Seen here. http://www.allspark.com/index.php?set_albumName=album111&option=com_gallery&Itemid=4&include=view_album.php http://seibertron.com/events/gallery.php?event_id=70&size=0&start=125 What was the story behind that one? People claim it came up during the concept phae of the Alternators line, but we already know that the Porsche was the first prototype Hasbro ever made, with the Corvette following right behind, and supposedly the Jeep Wrangler and the Dodge Viper prototypes were also created before Subaru was even brought up. So where does the small prototype (what scale is it, anyway?) fit in? Also, were the military mock-ups (Armada Unicron with tank parts, Swindle with Willy's Army Jeep parts, plane with G1 Bruticus head and Armada Unicron, Energon Jetfire and Enegron Bulkhead parts) actually intended for the Alternators line, or was that supposed to be a new main line following after the UT, with the plane being supposed to be Optimus Prime, like someone at the Allspark claimed?
All I recall is that it was a test item to see if Alternators would work at a smaller scale as well. This gives me 2 options coming to mind: -If all those aforementioned prototypes were made before the Subaru one that ended up leading the line, perhaps they wanted to try the smaller scale before going into making another larger Alternator, when Subaru came aboard. -The smaller Subaru may also have been a test piece for smaller-scale Alternators as a subline that may have been thought up at any point during Alt's run. As for the military mockups, Eric said that they were done simply to see if Alternators' style would work outside of the line's initial outset of 'cars'. On my tour, he said that they were all unnamed botmode kitbashes done up internally, with the GI Joes there for scale. I believe the conclusion was that military Alternators would simply be way the hell too large.
I seem to remember Eric saying that was created very early on, during discussions about what size class would be most appropriate for the Alts, and before a final decision was made. Yep - I think he said the tankbot was made by an intern! EDIT: Oh, and: Nothing like that came up on our tour. That sounds a bit farfetched to me.
Hmm, this is weird. Even without the previous prototypes, we know that the Subaru was originally designed as Bluestreak/Silverstreak, with Smokescreenbeing the redeco. Yet the small proto is a mix of Smokescreen and Silverstreak parts, including a Smokescreen head sculpt.
1/48 scale? Isn't that about basic/scout size? Deluxe sized 1/32 scale Alternators would have awesome.
I recall the intern mocked up the Military Alts purely to show the powers that be what they had in mind for expanding the line and they decided to take it no further. That is what I was told when I asked. The smaller Smokescreen I cannot remember, but I think they said it was an early item when they were still deciding on the scale for the line, to see if they would work at that scale instead. Too bad they didn't go with that scale, given how well the Movie toys work at that size.
The original theory about their reluctance to do military themed Alternators was their huge scale in comparison to the existing Alternators... My most logical guess is when they talked of expanding the line, it wasn't just to make larger military Alts, but smaller normal ones that would be in scale to them. If Smokescreen was around 1:48 scale, that would put him close to being in scale with a recent Alternator-compared toy's jet mode... Masterpiece Starscream.
I would have loved 1/32 scale. It was one of things that I advocated for Alternators since their first box redeco. A 1/32 size class of the minibots could have possibly saved the line, but its nice to see that 1/48 prototype.
Another reason why 1/24 Silverstreak came first: The resin proto seen at the Japanese Patent Office website. That's still the Silverstreak version.
