan has a lot of weird names, and Rabbicrater isn't weird, considering.

Amelie wrote:I once had the misfortune a few years back to pass up on buying Rabbicrater for 50p (yes, FIFTY pence) because I didn't collect Micromasters. I passed on it, despite thinking "I'm sure that toy isn't normally blue".

Oh, ignorance is a terrible, terrible thing - if only I'd known! That said... I still don't research my japanese TFs nearly as much as I ought to.

You're not the only one. Passed the opportunity to get a roughly $40. Dezaras because I wasn't familiar with him back then in 1992.

Amelie wrote:I once had the misfortune a few years back to pass up on buying Rabbicrater for 50p (yes, FIFTY pence) because I didn't collect Micromasters. I passed on it, despite thinking "I'm sure that toy isn't normally blue".

Oh, ignorance is a terrible, terrible thing - if only I'd known! That said... I still don't research my japanese TFs nearly as much as I ought to.

You're not the only one. Passed the opportunity to get a roughly $40 Dezaras because I wasn't familiar with him back then in 1992.

fenrir72 wrote:

Amelie wrote:I once had the misfortune a few years back to pass up on buying Rabbicrater for 50p (yes, FIFTY pence) because I didn't collect Micromasters. I passed on it, despite thinking "I'm sure that toy isn't normally blue".

Oh, ignorance is a terrible, terrible thing - if only I'd known! That said... I still don't research my japanese TFs nearly as much as I ought to.

You're not the only one. Passed the opportunity to get a roughly $40. Dezaras because I wasn't familiar with him back then in 1992.

Both these posts are so terrible even I feel the pain.

fenrir72 wrote:

Amelie wrote:I once had the misfortune a few years back to pass up on buying Rabbicrater for 50p (yes, FIFTY pence) because I didn't collect Micromasters. I passed on it, despite thinking "I'm sure that toy isn't normally blue".

Oh, ignorance is a terrible, terrible thing - if only I'd known! That said... I still don't research my japanese TFs nearly as much as I ought to.

You're not the only one. Passed the opportunity to get a roughly $40 Dezaras because I wasn't familiar with him back then in 1992.

Though not nearly as old as those two figures, I once passed on getting a sweet deal on a Beast Wars Telemocha Series Archadis to go with the BWTMS Waspeeter that I did get because, at the time, my primary goal was getting the BWTMS toys of just the American characters, forgetting that I also wanted the pack-in DVDs that came with each figure (including Archadis).

People stop you're making me

Amelie wrote:I once had the misfortune a few years back to pass up on buying Rabbicrater for 50p (yes, FIFTY pence) because I didn't collect Micromasters. I passed on it, despite thinking "I'm sure that toy isn't normally blue".

And I still hate you for that, I so wanted that one!

(kidding sweetie, I still love you *hugs*)

These are some cool looking guys. I don't think that Hasbro or Shout would ever release english dubs, but I think it would be awsome to get a rerelease of this or some other Japan only stuf from the Headmaster/Victory/Masterforce era with a pack-in episode. I'd even take one with the same old school art cover!

The Transformers franchise is currently all abuzz with Combiner Wars, so Seibertron.com has decided to take some time to showcase some earlier combiners too, and quite an update to our galleries and the fandom it is. They've shown up in the IDW comics (in Empire of Stone and the cover of this week's MTMTE), they're linked to the recent Masterpiece Star Saber figure - time to feast your optics and receptors on Liokaiser and the single Breastforce members: Leozack and Lionbreast, Drillhorn and Hornbreast, Guyhawk and Hawkbreast, Hellbat and Kōmoribreast, Jallguar and Jaguarbreast, Killbison and Bisonbreast!

Not only is the full set really quite expensive (the box set alone goes for $750 to $1,800 depending on the condition), it's also really hard to find them now in good condition, and to get the stickers to stay put due to the age of the adhesive and the toys - Seibertron took all his time and care to apply and reapply them for the galleries. And if that wasn't enough, Killbison is made of the extremely fragile gold plastic.

So, all that said, sit back, scroll down, click on any of the images below, and let us know what you think of Liokaiser and the team members of the Breastforce below. And who knows, maybe we can get Hasbro or Takara to include them in a late Combiner Wars re-imagining...


Victory Liokaiser












Victory Leozack






Victory Gaihawk






Victory Hellbat






Victory Jarugar






Victory Killbison






Victory Drillhorn






Victory Lionbreast




Victory Hawkbreast




Victory Komoribreast




Victory Jaguarbreast




Victory Bisonbreast




Victory Hornbreast

Glorious.

More combiner galleries, eh? 2001's Robots in Disguise Landfill, anyone?

This needs to be re-issued like now but with better paint jobs on the single figures heads, and with a bonus Deathcobra.

The "breast force" ?

Nice galleries as always, but what were they thinking ? That was the sake talking I guess...

ausbot wrote:This needs to be re-issued like now but with better paint jobs on the single figures heads, and with a bonus Deathcobra.

I was really hoping that this was going to be Encore #24- I thought Fort Max being rereleased meant anything was possible