The Energon Pub

Hey all, Im new here but have been collecting since 1985 when my uncle bought me Bruticus for my birthday. I have a ton of G1 figures and always got plenty for the holidays and then as I got older it tapered off to just a couple or one a year.

Now that I have gotten back into collecting, actually picked up a voyager class Megatron today, I have found myself drooling over all of the binaltech and alternator models. My problem is that I have yet to see one in any of the dept stores I frequent. Who online is safe to do business with? is there a thread here that post new model releases?

Im really just looking for suggestions on purchasing my first one...

btw feel free to pm if you have any for sale.

Rob

BBTS, Tfsource, Robotkingdom, and the links on the right side of this forum.

The above mentioned stores are good. eBay works too. You won't find these in retail stores anymore (unless you get really lucky).

My favorite molds are Tracks, Hound, Jazz, Mirage.

www.reprolabels.com sells additional decals for more of a G1 inspired look.

Yeah, as he^ said, finding them in shops won't happen. I got into collecting as these were disappearing from shops so bought all buy two from ebay. It took a lot of patience finding a green Hound, red Sideswipe and Blue Tracks but it was worth the wait to get the right colours!

In case you're not aware, BT are the same as Alts except for some colour variations and the use of metal - BT have die cast car bodies so tend to cost more, although I got lucky once and got BT Overdrive for less than an Alternator.

BTs can be prone to paint chipping and BT Prowl has a problem with wing mirrors breaking off but if you're careful they'll be fine. BTs feel nicer because of the extra weight but they can be so pricey - that's why I bought some BTs but mostly stayed with Alt.

Ebay is definitely your best chance of getting them for lower prices.

Welcome aboard, ridinfast03!

The Binaltech/Alternators line is basically over as Takara seems to have moved on by starting up the Alternity line, which appears to be BT's successor.

You can check this thread for some discussion on BT/Alternators and Alternity.

I have most of the Alternators line, none of the Binaltech. The main reason is the high cost of BT figures. The die cast metal in BT figures is really nice but I find that Alts are solid in construction and even though they are plastic figures, they have a nice heft due to the size. I also have a couple of Alternity figures, which are great too. However, they're about Deluxe class in size whereas the BT/Alts are about Voyager class in size.

I bought a couple Alts on eBay for great prices. I bought a loose but complete Silverstreak, which was only used for display, for $20 shipped. When it arrived, it was in perfect condition, no visible wear, and has tight joints. I also bought a lot of Alts from TFieds, each figure ended up being $20 a piece.

One thing to keep in mind is that there's no rush to snatch up these figures. They're not going anywhere and I've seen a lot of decent sales over the past couple of months so just wait for the best deal you can find. Some people will charge ridiculous prices.

As for advice for your first BT/Alts figure, do you have any preference for character(most of the characters in the line are from G1) and/or for alt mode type? Have you looked through our great gallery for Alternators here? If you like the G1 designs of the Autobot "carbots" like Jazz and Silverstreak, you should take a look at Alternators Meister/Jazz and Alternators Silverstreak. Their designs are very reminiscent of their G1 toys. Note that the Meister/Jazz gallery shows the figure with 3rd party market stickers applied to give it more of a G1 look.

Oh and one more thing to be aware of, BT/Alts figures are definitely in the range of "collector" items rather than toys. The transformation process can be a bit much for some people because every figure I have requires fairly precise movement of parts to properly transform. If you enjoy transforming figures, you should like BT/Alts and Alternity for that matter.

I would say just keep checking prices at different sites and ebay. Sometimes you can find a great deal, but be prepared to shell out a fair ammount of cash for these.

In case you're not into buying repeated molds - be careful cos some figures have the same transformation but look slightly different in bot mode because of where the rear windows go eg Smokescreen and Jazz (Meister). They use a different car model but the transformation is pretty much the same.

Mykltron wrote:In case you're not into buying repeated molds - be careful cos some figures have the same transformation but look slightly different in bot mode because of where the rear windows go eg Smokescreen and Jazz (Meister). They use a different car model but the transformation is pretty much the same.

Bad example there...

Smokescreen and Meister really do have different transformations.

Counterpunch wrote:

Mykltron wrote:In case you're not into buying repeated molds - be careful cos some figures have the same transformation but look slightly different in bot mode because of where the rear windows go eg Smokescreen and Jazz (Meister). They use a different car model but the transformation is pretty much the same.

Bad example there...

Smokescreen and Meister really do have different transformations.

Jazz's leg transformation is one of the more awesome Alt transformations.

Speaking of leg transformations, I really like the Hound/Swindle/Rollbar leg transformations. Nice and simple but enough complexity to not be a straightforward design.

Counterpunch wrote:

Mykltron wrote:In case you're not into buying repeated molds - be careful cos some figures have the same transformation but look slightly different in bot mode because of where the rear windows go eg Smokescreen and Jazz (Meister). They use a different car model but the transformation is pretty much the same.

Bad example there...

Smokescreen and Meister really do have different transformations.

I would agree...when I was first buying these looking for unique molds I passed on the RX-8 mold because I had the Subaru. When I finally got Meister, I was really glad I did. Much better transformation with the legs, and even the arms and front wheel gimmick are a little different...so much easier to get into place for the alt mode, too.

Don't forget the Alternity Bumblebee and Cliffjumper that are coming out around next month. They're as close to Alternator Bee & Cliff as you're we are ever going to get! And since I consider the Masterpiece line the Leader class Alts, I'm also counting the new red Powerglide as an Alt/BT from now on. Gotta fill out those ranks!