I even got the Asterisk version of it. I think that was Red Alert?

*sniff* I used to have BTA Red Alert, until it got stolen in a burglary. :( That really sucked because BTA Red Alert's marked as being part of the Saitama Prefectural police, and I used to live in Saitama Prefecture! So that toy had an extra personal meaning for me.

 

Should get another one, but it'll probably cost a lot more now. Grrr...

 

Alternators and Binaltech kind of sucked, really. They too seemed to defy physics, but not in a good way. The transformations were extremely complex, but usually not at all intuitive.

I found Grimlock and Wheeljack to be counter-intuitive, which is part of the reason why they're my least favourite BT moulds, but otherwise I find the other BTs to be fairly intuitive. :)

 

And of the two lines, Binaltech was worse because of the metal car panels. The designs were hard enough to transform without having to worry about not scraping the paint off the metal parts.

I experience paint scraping with the earlier BTs like Smokescreen, but as they progressed I (and my friends) noticed that Takara improved the paint quality to try to make them more scratch resistant. I once dropped BT Dead End on the pavement once and he's fine. (though I consider myself pretty lucky and don't recommend anyone doing this intentionally! :P)

 

And there were no fun features; it was all about the transformation, and when the transformation is tedious, the toy suffers.

Again, I find the transformation for Grimlock/Wheeljack to be tedious (Masterpiece TFs are even worse), but the others are okay IMO. Hound/Swindle has the most fun transformation IMO, and Overdrive is okay too. The high level of articulation gives them lots of play value to me -- lack of articulation is complete fail for an action figure.

 

I also found the lines too repetitive - too many sports cars. Hound & Prime were the best simply because they were something different.

Okay, but that's a general problem with Transformers overall. You look at Human Alliance - they're predominantly sports cars. That's why I like seeing non sport-car Transformers from time to time like BT Skids and BTA Broadcast. Human Alliance has Skids and Mudflap which have cool "normal" car modes, but f'ugly robots. :P

 

Takara did ask people if they wanted other kinds of alt modes in their later surveys, and the options even included military vehicles and jets... I guess not enough people chose them. <shrug>

Dont have any of the HA figs but at one time I had several BT/Alts. My hands-down fave was the Jeep mold since Im a Jeep guy and Im torn between Swindle (since he's a dead ringer for the Jeep I drive) and Rollbar since I love orange on Jeeps and both had the grille guard and lifted suspensions with bigger tires than Hound. That said, the mold has some issues such as limited arm articulation and WAY to clunky up top. The chest/front clip couldve been worked out better since its too big and looks hollow from the side. The arm transformation wouldve been better if handled similar to the Mustang mold and had the front wheels on the forearms. But that said, the representation of the vehicle mode is pretty faithful to the real thing and the bot mode is the best that any TF has ever produced from a Jeep alt mode.

 

Honorable mention would go to the RX-8 and Mustang molds. I love both of the real world cars (alt modes make or break the overall TF for me) and the bot modes both came out looking good and had good articulation.

The HA line is definitely the best of the three. The designs are some of the best I have seen, they definately score points for the fact that some of them are alot more better looking then their deluxe versions "cough 2007 deluxe movie Jazz cough". But if I had to pick my favorite HA figure it would be Roadbuster hands down, because I really like the weaponized vehicle mode so much. Next would be Jazz, followed by Mudflap, Skids, Barricade, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee.

 

For Alt's, my favorite would have to be Mirage because I really like the Ford GT alot.

 

As for BT's, I only have Dead End.

for HA, its a toss-up for me between Roadbuster and Jazz. both are awesome because of their superiority in looks compared to their deluxe counterparts.

 

as for Alternators, Smokescreen. aside from the fact that it was my first one ever, it carries a personal aspect with me because of my late brother, who was killed in his Impreza STi.

 

I never owned any Binaltech figures so I can't say much on that.

The HA line is definitely the best of the three.

