The Energon Pub

I am hugely on the Alternators kick and wanted to get some feedback on whether I should actually even worry about the Alternity line until I collect what I want from the Alternators/Binaltech line (which will be a while). I really like some of the Alternity designs a lot, but how do you all rate them? Good experience? Bad experience? Let me know your opinions.

I'm very biased towards Alternity but I have to say that if you can get over the whole "Prime shouldn't be a car, Megatron should have a gun" thing and take them on their own merit they're great. Their car modes are exemplary and highly accurate and their robot modes are fun and have an atmosphere of quality to them. The packaging is great too.

On the downside, they're small, expensive, not terribly G1 accurate and Bumble and Cliff aren't as good as the others.

If you can wait I should be reviewing Alternity Starscream and Skywarp at the end of this month.

These may explain how I feel about the figures in more detail:


viewtopic.php?f=4&t=61215&p=1023454&hilit=alternity#p1023454

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=50790

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=54987

Personally, i like to display MP Prime with my alternators (hate Prime as the Dodge Ram, but love the black repaint - go figure...)

Alternity Bumble and Cliff fit in quite nicely too (i'm a scale freak)- the other Alternity guys like Nemesis Prime and Megs look great in a separate display.

The Alternity line shouldn't really be compared to Binaltech, other than metal content and licensed vehicles. Binaltech is more G1-accurate when possible, for sure, but Alternity has more divergent elements, if that floats your boat.

I only have Convoy, red version, that one's a good one to start with IMO. Automorph is mainly in the front, but the back can be a bit fiddly. Let me warn you, there was an oversight in that area, which could result in breakage of the translucent plastic for securing the feet, or bending the trunk out of shape (or worse). If you didn't mind Go-Bot Prime in G2 (being a Lamborghini), I say check him out.

I think they're nice figures, but the price is a bit difficult to swallow...and it's a bummer that they don't really "fit" with your Alt/BT collection, other than maybe Bumble & Cliff in bot mode.

Thanks everyone for the responses. Special thanks to Diem for posting the links for his reviews. They answered a lot of my questions.

Based on what I have read, seen, and thought about so far....I think I might just need to hold off collecting the Alternity figures. I do think Megs and Convoy will be on my wish list, but it will be a while until I get the notion to buy. I think their price might be putting me off a little, but I don't know for sure. They are also have alt modes that don't exactly knock my socks off. Actually, I can't even come close to justifying the cost of a BB/CJ! The Suzuki Swift is just not a good alt mode what-so-ever.

I will be watching for the reviews on Starscream and Skywarp though. I am extremely interested in those figures.

I feel that Alternity is a really good line.. however I feel its very fragile and its not to be transformed often..

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Let me warn you, there was an oversight in that area, which could result in breakage of the translucent plastic for securing the feet,

No big problem there - I find he's more stable if the feet are not connected to that peg. Diem disagrees with me but I can't get him to stand properly unless I unpeg the back of the feet.

My thoughts:
Prime is not very stable due to a lot of weight from metal parts being in his backpack. His arms are too short and the shoulders set back behind his head (like he's pulling his shoulders back to stick his nipples out) so poses with arms pointing forwards tend to look stumpy and odd. Don't even think about poses with arms crossed across his body!
Transformation is interesting but after a while there is an issue with the automorph for the stomach plate. This can result in jamming if you\re not careful. It's best to help move the stomach plate as you fold the chest down as fixing it when broken is incredibly difficult (this is coming from an experienced kitbasher!).

Megatron is more stable as his weight distribution is better. His samurai shoulder armour is adjustable in several ways so you can spend ages fiddling around to get the look you prefer (this can be good or bad depending on your point of view!). His arms are slightly longer than Prime's and aren't set so far back so posing looks better.
The chest transformation is the same as Prime's but the arms and legs are different enough that you don't feel you're buying the same figure. He has the same issue as Prime with the jamming, only it happened after two or three transformations so heed my earlier warning!
My only gripe with Megatron is that they used a smaller car. If they'd used the same sized car he'd be a bit taller and i think that would just suit him better. He almost has guns as his biog says he can shoot some sort of beam from his arms blades.

I won't comment on the third mold as you seem to have already decided against him.

Mykltron wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Let me warn you, there was an oversight in that area, which could result in breakage of the translucent plastic for securing the feet,

No big problem there - I find he's more stable if the feet are not connected to that peg. Diem disagrees with me but I can't get him to stand properly unless I unpeg the back of the feet.
.

I think all three of us are right...the pegs are supposed to fit into the sockets but it's incredibly difficult to get them to fit flush and it can indeed cause problems with the transparent plastic. I found that if you just put the very tip of the peg in you get the maximum of stability with the minimum of breakiness.

I've enjoyed the Alternity line so far. I don't mind the way that Convoy and Megatron are cars because it's not arbitrary as it's due to the background story of Alternity. I really like the Bumble/Cliff mold as it largely references the G1 design and Bumble(bee) is my favourite character.

For me, the largest draw of the line is the engineering of the figures and transformation design. I don't mind the size as Deluxe class figures are my ideal size class. The price is the main negative point because you're looking at $40 to $50 on average, though I've managed to buy my figures on sale for 25% to 30% off.

If you are still spending $$$ on alternators, I'd say skip it for now.

I picked up the Alternity black prime, and he looks great with the rest of my "classics" nemesis guys, (nemesis prime, nemesis CC, RID Scourge)

I like the line, and if they weren't so &^%#ing expensive I'd replace silverstreak, Prowl and Smokescreen with the prime mold.

I do think the door-wings on the arms kind of sucks, but other than that it is a great mold.

I have no use for the BB or CJ, as I prefer the existing classics molds.

From the things you kind folks have said, i think I am going to stick with Alternators for a while. I still have a ton of those to buy, so it will be quite some time before I am done collecting that line.

I actually like the Alternity molds (Prime and Megatron), but I just can't justify buying them at this point. They are too expensive for what they are IMO. I doubt the price will ever come down, so I am probably screwed forever on that. I will admit that I would like to have the Megs mold-the Nissan Z is very nice looking. The GT-R I can pass on, and I just don't like the Suzuki alt mode at all........though I do like the BB/CJ bot mode. I don't know. If I ever get lucky and find a deal on them, I will jump on it.