Tbf, have you transformed some of these alternator molds?! I bought Smokescreen when I was first getting back into bots as an adult, and he wasn't fun then, either. I have one of each mold, and I think I remember Hound being fun to play with. The rest are pretty storage items. I need to revisit them, and Alternity and HA, but when I do I don't want to even go to the trouble of transforming them.

Alternators are important historically as adult toys in the brand, But Still Though, frustrating at the time.. Collect all two, Sideswipe and Smokescreen. Here's Sideswipe in Yellow. Hound in yellow. Orange? Smokescreen again, but a new box. Hurry, supplies will only last three years tops. That was how I remember it, anyway. In retrospect, I'm glad they're still getting love. Too bad the shelf warming, the tight parts moving and the dizzying amount of redecos left a bad taste in my mouth that I still feel a little bit. Once I actually found some of the better molds I never saw stocked, I appreciated them more.

What a time to be alive, during the Unicron Trilogy.  
So, it's the early 2000's. RID had some awesome new molds just prior to UT (Omega Prime is still in my top ten), but a lot of oddball beast (re)releases and most memorable aside from that, extremely annoying deluxe car transformations. Armada had MF Unicron (I had bought a toy since elementary school and bought him within of a year of first seeing him. Even my retail boss then was like, "Dude, they made Unicron!***"), but overall molds were less complicated (too much so) and less exciting. Compare RID OP's various combinations and modes to Armada Prime's. Articulation took a huge hit, too. Energon brought more of the same, but worse. Deluxe cars "combined", but only barely. The Energon Starscream mold was my favorite of the line, and that was just because he was heavily reminiscent of an older, better toy. The rest were not far removed from the worst post movie g1 bricks.

That's right when I hitched my wagon and became a fan again. Makes me wonder how I stuck it out so long after joining at such a low point. If it wasn't for Alternators, Cybertron Soundwave and especially the first Classics wave I surely would've given up. Hasbro wasn't helping, either. Hey, but what about the Titanium line? You boys like metal, right? These, um, well I guess they're Transformers anyway, they have metal in the parts that fall off! Neat. Oh yeah, and we have some movies coming. Very lore heavy, leaning into the sci-fi after Lucas showed people don't like paying for the cutscenes and explosions without purpose. The Animated toys may look odd now, but at the time they were a godsend. Strange times.


[***Too bad I was too distracted by covid icu nursing and alcoholism when the Haslab Unicron hit and passed. 1 yr sober last Friday, and one of my big regrets. Glad I don't do aa, or I might get the Half Baked/Bob Sagat treatment. I just picked up mp 44 for going cold turkey a whole year, but even he was a "good deal" at msrp compared to Unicron now. I still have the Armada one, I guess...]
.]

 

you know that all these wrong names were because the copyright was unavailable at the time, right?
They've been working on reclaiming them back since Armada...
(think of all the ones they'd lost that they've got back now... Ravage, Bluestreak, Shockwave, Hot Rod, Bumble-freaking-bee jus toff the top of my head)

I mean, guessing they decided Stepper isn't a name they're going to use here, since he's been Ricochet every time he's been done or referenced in the states. It's more of a Meister/Jazz situation.

Guessing you mean the weird grey? because he was properly red just like every single transforming Rumble toy ever released.

 

I can totally appreciate your points, but you're certainly going pretty overboard with them.

Another thing to consider is they're certainly a product of their time. We're looking at this line now with 20/20 vision nearly 19 years removed at this point. Things are certainly different now, all things considered; no one is denying that.

One thing I think you're missing is there were many factors and obstacles to overcome just to get any saud figure made. It must be considered just how much resistance Mr. Archer and Co. received from several car manufacturers. Many automotive companies simply didn't want their products cut up in ways never intended. Again, we have to keep our perspectives in the time: a time pre-2007 movie when Transformers wasn't raking in the sheer amounts of money the movie franchise eventually brought.

