I don’t need these Alternators anymore! You can have them.
You know, for money.
This is Alternators Tracks, Dead End, and Swindle, together again for the first time. Each has their weapon, and I made sure to dust and clean them off with disinfecting wipes since they’ve been in storage for a long, long time. Which is why I’m happy to load them off on someone else! If you want to be that lucky dude or dudette, then you will enjoy this eBay page.
*sigh*….how do I not have a Swindle yet? Stupid Munitioner running like 100 bucks on ebay…..
Anywho, this is pretty sweet. I have Rollbar already (Repo’d him to Tantrum though), I’ll probably bid. YAY!
I may be in the minority here, but I think the Alternator line was utterly pointless. While I’m not one to say that die cast metal is a better way, in this case it was all the line had.
I think that the Alternator/BinalTech molds were terrible as toys; they were insanely difficult to transform and full of fidgity little parts that all wanted to occupy the same space at the same time. And even when you got it to robot mode, the kibble made the range motion lackluster.
So what I’m saying is they were crummy toys, but the die cast BinalTech versions are fantastic display pieces. They grab your attention and stand out. Alternators basically took out the only selling point of the line by dropping the metal.
As far as I’m concerned, the lack of metal was a plus. I avoid die-cast toys like the plague, if I can help it. There’s nothing about metal toy construction that is intrinsically better, and actually there’s a lot about it that’s intrinsically inferior. Die-cast is only revered because it’s old.
No doubt. Plus the old G1 guys were ALL metal, they only used it for small sections like feet. The Titanium molds are a key example of why I’m with you on this – they’re clunky, unstable and more expensive than they need to be.
I’m with you on that for toys you’d want to, ya know, play with. But on BinalTech, the shiny painted metal looks infinitely nicer than plain unpainted plastic. Just so long as you didn’t pick them up and transform them. I loved that the Kiss Players Optimus was plastic, but painted so it looked metal. Why couldn’t we have more of that?
Sounds like you don’t like die-cast, you just like paint.
Wow. Those molds STILL look like garbage. Awkward, gangly, and there is pretty much not play in them. The Scoobie mold was the only one that really played sort of well, but it was still blocky and dumb.
I think you guys are smoking crack. The Alternators line rocked. Complex transformations and realistic car modes equals win for me. Not liking Alternators is like not liking Masterpiece figures.
My wife actually learned to transform Alternator’s Hound because she thought he was so cool–and that’s saying something, as she’s a Barbie girl.
I already have all these figures, though. The only mold I still need is Rumble’s
Like Walky said, they were cool back in 2003-2005 when they were the only way you could get updated toys of G1 guys, but now we have new official toys of G1 characters all over the place. Toys that serve better as toys, have generally more elegant (or at least non-frustrating) engineering and transformations, and designs that are made with thought put into who they are supposed to be.
Sometimes it didn’t feel like Alternators/Binaltech were designed with much thought put into who the toy was supposed to be, though part of this problem was the difficulty in securing licenses and the demands of those car manufacturers.
Also, Transformers products should be fun. Alternators/Binaltech and Masterpiece were generally not fun at all.
I don’t know, Alternators are what actually made me buy a Transformer after 10 years without one. I still love my Mirage & Hound. Then again, that was before TF saturated the universe again and I’m not actively going for new TF now, so I’m probably not who they should market for.
I also don’t like Masterpiece figures very much. I would have skipped Rodimus entirely if I hadn’t wanted a Wreckers-scale version of him.
She’s in a Barbie world?
Heh. I keep having the argument with myself that I should sell my Swindle and Dead End, and that “I might miss them someday” is not a good enough reason to hang onto them forever.
Thank God for laziness consistently rendering the argument moot.
Lol, I just finally sold my Titanium Menasor under the same circumstance. It was buying USB Blaster…*sigh*..AGAIN…on ebay that finally forced me to pull the trigger and soften the blow of 84 bucks.
I’d bid for em’ but I have all these. Even have Mirage, Ravage and Rumble.
I really liked the Alternator/Binaltech line. Transformers based on realistic car modes is what got me hooked on this line. It was the first time I got excited for Transformers since 1986.
I don’t see where the transformations were all that complex, They all seemed kind of easy to me. Once I transformed them, it was pretty easy to get them back into vehicle mode.
Any words on why you don’t need them anymore?
Alternators were cool back when they were the only way to get new versions of G1 guys. Now that I have multiple shelves of Classics and the like, a bunch of oversized annoyingly-frustrating G1 guys are surplus to requirements.
I have to say, I do like the Hound/Swindle/Rollbar mold. I think it works, except for the short reach of the arms. The only Shockwave I have is Alternator Shockwave and I think he worked REALLY well. Some of them were utter failures though, like Side Swipe. He just looks goofy. Willis is right though, back when THEY were the NEW version of G1, they couldn’t be cooler, but things have changed a bit I guess.
So David, have you seen ?
I just reached into the past and placed a comic about it in 2009: http://www.shortpacked.com/2009/comic/book-10/02-i-am-also-batman/macpc/
First of all, I totally forgot about that Mac/PC comic, I was rolling back then, I’m rolling now. Second, I love how the cheap-o knock off USBs are like 12 bucks and the actual Ravage DL is like 140 now. lol. *sigh*. At least I gots me my USB Blaster! YAY!