Will there be a new Headmaster Nightbeat toy?

[Tilarta]

I got the TitanMaster Apeface, just in case that one is better for a head when I get my Headmaster Apeface (order pending delivery).

The G1 Minerva is just Nightbeat repainted, I wanted a show accurate version.
There was a TitanMaster unit released, but I think she came with some other exclusive release and not on her own.
What is it with Hasbro and not making Headmasters with their bodies?

I didn't like that the TitanMaster line was essentially turning every Targetmaster and Powermaster into Headmasters, so lost interest in most of their products.
What I wanted was an updated version of the original toys with the new design functionality, but preserving Targetmaster and Powermaster buddies in their original transformation modes.
The Siege line is doing a fairly good job of releasing some Targetmaster buddies as I wanted them, even if they're not releasing all the possible options.

I don't mind if they do away with the transformation lock for the hypothetical Powermaster update, just as long as they keep the engine transform/attachment gimmick.
And maybe allow the humanoid form of the engine to sit inside a cockpit/driver's compartment.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, I generally agree with your sentiment. The Headmaster gimmick was cooler when only a few TFs could do it. One thing that I wasn't enthused about with TR is how every Thomas, Richard and Henry was a freaking Headmaster. It reminds me of that thing that Syndrome said in The Incredibles, "When everyone's super then no-one will be," and that's how the Headmaster gimmick in TR felt like to me. It was no longer special. And honestly, although it did give us some really nice toys like the Jumpstarters etc., I find that they're nice in spite of the Headmaster gimmick and not because of it.

It also reduces line diversity. I really wish that they would go back to the original way of doing CHUG Targetmasters - just include the Targetmaster weapons with the bot! e.g. Universe Cyclonus & Generations Scoop. Sure, their Targetmaster partners were pretty basic compared to the Battle Masters and they don't include blast effects, but that's fine. I don't need my Targetmaster weapons to be fancy stand-alone figures with blast effects; just having them as simple transforming accessories is just fine for me. And it's not as if the Titan Masters are nothing more than that anyway, so with figures like TR Blowpipe, Aimless and Caliburst, being Headmasters really isn't much better than being a Targetmaster. You might as well be a Targetmaster. Then by releasing some of their partners as stand-alone Battlemasters (e.g. Blowpipe, Firedrive etc.), it means that Hasbro is expecting schmucks (like me ) to go and buy those figures to accessorise their TR partners. So my TR Hot Rod and Triggerhappy both have two Firedrives and Blowpipes respectively - one as a head and one as a Battle Master. It's completely superfluous. Just. Make. Them. Targetmasters.

But yeah, I suspect that Earthrise Doubledealer might be the first "Ornamental Powermaster." See... TakaraTOMY really should be repainting this toy as Double Clouder for their market (and I would buy an LG Double Clouder in a heartbeat!), but given this whole penchant for brand unification, I don't know if it will happen now.

The G1 Minerva is just Nightbeat repainted, I wanted a show accurate version.

The Nightbeat repaint is the most accurate one, since the toy came first. Not sure why the cartoon model modified the shoulders, especially when every other TF in Masterforce looks fairly toy-accurate (even Ginrai's faux truck chest is shown as being fake in the show! Arguably a bit too accurate ).

There was a TitanMaster unit released, but I think she came with some other exclusive release and not on her own.
What is it with Hasbro and not making Headmasters with their bodies?

To be fair, it's not exactly a new thing as Takara first did it in 1987 with the Headmaster Warriors (e.g. Kirk, Rodney, Loafer etc.) - and we've had two of them CHUGgified as TR Shuffler and Leone (Sawback). But I take your meaning - at least those characters were originally meant to be Transtectorless Headmasters. And I don't mind them doing new characters like Butla etc, or even alternate head options like Repugnus (and potentially Nightbeat if the true Headmaster toy has a comic-like head). And I suppose doing G1 characters who were never Headmasters as bodyless Titan Masters (e.g. Overkill, Grimlock, Flywheels etc.) is weird but "inoffensive" enough that it doesn't trigger you into wishing that they made them as proper Headmasters. I skipped almost all of those Titan Masters though. I might've been more enticed if they were wholly new characters (as the Headmaster Warriors were in '87).

If they do continue with the ornamental Powermaster gimmick, then I hope that they'll release the Masterforce Warriors as stand-alone figures or even in a three pack at a Deluxe price point, similar to the Studio Series Arcee bikes.