Alternity Nissan GT-R Convoy Silverand and Red Editions

[Tober]

Official stock photos of Alternity Nissan GT-R Convoy A-01 Ultimate Metal Silver edition and A-02 Vibrant Red edition.

LINK (http://hk.rd.yahoo.com/blog/mod/art_title/*http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/iam-cybergundam/article?mid=14303)

I'm liking the bot mode pictures but the seams in the car mode are much more obvious in the smaller scale. :(

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/ap_20080926103136102jpg.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/ap_20080926103128681jpg.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/ap_20080926103119507jpg.jpg

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/ap_20080926103110222jpg.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/ap_20080926103144865jpg.jpg

[gamblor916]

The silver one looks good. The red against the blue doesn't look right.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Good lord i hope this line continues past the initial release! I would love if they had creative license to use the GM models from TF2 and create these beautiful diecast transformers!

[Tober]

Yep, and I'm not liking the more obvious way his head is sitting against the silver on the red version. It ruins his iconic head profile and looks confusing.

[Firecracker]

Oh, I'm all over this! Red version is Gobot Optimus reincarnate.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Yep, and I'm not liking the more obvious way his head is sitting against the silver on the red version. It ruins his iconic head profile and looks confusing.

Yeah, i think on both versions the plate behind the head is ruining the head profile a bit - would have been nice if it folded back out of the way completely. I guess there may or may not be a reason for that, i just want to have it in my hands and find out for myself! I'm really liking the small and subtle Autobot logo on the groin!

[Pulse]

Now the Silver one doesn't look at all like Prime but it still looks damn :cool:!

At first impressions, the Red one is obviously meant to be Prime but IMHO it just doesn't work with the Alternity GT-R mould...

[MV75]

I like the variety of colours that the red one has, but I still prefer the silver. :)

[Soundwarp]

I'm a fan of both.

[dirge]

I just can't get excited by this. While I understand the reasons why, the choice of Convoy just turns me right off. There are so many G1 characters which I would have found far more compelling. The red & blue colour scheme looks very forced.

[GoktimusPrime]

I think they both look nice but the silver one looks nicer to me.

And Optimus Prime has been done in silver before, as in Optimus Prime's movie-universe Cybertronian "Protoform" form.
http://www.miloroom.com/roboroom/images_movie/mov_procter_proto01.jpg

[MV75]

So they both are supposed to be optimus are they? Meh, I just like the whole thing, looks a nice meld of movie/alternator.

[kurdt_the_goat]

All you Prime as a sports car haters.. i know what you want!
Inspired by kelvinchang99's custom BT Smokescreen, i'd love to see this released for real!

http://www.australian-postcodes.com/alternity-smokescreen.jpg

[Tober]

That's kinda cool, but I cant see Nissan agreeing to anything other than official colors. So I guess we can still expect to see Pearl White as Magnus and Jet Black as Nemesis Prime ;)

[GoktimusPrime]

So they both are supposed to be optimus are they?
Yes, and together they make a... Convoy! *bada-boom-TISH* :D


All you Prime as a sports car haters.. i know what you want!
A reminder that Optimus Prime was a Lamborghini Diablo in 1995 (http://www.cliffbee.com/reviews/gprime.php)? :)

[liegeprime]

Erm how can you tell that its a smaller scale? How smaller is it than Alts/BTs? Hhmmm not another Prime. Couldn't they think of any other character to begin with? Wonder if they'll license the Nissan Micra for Bumblebee? NOW THAT I WOULD GRAB in a heartbeat!!
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/liegeprime/NIssanMicra.jpg
Then of course the usual reapaint to cliffjumper colors :p:rolleyes: Just add a spoiler to the micra... which would look weird :p

With all these questions Im posting , I reckon I should've posted in the Questions for newbies/not so newbies thread as well heheheheh:D.

