The Energon Pub

The Argent Meister I ordered from BBTS came in yesterday. It is incredible. It is now easily one of my favorite TF's. The die cast looks great, the car model is exactly like the real thing, and the robot mode is 100 percent G1 Jazz. Amazing figure.

The only other Alternator/Binaltech I have is Prime (I didn't get back into the hobby till last year). Jazz seems to be so much nicer than Prime. I have a few questions:

1. Are all of the Binaltech figures mostly die-cast?
2. Is Jazz just a better figure than Prime, or is it a diffence of Binaltech vs. Alternators in general.

I am trying to decide to invest the money in Alternators or Binaltech for future purchases.

Most of the Binaltech figures are Diecast, I think only Mirage wasn't? Someone will correct me!

The RX-8 mold is just way better than the Ram mold. Leaps and bounds better. I have the whole alternators line, and the Ram is the worst, IMHO.

I'd suggest getting someone from the Jeep mold (I perfer Hound) and someone from the Subaru mold (which has almost the exact same transformation as the RX-8 mold) and maybe the Mustang mold, although it is notoriously hard to transform.

SJ21 wrote:The Argent Meister I ordered from BBTS came in yesterday. It is incredible. It is now easily one of my favorite TF's. The die cast looks great, the car model is exactly like the real thing, and the robot mode is 100 percent G1 Jazz. Amazing figure.

The only other Alternator/Binaltech I have is Prime (I didn't get back into the hobby till last year). Jazz seems to be so much nicer than Prime. I have a few questions:

1. Are all of the Binaltech figures mostly die-cast?
2. Is Jazz just a better figure than Prime, or is it a diffence of Binaltech vs. Alternators in general.

I am trying to decide to invest the money in Alternators or Binaltech for future purchases.

1. Yes all Binaltech figures are mostly die-cast. Alternators on the other hand , only plastic.

2. I don't own Meister, but given the Prime mold is one of the weaker molds in the line I'd say its likely Jazz is better.


As for suggestions, Hound, and Sideswipe I think are pretty much the best. Although Sunstreaker and/or Dead End look better in car mode since they have the racing kit. While Sideswipe is just a civilian stock Dodge Viper.

Grimlock looks outstanding in Robot mode, but is a pain to transform. same goes for Wheeljack (same mold and all).

and Silverstreak is O.K. But clearly there are better molds.
Starting with the racing version of the mold: Smokescreen.

and look into Rodimu/Mirage if only for their vehicle mode.

You can take a look at the galleries right here on Seibertron if you need visual help.

i think shockwave(shockblast) used the same mold as jazz.

i reccomend grimlock or wheeljack only if you can get past how hard his head transformation is

The Subaru mold is good, the RX-8 mold is basically the same but tweaked a little. The Viper mold is alright, but the articulation is lacking (or more accurately, hindered) in robot mode. The Jeep mold is good. The Mustang mode is pretty damn bad, beaten only by the Ram mold.

I just can't get over how nice the Binaltech version is. Even the box is nicer. Amazing. I guess that is why the cost of buying these guys is so much different. I guess I am going to have to stick to the BBTS clearance shelf for these guys for now.

If you do not have the Meister/Jazz version of this, I highly recommend you order it.

Thanks for your imput!

primeoptimus wrote:i think shockwave(shockblast) used the same mold as jazz.

i reccomend grimlock or wheeljack only if you can get past how hard his head transformation is

The new Argent Meister is a hybrid actually. He has Meister's robot parts, but Shockwave's car parts.

You started out on a high note for sure. The RX8 mold is probably the best overall Alt/BT figure.

On to the questions, forgive some of the repetition:

1. BTs have various amounts of die-cast, Alts are all plastic. Binaltech Asterisk seemed to use less die-cast iirc, KISS Players are considered BTs, but they have no die-cast. Also, the e-hobby clear Mirage is a die-cast-free BT.

2. Jazz is definitely better than Prime. I don't think Prime is as bad as some others do, but he ranks very low on the list for desirable molds.

As for recommendations, pretty much everything everyone has said so far, just don't overlook the Corvette mold.

PorQPine wrote:As for recommendations, pretty much everything everyone has said so far, just don't overlook the Corvette mold.

The Corvette mold is really nice IMHO - probably one of the more underrated of the line.

Jazz is one of the better molds in Alt/Binaltech. He's one of my faves too.

For future purchases, I recommend the Ford GT mold, either Rodimus or Mirage along with the Corvette mold. The Subaru mold (Streak, Smokescreen, etc) is great too.

PorQPine wrote:You started out on a high note for sure. The RX8 mold is probably the best overall Alt/BT figure.

On to the questions, forgive some of the repetition:

1. BTs have various amounts of die-cast, Alts are all plastic. Binaltech Asterisk seemed to use less die-cast iirc, KISS Players are considered BTs, but they have no die-cast. Also, the e-hobby clear Mirage is a die-cast-free BT.

You know the day they can produce transparent dice cast metal will be a joyous occasion for all TF collectors out there.

I agree with everything said here.