I disagree. There are several things that make HA a turn off for me (which is why I don't collect it). There's too much robot kibble visible in vehicle mode. One thing I like about the other lines is how the vehicle modes have fairly accurate looking interiors which reveal little robot kibble. Often the inside of the vehicle has immaculately detailed interiors - seats, air con vents, cup holders, brake handles, glove box, airbag panels etc. And of course, the bonnets open up to reveal engine details too. The rack and pinion steering is awesome, giving the vehicle modes additional play value beyond just rolling; and in some cases like the Jeeps, they even have suspension! :)

 

The die-cast metal gives them a really nice look in vehicle mode too which isn't replicated as well in plastic, and as I mentioned before, Takara acted quickly to deal with the issue of paint chipping after Smokescreen (the paints used on them is noticeably more durable in the later figures). That new HA Bumblebee - the black one with yellow stripes - looks just awful with those painted blue windows. Looks so cheap.

 

And considering that the RRP for HAs (at least here anyway) is almost the same as Takara's Binaltechs (but not Tomy's Binaltechs, they've gotten more expensive - the only Tomy BT I got was Arcee), I find Binaltechs to offer much better value for money. I can't say the same for Alternity; I do think they're overpriced, so I have a fairly limited collection of Alternities (whereas I have a fairly substantial BT collection :)). But overall I find Binaltech gave me the most bang for my buck (looking strictly at RRPs and not discount/sales prices or inflated import/aftermarket prices).

 

Another turn off for me with HA is how they're - to me - not to "scale" with other TF toys. I know that scale isn't properly followed in the toy line at all, but just in terms of my personal perception, I prefer the way that Deluxe figures like Bumblebee, Jazz, Mudflap etc. are "scaled" compared to say Leader Class Optimus Prime and Megatron. I know this is purely subjective bias based on my own perception of scale with these out-of-scale toys, but that's the way I sees it. :P :P

 

The designs are some of the best I have seen, they definately score points for the fact that some of them are alot more better looking then their deluxe versions "cough 2007 deluxe movie Jazz cough". But if I had to pick my favorite HA figure it would be Roadbuster hands down, because I really like the weaponized vehicle mode so much. Next would be Jazz, followed by Mudflap, Skids, Barricade, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee.

Deluxe Jazz isn't the greatest of the movie Deluxes (although I don't think he's terrible). But when comparing HAs with their DLX counterparts, keep in mind that Deluxes are smaller and cheaper than the larger boxed Human Alliance Transformers. Relative to their size and price point, I think overall most Deluxes are done reasonably well. Also, Deluxes often come out before the HAs, so HasTak have had less time to R&D them compared to when they first received the CGI models from Dreamworks.

 

The main thing about HA that does appeal to me are the humans. Binaltech Asterisk may have better sculpted figurines, but they're non-articulated. Human Alliance is the first line to give us articulated figurines for human characters -- something I've dreamed about since G1! :) If only the humans being released for TF Prime could be done in this way. :( Or even better, give us 9.5cm action figures of TF humans (that way they'd be in scale with 9.5cm G.I. Joes and Star Wars figures!)

To each his own Goktimus, to each his own. While the HA figures don't have the cool amount of interior detail that the alt/bt's have the human figures are a Definately a cool little feature. I like the black shirt Sam figure better then the white shirt Sam because of the movement in the body.

 

I too don't like the ha bumblebee figure they brought out for dotm, I like the rotf version better. I do admit that the 2007 deluxe Jazz is nice, it's just well.... the upper body looks too small, and the legs look too long. That's why I like the HA version, it looks right. I love the HA/Alt/Bt lines, I guess I'm just a little picky.

I just tend to think of the HA figures as evolved forms of Alt/BT's. I can't say one is better than another because they were slightly different to serve different needs. The need of the Alt/BT line was to make real world g1 upgrades that were totally concealed. The HA line used the driver gimmick and while delivering the same type of transformation and articulation, had to compromise on the total concealment. Otherwise, very little difference not counting head designs.

 

While I LOVE the Alt line, I would put up HA Jazz against them all. Jazz is probably one of the best (if not best) figures ever made at that scale and price.

 

For Alts I always loved the Windcharger and Decepticharge figures. I always thought they were a bit under appreciated in the line when they were out.

