I think you are mistaken here. The line was successful enough that it carried well past the expectations of those at Hasbro (they said so much during various BotCons). I think it became expendable with the movie line, and the need to streamline the brand (Dodge, Honda, and Ford cars would cheapen the deal that was struck with GM as well). To me the Alt/BT line is a subsection of the MP's. Unfortunately I feel that in today's world Alternators would retail for at least $35 to keep similar standards. I tried the HA toys, but the designs feel cheaper (aside from Jazz), the scale is too large, and the plastic tires kill me. Long story short the line was anything but a failure.
But if that were true, wouldn't Hasbro put MPs on the backburner as well? Now that the movies are out I'd think it'd be a great time to bring ALT/BT back as the movies brought new interest into the franchise as well as rekindled those who grew out of it when they grew up from the 80s. Unfortunately at the price point that they'd have to sell these at they'd still be only for a small market.
That's a good point about the MP's... And yeah, with the size and the engineering and diecast, it would be really expensive nowadays. I don't see that this can really be resurrected unless it's vicariously through Alternity. And Alternity seems to be finished as well. (they had de cast, right?)
Alternators didn't have die cast, BinalTech and Alternity did. Alternators were about $20-$25, iirc, back in the day. Now they'd probably be at least $35, I'd think.
Heh, I'm just getting ready to purchase the last Alt I need to finish the line and was thinking about them a little myself. Great line and very enjoyable, although I can't see them coming back. Even to release repaints and/or slight remolds, Hasbro would need to reacquire the licenses from the car manufacturers, which adds a massive upfront cost for them...assuming the manufacturers were even willing to provide said licenses (do all of the Alt car models even exist any more?). Especially since the line would likely only be a collector-oriented thing with a limited release, since it failed at retail. And then there's the other issue with Alternators returning: The fandom bitching. Sure, everyone loves Alternators and Binaltech now, with the line over and some perspective to reflect on them, but remember how it was at the time? "Shockwave and Grimlock aren't cars!", "Optimus Prime isn't a semi and is out of scale with...something or other", "Jazz doesn't have stripes!", "It's ShockWAVE not ShockBLAST!", "Windcharger's gun is wrong!", "Alternators suck because they're plastic!", "Binaltechs suck because their paint chips!", "Smokescreen/Wheeljack/etc don't look like they did in G1!", "There aren't enough Decepticons!", "Tracks doesn't have flames on his hood!", "Swerve comes with a flame sticker for Tracks, but it's not G1 enough!", "Decepticharge?!", etc, etc, etc. As soon as the line started up again, the love and fond memories would end and all that would start up again.
I miss them as well and the Mrs. really misses them (seriously. She's thinking of putting her collection up for sale but Alts are not on the list). *Turns the lights down low* *Starts the soft music*
This for me too. Alts served their purpose, and are cool to look at but I can't say I'm dying for them to make a comeback. Same with Human Alliance. Alts were well on the way out LONG before the first movie was released.
That's one of questions I'd love to find out about. Whether or not releasing them now would still require licensing since they are older models of cars. I'm pretty sure they still do but would the renewal process be that difficult as they've already been released before? Personally I would not mind one bit if they released the obvious repaints from the older molds to start things off. New car models can be looked at further down the line but obvious repaints like Frenzy would make me a very very happy person. I dunno if I would qualify it as failed at retail. I don't recall seeing or hearing much about Alternators shelfwarming. It can be perceived as a failure from a production/profit standpoint but they did sell. What's curious is that ALTs have even disappeared as an exclusives option. Most likely due to licensing. Dude, I would go through all that just to see them come back! I regret nothing!
One major problem was case assortments. Wave 1 was two Smokescreens. JUST Smokescreen. And retailers did their typical overordering on the first wave. Then Wave 2 was one Sideswipe... and ANOTHER Smokescreen. He shelfwarmed for years, which made retailers stop ordering. If Hasbro had been able to get more different molds to market simultaneously, instead of one at a time, the line might have sold better.
I don't dearly miss alts, but I still display and take good care of the ones I own. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.
And HIGHLY underused. At least Takara put out a Broadblast with that mold. The xB, Civic and XK need more use.
I don't know what Hasbro's expectations were. But interviews with Takara staff make it pretty clear that the Binaltech toys and their Alternity successors all underperformed compared to Takara's hopes. And since Takara were the people actually designing and making the toys...
Alt/BT are the reason why I started collecting. Rebate or not they're worth buying. I would love another start with these at retail. Yes please come back.
I never got any Alternators, as I was busy buying Energon (stupid young me), but now I regret it. I'd LOVE a return of Alternators, but I suppose it ended since it's a very collector oriented line and the licenses cost more than was fruitful for Hasbro.