[Tober]

Erm how can you tell that its a smaller scale? How smaller is it than Alts/BTs? Hhmmm not another Prime. Couldn't they think of any other character to begin with? Wonder if they'll license the Nissan Micra for Bumblebee? NOW THAT I WOULD GRAB in a heartbeat!! then of course the usual reapaint to cliffjumper colors :p:rolleyes:

With all these questions Im posting , I reckon I should've posted in the Questions for newbies/not so newbies thread as well heheheheh:D.

Alternity is a little taller than a Deluxe. It has been showen at events and has been confirmed to be 1:32 scale.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/DSC00328.jpg


Optimus is just simply iconic. Given that there is no information on other upcoming Alternity molds it is currently assumed that this is a one-off mold. Strong sales might see more molds made.. but I'm speculating.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I just noticed that the plate behind his head is lowered in that prototype pic. Hopefully that carried through to the final production model.

[liegeprime]

Thanks Tober. Man, that is small. :(:( But then if it was Bumblebee and Cilffy, it would fit just fine with my Alts :D:D. I mean when Classics bee came out everyone was clamoring how its in scale to the bots in Alts/BTs hehehe. Is this gonna be diecast? gonna be expensive if it is.

[The_Damned]

these looks very passable.

[GoktimusPrime]

Given that there is no information on other upcoming Alternity molds it is currently assumed that this is a one-off mold. Strong sales might see more molds made.. but I'm speculating.
Well isn't that how Masterpiece started? :)

[MV75]

Erm how can you tell that its a smaller scale? How smaller is it than Alts/BTs? Hhmmm not another Prime. Couldn't they think of any other character to begin with? Wonder if they'll license the Nissan Micra for Bumblebee? NOW THAT I WOULD GRAB in a heartbeat!!
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/liegeprime/NIssanMicra.jpg errg
Then of course the usual reapaint to cliffjumper colors :p:rolleyes: Just add a spoiler to the micra... which would look weird :p

With all these questions Im posting , I reckon I should've posted in the Questions for newbies/not so newbies thread as well heheheheh:D.

Oh hell no you didn't just suggest that thing. That Datsun is an abomination.

You know how you vomit just that little bit into your mouth? Those things are the trigger to that.


All you Prime as a sports car haters.. i know what you want!
Inspired by kelvinchang99's custom BT Smokescreen, i'd love to see this released for real!

http://www.australian-postcodes.com/alternity-smokescreen.jpg

That's a perfect fit. Especially on where smokescreen originally came from. :)


No probs

Yes diecast, at around $50 a pop it's quite expensive.


Not for our market, it isn't expensive at all. ;)

[Tober]

Thanks Tober. Man, that is small. :(:( But then if it was Bumblebee and Cilffy, it would fit just fine with my Alts :D:D. I mean when Classics bee came out everyone was clamoring how its in scale to the bots in Alts/BTs hehehe. Is this gonna be diecast? gonna be expensive if it is.

No probs :)

Yes diecast, at around $50 a pop it's quite expensive.


Well isn't that how Masterpiece started? :)

Yep, 5 years later we have 3 molds and 7/8 releases with little consistency. :confused:

[Pulse]

All you Prime as a sports car haters.. i know what you want!
Inspired by kelvinchang99's custom BT Smokescreen, i'd love to see this released for real!

http://www.australian-postcodes.com/alternity-smokescreen.jpg

With a head befitting of G1 Smokescreen, that would race off the shelves... :D

[Kyle]

I actually prefer the red one... :o

[dirge]

All you Prime as a sports car haters.. i know what you want!
Inspired by kelvinchang99's custom BT Smokescreen, i'd love to see this released for real!

(picture of car dressed as Smokescreen clipped)


I don't mind Prime (well, Convoy, but close enough) as a car. What annoys me is that TakaraTomy - especially since the merger - are begining lines with a Convoy and not really delving much past that. Nike Free, Music Label and now Alternity.

What I really enjoy about BT is the diversity. It's not another line with some generic grey jet called Starscream, some randomly menacing guy called Megatron, a red truck called Optimus Prime and a white repaint called Ultra Magnus.