A "mismanaged mess"? C'MON. For a novelty line that was originally only intended to be 6 Autobots only and done, things have went pretty well, all things considered.

I think we need to also consider this thread is an appreciation thread. I mean, we can certainly like/dislike certain aspects more than others, but to totally come in a thread and just deficate all over a toy line with hyperbole is really just uncool.

 

Someone made 3D replicas on the Radicons forums recently, search for them!

 

Thanks Napjr, I will do that for sure!

You don't really need to defend a 20 year old mismanaged line. It's over for a reason. MP continued, Alternators did not. Classics continued, Alternators did not. It's pretty simple why. No doubt Hasbro encountered head winds but there are good ways to manage to that, and bad ways. For instance Sideswipe doesn't have to be a Lambo, the Viper is fine since nobody else lays claim to that in an obvious way. But the transformation and robot mode other than the arms is totally wrong and has no actual molded Sideswipe details. Hence why so many fans looked to mod theirs from the start. They needed to rework more of that mold for it to work, they didn't bother, thus it isn't popular and hasn't even really appreciated in price over time. You can't always go cheap and expect to excite people.

Also it really should be obvious by now but Hasbro doesn't have to claim names to use them legally. They choose to operate that way, many companies do not. You will never see a Tygra called Tiger Man or Tigcat or Bengali because they "lost the name." But Hasbro will use "Marvel's Tigra." That's stupidity we put up with that is not necessary. Hasbro wants to profit off the names, not protect them by the way. They want to be able to sue others as an investment. That's part of your too big to fail in action there.

We are talking the line was mismanaged by Hasbro as an entity, not just the TF team. But when you see how the line evolved, the mismanagement and poor planning is beyond clear to anyone objective. You can't really appreciate that line a whole lot as a fan of the TransFormer characters they named them, but you can appreciate the beauty of the forms as most are quite elegant even if some have some very awkward articulation and joints. Smokescreen will always be a head turner.

Again the simple reality is if it wasn't deeply flawed, these figures would be valuable on the aftermarket today. Instead they aren't valuable, one of the only lines out there that hasn't really appreciated in value at all over time. I'm sad to see it that way, but it tells the story they wrote.

 

I mean, I'm not sure what you're argument is. During its time Binaltech/Alternators blew the doors off the fandom. The story I've heard is that it was so successful that Hasbro and Takara scrambled to extend the line from the original six cars.

The reason the aftermarket on these figures has tanked is because they're no longer tied to any current line. BT/Alts only fit with other BT/Alts, thus, they only interest existing BT/Alt fans. We've all completed our BT/Alt collections years ago.

Fans who get into Studio Series or WFC will hunt for earlier figures that could fit into an SS or WFC collection. Sometimes that's just early SS/WFC figures, and sometimes its stuff that came out even earlier but would look good. These figures have risen incredibly high in value because there's an active population of collectors who want to "catch up" with the current hotness. BT/Alts do not fit in with a modern SS or WFC collection.

I won't disagree that Hasbro had an imperfect handling of the line but that's irrelevant to how fans received the line when it was new and how we perceive it now.

 

Alternators/Binaltech is a line that's not slavish to G1, but does want to carry on the spirit of the characters and the brand. It's a little something old and a little something new. It's a modern spin on old favorites.

One of the reasons other lines took off is because they are a bit more slavish to G1, and even at the time, many fans wanted what Generations and Masterpiece are now.

At this point (and especially with this thread), those of us who still love the line simply want to love it on its own merits, not for what it "should have been." This is why this thread exists and still marches on.

 

The only Alternator I ever saw unsold for longer than a week on a shelf during the time where I was living was Windcharger. I had to really time my TF runs to catch many of these as they were released because they sold quickly. No, the secondary market never bloomed for them, but I think many of the Alternator collectors are fine with that. They were never meant to replace G1. Also, the lack of a robust secondary market has given me the opportunity over the past year to obtain some of the ones I had previously let go of. It is nice not having to pay triple digits for them. Hasbro could not hit the $20 price point for them today in their original scale and build.

