The Energon Pub

I'm looking into getting some Alternators/Binaltech figures. My brother has Alternators Rodimus, which I find to be a nifty figure. Now Rodimus feels fairly substantial in the hand and I really like that. I like Transformers that don't feel like they're fragile.

Now I've come to a fork in the road: Do I want plastic construction or die cast metal construction?

I'm aware of some concerns with metal such as paint chipping. I was wondering if any of you folks who have experience with Alternators, Binaltech, or both would share your knowledge of how they handle and hold up to moderate transformation.

Just to be more specific the following Transformers are on my to-get list:

Smokescreen/Silverstreak
Hound/Swindle/Rollbar
Dead End/Sunstreaker
Meister/Shockblast
Decepticharge
Optimus Prime
Skids(I have an Alternators Skids on its way to me but if someone who has the BT version could share their experience, it would be very cool)

So if anyone would be so kind as to simply put in their 2 cents, I would be extremely grateful!

personally i like alternators better.... for one theyre regularly cheaper. but my main reason is because binaltechs are prone to scratching and chipping of paint during transformation because of the die cast metal. with plastic, that issue is nearly nonexistent

That's true, but my Alternators are pretty prone to getting hairline scratches on them from just looking at them. I've Transformed my Alts only a handful of times and they ALL have tiny hairline scratches on them. My Alt Nemesis Prime had them when I took him out of his factory sealed box!

I only have 3 Binaltechs (Arcee, Laserwave and Battle Ravage) and none of them have chipped or anything. They look great and have a nice weight to them. My Alternity Black Convoy also doesn't have the hairline scratch problem that my Alternators have.

Sooooo...if I had the money, I'd invest in the Binaltechs instead of the Alternators. However, if you don't have oodles of cash to burn, go for the Alternators. Nothing's wrong with them, and the scratches are VERY minor. I just like the weight that metal adds to figures. I guess that's just a preference thing.

Thanks for the info, guys!

Cost is definitely the top factor for me and from my experience with AT Rodimus, I definitely like the general AT physical qualities.

So both paint coated metal are susceptible to wear but as long as there's no rough housing, I think either direction should be fine for me on that point.

Hmm, I like the weight of metal Transformers but I saw a video review earlier today involving BT Convoy. It seemed to be really top heavy and had issues balancing. I don't know if the reviewer didn't correctly transform it but maybe the fact that a lot of Convoy was metal caused the balance issue. Has anyone run into balance problems when setting up their BT figures for display?

Well, it is a bit trickier to pose my Binaltechs as compared to my Alts. My Alternity Black Convoy was always falling over until I adjusted his pose. I've never had any of my Alts topple over though. The BT's are a little trickier to pose, but once you get them in a steady pose, they won't fall. However, my Alternators have never fallen once. Funny, because they have more scratches than the Binaltechs who have toppled over 3 or 4 times.

Excellent, thanks again for the info, WD!

I figure that since I've come to appreciate the Alternators/Binaltech designs after having a chance to play around with Rodimus, I think I can't go wrong either way. It'll mostly come down to pricing for me. If I happen to luck out and find a cheaper BT close to Alternator pricing, I think I may choose the BT.

No problem. Good luck too, because finding a BT figure that's close to an Alt price is a hard thing to do. The only figures I can think of where the Alt and BT prices are similar are Skids and Battle Ravage. If you want Arcee, you have no choice but to go the BT route (there's no Alt Arcee). Luckily, she's not really expensive.

I would suggest buying one of each and deciding from there...or buy Alts and just mix in a couple of BTs for variety like I do. Alts are definitely the friendlier to mess around with in my opinion, but BTs are pretty damn cool.

Alternators/Binaltechs were a really great line of figures (I wish it didn't end). From what you state above it does seem you would be happier with the alts because of the cost, and lack of paint issues. You might want to consider a mix of molds (Hound as binaltech; Swindle as alt. Grimlock as binaltech, Wheeljack as alt; etc).

Thanks for the extra suggestions, guys! Gentlemen and scholars, the lot of you are.

Yeah, I think that overall, I prefer the Alternators due to pricing but also due to details like colour schemes. Alt Sunstreaker's shade of yellow looks better to me from the gallery photos here, especially when the Alt and BT versions are shown side by side. On the other hand, I prefer the colour scheme on BT Convoy over Alt OP. I think that the tactile experience of a BT may be something I would dig but like I said, Alt Rodimus seems substantial in the hand, it's not hollow in construction, so even a plastic Alt figure is relatively beefy all things considered.

I'll start off with an Alt and a BT. I have an Alt Skids due in a few days so once I get it, I think I'll get an affordable BT and go from there. So, yeah, it looks like I'll have a mix of Alts and BTs in my collection. It's my ideal set up as of this moment unless I win the lottery. Here's hoping, haha!