I _love_ the fact we got a Dead End toy - even if he looks like Sunstreaker. I love the fact that we got a Sunstreaker toy. Overdrive! Streak! Swindle! Laserwave! Skids! None of these characters had ever really been revisited.

BT sort of died in the skidplate because the character choices became lazy and erratic. What the **** was with the Skids repaint _not_ being called Ironhide and painted red? (Red) Alert as a Streak repaint really didn't fit, especially when the Drag Stripe repaint of Overdrive was canned.

This new line has potential, but I wish TT wasn't shoehorning Convoy in and the beginning of every single line. I might get excited about #2, if it's not Magnus.

PS. Spychanger Prime is nothing special. It's just rare... I still like it, BTW.

[kup]

I just can't get excited by this. While I understand the reasons why, the choice of Convoy just turns me right off. There are so many G1 characters which I would have found far more compelling. The red & blue colour scheme looks very forced.

Yeah I am also not liking this first Alternity for the same reason.

I find it interesting that they have changed the Fire Convoy head of the prototypes to a more traditional G1 convoy head.

[Saintly]

hmmm preferring the red over silver but not because the red looks like Prime. The silver looks kinda... boring

[griffin]

I just don't get this new line. We already have the BT line, re-continued, so is the only real point of this Alternity line is to have Deluxe sized BT type toys to make them more affordable to fans? Is it just a marketting thing, to generate more sales by people more willing to spend $40 instead of $50? And does that mean we will end up seeing a whole new range of BT-styled TFs Characters that people like me already have in BT-size? I know this first one is a new design, but what if the rest end up just being scaled down BT toys (like KOs)? There might be new collectors interested (like Universe had its first time collectors), and even if these were all new designs, we are bound to see most of the same old Gen1 characters again, which will just bug the long time collectors who want to see Gen1 characters yet to be homaged.
I feel I should be more excited about the complexity and realism of this figure, but the overall concept is not new, so am finding it difficult to be enthusiastic.

[jaydisc]

Well, one nice benefit of the scale is that they shouldn't look so out of place next to toys from other lines.

[MV75]

Unless you put them next to the BTs/ALTS. :D


I don't mind Prime (well, Convoy, but close enough) as a car. What annoys me is that TakaraTomy - especially since the merger - are begining lines with a Convoy and not really delving much past that. Nike Free, Music Label and now Alternity.


How far could you go with the same shoe mould?

How far could you go with soundwave? Sure they could have done blaster too, but that would have been it.

This line does have more potential, Especially if they stick with sports cars. :)


And yes Griffin, I do hope this line is more affordable due to its downsizing. :)

[kurdt_the_goat]

Considering this will retail for around the same price as BT's originally did, it's hardly more affordable! If the line does continue, i don't think it'll tread on BT's toes all that much. If they go the G1-homage route, there are plenty of cars not touched in BT. While the concept of realism is similar to BT, the robot aesthetics appear more movie-like/organic, so i really doubt we'd see shrunken-down BT's.

I can certainly appreciate where a lot of you are coming from with the dislike of the character chosen. At the end of the day, i guess it comes down to how much importance you place on the character.

For me, the toy itself doesn't get HUGELY better because someone spent an extra 5 mins deciding that it more closely resembles X G1 character! It just gets a *bit* better! Considering how easy this particular example would have been to characterize, it IS a shame... but...

The bulk of my enjoyment comes from appreciating the HEAPS of effort put into the engineering & details. This is what you'll have in your hands, the characterization is all in your head :) IMO :) No doubt if the line takes off it'll get retooled as a better character choice anyway!

To further distinguish the line from BT, perhaps they won't at all be about strong G1 homages? Perhaps there will be some story/justification in the box - would that help some of you enjoy the toy more?

[Gutsman Heavy]

if I get one, I'll plonk it with the movie line, give him a new name and blammo, I'll be happy.

[Tober]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/12225910.jpg

The pic above shows the new auto-morph like gimik that I think distinguishes this line from Binaltech.

I prefer the G1 homaging that they did for Binaltech, and the storyline, but like the above posts said - as long as the engineering is good and the toy looks nice it it's not that important to me.