 

Alternators was a line that, by design, prioritized the vehicle modes over the robot modes. And that by itself made it unusual as a Transformers line, and a lot of fans have never forgiven it. Even today, newer fans will look back at it dismissively and say "why didn't they put more effort into the robot modes?" But it was really the true successor to Diaclone's Car Robots in that regard, focus on the vehicles and the robot modes just were what they were.

I still think Takara should look into putting out maybe one figure a year, partnering up with a car company whenever they come out with a hot new model they want to promote, and making a Transformer out of it. Maybe it could even be Convoy every time, the character isn't relevant. I can't imagine with their strong car enthusiast culture that such toys wouldn't sell.

 

I'd say if they were doing that, go new characters only. One at a time is a good reason to give focus and development to a character. IDW could get on board, four or six issue limited series to each.

 

Exactly!!for their time they were awesome. The’re figures that can be appreciated now, and they’re definitely still awesome. It’s funny that some people judge things decades later, applying modern prices or engineering, or trademark names in the current times, to 20-30 years ago.
To me that’s like saying the Atari was garbage, when you got a new Super Nintendo in the 90s. In this case the Atari is still fun, and for it’s time revolutionary. And now years later to some the Super Nintendo looks bad because we have the Nintendo switch. I am sure in 20 years newer and older fans will complain about figures we have now, to what they have in the future. Just because things change in technology or prices or trade marks, doesn’t make previous games or figures a hot mess.

 

Agreed, but one further, there are very few TFs that could pass in vehical modes for models. Not all of the masterpieces can claim that. The majority of alternators can.
Also, as someone who has as many gi Joe figures as he does TFs, the scale of alternators is the closest thing we've reached yet. When posing a dio, are you going to put a 6" bot next to a 4" Joe?

 

Our recent discussion prompted me to think about how I feel about the line again, so I thought it would be fun to go through each release and make my own notes about the line. I’m trying to put myself back in the headspace of myself when these releases came out instead of the 20/20 vision we have now.


Presupposions:

My attraction to the line was the accurate, modern (at the time) alt modes featuring favorite G1 characters. At no point collecting this line did I want this line to be 100% slavish to G1. Having favorite characters of old slightly (or dramatically, in some cases) reimagined appealed greatly to me.

Another aspect of the line is the line was scaled, and felt like model cars as Transformers figures. The interiors and engine/weapons along with the rubber tires attracted me to them as well. Even most of them had actual steering! The model car aspect greatly engaged me with an interest in making my own custom figures. The fact the line did the same for many other people made this attraction of the line even more interesting, to the point that it’s been one of my favorite times as a fan/collector ever since G1.

The focus on vehicles, specifically real world, licensed cars largely attracted me to the line as well. Most of the vehicles chosen I really like a lot, especially the vehicles used for the tuner car scene. Culture at the time, especially with movies like The Fast and the Furious/TFATF: Tokyo Drift, really attracted me to create my own customized cars with non-factory decos.

The lack of fiction (aside from G1 and some of the BT profiles) really gave my imagination a new playground for these characters. I have my own fan fiction created, both some in documents/illustrations and just rattling around in my own head. This is another aspect for my creativity with a Transformers line to expand; it greatly influenced my collecting the line.

People can say what they want now about the robot designs and such, but at the time it was revolutionary to have very articulated robots with articulated hands even! THAT car able to turn into THAT robot was nothing short of magic.

In short, this line really spoke to me in very specific ways that other lines did not at the time and currently do not (at least in the same ways).

Alternators

I’m going to address Alternators first, since I collecting Alt/BT with Alternators first. Initially, it was the price differential that kept me away completely from BTs; then I sought just the variants that differed from the Alts; later I simply became a completionist running through both lines.



