Because he retailed for $55 new and it's been over 10 years? Arcee would've been fine if Takara had given her a new head sculpt. It was like they were trying to out-stupid Hasbro's Decepticharge. Anyway...Decepticharge is probably cheaper, so go with that.
Thanks to this link, I was able to determine that a local store near me has Shockwave, Windcharger & Ravage for sale for $30 each. Of the 3, which would be the best to get? I'm leaning towards Shockwave.
I just picked up a Smokescreen for $10, missing his engine/gun. That guy is really good. If the entire line was as good as him, they probably would have sold better. I really think it was a case of being out at the wrong time. Transformers was going for a younger audience and collector toys just didn't have a large enough market. What you got for $20 is almost unbelievable compared to what Hasbro gives you now. If Alternators was renewed, they'd probably have a $100 price tag and be DOA.
They charge $18 for a deluxe these days, a $20 alt was a steal even then. Sold mine years ago, but have started re-buying them recently. TFcon had some good deals. I've seen a few at various comicons, occasionally thrift/antique stores will have some too. A very under appreciated line IMO
I need to dig out Prowl and Wheeljack. I haven't had either of them out since the last move about 3 years ago. For that matter, I haven't actually transformed Mirage or Prime either (my 2 favorites)- although KP Rodimus and Nemesis prime are both transformed and on display.
I haven't looked at this in a while. It just hit me, I think this headsculpt is much better than the horrible playskool esq sculpt that ended up on the released toy. Wonder what happened there? (I'm not a fan of most of the heasculpts through about the first half of the line- I actually bought a spare Prowl, painted the head blue and stuck it on Smokescreen to fix the problem there)
I'm pretty sure it was retailer commitment / distro issues. I live in a town of 100k at the fattest and our 6 toy-carrying stores couldn't keep them on the shelves but never carried more than a single order of wave at a time, no restocks.
Why exactly is that a factor in the high cost? It's not like say Black Convoy or Riije which are very hard to find and cost a lot.
When I started collecting, my very first purchase was Asterisk Sunstreaker, followed by Alternators Jazz. I also have Alternators Swipe, Smokescreen and Bluestreak. I do have a Stepper, as well. This opened the door for me collecting Masterpiece
You don't see why an out of production item, of a popular character, in a premium format, would command a premium? Collecting wasn't always like today, where the same person can exude extreme desperation and extreme thriftiness simultaneously.
Subie wave x2! Had a 2002 WRX when the Alternators Smokescreen and Silverstreak came out(bought both of course), and have a 2015 WRX currently. The alternators line was definitely ahead of its time.