[MV75]

Where? I don't see it.

[Saintly]

here -> http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/12225910.jpg

[MV75]

No, the automorph. Where is it? What PART OF THE PICTURE is it? ;)

Draw a circle on your hosted picture of it with an explaination.

[jaydisc]

Follow the black arrows. It seems there's areas where the fingers are along with black arrows showing the pressure, and then there are more black arrows showing how parts that aren't being touched are moving.

[MV75]

Ok, I see what you're saying, but to me that's just part of the instructions in the parts you have to move.

Someone interpreting the writing would sort this one out.

[Tober]

It looks like the head pops up and the doors swing out when you collapse the mid and front sections.

Yeah, gonna need Kurdt of Goktimus's help there...

That face looks different to the others we've seen too :confused:

[jaydisc]

And the second bit seem to indicate that if you squeeze the front two wheels, the sides/doors swing out.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Your guesses are pretty close! According to my wife, the accompanying text indicates you have to slide forward the bumper, causing the head to pop-up (pushing the bonnet up), the arms to swing out and the wheels to cave in a bit. On the underside photo, you can see the front center of the bumper has also retracted. The other photo says that as you fold the legs/front of car, the chest piece swings down.

[dirge]

How far could you go with the same shoe mould?

How far could you go with soundwave? Sure they could have done blaster too, but that would have been it.

This line does have more potential, Especially if they stick with sports cars. :)


My point is that it seems that about 60% of "new" products (ie not reissues of Hasbro rehashes) from TakaraTomy are Convoy in some form. Rather than producing a variety of new toys - even at the relatively level of Robotmasters - they're producing shallow, fairly gimmicky, mini lines anchored on Convoy.

[Deonasis]

I like the red one more; I think it has more character but sadly that character is not OP :(

[MV75]

Your guesses are pretty close! According to my wife, the accompanying text indicates you have to slide forward the bumper, causing the head to pop-up (pushing the bonnet up), the arms to swing out and the wheels to cave in a bit. On the underside photo, you can see the front center of the bumper has also retracted. The other photo says that as you fold the legs/front of car, the chest piece swings down.

Excellent. Thanks for that. :)

Also raises another issue then, are they "taking away" too much of the physical transformation? Could be a reaction to those that were too, I dunno, stupid, to transform the original BT line. :D

Or it could be a move to having a fast transform toy again that is also complex. :) But that would be more suited to the more mainstream lines, and discussion of in another topic. ;)

Anyway, tell your missus she's a legend. :)


My point is that it seems that about 60% of "new" products (ie not reissues of Hasbro rehashes) from TakaraTomy are Convoy in some form. Rather than producing a variety of new toys - even at the relatively level of Robotmasters - they're producing shallow, fairly gimmicky, mini lines anchored on Convoy.

Ok, you want to get technical.

It's 33%, (one) and that 33% came from a line that had megatron too. And you don't know the future of this new line yet either which initially announced with a silver coloured version, not the "traditional" convoy red.

So tell me your very small point again. :p Opps! :D

[Tober]

Your guesses are pretty close! According to my wife, the accompanying text indicates you have to slide forward the bumper, causing the head to pop-up (pushing the bonnet up), the arms to swing out and the wheels to cave in a bit. On the underside photo, you can see the front center of the bumper has also retracted. The other photo says that as you fold the legs/front of car, the chest piece swings down.

Domo :D


I like the red one more; I think it has more character but sadly that character is not OP :(

Yeah, although I was getting kinda tired of Op even when he was a truck, let alone gorilla, monkey, Labouurghini, SUV iPod dock, shoe or flying fire truck.

[dirge]

Ok, you want to get technical.


No, I'm simply stating my opinion. The key word being _seems_. You're entitled to enjoy the toy, it looks well designed. I'm just over TakaraTomy churning out so many Convoys and so little else.

[Pulse]

No, I'm simply stating my opinion. The key word being _seems_. You're entitled to enjoy the toy, it looks well designed. I'm just over TakaraTomy churning out so many Convoys and so little else.