01. Smokescreen (Subaru Impreza WRC 2003) – My biggest issue with this one is that there is a very marked difference between this and the BT version, as the BT has painted diecast auto parts and looks more premium. Still, this was my first figure, and I loved everything about it. I loved that it was a real world rally car, complete with all of the sponsorship labels. Everything about the choices enthralled me.




02. Side Swipe (Dodge Viper SRT-10) – Of course, we later found out that the mold was originally designed for Tracks, but even with the choices made I loved it for Side Swipe. The Viper felt like a really good choice for the character, given that the assumption the Countach was unavailable. The Vipe was enough of a luxury sports car that seemed suitable. I really like the transform on this one as well. If I had to discuss anything that bothered me, it’s the articulation of the legs and the feet stability. Moveable hip skirts would have gone a long way in helping this figure out. The feet need some sort of extra help, as the ball joints aren’t the best choice there. But overall, I still felt this was a good, solid release for Alt #2.




03. Autobot Hound (Jeep Wrangler Sport) – This one is really where Alternators started to shine a lot. The Jeep harkens back to the G1 Hound some, but it’s a domestic vehicle instead of a military one. I feel this choice really grounded Hound as a character. The robot mode was very reminiscent to Hound without being 100% slavish. I love the wheel suspension as well as the extra wheel case hiding the gun. I’d like for the steering mechanism to be present, but I figured you can’t have everything.




04. Silverstreak (Subaru Impreza WRX) (right and left hand drive versions) – “Silverstreak” was a bit of a product of its time referencing the Commemorative Series reissue bearing the same name. The original toy was completely silver, so this also seemed like one similar to Hound where it was something old and something new at the same time. As a hold over from Binaltech, the right hand drive made for a fun variant. The Subaru was a good choice, and especially looks nice in silver. The new head was a nice touch as well as some of the minor retooling (it’s not a straight redeco).




05. Dead End (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) – Granted, when we all saw this mold, we were hoping this would be Sunstreaker. Also, seemingly just a name slap on this figure, this figure ended up being super cool. This figure has several retooled and new parts, making it very unique from Side Swipe. We finally got a Decepticon, something we learned that was never intended for this line anyways. While cool on its own merit, it does suffer from the same leg and feet problems Side Swipe does. Still, the robot mode is cool, and the black Viper coupe with the racing trimmings is stunning in person.




06. Autobot Tracks (Chevrolet Corvette Z06) – This is probably the one closest to its G1 counterpart, and it looks great. The signature Corvette blue is used, and the robot mode is definitively Tracks. However, like Side Swipe/Dead End, the figure does suffer some issues with robot mode engineering. The legs are super tight when transforming, and can be difficult to transform. The rocker panels as missiles are cool, but the kibble of them is a bit annoying in robot mode. The pop out arm blasters are super cool, and generally everything about this figures is as well. The faux chest part has never bothered me, as it would look a bit odd with just the undercarriage as the chest. Again, there are a lot of good choices with this one here.

By this point, we’re four (4) molds in, and the line has taken off with collectors. Having a Transformers line just geared towards collectors was something unheard of as well. Granted, Masterpiece started at the same time as Binaltech, but those figures were released nearly one for every two years or so, making the comparison a bit meaningless. For the first time, really, collectors finally had a Transformers line that catered to them. At the time, I couldn't have been happier.




07. Meister (Mazda RX-8) – Now THIS one was just IT for me. Virtually any minor gripe I felt I had with the Impreza figure, I felt this figure perfected it. It basically has the same transformation scheme, but it’s got its own spins on this. The auto choice was really cool, and it fits Jaz…er, Meister. Speaking of the name, I always felt that since Hasbro didn’t have the name “JAZZ” currently trademarked, the name choice added to the coolness just a bit. It felt like its own thing and not slavish to G1, especially with the racing sponsors missing. This figure is one that I loved so very much.




