Be careful, Alts are addictive, I have all of them released so far. My love for G1 came from the Original year 1/2 Autobots, for some reason I loved the idea of cars that turned into robots.

My favorites are Sunstreaker, Decepticharge, Silverstreak and Wheeljack!

 

I've gotten all of them so far except Swerve and Jazz. I'm not fond of swerve and I never saw Jazz. I would suggest Skids and one of the Mustangs or Jeeps. I love Skids.

 

Lemme tell ya something.

I have one of every alt mold except two. The Corvette and the RX-8. I have BOTH RX-8s ( ) and a BT Tracks.

First of all, I'd advise against buying BT if Alts are cheaper. Why? The weight of the BT is so much more satisfying, and they're more expensive. My alts were all $20 US... my Tracks was $45 shipped in total. But man oh man, so worth it.  

I find that I can go to the store, pick up any Alternator, and for the first few days while it's my "New Toy", it'll be the damn coolest thing I have ever spent my money on.

 

I'm still looking for Alternators Wheeljack......and I could care less about Swerve.

LOL.

I used to collect only BT but switched over to ALT's after Grimlock.

 

What's the difference between Binaltech and Alternators?

 

Alternators:
- Made by Hasbro
- Plastic
- No backstory or bios

Binaltech:
- Made by Takara/Tomy
- Partly diecast metal
- Backstory, bio for each character
- Around twice as expensive

There have also been a number of minor differences between the toys produced for each line, ranging from the name, the accessories (with the Honda S2000, the Hasbro version had no gun barrel on the engine, whereas Takara's did) and the colours. Binaltech toys are heavier due to the diecast construction. Some collectors have noticed that there have been some quality control issues with the Binaltech toys, most notably issues of paint chipping. This doesn't seem to be such a problem with the Alternators.

A number of toys have been released in the Alternators line that (so far) haven't been released in Binaltech, including Decepticharge and Swerve.

You can read more at Nevermore's excellent website.

 

So far 14 Alternators have been released in Australia, I have all bar Tracks at this stage. From the moment I bought my first Hound I've been hooked. Within a month I had six. Two months ago I had a delivery of seven arrive from two directions on the same day.

I've been so taken with the Atlernators line that I've been inspired to write a fanfic epic for them. Alternators: Isolation has been a lot of fun and an emotional rollercoaster unmatched in my semi-professional writing career and seems to be popular.

The Mazda RX8 is probably the best mold - Jazz and Shockblast look gorgeous and are extremely poseable. And detail! Working Suicide Doors, back seats! muffler weapon, and of course the tyical Shockwave gun hand.

The Mustangs look gorgeous but have an exceptionally complex transform for their size. The flip side is that Grimlock looks bulkier than the others, brandishing that big energo sword a friend of mine had no trouble identifying him despite the prominent Mustang bonnet.

The Imprezas are very similar in style to the RX8s. The paint quality of Silverstreak is a standout, a truly metallic colour look for a plastic toy. The Subarus also get the best looking weapon.

The Honda S2000s look gorgeous as a car, although the robot is less satisfying, particularly the sawn-off weapon. Decepticharge's head sculpt is THE standout of the range, pity it's lack of articulation, even compared to Windcharger.

The Corvettes are a little clunky and overcomplex, but they are armed to the teeth, and Ravage looks impressive as a robot.

The Vipers are simple effective and a great way to pull off a non-nosecone torso look. Also, more work has been done on getting Dead End to look less like Sideswipe than any other other remold before or since.

The Wranglers are a bit chunky but the legs work really well. Tiny pistol is a little emasculating.

Can't wait for Prowl, Skids and Sunstreaker arriving this week - and a source for Tracks. I'm despairing of being able to grab Swerve.

 

Ooh, is that from Case Fresh?   I've been staring at that "Shipping January" sign for ages now.

 

I hope you get Smokescreen , the very first Alt ever.
I still think he's one of the best ones. He made a great intro for the line.

Can't think of an Alt you would be displeased with, so go for any or all If you can.
If you're just going to collect from one TF line, the Alts would also be my choice.

 

It is an addiction! I just bought Sunstreaker, Skids, Prowl and Swindle from bigbadtoystore.com. lol. I'm hoping to get my hands on Meister (Jazz), Wheeljack, Smokescreen, Windcharger, Silverstreak, Hound and Dead End. I may even get Optimus but I'm not sure yet.

 

I'm still hunting for Silverstreak. Waited too late to buy it -- when it finally went on clearance at the stores I had staked out, they sold out before I could get one. I'll probably have to end up buying on on ebay. Dead End was a hard one to come by too.

If you're referring to the *original* Alternator that launched the line -- 20th Anniversary Optimus -- then you owe it to yourself to get that one. It's by far my favorite TF in my entire collection... in 20 years of collecting. Unfortunately, it's also still in high demand -- even loose it commands $50+ on the average auction block.

The new Alt Prime as a Dodge Ram is far less impressive, but does look intriguing.

 

How tall is 20th Anniversary Prime? I was looking at some pics of him and though he does look cool, i'm not sure if it would match with the rest of the Alternators.. it could though.. I may be wrong.

 

I only just recently started collecting Alternators, and I think they're great. So far, I've only bought four of them: Shockwave, Ravage, Wheeljack and Decepticharge. I haven't seen much of a selection in the stores I've been to. I mostly just see piles of Swindles and Decepticharges, if anything at all. I'm really hoping to find a Prowl and also Skids (two of my absolute favorite characters from G1) before I buy any others, though.

 

I barely found Prowl and Skids in the US and I just found a Swindle which is rare for where I live. I mostly find Silverstreaks, Hounds and Sideswipes.

 

Most of my collection made up of BinalTech but I also bought some Alternators like Ravage, Shockwave, Skids, Swindle, and Decepticharge so I can open them without feeling guilty. Unfortunately I paid retail for all of them cuz I couldn't wait for them to go on sale but they are still very much worth it. I may get a Binaltech Shockwave in the future cuz it's I love Shockwave the g1 character. However I have not gotten Swerve and I doubt I will since I already got 3 of them (Blue & Yellow Tracks, Shockwave) and getting a red corvette isn't that big a deal. I would get it if it's on clearance sale.

 

20th Anniversary Optimus Prime is about twice as big as an Alt/BT. Skids is standing right next to him now, and comes to Prime's waist. (actually it's not Prime, it's MP Ultra Magnus) I'd say: Buy him if you still can. To bad for America that Master Piece Ultra Magnus isn't released, and never will be, in the Alternator line

 

I have , Sideswipe, Smokescreen, Swerve, Tracks(alt&bt), Shockwave(alt&bt), Meister(alt & bt red and white), Prowl(alt&bt), Grimlock, Wheeljack(alt&bt), Swindle, Battle Ravage, Dead End, Decepticharge, Windcharger. I haven't bought Skids or Sunstreaker yet, do not know if I will.

 

Wheeljack, Hound, and Dead End are the best to get.

 

Well, I have Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Prowl, Skids, Meister, Swindle, Silverstreak, Hound and Smokescreen on the way ^_^