What if we were to get a new Binaltech Megs with a brand new vehicle mould... :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I guess TakaraTOMY are being a bit cautious with new lines and testing them with a "safe pilot" character like Convoy before deciding on whether they want to further the line. *shrug*

The automorph gimmick is called "synchrotech" and it appears to be two automorphs. To elaborate on Mrs. the_goat's translation, you also need to firstly squeeze the sides of the bumper together and slide it forward. This will activate the synchrotech gimmick which causes the doors and bonnet to open with the arms and head popping out.

I personally quite like the movie-influenced motif with this toy, but yeah... having it as Convoy is kinda plain. When Takara released Binaltech they didn't start it with Convoy but with Smokescreen. Some things of the things I miss about pre-TOMY Takara. :/

[dirge]

Mrs. the_goat


:D



but yeah... having it as Convoy is kinda plain. When Takara released Binaltech they didn't start it with Convoy but with Smokescreen. Some things of the things I miss about pre-TOMY Takara. :/

That's my point. Too many Convoys is becoming so... meh. I don't want a collection full of Convoys... if we're going to get tributes, I want to see _different_ tributes. Smokescreen was, at the time, very random, but also refreshing. Tomy aren't as interested in being creative, rather they just keep finding new ways to package the Convoy concept.

[MV75]

That's my point. Too many Convoys is becoming so... meh. I don't want a collection full of Convoys... if we're going to get tributes, I want to see _different_ tributes. Smokescreen was, at the time, very random, but also refreshing. Tomy aren't as interested in being creative, rather they just keep finding new ways to package the Convoy concept.

So why the real hang up with convoy? Your mere opinion is rather greater than you let on. :D I'm not letting you out easy of trying to escape my rebuttle, especially since this is the only first line in your list where they have started with just convoy (and that is a thin line given as it is), and no other character announcements (yet), yea, it's overwealming in the sheer saturation of them. :p

And as for your refreshing smokescreen tribute, I dunno about that, as when you look at it, they screwed it up big time. Wrong brand of car and colour scheme. It was smokescreen in name only, which should actually be pissing you off, not forcing an embrace.

So what do we do from here then? Well, my suggestion is to just wait for a toy that interests you, yea I know, can be hard to do, but is worth it. :) Plus you could look beyond the name and just buy the toy if you do like the look of it. Silver Convoys don't come round that often, if ever.

And you also have to remember the totally awesome Tomy/Takara have done too, freaking skylynx, metroplex, omega supreme, etc. Now those were out of the blue.

[dirge]

Well, TT are creating what _could_ be interesting concepts (Music Label, sneaker TFs, for example) with Convoy and maybe one or two more. I _hope_ this isn't the case with this line - but I have no doubts.

As for Smokescreen - I liked the tribute, using a modern real life rally car instead of the 1980s track car. The head was great, so I was a fan, despite the change in style.

[STL]

I do concur with Dirge. I tire of Tomy's constant use of Convoy. Yes, identifiability is very important but how about we get a line that branches out more? A line that goes simply beyond Convoy and his Ultra Magnus repaint and maybe the odd Megatron. It really is disappointing for the Co. that does design most of the toys.

[autobreadticon]

I saw an ad on the back of Mx , GT-R silver/black will appear at the auto salon at the conventtion centre

[King Atlas]

Are you refering to Final Battle auto salon? Any chances convoy will be by its side? 2 hopes :D:p

[Pulse]

I do concur with Dirge. I tire of Tomy's constant use of Convoy. Yes, identifiability is very important but how about we get a line that branches out more? A line that goes simply beyond Convoy and his Ultra Magnus repaint and maybe the odd Megatron. It really is disappointing for the Co. that does design most of the toys.

Goddamnit! Now I've got a hankering for a Binaltech Cadillac XLR Megs... :rolleyes:

Can you imagine the following as Megs? That would totally kick a$$... :)

http://www.car.ee/wallpapers/previews/cadillac-xlr-v-280.jpg

[MV75]

Well, TT are creating what _could_ be interesting concepts (Music Label, sneaker TFs, for example) with Convoy and maybe one or two more. I _hope_ this isn't the case with this line - but I have no doubts.