08. Swindle (Jeep Wrangler TJ Custom) – Here again, we have a figure that’s very reminiscent of its G1 counterpart, but it’s something slightly different. Swindle as a character seems like he can stand on his own without his other four Combaticon friends. Even though we found out the figure was intended for Trailbreaker, the idea that Swindle someone “stole” this from Trailbreaker is very much in character. The slight retooling (much like the previous figures) continues to make this a different figure.




09. Grimlock (Ford Mustang GT) – Ah, here’s the one many are divided on. Honestly for me, I really like the choice of making the Dinobot leader a Mustang. Given the parameters of the line, I’ve always thought it suited him. The car looks great in silver, and I like all of the choices made for this one. The sword attaching to the undercarriage is pretty cool. It’s neat that the sword is translucent, and it feels more like an energy effect accessory, something that wasn’t that common at the time.

If anything, the transformation does kind of stumble over itself in the arm area. The hood can be a bit finicky to close. However, given everything this figure is, overall it’s still cool in my book.



10. Battle Ravage (Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible) – This is probably the one I disliked the most, just because I thought it was stupid to have a humanoid design for Ravage. Since I’m not a Beast Wars fan of any kind, it’s still off putting to me. That said, a head was easy enough to swap out, and that’s exactly what I did. Problem solved and an instant custom character to boot.




11. Windcharger (Honda S2000) – While this figure has the same leg/foot problems as the Viper mold, the car choice is really cool. At this point, we know that the Alternators figures and Binaltech figures are made hand in hand. The visor being upside down and the removal of the exhaust pipe/gun rifle were baffling, but otherwise this is another pretty cool release. The convertible top that has swappable parts to be either up or down is a nice touch. This figure does suffer from the same problem Smokescreen does without the painted diecast. Red plastic often times looks and even feels a bit cheap. At this point, there are a few select characters starting to shelfwarm, and part of me always thought this may have influenced collectors in their thinking. On its own merits, the S2000 is a cool release, even though it feels more like Overdrive (the intended character) and less like Windcharger.




12. Shockblast (Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed Version II) – Much like Grimlock, this character choice was a bit controversial. I LOVED it. I think the sport version of this mold colored in purple was PERFECT for Shockblast. Again, Hasbro was working on trademarks at the time, and didn’t have “SHOCKWAVE” secured. It’s a minor point, as it’s easy to see this is intended to be Shockwave.




13. Wheeljack (2005 Ford Mustang Street Tuning) – This for me was another brilliant set of choices. The base car is white, but it sports blue double racing stripes; it’s a domestic car with a sporty appearance without being an actual race car. I thought it was kinda cool to have the one who created Grimlock to share the same body type – almost as if there was a spare body in the shop to use. Wheeljack is cool. Mustangs are cool. I really like it.




14. Decepticharge (Mugen Honda S2000) – Ah, now here we go! This is the first character specifically created for this line! On one hand, perhaps we should have gotten this as actually Windcharger, since it does use the head specifically designed for the character. For some, using this head and then taking the same mold designated for “WINDCHARGER” with the previous release was a bizarre choice…but these are the choices I felt were fun, BECAUSE they’re unexpected. Having all of the made up sponsors was a cool addition as well. Adding to the excitement to this one was the small amount of test shots that made it out with a “mud” deco on the car.



15. Swerve (Chevrolet Corvette Z06) – The tragedy of this release is that it’s not Road Rage, especially with the pack-in BT Tracks hood decal. Still, it’s cool we got a red Corvette. GPS on this figure creates a very unwanted issue, and one I’ve personally experienced with this figure already. Still, it’s cool we got another character in a figure with a few unexpected things creating another unique release.




16. Prowl (Acura RSX) – This release probably has the most resistance from me, but not in the way you may think. Personally, I’d really gotten to the point with this line that the vehicle needed to have a real world application. That said, I did like the subverting expectations for Prowl having a new mold and not using the Subaru. I do not like the baby blue parts, though. I prefer Prowl to have his legs flipped around as well (I just prefer the look of that, not necessarily because it’s “G1”). The head sculpt is really cool, too. The baton as an included weapon is really neat as well. Lots of really good things to talk about with this one, even given my own proclivities.