I started as a Binaltech snob. I thought the Alternators were cheap and not worth getting, especially since I was considering it a companion line to MP Optimus Prime so diecast was the call of the day! Until my Sideswipe's hood chipped. And it kept chipping. So did Smokescreen. And MP Prime for that matter. So after BT Hound I switched to Alts for Jazz and haven't gone back. They are still solid and well worth the money.

And on a related note, go for the SDCC Alternator Hot Rod/Rodimus over the KISS version. The flames really make a huge difference and the only thing KISS has to offer (besides being Party Vaned) is the fishing pole that, while awesome, isn't worth the price.

zodconvoy wrote:And on a related note, go for the SDCC Alternator Hot Rod/Rodimus over the KISS version. The flames really make a huge difference and the only thing KISS has to offer (besides being Party Vaned) is the fishing pole that, while awesome, isn't worth the price.

Due to the price I have the Alt, but am I the only person that thinks kiss Rodimus looks better? Sure, the Alt is closer to accurate for the character, but I think the kiss one is a sharper looking vehicle.

zodconvoy wrote:I started as a Binaltech snob. I thought the Alternators were cheap and not worth getting, especially since I was considering it a companion line to MP Optimus Prime so diecast was the call of the day! Until my Sideswipe's hood chipped. And it kept chipping. So did Smokescreen. And MP Prime for that matter. So after BT Hound I switched to Alts for Jazz and haven't gone back. They are still solid and well worth the money.

And on a related note, go for the SDCC Alternator Hot Rod/Rodimus over the KISS version. The flames really make a huge difference and the only thing KISS has to offer (besides being Party Vaned) is the fishing pole that, while awesome, isn't worth the price.

Yeah, Alt or BT, the design concept of the lines really appeal to me so I think my collection will be heavy on Alts with a few BTs at most. I like to rotate my Transformers on display so I know any Alts or BTs I have will have to be handled every once in a while. Going the Alt route will save me money and avoid chance of paint chipping. So whatever BTs I have will likely not get too much attention to avoid possible damage.

Kibble wrote:Due to the price I have the Alt, but am I the only person that thinks kiss Rodimus looks better? Sure, the Alt is closer to accurate for the character, but I think the kiss one is a sharper looking vehicle.

I prefer the SDCC version because the golden flames work with the red in robot and alt modes while the Kiss version's white racing stripes contrast a bit too sharply with the red for me in robot mode. The alt looks great, though. The fishing rod/arm blaster accessory is a neat homage too.

Convotron wrote:The fishing rod/arm blaster accessory is a neat homage too.

Want to know what works better? Take Clockers oversized exhausts and stick them on SDCC Hot Rods arms with the clear rubber bands they package everything with. TA-DAA!

Costs under $10.00.

Kibble wrote:

zodconvoy wrote:And on a related note, go for the SDCC Alternator Hot Rod/Rodimus over the KISS version. The flames really make a huge difference and the only thing KISS has to offer (besides being Party Vaned) is the fishing pole that, while awesome, isn't worth the price.

Due to the price I have the Alt, but am I the only person that thinks kiss Rodimus looks better? Sure, the Alt is closer to accurate for the character, but I think the kiss one is a sharper looking vehicle.

I agree with this.

Only Binaltech I own is Convoy, the rest are the KISS Players series.

The one thing that puts KISS Players over Alternators besides the extra gal fig, CD,accessories and box is the extra paint apps over the plastic. My Convoy meets Melissa did get chipped in between his lower heel (risks of the brand) but not as much worst as the die-cast Binaltechs.

The price for me technically ain't the issue, well it is an issue if you buy an expensive item that chips despite all your careful handling. So once transformed to bot mode, they never go back.

It's up to the fan which he /she prefers then (binaltech has more balance and won't be easily be blown dring posing but the frickin' chipping is really cr@ppy!

The weight is both a blessing and a curse for me. I like the feel of metal on my hands but posing them is tricky at best, especially if the ball joints were even slightly loose. I used to have a Binaltech Broadblast and it kept toppling over unless it was kinda leaning forward, same goes for my Binaltech Grimlock. Meanwhile, my Alternator Wheeljack is posed doing a high kick.

I have both in my collection. I agree with everything that already been said. Sometimes the BT looks slightly better than the Alt...Smokescreen.

Smokescreen--if you can afford the BT version, it is much better looking than Alt
Silverstreak--it does not matter which way you go. They look exactly alike. The only way to tell the difference is by picking them up and feeling the weight difference. I transform the Alt. more often than the BT.
Hound--does not matter which way you go. I have both and they look identical
Jazz--if you want plain white, go with the Alternator. The BT has a pearl finish

My advice is to avoid OP. He is a brick. You can't see his thighs cos of his groin plate and his lower legs take up 80% of the leg anyway. I don't even enjoy his transformation.