As for Smokescreen - I liked the tribute, using a modern real life rally car instead of the 1980s track car. The head was great, so I was a fan, despite the change in style.

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. :)

Yes, I hope that they expand the alternity line too into more vehicles, but so what if it's convoy they come with first? It's a strong character. Plus it's silver man. They only seemed to do the red one to avoid confusion and further backlash.

Smokescreen bt. Ok, while I think it's frigging awesome, it's far from an accurate charcter tribute to soley buy upon. Yes, I know I'm contridicting myself here from my paragraph above, but I don't like the alternity just due to the character, the car itself is what I liked and I never even really realised what character it was until I saw the red version. They could have called it wheelie for all I care there. :D

Anyway, It's a subaru, not a datsun. They could have done a skyline instead, or even a commodore/falcon v8 supercar would be more accurate to its initial track theme. You could put your "comfortable convoy" feelings towards this first bt as well, because what was it? It was a highly recognised image of a very well known rally car and they had to shoehorn a name/character to it. They started that line with something that most people would know what it was, something safe.

I feel the silver repaint of it was a little more accurate in character to fit to car. Mostly because the colour was also correct. :)

[dirge]

So what if it's convoy they come with first?


Well, since you've seemed to overread my sentiment... I'm not _against_ Convoy in this line, but I'm wondering if this line will be a Convoy, a white Magnus and one or two more. The last few lines from TT fizzed out after decent starts. Convoy seems to be headlining these quasi-lines - as if TT want to milk Convoy rather than produce a sustained line - and I was commenting on that.

[MV75]

Yes, you are against convoy in this line, as I illustrated above, that this is the only line in the realm given that is headlining convoy as a sole starter. ;)

I think the only thing that will fully resolve this is if the line drops at this figure, or up to 5 more only, and it happens again another 2-3 times, then you'll be fully justified, and I'll then 100% agree that Tomy wants to play safe with convoy. :)

[dirge]

Yes, you are against convoy in this line


Not really. I'm not interested in the line either way :)

[MV75]

That's a shame actually. Is it due to character, or just because you just don't like the car chosen?

I personally like the choice of car, I like the real vehicle too. :) Plus the size of it and the reports of it being die cast (I think it is, I picked it up from somewhere), just made it look more appealing to me as I never actually collected any of the BT, just the alts, and this should be more affordable to me.

[dirge]

That's a shame actually. Is it due to character, or just because you just don't like the car chosen?


Scale, actually.

[GoktimusPrime]

I dislike Alternity Convoy because of his prolific stance against veganism. :p ;) j/k

[kurdt_the_goat]

Scale, actually.

Didn't you once tell me you prefer smaller toys in general? I think if they pull off BT quality engineering on this scale, it'll be mightily impressive.

[dirge]

Didn't you once tell me you prefer smaller toys in general? I think if they pull off BT quality engineering on this scale, it'll be mightily impressive.

Yeah I do, generally. But I just hate the idea of this thing standing next to my 21 BTs...

[GoktimusPrime]

To be fair Alternity isn't meant to be part of BT. TakaraTOMY are still carrying on Binaltech separately (http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/products/binaltech.html).

[kurdt_the_goat]

You honestly think so? I think they just released the last 4 to help transition to Alternity. I'd be very surprised if there's a new mould release in BT. Happy of course, but surprised! Actually i'd still be happy if they just redecoed... i'm still Mustang-less :(

[GoktimusPrime]

I've seen nothing in official print that suggests that Alternity is meant to be part of Binaltech. In fact, the text in the image on page four of this thread states:
"いよいよそのベールを脱いだ、新機軸の実車変形シリーズ「オルタニティ」。ムービーシリーズのオートモーフ をさらに進化させた新機構「シンクロテック」" ("The veil has gradually come off revealing a new turning point in realistic vehicular transformation series: 'Alternity.' The movie series' Automorph has evolved into a new gimmick: 'Synchrotech.')

