:wave :wave I love the BT version. They feel heavy, look heavy, and better quality. Moreover, it's a reminiscent to the 80's toy - good old die cast metal era, ehhehee.

 

With that in mind, there is one figure that I don't recommend for BT, and that's BT Grimlock. You are better off with ALT Grimlock. I purchased BT Grimlock, transformed him into robot mode, made a couple of knee articulation movement. The next day, I transformed back into vehicle mode, and there's a scratch on the rear window and the top of the car! The cause? In robot mode, the rear bumper or the knee that hang over the lower the leg, well that was the part that scratch it thanks to the heavy diecast metal.

With that in mind, there is one figure that I don't recommend for BT, and that's BT Grimlock.

Hmmm... with the Alt Grimlock I have on my desk at work, the way it's jointed seems prevent the trunk lid from ever coming into contact with the rear window. I'll have to look at my BT when I get home to see if the heavier die-cast trunk is hitting the rear window (I hadn't noticed it was).

 

Regarding BT vs Alt, my recommendations based on looks:

 

BT is clearly better: Smokescreen, Sideswipe and Dead End - in these cases the paint looks better than the plain plastic.

 

BT is a tiny bit better: Meister - the pearlescent paint job on the BT looks better than the white plastic on the Alt (he looks a lot less "plain"); however, Takara didn't do as good a job at matching the plastic panels to the painted ones on the BT. In the three non-metallic finishes of Smokes, 'Swipe and DE, Takara painted the plastic panels to match the diecast, but for the metallic-finish releases it appears they just use metalized plastic (like Alt Tracks and Alt Hound have, this plastic matches the paint pretty well on Hound and Tracks, but not so good with Meister). If they had made Alt Meister 100% out of this "metallic-finish" plastic, I think he'd look better than the BT.

 

No difference: Silverstreak, Hound, Tracks, Grimlock - 'Streak and Grimlock are painted, so they essentially look identical to the BT releases; plus, as I mentioned above, the metallic-finish plastic of Hound and Tracks look about the same as the painted regions.

 

Cannot comment on: Swindle - I just got BT Swindle last night and haven't had a chance to really compare him with the Alt version.

as I mentioned above, the metallic-finish plastic of Hound and Tracks look about the same as the painted regions.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my earlier post,but froma foot or so away, my Alt Hound is IDENTICAL to my BT Hound. I have to pick them up to tell the difference. Alt Tracks, on the other hand, has a bad case of the swirlies.

as I mentioned above, the metallic-finish plastic of Hound and Tracks look about the same as the painted regions.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my earlier post,but froma foot or so away, my Alt Hound is IDENTICAL to my BT Hound. I have to pick them up to tell the difference. Alt Tracks, on the other hand, has a bad case of the swirlies.

I think will be a case by case problem.

 

My Alt Tracks only has minor swirlies on the driver's side door, the rest of the body panels are perfect.

I find far less to fault with Binaltech.

 

1. I like die cast TransFormers, so this is a plus. The first couple Alternators are nice, don't get me wrong, I just see Meister as the beginning of a trend. We are going to see more cost cutting on Hasbro's part...it is inevitable.

 

2. Binaltech's packaging is just miles ahead of Alternators. Uniform box style, efficient sizing, consistently great photography, an actual backstory, etc. There's non shortage of good things I can say about it. Hasbro, on the other hand, has really dropped the ball. Overlapped styles (4-6-5-7), corrugated cardboard, cluttered layout, so-so graphics/photography, just a generally rushed "product" feeling to it.

 

3. Extras, BTs have them and Alts don't. It's like going from G1's full color 1984 booklets down to the sloppy looking rolled up instructions from BW...or MP Convoy to 20th Optimus. With just a little bit of care and effort, Hasbro could make their figures special but apparently that extra 2 cents per toy was better spent on the ridiculously overside boxes?

 

4. The price gap has almost disappeared. Between online stores charging $30 per Alt and lowering the average BT to just over $40, it's almost negligible. Especially when BBTS or somebody has a flat shipping rate. What with distruibution _still_ being an absolute nightmare, how else would you get either release if not through dealers?

 

5. And finally the naming isn't so screwed up. We'll get Overdrive, Laserwave, and Ravage/Jaguar as opposed to "Windcharger", "Shockblast", and "Battle Ravage". Yes, it's minor but sometimes it's the little things that count.

currently the only thing that makes the bts more desirable for me, is that the bts have the varients, where as the alts don't.....atleast for now, but i'm not waiting around for alt red meister or yellow tracks

Well, for one i m glad that alternators DUN have all those variants....To me all those variants are just money sucking toys....Though some may look better but it all comes back to the same mold....

i like the alt red box packaging better than the white boxed bts, probably becaus red's my fav color and i don't look at the artwork on the box as it goes straight to the trash

currently the only thing that makes the bts more desirable for me, is that the bts have the varients, where as the alts don't.....atleast for now, but i'm not waiting around for alt red meister or yellow tracks

Well, for one i m glad that alternators DUN have all those variants....To me all those variants are just money sucking toys....Though some may look better but it all comes back to the same mold....

It depends on whether you see variants as "new options", or "now I have to get what?!". This is why I love the idea of MPUM, and others...don't.

I have to say, I would genuinely and happily choose the Alternators every time. for 1, I think the plastic looks better. THe Metal figs are too heavy, and most (god, especially the vette and Viper molds) just do not support their own weight. The BTs are hard to trandform, and I'm always overly concerned about the metal on metal scraping, and the severe paint chipping that comes with the BTs. I prefer the Alt packaging, I find the Alt instructions easier to use, and I find the Alts easier to kitbash/redeco. All in all, I prefer Alt to BT every time. although, I do recognize the collectors appeal of the BTs which is why when I buy them, they go into storage MISB (All the BT's I've played with have been with friends' toys or in collector/import shops). Make mine Alternator!

I got to go with Alternators, over BT.

 

Now having said that I do own some BT's specifically the yellow Tracks and red Meister (and BT Hound as I could not wait for the Alt version to come out at the time). I have to say I actually do like BT's better then the Alts overall. This is because I generally find the paint's much nicer and comon you gotta love the die cast, and overall it feels more like a collectable.

 

Now that is not to say the Alts aren’t great either, and to their credit I do find the Alts easer to play around with, then the BT's, that and overall cost makes the Alts my #1 pick.

 

Frankly I'm glad we have the choice between both the die cast and the plastic as it really satisfies everybody. And for me I like having all these options and I like how Takara did the yellow Tracks and red Miester (which BTW I like way better then their white and blue counterparts.