I mainly collected Alternators due to budget and sometimes the BT counterpart were just the wrong colour (eg Blue Alt Tracks or Yellow BT Tracks, easy choice!). I got some BTs because they just feel so nice. So my advice is by some of each.

zodconvoy wrote:

Convotron wrote:The fishing rod/arm blaster accessory is a neat homage too.

Want to know what works better? Take Clockers oversized exhausts and stick them on SDCC Hot Rods arms with the clear rubber bands they package everything with. TA-DAA!

Costs under $10.00.

Very nice! I'm going to give that a go for sure.

Nujevad wrote:The weight is both a blessing and a curse for me. I like the feel of metal on my hands but posing them is tricky at best, especially if the ball joints were even slightly loose. I used to have a Binaltech Broadblast and it kept toppling over unless it was kinda leaning forward, same goes for my Binaltech Grimlock. Meanwhile, my Alternator Wheeljack is posed doing a high kick.

Yeah, the weight is great but depending on the particular figure, the distribution of the weight may be more trouble than it's worth for me because I really do like a variety of options for displaying my figures.

If I had the money, I'd get one of each and use the Alts for regular display while I have the BTs secured in bubble wrap and then housed in plexiglass chambers so they don't get chipped, haha.

Cascadia wrote:I have both in my collection. I agree with everything that already been said. Sometimes the BT looks slightly better than the Alt...Smokescreen.

Smokescreen--if you can afford the BT version, it is much better looking than Alt
Silverstreak--it does not matter which way you go. They look exactly alike. The only way to tell the difference is by picking them up and feeling the weight difference. I transform the Alt. more often than the BT.
Hound--does not matter which way you go. I have both and they look identical
Jazz--if you want plain white, go with the Alternator. The BT has a pearl finish

BT Smokescreen looks so impressive! Unfortunately, the pricing of it is out of my budget but it's on my hunt list!

Silverstreak, and Jazz, I'm going for the Alts. I plan on getting the Reprolabel set for Jazz too.

Alt/BT OP/Convoy is pretty much last on my list of figures to look for. I really do like the alt mode but, yes, the robot mode is a bit of a brick and from what I've seen the hood/chest as well as the shoulders aren't really secured. There's no tabbing or anything so they just freely float. Hmm, I can't say I'm thrilled about that. I'd rather have a solid and secure brick rather than a floppy brick if I had to choose one or the other.

I like Prime...especially BT Convoy.

Of the BTs I plan to own, Convoy is definitely one of them. I looked through the Alt OP and BT Convoy galleries and the BT won me over for the differences in use of paint/colour scheme.

I bought every version of each figure that I could find... BT's/Alts, color variations, etc., and I have to say, each line has merit, and it really comes down to what you want in you figures.

I have opened all of my BT's and find them to be great, but they don't get transformed back and forth. I use them to display in poses. I have all the alts MISB, but bought some doubles so I could do the reprolabel stickers to them to make the 'new' characters like Tantrum (from red Swindle--forgettable name), Divebomb from Ricochet (I think), and I have doubles of Silverstreak, Shockblast, Battle Ravage out of the package.

Plus, alt Ravage/puma robot mode is fantastic, Alt Rumble is cool (needs hands), so in many cases alts are better just because they continued where BT went Kiss Play, and then died (SURPRISE!!!).

The fishing pole/arm blasters for KP Rodimus are overrated, they barely stay on, even if they do, the Clocker idea is fabulous and much more affordable.

I suggest looking closely at prices, and buying what you like regardless of line, and when they are the exact same, go cheapest!

If you are starting with Alt Skids, you might consider the BT Asterick Blaster, BT Blaster is excellent.

Great to know, tigertracks 24! I really appreciate the wealth of experience everyone is sharing! It definitely makes the decision process much simpler for me and anyone else who is just starting their Alt/BT collection.

I really like the look of the G1 inspired Alt Ravage and Alt Rumble. Alt Ravage's Jaguar XK alt mode looks darn good too.

I'm pretty much choosing mostly Alts at this point due to much more approachable pricing but I'm definitely going to jump on any closely priced BTs.

I've looked through BT Blaster's gallery here and I dig the colour scheme. He's on my list for sure!

tigertracks 24 wrote:If you are starting with Alt Skids, you might consider the BT Asterick Blaster, BT Blaster is excellent.

I've wanted a BT Broadcast for a long time...just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Maybe I'll make him a BotCon hunt figure...