17. Autobot Skids (Scion xB) – This is another figure that I think the shelf-warming nature hurts everyone’s feelings about this release. Admittedly, even as “cool” as Hasbro tried to make the deco on this figure, the deco and the “window tint deter from this figure. I do like the vehicle choice, and the character assignment is really good. The robot design is cool, and the transform is neat. This is certainly one that I much prefer the Binaltech release of, but I’ll save my thoughts on Binaltech….




18. Sunstreaker (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe) – Ah! We have arrived! Granted, I think Dead End is a cool release on its own (see above). Sunstreaker is a character that I particularly think fits this line well (Tracks, too). Really, other than the issues with the mold discussed earlier, the only thing I nitpick on this release is the yellow showing through as a bit greenish. But, gracious, that’s nitpicking. It was really great to have Side Swipe and his brother together again for the first time since G1.




19. Rollbar (Jeep Wrangler TJ Custom) – While it would have been cool to have this as the intended Trailbreaker, I do think it’s cool that we’ve again received something we didn’t expect. Granted it’s a straight redeco, but it’s once again subverting expectations and giving us something that we otherwise would probably never have. Goodness, if I wanted to nitpick this one, I’d just prefer the visor to be translucent.




20. Ricochet (Subaru Impreza WRX) – Yet another figure that shelfwarmed, but one I thought was super cool. Much like Prowl, many were expecting Stepper or “RICOCHET” to be a redeco of Meister. I’d probably been just as happy, but I like the change here just for fun. Virtually the only thing I dislike about the figure is the nose paint app. Talk about nitpicking!/bad pun




21. Optimus Prime (Dodge Ram SRT-10) – After quite a spell, we finally have the Autobot leader show up in this line. While Masterpiece MP-1 Convoy (20th Anniversary Optimus Prime for the US release) certainly was created to scale with Alternators/Binaltech, the robot towering over every other figure was a bit strange, especially at this point with a more robust cast. Having Optimus Prime as a pickup truck was cool, and it was also neat that it was a bigger vehicle than the rest. It was bigger, but not terribly big.

Admittedly, the robot mode is a bit odd looking, but it’s still cool. I’d preferred an F-150, but the SRT-10 was cool since it had a Viper engine. The red plastic on the figure looks a little cheap, but that can be fixed with a red paint application (and I’ll get there!).




22. Mirage (Ford GT) – This is one of my favorite toys. Ever. Period. It’s simply beautiful. I’m just going to leave it at that.




23. Autobot Camshaft (Acura RSX) – So, one of the things we learned about this line is that Camshaft was actually planned fairly early on as a Meister redeco. This choice may have worked better, but Camshaft here ended up being cool in its own right. However, this figure was actually planned to be “Bluestreak”, as evidenced by the choices for the figure and even the license plate. This figure was a bit harder to find at retail, thus making it a bit sought after. This figure does feel more like a name slap, but it’s still cool we got it. I think if Hasbro had actually been able to name this one “Bluestreak”, maybe it would be a bit more popular? Who knows?




24. Nemesis Prime (Dodge Ram SRT-10, Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive) – If the Dodge Ram Optimus Prime wasn’t cool enough, let’s make this figure a doppelganger Decepticon! I will admit that some of the choices of the vehicle really didn’t suit me, but it’s still extremely cool. The black plastic looks much better than the red plastic Optimus sports. Just the black and teal looks so awesome of this figure.




25. Decepticon Rumble (Honda Civic Si, Wal*Mart exclusive) – I think out of all of the figures released in this line, this one feels the most different, as the arms make it more “toyetic”. I think it would have been cooler to have the arms transform into pile drivers instead of having them spring loaded. For those who think this figure should be named “Frenzy”, see ref. the RIRFIB debate. In this instance, Rumble references the G1 toy, not the animation error. But I digress, the car mode is cool, and the figure is otherwise generally cool.




