The Energon Pub

Ah, Alts... I don't have any myself, for the simple reason that, at least to me, the robot modes look fairly unimpressive.

Koloth wrote:Not to mention stores weren't stocking them nearly well enough. And the ones that did weren't moving the product. Heck i could go to Fry's right now and STILL find that Swindle that I never bothered to pick up.

EXACTLY. My Walmart had Bluestreak in for about 2 seconds... since then, they had Skids for like 2 years... still do in fact.
And really, there's some I'd have bought if they had them.

it is their own fault why they didn't make the money on this line.

Indeedy. It wasn't the consumers or the retailers.
SOLE blame is on Hasbro, 99%.

Yes in the collectors market they were high. Because so many were really hard to find. Jazz and Miester are great examples.

I have no further questions your honor.
; )

I just think they would sell more if the store had more Wheeljacks and Camshafts instead of 6 Skids sitting there for the last half year. I know I'm no sales man, but the same six Skids are not selling, and no one is restocking Alternators until they sell.

Duke of Luns wrote:To add to that, there was no storyline/advertising to the line either. Another point is most of the characters are based on G1 guys, and they just ran out of compelling characters. In some cases though, they could have put a few more in, like Ironhide, or Trailbreaker. Plus, there were few Decepticons, and even few compelling ones. Also, it was all just cars, and to some(like me), that got a bit boring.

And another reason(for me) is that they didn't fit into other lines.

I agree with most of that spot on... but the lack of compelling characters... Mirage was Hasbro Alt 13 yet prior to him I had 37 unique characters

Maybe I'm not following the arguement, VP, but I don't think custom characters can count in the defense of the alt line having compelling characters.

As I said kids are lazy, and if they can't think up their own story, they aren't going to make up characters either.

And is that Jeff Gordon standing on Prime's shoulder?

The cars used in the movie was a bay thing (thats why there were 90% gm vehicles and a SALIEN MUSTANG (NOT a FORD Mustang - Yes Salien uses the Ford model, but tech its not a Ford branded car that was used in the movie)...

Check out most of the movie merch, you will find GM licensing on about half of it (I noticed this on some of the books).. I would really love to see hasbro put out alternator-esk versions of the movie toys (LICENSED SCALE MODEL TOYS).. They already have the license, now they just need to design the toys..

I will miss this line. It was something that shouldve been done a long time ago, now they just need to do it again after the movie, with a story line and some kinda advertising (maybe they would pick up the model car collectors as well)

I will sorely miss these... This line was what got me to start collecting again... The best (collector aimed) toy line to come from hasbro (along with the MP toys). I only ever found a few, some I've never seen exept on the net.

I think Hasbro screwed themselves royally on this. Why did they focus on that Cybertron Trilogy, when they could have did a CGI cartoon of Alternators. Put it on at a decent time, advertise, and make sure they had them on store selves.

The Alternators is the best EVER line of Transformers (Excluding MP, but I have non of these). They were beautiful, to scale, model quality detail, and featured the G! guys.

Too bad they are cancelled. While this new cartoon and movie stuff is going on I'll spend my time collecting these.

PS- One complaint, they should have left Optimus Prime out of this line (since MP Prime is near perfect and to scale) and used that Dodge truck for a Hoist (saw a great kitbash of this).

We're getting more after the film arn't we? Lots of Transformer stuff has been put on hold I heard. Alternators are still selling in the UK atleast, got me a Shockblast (Shockwave, I know...) the other day too for half off, I'll be getting the rest before they're out hopefully.

Transformers Evolutions was a fantastic comicbook series, I can't wait for the conclusion. Hasbro need to make toys of these! Optimus Prime as a Train is perfect.

And we should have more Classics on the way, Kup, Hound, 2 repaints of Ramjet, and of course Starscream for Thundercracker. A newer Soundwave should come out too, him as an MP3 player and his cassets become memory cartridges.
Aerialbots too! Damnit Hasbro, get in gear. Classics are awesome. Alternators too but they fall apart easy and some parts require superstrength to transform.

n_tel_ekt wrote:The Alternators is the best EVER line of Transformers (Excluding MP, but I have non of these). They were beautiful, to scale, model quality detail, and featured the G! guys.

Objectively, Alternators are definately not the best line of Transformers ever.

They have a limited cast of characters, most of which are fairly misrepresented from their canon roots.

They have no corresponding media or story line to support them.

They are horrible toys. Children are unable and unwilling to play with them due to the difficulty and fragility of their construction.

Collectors love them, but at the same time are almost afraid to touch them due to fear of breaking an expensive toy.

While once thought of as masterpieces of articulation, they are actually pretty standard as far as Transformers go now. Not only that, but in many cases, their articulation is quite limited in truth due to balance issues.



Don't get me wrong, they are a cool and unique part of the Transformers line. The best however? Not really. Their scope is limited and their design really keeps people from doing anything but looking at them.

Counterpunch wrote:

n_tel_ekt wrote:The Alternators is the best EVER line of Transformers (Excluding MP, but I have non of these). They were beautiful, to scale, model quality detail, and featured the G! guys.

Objectively, Alternators are definately not the best line of Transformers ever.

They have a limited cast of characters, most of which are fairly misrepresented from their canon roots.

They have no corresponding media or story line to support them.

They are horrible toys. Children are unable and unwilling to play with them due to the difficulty and fragility of their construction.

Collectors love them, but at the same time are almost afraid to touch them due to fear of breaking an expensive toy.

While once thought of as masterpieces of articulation, they are actually pretty standard as far as Transformers go now. Not only that, but in many cases, their articulation is quite limited in truth due to balance issues.