So if anything, this line appears to be more movie influenced than Binaltech-based. Now having said that, I think it'd be cooler if they'd focused on making Alternity into an expansion of the movie universe. Alternity Convoy, if it were a different character (i.e.: one who isn't in the movie) would rock as a movie-verse toy... sure beats the hell out of movie Swindle or Payload. :p

[kurdt_the_goat]

Sorry, I didn't say it was a part of Binaltech - i meant do you honestly believe BT will continue past the last 4 releases? My thought is that they released them to help lead-in to the release of Alternity (due to the similarities).

[GoktimusPrime]

I have absolutely En-Eff-Eye dude. :p

[Pulse]

Do you honestly believe BT will continue past the last 4 releases?

Probably not :(

But, There's always hope... :)



As of Spring 2008, given the end of Alternators and the lack of die cast plates for newer figures, Takara has decided to repaint a selection of older figures with new color schemes, including a mold variation of the Honda S2000 never before released, designated as BT-21 Arcee as well as a maintstream release of the die-cast version of the Dodge Ram mold. Nevertheless, there are Alternators that have never received Binaltech treatment (i.e. Ravage and Rumble) and it remains to be seen if Takara-Tomy will eventually shoehorn them into Binaltech or create another spin-off line, ala Kiss Players.

I found that quote here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_Alternators#Contrary_to_Plans) & "Yes" Wikipedia doesn't always equal truth but I've got my fingers crossed... :)

[MV75]

Yeah I do, generally. But I just hate the idea of this thing standing next to my 21 BTs...


You could put it with movie toys as it looks like a movie toy. :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I would put it separately as Alternity, though influenced by the movie, is a separate line from the movie. Of course, I display all my Transformers separately by series and faction in chronological order. :p

[MV75]

We'll see how the movie two toys look, you might shift it over with them afterall Gok. :)

[Kyle]

When Takara released Binaltech they didn't start it with Convoy but with Smokescreen. Some things of the things I miss about pre-TOMY Takara. :/

But they first unveiled the Smokescreen grey prototype and the MP-1 grey prototype together next to each other at the same event. The subsequent magazine promotions and photoshoots in Japan often had the early BTs and MP Convoy posing together. It was implied that BT and MP were sister lines to complement each other. The two lines had basically the same concept: G1 characters re-imagined with new engineering/transformations and diecast. (Even with Kiss Play, the magazines continued to display Rodimus with the MP-4 trailer prototype. You don't see them posing MP toys with toys from another line other than BT.) My take is Takara wanted to keep BT at a fixed price point/size level. So I would argue that Takara did already have a Convoy (MP-1) for the BT line.


Sorry, I didn't say it was a part of Binaltech - i meant do you honestly believe BT will continue past the last 4 releases? My thought is that they released them to help lead-in to the release of Alternity (due to the similarities).

Even with Encore, I don't believe they will continue pass Metroplex. Sales of the later Encores have been pretty poor in Asia. TakaraTomy had high hopes for Encores, but the sales simply did not meet their expectations. Many Asian toy stores had to get rid of their stock with no profit and often with loss. TakaraTomy will not continue a line if they don't receive enough orders.

[GoktimusPrime]

It didn't help that the first couple of Encores were toys that were already reissued. :/ But I hope that stuff like Sky Lynx, Omega Supreme and Metroplex are selling better... of course, being bigger and more expensive would be off-putting to some collectors. The problem with reissues is that they've already reissued most of the popular G1 toys from the early years of G1 that they possibly can. There's not much left to reissue that either hasn't been reissued before, or is not possible/feasible (e.g.: Dinobots).

I agree with the intent behind MP and BT... but having said that, I personally display my MPs separately from my BTs so I don't see myself lumping Alternity with any other line. d:

[jaydisc]

or is not possible/feasible (e.g.: Dinobots).

Is there a list available anywhere?

[Zippo]

Love the car, love the robot mode. Just can't decide on what colour to get and display...

And wish it was not Convoy, was 1/24th scale