I just tend to think of the HA figures as evolved forms of Alt/BT's. I can't say one is better than another because they were slightly different to serve different needs. The need of the Alt/BT line was to make real world g1 upgrades that were totally concealed. The HA line used the driver gimmick and while delivering the same type of transformation and articulation, had to compromise on the total concealment. Otherwise, very little difference not counting head designs.

 

While I LOVE the Alt line, I would put up HA Jazz against them all. Jazz is probably one of the best (if not best) figures ever made at that scale and price.

 

For Alts I always loved the Windcharger and Decepticharge figures. I always thought they were a bit under appreciated in the line when they were out.

I totally agree with you Madman. HA Jazz is Transformers perfection. He looks damn near identical to his movie counterpart. I'm a little biased since I dig Mustangs, but I think Barricade runs a close second. He's just looks bad ass in both modes. If any Transfans don't have either figures, check out your local TJ Maxx. They're selling them for $16!!!! Worth every penny....

I just tend to think of the HA figures as evolved forms of Alt/BT's. I can't say one is better than another because they were slightly different to serve different needs. The need of the Alt/BT line was to make real world g1 upgrades that were totally concealed. The HA line used the driver gimmick and while delivering the same type of transformation and articulation, had to compromise on the total concealment. Otherwise, very little difference not counting head designs.

 

While I LOVE the Alt line, I would put up HA Jazz against them all. Jazz is probably one of the best (if not best) figures ever made at that scale and price.

 

For Alts I always loved the Windcharger and Decepticharge figures. I always thought they were a bit under appreciated in the line when they were out.

I totally agree with you Madman. HA Jazz is Transformers perfection. He looks damn near identical to his movie counterpart. I'm a little biased since I dig Mustangs, but I think Barricade runs a close second. He's just looks bad ass in both modes. If any Transfans don't have either figures, check out your local TJ Maxx. They're selling them for $16!!!! Worth every penny....

 

LOL! That's how I found my Barricade. Jazz I'm on the hunt for though and still haven't found this magnificent bastard yet. I'm sure he'll wow me because thats how I was with Barricade! ^_^

 

ALT Mirage!! Love that guy! Wish there was a BT Version of him as well although with how absoloutely tiget everything fits on him I'd be hard pressed to think that a BT version can be replicated and still look that awesome because I'd think that the paint would be some kind of issue somehow.

I do admit that the 2007 deluxe Jazz is nice, it's just well.... the upper body looks too small, and the legs look too long. That's why I like the HA version, it looks right. I love the HA/Alt/Bt lines, I guess I'm just a little picky.

If I had to pick one thing to nitpick about Deluxe Jazz it would be the forearms.

 

For Alts I always loved the Windcharger and Decepticharge figures. I always thought they were a bit under appreciated in the line when they were out.

I hated Decepticharge. He's the ONLY Alternator toy I've ever purchased then regretted buying and sold off. The overall look of the toy looks cheap to me - he looks too much like a toy and not enough like a real car which is a big part of the appeal of Binaltech and Alternators to me. But one thing that really bugged me was his weapon^accessory. WHY did Hasbro remove the rifle barrel?? Not only does it make the accessory look really stupid (I know they tried to pass it off as a 'scanner' (yeah right)), but worse still - without the barrel it doesn't fit in properly as the engine top in vehicle mode. Just sits there loosely. Epic fail much.

 

I never bothered with Windcharger... just seemed like a fail version of BT Overdrive. With nearly the same RRP Overdrive gave me much better value for money IMHO.

 

ALT Mirage!! Love that guy! Wish there was a BT Version of him as well although with how absoloutely tiget everything fits on him I'd be hard pressed to think that a BT version can be replicated and still look that awesome because I'd think that the paint would be some kind of issue somehow.

There is a BT version - I have it. Don't like it all that much actually... unfortunately ALT Mirage never came out here. This is one rare case where I definitely consider the ALT version to be superior to the BT. I have ALT Rodimus though, which I much prefer over BT Mirage.

 

Thank you Hasbro Australia for not releasing ALT Mirage here... </sarcasm>