Have to admit, I'm a big fan of the Stan Winston ridged heads, too. Helps them blend into their environments much more effectively and gives them a more primal, predatory look, for some reason. Maybe because it's skeletal and evocative of pipes and such.
For 'Alien 3', I honestly do love the production photos of the rod puppet, but it's the suit costume which gets most of the memorable shots and they made it look a lot fatter - especially around that horribly bloated neck, which I can never ignore during the Superintendent's death scene. And, well... Whenever the puppet's used, those awful matte lines are painfully obvious, so... Both had disadvantages when being shown on screen.