Don't get me wrong, they are a cool and unique part of the Transformers line. The best however? Not really. Their scope is limited and their design really keeps people from doing anything but looking at them.

You made alot of good points. But thats my point! Why does Hasbro spread there product so thin. If they didnt they'd be able to intro a wider range of characters in Alternators (your point about the cast size). If they (hasbro) didnt spend 3 whole seasons with the Cybertron trilogy, they could have had at least one Alternators series (your media point). Regarding your point about the "horrible-ness of the line)... First off, I think they were geared torwards the original fans who are now adult collector which is to say they are bad assed highly detailed and look like cars you see in the real world that meant to be displayed. These arent meant to be played with, but for display. Same with the MP's... As a toy they probably suck cuz there hard to transform and are very delicate but they look amazing and more accurate than the original G1 toys. Matter of fact (IMHO), the original G1 toylines were VERY lacking compared to todays stuff. Though most people base there views of toys on many points, I only base mine on these things.

1. Gotta have a cool, reality based Alt mode (like the MP's or Alternators not like most of those cybertron spacey futuristic modes, i see that as cheating).

2. Cool proportionate bot mode (It boggles my mind how some people have so many complaints about MP Megs... The original was HORRIBLE compared to the new one which is super close to the cartoon version and its actually a pistol!!!)

Everything else is extra...

PS - If we cantt have Alternators anymore, Classics and Titanium are the next best thing!

n_tel_ekt wrote:If we cantt have Alternators anymore, Classics and Titanium are the next best thing!

We can't have Tits anymore either.

n_tel_ekt wrote:I think Hasbro screwed themselves royally on this. Why did they focus on that Cybertron Trilogy, when they could have did a CGI cartoon of Alternators. Put it on at a decent time, advertise, and make sure they had them on store selves.

Because that would have flopped horribly?


I'm sorry, but if full-grown adults and people who have had Transformers as long as they can remember are afraid to transform these things once they get a good transformation, then there's no way it would have sold to kids(which, whether you like it or not, are an important demographic for TFs). They're awesome looking, but making them the 'main line' would have not been good for TFs.

I think that what they've been doing for the past year or so has been perfect: you have the 'mainstream' line, with a cartoon, heavier advertising, etc. which is mainly aimed at the younger audience(though the designs are not completely dumbed down so as to still appeal to collectors), with several lines to appeal to the collectors on the shelves as well(alts/classics).

I just hope they can pull that same routine off with Animated, but that isn't looking TOO good.

this isnt realy hasbros doing in the end, its they way the toys themselves are being distributed,

for example. my walmart has 1 woman in charge of ordering stock. she royaly sucks at her job btw. she put one case of alternators out to test and see how they would sell, and me and my collector buddies baught them all. since they sold out, she thought they were good sellers and thus orderd a shitload of shelfwarmers.we either already had them, or didnt want them. so they sat and collected dust. this keeps the newer figs that we want from comeing out, and thats what ups thier value on ebay.

so theres all this stock just sitting in warehouses, doing nothing, and that = lack of sales. and thats why the line is doing horribly. as Counterpunch aid, theres are for collectors, and are horrible toys for kids. they should have marketed them diffrently, like maybe comic shop or online exclusives. widespread distribution of an adult collectible in a child oriented market just doesnt realy work very well.

waaaaghlord wrote:

n_tel_ekt wrote:If we cantt have Alternators anymore, Classics and Titanium are the next best thing!

We can't have Tits anymore either.

Maybe you can't...

this blows!! y do they have 2 take a perfectly good tf line and end it!? I mean i admit they r hard to play around with but they make great diplay pieces car or bot! Im sorry but i'd rather have no more classics then no more alts it was the best line in a long time!
Bond

*RATBAT* wrote:

Decepticon Spike wrote:I blame Hasbro for the lack of Alt. sales. i mean, look at the new Ravage. He's an Wal Mart exclusive, coming out just before the movie toys came out. I found 1 in Columbus, and grabbed him. good thing too, because I've never seen any since.

I find what you say so true where I live. Often times I buy whatever I notice to be tough to come by, when in doubt or making a decision on which toy to purchase.

I was just in a Super Wal-mart last night and they had 10 movie voyager Ratchets and 7 Blackouts--no Ironhide or Starscreams at all. Not to mention that I've only seen like 4 Starscreams total where I live and I bought one of them. I've still only seen 1 Leader class Megatron and like 50 Leader Primes. And I live in the Tampa Bay area in FL.

I also had to drive like 45 minutes to another city just to pick up a Toys R' Us Soundwave re-issue. The first two I wnet to had 0.
Hasbro's distrubution leaves a bit to be desired in a lot of cases.

Exactly! I live in Columbus, Oh, just having moved form Dayton, and we have a ton of Scopinok and Leader Prime here, but not Leader Megs. but, back home, Scopino can't be found, and Leader Megs is common, but no Leader Prime.

The problem with Ebay sellers is that they buy up all the good figures and sell them at a very high price. I seen a bumblebee unleashed movie statue on there for 40 bucks and i got mine for 20 bucks at target. And target has tons of them left.

BumbleBee83 wrote:The problem with Ebay sellers is that they buy up all the good figures and sell them at a very high price. I seen a bumblebee unleashed movie statue on there for 40 bucks and i got mine for 20 bucks at target. And target has tons of them left.

Back in Dayton, there's this store downtown called TAF that sells TF. The owner goes around and buys all of the chaise and short packed figures, and sells them for a hell of a lot. The last time I was there, he wanted almost "$100 for a Alt. Wheeljack.

Poor distribution and lots of repaints of the same vehicle design were the major reasons for the line's failure.

All I know is that the only Alternator I have, XK Ravage...is quite awesome.

Quite a shame, really.