even tho the robots ranged from clu ky n awkward to bad, alternators is still on of my top lines. the alt modes are so perfect for car geeks n i would love to see the line brought back w modern engineering n more recognizable not modes. my biggest beef w the line is that a lot of designs feel like they were designed as one character but then had a recognizable head n paint job slapped on. the subaru mold, ravage 2.0 n kinda-sorta jazz get a pass, but the rest don't feel like they mesh w the character they are. hell, shockwave works more than a lot of them because he at least feels like shockwave w a car mode w the proportions n everything.
They were the MPs when the only MPs were MP-01 and Starscream. I LOVED them, clunky bot modes and all. Agree on Mirage...even if he really didn't look anything like Mirage. Second place for me was Skids.
I forgot they were only $20. Today they would cost $75 and somehow be even more hollow and crumbly. After years of fiddling with them the worst that ever happened to any of the ones I have was a side mirror or two breaking off. Good luck saying that about the current MPs in 20 years.
Well, that's not entirely fair. Some of them have fallen prone to swirly-metal-plastic syndrome, from what I've heard. Most notably Tracks. But they certainly could take their share of punishment. The behind-the-scenes history of what went on with all that is pretty interesting. It allowed me to forgive Trailbreaker becoming Swindle, Trailbreaker becoming Prime, Overdrive becoming Windcharger, Windcharger becoming Decepticharge, Camshaft becoming Meister, and I think Cliffjumper becoming Wheeljack if I recall correctly. And probably more that I'm forgetting as the car companies complained here and there. -edit- oh right, Tracks becoming Side Swipe and Sunstreaker becoming Dead End and then Sunstreaker again
My Rodimus had a door break off the slider it's on, but that's not so bad out of the dozen I owned. Still, it would just be crazy to put one of those new Cyberverse 5" deluxes next to an alternator to show what $20 US got you in 2005 compared to now. Is there any other toyline with such stark difference in what you get for your money with a standard retail release?
i had no idea prime was intended to be trailbreaker. i knew swindle was, but even then i thought the mold was ill fitting for trailbreaker. the windcharger/overdrive fiasco was something, but at least the robot mode looks cool despite not resembling any of the intended characters (overcharger's head aside). had no idea about camshaft n cliffjumper's intended releases either. funky. i know they planned a vw bee, but even that design just doesn't feel like bee besides the alt mode. oh well. i got rumble a couple weeks ago n even without arms n the partsforming guns he's honestly one of my favorite toys, probly my top buy of 2019 tbh
It was all Classics, G1 reissues, Animated, and Alternators for me when I first started collecting 10 years ago. I got into Alternators when the line just went extinct, so I thought they were kinda expensive at the time... like $25 a pop in the secondary market, and I memba I felt dirty paying like $30+ for Jazz, and like $45 each for I think Ravage and Rumble misb, $50 for a loose Camshaft? lol.
Actually, I forgot the most obvious one: Alternators Prowl was originally intended to be Red Alert! Which makes a ton of sense if you think about it pre-leg mod.
I had two of every single Alternators release (one open and one sealed) except for Rodimus and Swerve. They all got sold in the 2007/2008 purge except for a Skids, a Shockwave and a heavily modified Sideswipe. I consider them one of the best values ever to hit TFs. I see them at my local vintage toy shop regularly and always think about picking up one or two of them. They were an interesting sidebar in TF toy history.
