The END of the BT-ALTS / Toyfare and

[Hunter Rose]

So we all know that the TF-Fandom is whiny.  But I have been watching in quiet despair ever since Hasbro's showing at Toyfair.  It keeps getting brouight up - the alts past ShockWave/WheelJack (even these two to some extent) Have all been Serious serious WTFs!!  I keep reading comments along the lines of "Hastak just arent trying anymore"

 

I think poor Prowl got the bulk of our pain but was it really his fault?  Until Viagra Prime posted his Grim-style legs for prowl - he was the most hated tf on the planet.  But it has always been obvious to me that the complaints were not meant to be directly at Prowl himself We ALL knew he was mis-tf'd and we ALL knew that new pics would emerge but we bitched anyway. 

 

I believe that Hasbros weak weak showing at Toyfaire was the main cause of HORROR among the fans, even if we didnt know exactly how to express it, we just scape-goated prowl for the dissapointment we felt enmasse.

 

Here's my point: Has it occured to anyone that the weak showing at Toyfare, and the seemingly uninspired BT-Alt releases recently are indication that the line is over?

 

Initial reports sugessted that they were only going to produce 12 or so figures to begin with.  Its a Testament to Has-Taks dedication and the success of the line that we got more than that. 

 

Maybe these last "uninspired" pieces are bonuses, never meant to be produced.

 

Roumor has it that we will get Mitsubishi Lancer.  So i see that we will have 4 new bots (prowl, Lancer, and two repaints) plus MAYBE Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker, then its gone....

 

BT-ALTS really ended at Overdrive/Windcharger - so anything else is just pure icing on an already beautiful cake. All the complaining about ALTs (mine included - Especially mine) is really like berating a football team that lost at the superbowl

!!!!!BUT DAMN - WE GOT THE SUPER-BOWL OF TRANSFORMER LINES!!!!!!!!!

HOW EFF'ING COOL IS THAT!!!!!

 

I still wish Has-Tak would communicate with the fans better, but for now - i just want to say Thank You for bringing this cynical 28 year old the same joy and wonder and anticipation he had when he was hunting down Starscream at Toys R Us when he was 7.

 

Hunter

[Furious George]

Well, if it's any indication, the remolds, repaints, and the upcoming new Alts/BT you listed = the line is not over.

 

Not to mention the movie toys.  We still have no idea how that will play out other than they'll be G1 characters and 'really realistic' alt modes.  Kinda like the Alts/Bts we've been getting for awhile ;)

[Lord Madhammer]

I'm sure that licensing negotiations hold a lot of this up. If you take a look at that BT book you can get an idea of what that process may have been like. For example, what if Hasbro had said "oh well, GM isn't giving us the Corvette license; we may as well go ahead and make Tracks a Viper" and then a month later GM agrees to it? Talk about an "oops" situation.

 

I just don't understand the gloom and doom prognostications. This is a toy line with no marketing behind it. It's amazing that it even exists at all.

 

BTW Hasbro's main line at ToyFare was Cybertron...........

[Furious George]

prognostications

 

NICE!!! :D

[Lord Madhammer]

NICE!!! :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm all intellectual and sh*t.

[Hunter Rose]

madhammer: "I just don't understand the gloom and doom prognostications. This is a toy line with no marketing behind it. It's amazing that it even exists at all."

 

That was my point.  Maybe i wasnt clear, but my whole point was that we have gotten a Great line. I was kinda trying to turn the doom and gloom around and look at it from a more positive perspective.

 

But it does seem like its winding down - in anticipation for the movie perhaps - i agree. And i do realize that Cybertron was the primary line at Toyfare but that was no excuse for the horrendous condition of the Alt table.  If it is Winding down then all i am saying is its going out gracefully and i for one have no regrets about any of the figures i have purchased

 

Hunter

[Nevermore]

The original plans, according to reports from SDCC 2003, spoke of "six cars".

 

According to the product code #s, those were Smokescreen, Side Swipe, Hound, Tracks, Meister and Grimlock. Add to that their respective remolds. Not speaking of the unproduced Porsche Jazz prototype and the unused Volkswagen Bumblebee and Cliffjumper pics.

 

Therefore, Overdrive is already outside the original plans. Prowl is next, followed by the Mitsubishi, which is not only "rumored", but was found in the very same Wal*Mart listing that gave us the FIRST indication EVER at an Acura (Prowl).

 

Maybe the Mitsubishi is cancelled after all. But it was not just a "rumor".

 

Add to that the persistent rumors about a Hummer H2 and a pickup, both at a new $30 price point.

[Hunter Rose]

Thats all good Nevermore (i am constantly amazed at how all inclusive your knowledge is) I seriously hope that the Lancer is not cancelled.  I seriously hope we get a Hummer (where is that rumor from??)

 

But all i am saying is that if we dont - i am grateful for what we did get

 

Hunter

[Blitz]

i never heared of the hummer romur befor just the pickup and mitzi (their was never a word on it being a evo but logic says it would be)

 

IMO the alts have been the best line ever its basicly G1 only new alt modes and thats what ive always wanted

 

and for the recored i thoght Alt/BT prowl was kick ass from the get go tho the grimmy legs do look better

[Vanguard]

First point, the line is not cancelled, and plans for the line continue through the early part of 2006.

 

The line, however, is padded, because licensing issues, primarily. The molds are expensive and difficult, and require maximum usage. More than that, there's only a few of them to go around for a second-string toy line. It's just the way that Alternators works, honestly.

 

As someone said, 'when you see a new Alternators mold, get used to it.'  We're even getting Lucky Draw exclusives to pad out the line now! But it has to be done, the line would just be too expensive to do it any other way.

 

Alternators isn't dying, but it is and always has been a limited line primarily geared for collectors. We're already seeing a good number more figures than initially planned (one new figure every two to four months), and that's really due to its surprising success.

 

But don't look at it and then Energon and decide that since Energon's getting so much stuff, Alternators is getting the shaft - the mindset in how the lines are made and sent out are completely different.