26. Ravage (Jaguar XK, Wal*Mart exclusive) – In stark contrast to its casemate, Ravage is really awesome. For me, this corrected the Battle Ravage character assignment misstep from earlier in the line. This figure is much cooler in just about every way. The lack of hood access does deter just a bit, but that’s more of a nitpick than anything to me, really. The car rocks, and the figure is super cool.




27. Rodimus (Ford GT, Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive) – The line comes to its “indefinite hiatus” with this figure, and I feel it’s a really good bookend to the line. It’s a cool figure, but I do have to say that I much prefer the Kiss Players version, particularly due to the racing stripes in the alt mode. I really can’t say much about the Hasbro release other than it’s cool to have this good of a bookend to the line.

If you're interested, stay tuned for my thoughts on the Binaltech releases  

 

Epic post is epic.

I was a BT-first guy, only picked up, Alts where they were unique and/or distinct (and never even got a whiff of the Walmart wave, but I did get SDCC Rodimus)

anyways, fully agree with about 90% of what you had to say, thanks for sharing!!!

 

Thanks for the props, bud  

I was the other way around, as I started getting Binaltechs when there was a different release. I'll share soon how I ended up going down the rabbit hole hook, line, and sinker soon...and my story is a bit more odd than one may think!

Writing everything there really took me back getting each release and how I felt about em. Man...I was so hardcore then. I still am, but in different ways.

 

@Superquad7 Very nice post  

Truth be told, I've been thinking for a while now that it would be a nice idea to revisit the line in this thread. Except I would want to do it a figure per week, merging both Alt and BT. Thus starting with Smokescreen and discussing both BT and Alt.

That's also how I approach the line.

Sure, at the time I considered it a collectors grade neo-G1 line. But if you do that and see Alt/BT as such, then it fails. It uses G1 names, it used G1 design cues, but it isn't really G1 the way many wanted it. Fans wanted the characters they remembered from the cartoon and comics, be modernised while still remaining true to their appearance. Exactly what we would end up getting through Masterpiece.

What Alt/BT is a return to the roots of the toyline. Diaclone were cars first that transformed into robots/mechs, and as such when they became Transformers the toys and the animation models didn't line up (the fault of the animation models, but it helped in making it a succes). Alt/BT follows that exact same line of thinking: first get the car right, then the robot. And as such there were clear differences with the G1 source material. It may not have been what many fans wanted, but it is very nice and retro approach to the brand. Something which we've never seen before and likely will never see again.

That would be lovely...and judging by prices of current figures, expensive.

 

For me, it was exact;y what you said about how premium Smokescreen looked in BT with all the blue parts painted, plus, honestly it was just easier to get them - not sure I’d it was the same everywhere, but around here Smokescreem shelfwarmed terrible, being that he was the sole wave 1 release, and choked out a lot of the first year of the line. Finding any alts besides him was pretty frustrating until they finally cleared out.

 

The only thing that even comes close these days is the Crossovers line. By nature of being a tie-in, they have to get the Ecto-1 or the BTTF time machine or the Jurassic Park Ford Explorer correct, and then the robot is whatever. I've really enjoyed Ectotron precisely because of how rare it is these days to get a complete, accurate, detailed car, one without gaps or missing areas or what have you. Think the complaints about visible knees in SS Hot Rod – that sort of thing is par for the course with the main lines now.

 

Agreed. Many props to you @SegaGenesis, and keep up the good fight.

 

Yeah, if I'd had the money initially, I'd started with Binaltech. $20ish is less than half of $50ish the Binaltechs were, so that was my draw in. About midstream in the line, I just started buying Alts online for the most part, and I'd buy by the case usually just to get the wave. Generally, the cashmere already released I'd needed for a custom anyways, so it worked out. Notably, I wasn't getting anything else at the time as well.