Get the alternator version if you have to. I've never at any point gotten so pissed off at a toy like I did alt. prime. He only has arm articulation, and even that's hindered by the huge shoulders with the gaping holes in the side. I must have spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out if I had somehow mistransformed it because of the crap articulation and shoulder bits that love falling off.
Wow, it really seems this is a disliked toy. Thanks for all of the comments, I guess the Alternator version is the one I will choose. He will probably only be transformed a couple of times at the most.
It's a poor mould, and if you have MP Prime, why waste money on an inferior version? The only version worth getting is Nemesis Prime, because he does look great in black and the Decepticon Alts need some reinforcement!
In my opinion he is the weakest mold from the Alt/BT line (obviously was supposed to be Hoist/Trailbreaker). That being said just get the Alt version, it displays OK in root mode and it's pretty cheap.
I went with the Alt figures because they are generally easier to find and cheaper to acquire. I may get a few of the BT figs that were not done in the Alt line, but I have no desire to double up on characters by getting both BT and Alt versions. The Alt figures are all pretty difficult/complex for transforming. I'd guess that their plastic parts give a bit more ease to the transformations since sometimes you need to have panels bend ever so slightly just to get them opened. I've never touched the BT version, but I'd assume it would be a pain in the rear to transform considering what a pain the plastic Alt version is.
I like this toy a ton. It's not the best that Alt/BT offered, but it is still better than 99% of toys from any other series. Right now a bunch of sites have the BT on sale for less than $50, and for the price the BT is much cooler: painted finish, great heft/die cast, and imo a better paint deco. I don't get the animosity for this toy at all.
Whilst I generally dislike the mould a lot -pain in the ass to extend the damn legs, doors fell off extremely easy, took me two years to find a buyer for my Kiss Version and that was BEFORE BT Convoy was even announced-, if given the chance again, I'd DEFINITELY get the Binaltech version. Alts simply tend to go for stupid prices nowadays, BTs, with a few exceptions, have actually gotten cheaper over the years. Since Arcee, Jazz and Bluestreak are heavily discounted on various sites, I'd wait to see which online store discounts Convoy first. All in all it makes an excellent and bulky vehicle mode that will only get that much better in die-cast.
Skimming ebay quickly, it doesn't look like Alt Prime has shot up in value. Shouldn't have to pay much over retail price for a MISB version, and there's one chap offering a KO metal version for £16.49 posted (in the UK).
I bought the Alt one at Digital Toys, they had it on sale for $30. They had the BT for $43. The difference in price got me another WST Dinobot.
