Red-boxed Tracks and Meister were a bit lower run than others, sure. I remember when they were released in the bubble boxes, fans sorta rejoiced, then the bubbled Meister/Tracks shelfwarmed a bit. Personally speaking, shopping for new Alts at retail was a drag (no pun intended). I bought mine online often. *looks at your siggy and what you've done* I'd say Alts have served you very well The subline had its ups and downs like any thing else, I'd say. I think you're on to a main proof of its reasonable success is its longevity. That being said though, the figures were spaced out in such a way that its hard to compare it to something like Beast Wars, that ran for a long time as well. Also, I think that the main lines successfully carried the Alternators product. Alternators as a line on its own wouldn't be successful I don't think. As far as Alternators Ricochet goes, I actually like that Hasbro went with the Impreza instead as it was a nice surprise. Swindle (as you may know) was originally to be Trailbreaker, but fans wanted some Decepticons (Dead End is another such example). As far as Ironhide and Ratchet, I would certainly prefer another mold for them altogether. That being said, I would have been very interested to have seen a Scion xB redeco from Hasbro . . . . I can't argue with this The notion of the higher price point is an interesting one, and one I think fans have already shown they're willing to foot. I'd even say that the current Human Alliance line does this, without some of the bells and whistles the Alt line had (rubber tires and chromed parts anyone?). I think Alts have held their value really well, actually. Granted, there are just some figures easier/harder to get than others, though, but that's any line.
2 years ago i think this lot would have went 1250$ easy. I just dunno if it will reach that this time. I agree some have held their value, but others have had their prices definitely come back down to earth. I love this line and always like checking out how lot auctions like this do. HA seems a decent example of collectors willing to pay a bit extra. Another good example imo is the Takara Masterpiece line. I think that hasbro produces too many of their Masterpieces so far and they shelf warm until the price sinks so low someone gets them off clearance.
Don't forget that there was only supposed to be 10 of them in total, and there turned out to be 27, without even including the Binaltech, Binaltech Asterisk and Kiss Players-exclusive figures. The auction's now up to $28 each which is still very good. And Playidia's been outbid which is all I really care about. >AM<
I think the "clearance" mindset and being able to get certain figures at lower prices have really spoiled US buyers. Someone complaining that $60 is too much for a MP Skywarp really has no idea the bargain they're getting. Note that the preceeding statement is coming from someone who is generally a cheapskate. For the level of involvement infused into a figure that's on a MP or even an Alt level, Hasbro really does us a favor by making things affordable for us. Yeah, I think that fact is often lost. Furthermore, we were only going to get a set of Autobots. I'm really glad the line turned out the way that it did, for the most part
Agreed about the spoiled buyers. I like a good deal too, but there are a lot of people that seem to feel they deserve the clearance price. MPs are really such a great figure even at the 90+ for Takara. Looking back now i personally still think that Alts were a great deal at the 20$ price. And you guys are absolutely correct about how it turned out. It was a great line when all was said and done.
Another key thing to note is that the Alternators line had no fiction except the "motto". Granted, the line was a "homage" to G1, and the Binal Tech line did have a fiction. However, Alternators itself had no actual movie, cartoon, comic book . . . nada, and the line still did fairly well Personally, I like this fact, as it places the owner in the driver's seat to use their . . . what'sitcalled? Imagination! That's right!
Alternators was a great line. I had the whole run except for Swerve, but ended up selling most of them recently, since I needed more space and I had not transformed most of them in a couple of years. The only ones I kept were Jazz, Shockblast, Grimlock, and Mirage.
