I call all my Alts buy there japenese names.

any updates on the BT-16???  :wtf

 

Confirm Alternators Decepticharge and BT-16 Wild Rider are not going to be the same color scheme? If not then I'll go get both the alternator and binaltech version.

any updates on the BT-16???  :wtf

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

if there were, some one else would have bumped this thread. you did not need to revive it :grr

Finally started hearing from Hirofumi Ichikawa again after all too long

a dry period. He's been VERY busy these last several months, it seems.

 

As we've plowed through some old business, he was nice enough to

volunteer some information and educated guesswork about the situation

with BT-12 Override and its multiple recolor projects. To wit:

 

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

It seems many doubts have arisen among the fans regarding the

specifications and development period of the Honda S2000 model. I have

a number of answers for these.

 

Q. Honda's logo isn't printed anywhere on BT Overdrive's packaging or

booklet. Is BT Overdrive an unlicensed product?

 

A. No, BT Overdrive is unmistakably an official product made with

licensing permission from Honda. The elimination of Honda's logo from

the packaging and booklet is due to a direct order from Honda Japan.

From what I hear, unlike the other auto manufacturers, Honda Japan's

policy is not to allow its logo mark to be included on the packaging and

such of licensed products. (The exact reason isn't certain, but I

think it's likely that it's so the licensed product isn't mistaken for

an actual Honda product.) This is not limited to just Binaltech; Choro

Q's products and such were treated the same way.

 

Q. The names Wildrider and Black Widow have both come up as recolors of

the S2000. Which character is actually going to be sold? Or will it be

both?

 

A. First, when it was decided to develop recolors of the S2000, Hasbro's

design draft (Decepticharge) got well away from BT's preference for

realism, so Takara planned to release it in a distinctive color scheme

as Wildrider. However, this draft met with trademark problems (The

"rider" part of the name apparently conflicted with Bandai's "Kamen

Rider" (Masked Rider) or some such), so it was halted at an early stage.

Info on this recolor leaked out when things were still in the

undecided stage, which only invited the confusion that resulted from

later info. (Having such twists occur right up to the point things are

officially decided is hardly a rare thing for BT, owing to its very nature.)

 

And so, Takara proposed Black Widow as a character in lieu of Wildrider.

At this stage, I received an order for material from Takara, and I

wrote up the character background and story for Black Widow. However,

upon subsequent consideration, her sale was postponed because

"Binaltechs are high-ticket items, so a rapid succession of recolor

releases would overwhelm the buying power of the fixed consumer base."

After that, it was decided she be included in a "separate line."

 

It was then decided to advance the original plans by one and release

Skids as BT-16, so I had to rewrite the story extensively. Since Black

Widow's story had been nullified, all the foreshadowing of her

appearance that I'd previously included Overdrive and Prowl's stories

was now meaningless. (In Prowl's story, I describe a failure in his GT

process, and I'd planned to use this as an opportunity to debut Black

Widow.) This is all very unfortunate, but I don't feel it's BAD per se,

as there was a danger that Black Widow's introduction would have

severely slowed the progress of the BT story.

 

So, to sum up the facts in a neat arrangement:

BT-16 Wildrider: Considered at one point, but now canceled.

BT-16 Black Widow: Settled upon at one point, but release postponed,

then changed to a release in a separate line.

BT-16 Skids: Officially set for release.

 

Honda Japan's intentions played no part in these postponements and

changes. And of course, there was never any occasion in which "Honda

expressed disapproval because Overdrive came with a gun barrel."

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

 

The bad news: Still no idea when BT "Decepticharge" will be released. Wildrider is also cancelled. Probably one of the very few trademark conflicts we've seen in Takara is the cause, instead he's being replaced by Black Widow.

 

The good news: No bad blood between Honda and Takara for the gun barrel issue, and the now "Black Widow" may not show up in the main BT line, possibly Asterisk but at least she's not cancelled.

above quote comes from: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.tr...f10a2825e6382d6

verrrrrrrry interesting. I like how he described the clusterf*ck that is "Decepticharge" as veering away from the "realism" that Takara was looking for. I guess Hasbro and Takara aren't as hand-in-glove in the development process as I had assumed.

Cool! An update from folks in the know.

"Binaltechs are high-ticket items, so a rapid succession of recolor

releases would overwhelm the buying power of the fixed consumer base."

 

Thank you.  I don't know how many times many of us have argued the fact that Takara and Hasbro make their release decisions based on business guidelines.  Knowing also that the majority of work for the Bin/Alt line has come from the Takara side, this would also lend ot the reason why we have seen a slow down in the line.  New Alts, with the exception of Decepticharge; apparently done by Hasbro itself, are dependent upon new BTs and new BTs have controlled releases because shock shock, Takara is smart about their consumer base.

 

And Madhammer, I agree with you on the Decepticharge fiasco.  Although it is interesting that one of the very first Alts was a Subaru Rally.  Yes it is a real life car, but not too much different in the sense of decals, numbers, etc, than Decepticharge.  So it's funny that Takara takes exception to Decepticharge but not the Rally Subaru.

So...

 

1. Honda Japan didn't boss anyone around.

2. BT currently doing well enough to spawn a general market subline.

3. Decepticharge speculation cleared up.

 

Curious. Does this count as a self-pwning by Nevermore?

verrrrrrrry interesting. I like how he described the clusterf*ck that is "Decepticharge" as veering away from the "realism" that Takara was looking for. I guess Hasbro and Takara aren't as hand-in-glove in the development process as I had assumed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Once I saw Decepticharge and Swerve weren't in the BT line and saw that Sunstreaker has a totally different color scheme, I came to the same conclusion. I just hope it works out better for us in the long run. Such as better car/figure representation for characters like Blaster or Red alert in the Alternators line.