This is why I kinda liked Dreamwave's portrayal:
That, and the partners always seemed a little big compared to regular humans for how they fit in, say, a car, too.
That, and the partners always seemed a little big compared to regular humans for how they fit in, say, a car, too.
The toyline and Marvel Comics just said they were turned into cyborgs.
-ZacWilliam, nothing wrong with that.
-ZacWilliam, nothing wrong with that.
In the cartoon I just figured they were an upgrade to the exosuit tech, which already allowed humans to transform, somehow.
For the latter i kind of picture them having the faceplate removed from their cyberwhateversuit and set up in their home or laboratory so they can talk to them. Arcana's checking out some samples, thinking aloud, looks over at Brainstorm's face and asks a question...
I never liked the idea that a robot wasn't complete without his partner. Target Masters and Power Masters make sense to me as they are adding to or enhancing the main robots ability. Without the Head Master, it's just a headless body running around. That's why I've never really liked that gimmick. The only way I've come to terms with them is if the head is actually the avatar of the whole robot when in alt mode, and not a separate character that becomes the main character's head.
Come to think of it, the Transtector angle can make for an even smoother transition into the downsizing into Micromasters and then Maximal/Predacon era bodies. First they become the heads for their altmodes. Then they're like "just make the entire thing smaller, altmode and all".
The "smaller transforming main body" tech can converge with the "techno-organic fusion" tech of Pretenders to lead to the BW-era body structures.
The "smaller transforming main body" tech can converge with the "techno-organic fusion" tech of Pretenders to lead to the BW-era body structures.
Targetmasters are the easiest to incorporate into fiction. Some transformers turn into jets, others tanks, cars etc, so I figure some turn into guns. From the very beginning, Megatron turned into a handheld gun.
Headmasters and toy Powermasters sound like active detriments. Being stuck in vehicle mode without your partner is an active liability.
Headmasters and toy Powermasters sound like active detriments. Being stuck in vehicle mode without your partner is an active liability.
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Might be neat if there was like some colony where it was all Headmaster beasts. Like the Transformers crashed and were locked in altmode, and were "driven" by robotic warriors who fought over a Cybertronian artifact that blew up and bonded them together into a mentally synced robot.
(The Transtector version could also work with robotic non-converting beasts native to the planet, being ridden by a crashed Cybertronian crew.)
(The Transtector version could also work with robotic non-converting beasts native to the planet, being ridden by a crashed Cybertronian crew.)
This is also probably why Takara opted not to adapt the 1988 Targetmaster toys into the Masterforce fiction. With how Transtectors were depicted in that series as being lifeless bodies stuck in vehicle mode whenever their human operators weren't attached to them, just imagine how silly that would be for the 1988 Targetmasters needing to wield their human gun-formers in order to transform into robot mode, and being forced back into their lifeless vehicle modes whenever they'd accidentally drop or let go of their guns.
Can those two (arguably) turds be painted?
in the G1 cartoon, the Hive members also climbed into what looked like exosuit versions of the headmaster "armour".
Also, I think some of the TF Botcon media stated binary-bonded biologicals lived longer than their regular counterparts, due to their cybernetic implants.
Despite how buff they looked, the Hive were supposed to have been so reliant on their technology that their bodies had atrophied, IIRC. They needed tech to even move around anymore.
If Mythbusters can be believed, you can at least make the attempt if you really want to.
I mean, they're looking pretty good, and they're not even that bad (Blitzwing at least has a nice robot mode). Astrotrain is more successful than Blitzwing, but then he's just changing between two similar tube shapes.
But "not that bad" isn't good enough for me to bother rewarding TT for their efforts. I'll get Overcharge as the only example of that Blitzwing (as that character is kind of meant to be rubbish) and I've gotten Galaxy Shuttle to get the Astrotrain mold (because I doubt we'll see that character get released again anytime soon).
Astrotrain is a series of tubes.
Astrotrain is not a big truck.