I do tend to like the all plastic altenators better though. They are lighter and I can put them in much crazier poses. I also do not have to worry about paint chipping off the metal like with my BTs. But thats just me.


You should check this out:

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... -jazz/535/

I love the labels on my white Jazz, not sure how they would look on the silver, but man do they liven up a drab colorsceam in my opinion.


Of course my prowl is redalert and my redalert is prowl thanks to reprolables as well. Love those guys.

The Dodge Ram mold is not that bad, but the Honda Civic is much worse. Also, the Mustang mold is not that hard to transform, once you get used to it.

Yeah, and applying a cheese grater to your genitals doesn't feel so bad after a while. There's still no good reason to do it in the first place.

Sledge wrote:Yeah, and applying a cheese grater to your genitals doesn't feel so bad after a while. There's still no good reason to do it in the first place.

I take it you're the type of person who finds Masterpiece Megatron a bit difficult to transform then?

I personally love the Subaru mold the best, but the Jeep is second best imho. I have one of each. I have Ricochet and Rollbar, and they are both fantastic figures. The next one I want is SDCC Rodimus.

I take it you're the type of person who finds Masterpiece Megatron a bit difficult to transform then?

No, I'm the type of person who didn't think Megatron looked good enough to be worth the money.

Now that I'm back in employment I'm going to order the revised Binaltechs.

As for Meister - he is, in my opinion, the best of the Binaltech line. The transformation is greatly improved over the Subaru mold especially in terms of the arm and leg transformation. You won't have concerns with scratching the paint on Meister as the transformation method of the arms and legs is better thought out.

As for the diecast Binaltechs - the series from BT-1 to BT-16 were diecast, together with the three BT Asterisk releases (they were just repaints with a slight retooling for Red Alert). The BT Kiss Play figures were plastic but are superior to the Alternators as the plastic was painted. BT Liger is plastic too. It looks like the future Binaltechs are back to diecast which is a good thing.

Finally, for future selections - here are a couple which have been missed. SBT-Skids is actually very poseable and isn't top heavy compared to the likes of Wheeljack/Grimlock. BT Overdrive is also a great transformation and has the least kibble in robot mode. However is isn't as poseable as the likes of Jazz - but he's better than Sideswipe or Deadend.

Geez, cheese grater to the genitals. That seems a bit harsh.

I think, in the future I will pick up the Binaltech versions of these guys. I love the diecast.

I saw the reprolabels stickers for Jazz. They looked really good on the white, but i don't think they would have the same visual pop on the silver. It is a shame too becuase I would buy that sticker kit. Keep it more G1.

SJ21 wrote:Geez, cheese grater to the genitals. That seems a bit harsh.

I think, in the future I will pick up the Binaltech versions of these guys. I love the diecast.

I saw the reprolabels stickers for Jazz. They looked really good on the white, but i don't think they would have the same visual pop on the silver. It is a shame too becuase I would buy that sticker kit. Keep it more G1.

Alternators/Binaltech are great. Binaltech are the more appealing and exciting figures with the die-cast, but I would have to say Alternators are much more friendly if you intend to actually mess around with them. I got BT Convoy recently and it really gave me a new found respect for the mold (as I would have agreed that he was a weaker mold in the Alt line) and I've actually had a lot of fun playing around with it. However, I've started to notice more paint chips appearing even handeling it with care. Anyhow, my point is if you plan for them to be more than just display pieces and it will bother you that they're not in pristine condition, you may want to go with Alternators. But you have a BT so you should be able to get an idea of how it's going to hold up for your intents...

Also, I don't see Skids listed in the thread. I find that to be a pretty fun mold. Not the most exciting alt mode, but a pretty sharp looking bot and a lot of fun.

Overcracker wrote:

PorQPine wrote:You started out on a high note for sure. The RX8 mold is probably the best overall Alt/BT figure.

On to the questions, forgive some of the repetition:

1. BTs have various amounts of die-cast, Alts are all plastic. Binaltech Asterisk seemed to use less die-cast iirc, KISS Players are considered BTs, but they have no die-cast. Also, the e-hobby clear Mirage is a die-cast-free BT.

You know the day they can produce transparent dice cast metal will be a joyous occasion for all TF collectors out there.

Abso-friggin'-lutely.

They already did that in Star Trek IV; transparent aluminum!

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_aluminum )

I meant to ask - what's the mold like with this release? Are any of the joints loose compared to Shockwave?

The RX8 design is one of the best in the BT line. Glad you like it so much, it was partly respsonsible for me buying a real one. If you can, try to get the white version of Jazz and Shockwave also. If you get the Reprolabel stickers for Jazz it really is a nice piece.

By the way I applied the Hydrahead stickers on my Argent Meister, turns the Autobot into a Decepticon but with the blue/purple visor that he has they match pretty well.

I would say that in robot mode, Grimlock is the best looking of the line. He really suits the Mustang.

JetfireUK - the only problem I had with my Argent Meister was one of those plastic foot supports was too loose and couldnt do its job but clear nail varnish fixed that.

Argent Meister? Who's that? The Prime Minister of Argentina?