Action Master

2007-12-21T05:49:16Z

24.83.51.128:

:''Action Masters are a [[subgroup]] in the [[Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Neutro-fusiontank.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Alive! Alive! Alive!]]

'''Action Masters''' are Transformers that traded in their ability to transform to become Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Sorry, I couldn't resist). And, more alive. As the [[Autobot]]/[[Decepticon]] war drained more and more of their resources, a new source of fueling, [[Nucleon]], was discovered which would grant Transformers amazing power, but at a cost. To compensate for their lost ability to transform, the Action Masters built transforming partners and (massive) vehicles to aid them in battle.

A few Action Masters managed to retain (or possibly regain) the ability to transform; they are known as [[Action Master Elite]]s.

== Fiction ==
=== Toy packaging blurb ===
According to the toy packaging [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] went searching for new energy sources and, within the heart of a [[black hole]] discovered Nucleon: a miracle fuel that made Transformers stronger, faster, and more alive, but cost them the ability to transform. Soon the Decepticons stole the technology and created Action Masters of their own.

This story was later referenced with the Japanese release of Nucleon Quest Convoy, a black repaint of Powermaster Optimus Prime who was given the backstory of being Prime specially outfitted for this trip into the black hole.

=== Marvel Comics continuity ===
[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] heard rumors of a new miracle fuel on the planet [[Hydrus Four]]. Against orders he stole the non-functioning bodies of his fellow [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] and headed there to find out. What he descovered was a ruined world filled with creepy, obsessive, rotting zombie-like beings warning him that it was all because of Nucleon. Being Grimlock, he then went ahead and used the fuel anyway, first on himself then to revive his fallen teammates.

Grimlock soon found parts of his body inexplicably seizing up, and began to fear that he should have listened to the creepy dying robots after all. After returning to the Ark Grimlock used the Nucleon to repair all the damaged Autobots in the ship's medical bay (as well as Megatron, whom he didn't know was there). Following the Transformers battle with [[Unicron]] Grimlock froze-up entirely. It was then that [[Hi-Q]] (in the process of merging with Optimus Prime) saw with "[[Powermaster]] eyes" that Grimlock wasn't malfunctioning, but changing. He used his Powermaster abillities to speed-up the process and Grimlock burst forth in his new, more-powerful Action Master form.

Meanwhile, HiQ's own mental merger with Prime was also accelerated by his contact with Nucleon. Soon afterward, the Last Autobot re-created HiQ as Optimus Prime, looking very much like his Action Master toy and never being seen to transform. However, while Grimlock explicitly said that his own transformational abilities had been lost, there was no such statement for Prime. So while the involvement of Nucleon and Prime's general appearance suggest that he had become an Action Master too, the uniqueness of his re-creation makes things less certain.

:''('''Note''': Other Action Master toys were represented in the comics, but not having been changed by Nucleon, they are likely not actual Action Masters. [[Simon Furman]] has commented that if the comic book had continued we would have seen other Transformers become Action Masters, and we also would have seen a follow up to the hints that Nucleon affects everyone differently, with some Transformers being affected by it in various alternate ways.)''

=== ''Timelines Classics'' comic ===

As in [[Generation 2 (Marvel Comics)|other fiction]], neither Grimlock nor Prime kept their Action Master bodies for long. However, [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] ''is'' seen as an Action Master (and his partner [[Tyrannitron]] even gets a mention). Given Snarl's hatred of his own dinosaur mode, his remaining an Action Master was likely a matter of taste.

=== Japanese continuity ===
Optimus, and Megatron's pre-G2 bodies share a striking similarity to their Action-Master toys. Likewise Optimus Prime has been documented as searching out a New Energy source called Nucleon that's located within a black hole. Finally, Optimus Prime's Actionmaster was sold with New Years Convoy, and described as the intermediate form between Prime's various G2 Bodies.

==Fandom reception==
{{quote|I DEFINITELY like my transformers to transform. Down with the action masters.|Josh Freeman Frankel, 02-25-1994|[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/4ed4b0a1a761bcd7 alt.toys.transformers]}}

The Action Master toyline, depicting the obvious oxymoron of "Transformers who don't transform," generated initial ire ("BLASPHEMY!") from some fans. This was magnified as Action Masters were released in the final year of the original Transformers toy line in the US. When Transformers was summarily canceled in North America, some fans blamed the gimmick for the death of the franchise (despite the wide variety of other factors that doubtlessly were involved).

One aspect Action Masters is notable for, however, is the mass reintroduction of "classic" characters. New toys for old characters was not a theme the original toy line visited very often, and so to have a single sub-line with so many recurring favorites was, at the time, a novelty. In addition, the classic characters were designed to resemble their cartoon counterparts more closely. For much of the Season 1 and 2 cast, the original figures having been designed years before they were stylized and simplified for the cartoon, these Action Masters were the closest likenesses of their fiction representations ever.

As with many other changes to the Transformers brand, initial hostility towards Action Masters from the fandom eventually became less intense and diversified into a broad range of opinion. Many of the most in-demand vintage (and therefore expensive) ''Transformers'' toys are Action Masters, and new characters from this subgroup are still harkened back to in newer toy lines. For example, [[Axer]] shows up in the ''[[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' toyline, ''[[Armada]]'' [[Overload (Armada)|Overload]] has design elements based on [[Rollout (G1)|Rollout]], and ''[[Cybertron]]'' [[Smokescreen (Cybertron)|Smokescreen]]'s colors are a partial homage to [[Rad (G1)|Rad]].

[[Category: Action Masters| ]]
[[Category: Generation 1]]
[[Category: Subgroups]]
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Action Master