BINALTECH vs ALTERNATORS

 

I have all the Binaltechs so far. So I decided to pick up a Hasbro Alternators Meister to kitbash into a Jazz from Reprolabels.com. God forbid I kitbash a $60

Takara Alt, so I went with the Alt.

 

I was expecting all plasic and no diecast... but there are other differences.

i.e. the rear view mirrors are not painted white, they also have no reflective mirrors on them. The front wheels on the Alt. version have no magnets that move both wheels when turned, just plasic tabs.

Just Cheap Cheap Crap!

 

Maybe it just me but when I was growing up cars were made of steal. Not plastic like some junky Saturn or Kia.

 

TAKARA = toys that appreciate over time.

Hasbro = Cheap worthless garbage good for bashin'

I have no clue what you are talkin' bout with Meister's steering bar. Mine has magnets on it so that the pegs can lock in and his wheels can move together. Must be a defect on yours alone.

 

Alternators to me are fine. I can't afford to import the BT's and/or pay the 45-60 bucks for each of them. Plus I know a few people that have BTs and their BTs all have atleast one or two spots of chipped paint or cracked paint.

 

*Beware if dropped, Hound's hood area will chip like hell. Or so I've witnessed*

 

One guy I know buys two of each BT, one to display in car mode and one to display in robot mode, cause he's so scared of chipping or cracking the paint.

Which do I prefer? Alts or BT's? I guess it comes down to avalibility and cost. I have the Alt versions of Silverstreak and Hound and they are pretty cool and I bought both of those guys for 40 bucks at my local Wally Mart. They are Alts and I'm happy with them. Next to MP Prime Smokescreen is my favorite because he looks a little like my car so I went and spent 60 bucks getting the BT version. Would have I bought the Alt version? Hell ya if I could have found him. But all that I saw on the shelves at my local Target, Wally Mart and K-Mart were Silver Streak and Hound. I even called my local TRU and they were all sold out. The next BT TF I'm going to buy is Grimlock and thats only because he's a Ford Mustang (my favorite car). As far as which is better though Alts or BT I guess it boils down to what you can afford and what your happy with. Either way it dont make a whole lot of difference to me, it just matters whats a avalible and how much I like the car mode. Now when it came to Prime I had to have the Takara version and thats not becuase he was better then his U.S counterpart but it was because it was Prime. I'm a collector so it will be awhile before my Alt/BT's see the light of day, why? Because I want to get display cases for them and I plan on moving in a few months so why take them out of their boxes only to get damaged. Again it all comes down to what you can afford and whats avalible. Get both if you can do it, you cant lose either way. Lets just be glad we have the excellent TF ALT'S and BT we have because who knows how long it will last.

 

 

 

 

 

:usa

I'm going to say one last thing on this matter and it's just in defense of the Binaltech line. Binaltech suffers from the sour grapes syndrome. If someone can't afford to get it, they reason to themselves in any matter that whatever it is, it isn't worth getting in the 1st place. Now I haven't seen too much of that here but I keep hearing "paint will chip, crack, fade..." a lot.

 

I have currently 8 Binaltechs (not counting MP OP :lol: ) and I take care of them very well. I don't drop them and I'm careful with transforming them. The only BT I have the slightest bit of paint chipping is Tracks, the yellow version, other than that, they all look great.

 

At the same time, if all you can afford is Alternators, fine no shame in that. I would love to have the Predaking reissue, and although I COULD buy it, I can not justify that price. However I don't say "well those stickers will peel anyway" or "the joints of the gestalt will loosen", I just pass it up.

I have both the Alt and the BT Hound, so here's my little comparison...

 

It is a lot nicer to pick up and hold the BT version. It feels substantial.

 

Posing the BT is definitely harder, though. Just picking it up off the table, the legs get dangly because they are so much more weighed down than the Alt version. As all ball joints seem to loosen over time, I could see having major trouble keeping this in certain poses without different pieces like the upper torso (which, again, is pretty heavy) just flopping out of place. In fact, mine already does this to some extent now, and I've only had it a week.

 

I have transformed the BT version back and forth a few times already and there has been no paint chipping, but Hound doesn't really have any parts the slide past each other or make such close contact. I have Alt Tracks and know that I would never trust that leg transformation (from bot to alt) to a diecast paint job, and others have said that that area on BT Tracks really does chip on him rather quickly. A friend of mine has all BT's 1-9, and said that many of them have chipped and scratched quite a bit.

 

Actually having both Hounds, I can say, IMO, the BT's are definitely NOT worth that much extra cash. Another $10 or so, maybe, but not much more.

 

As an adult collector my Alt's, will hold up just fine over time, even being mostly plastic, because I don't toss them around. For a kid, my first inclination would have been to go for the diecast becuase it would hold up to abusive play better, but then as another member mentioned, the weight of the toy makes it dangerous to itself if dropped, knocked off a table, thrown, or whatever else a little kid might do to it.

 

So although BT Hound is nice to have and to hold, I think the Alts make better toys. The BT weight will reduce posability and the ability to stay together better after a fall, and are twice the price.

 

I don't think them being made by Hasbro and being all plastic automatically makes them cheap and crappy as some BT purists would have you think.

 

PS - My Alt Meister does not have Magnets in the steering rack either. It has a rounded conical peg attatched to the front wheels that then lodge into a corresponding conical receptors under the hood. The receptors are attahced by a straight bar that allows the wheels to turn in tandem. Silverstreak and Smokescreen use the magnet system (which is less reliable than Meister's pegs), and Sideswipe and Deadend have a different kind of magnetic system (which I didn't even find until the 3rd or 4th transformation, but really a nice design and touch). So whoever had the Meister magnetic steering system, it seems like you have the odd one.

So Hasbro makes plastic versions of metal toys in Japan. It was brought up that Hasbro has to make their own molds for the toys... Why can't they just use the same molds from Japan? Can't plastic mold the same on a mold meant for aluminum?

So Hasbro makes plastic versions of metal toys in Japan. It was brought up that Hasbro has to make their own molds for the toys... Why can't they just use the same molds from Japan? Can't plastic mold the same on a mold meant for aluminum?

I was wondering that myself... anyone know?

:wave :wave I never knew that.....I thought they were using the same mold but just different material.

I believe most of the die-casting is done using zinc and zinc alloys. That explains the heft of most die-cast toys. I know aluminum is often used in die-casting, but I don't think it's used for toys (too expensive?).

I'm guessing the equipment used is different for plastic and for metal, and as such the dies used for die-casting can't be used for injection-molding (plastic). I've never worked w/ either though, so hopefully someone can chime in who actually knows what they're talking about!

While I can't comment on the "using plastic and metal in the same mold" question, I think I can answer why Hasbro has their own molds.

 

The main reason is that by having their own molds of these toys, Hasbro has great flexibility in rereleasing them, plus not having to go through Takara everytime they want to use an old mold. It just saves time, especially on the mainline if Takara produces their products in another factory than Hasbro.