Interstingly my interest in collecting alts is still at its peak and climbing. Didn't give a damn about them initially but after collecting most of em in the past year alone I personally find myseldf more excited to be collecting them than a lot of the A/E/C stuff as well as the Titaniums/Classics. I'm also for for the first time in 5 years damn near burned out from everything. The fandom itself I think being a main contributor.

Loki...

How come Classics doesn't interest you?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just curious as to why that line holds no appeal to you personally.

 

And what parts of the fandom have burned you out? The whining/Starscreaming? Certain People?

Again, just curious.

 

More trruthfuly it's not that they don't interest me, I love the designs and everything asthetically about them, I'm just not seeing an imediate need to grab em right away. In the past whenever I saw a Transformer from either A/E/C I grabbed it and bought it right away expecting it to be imediately nonexistant but with distribution finally shaping up I soon found everything I had bought all at once was still showing up in stores in record numbers 6 months later. I'm pretty sure it'll be the same with the Classics line until the movie figs hit next year. Another reason I guess why I'm not jumping at the chance to own em all at once is they really for the most part don't hold the same "nostalgic" value as they would others in the fandom. Not really growing up with it I saw MTMTE years later for the first time on vhs in highschool and the movie for the first time shortly after graduation so compared to a lot of the "old timers" my overall interest in the franchise only really began 7, 8 years ago. Not that it isn't a great fandom to be a part of and hobby to partake but I'm just at a point where I need to take a step back and take a breather.

 

Though I did refer to the fandom I probably should have said the hobby itself. I've long gotten past the Starscreaming/whining. If anything it makes it easier to look at something that's hated and really look for the good in it (be it the movie/toys) and equally support it. That and I tend to against the grain a lot. Right now a lot of the burn out is just having so much to do with Transformers. If it's not toys, it's the movie, if not that it's comics and what not. Transformers has basically surpassed Starwars in terms of the ammount of new product available. Not saying the fanbase is bigger than Starwars (doesn't want a verbal asskicking by CP) just that its growing to overwhelming proportions and next year as excited as I am it's going to be Episode 1 all over again. That said as I've noticed with others I'm trying to distance myself in preperation for the onslaught that is the Transformers movie. Perhaps if I had done that when episode 1 hit theaters back in 99 I'd still be a Lucus fanboy today.

 

But, yeah in time I'll definitely be on the lookout for the Classic figs. :thumb

Thanks for the reply.

I can understand that.

It's surprising how quickly my interest in Alts/BTs has dropped off. I only have one left now and I'm selling it... and I don't really care either. There's so much stuff available for a G1 nostalgia fix nowadays (and that's the whole reason I bought Alts to begin with) that these aren't really doing anything for me anymore.

 

You know... once I woulda scoffed at that notion. But I've sold/traded a couple of mine away and... I don't think it'd hurt me too badly to do the same with the rest. I don't have room to display any new TFs and I never touch these guys. I gave them perfect poses and now they collect dust.

 

 

...and if I sold off my entire collection I could probably afford a new horse and go riding with the girl I like...

*glances at his Starscream shrine with a clouded look on his face...*

I really like the Alt line and, though I'm not a completist, I'll keep buying as long as they release new molds or really compelling repaints.

 

As for getting bored with them, though I don't fiddle with them nearly as much as I do the classics I've got around the computer desk, I do periodically go and switch them all to alt mode or back. It's a good way to break the "pose them perfectly and then leave them to rot" problem, plus me likes seeing the engineering that went into the transform.

I posted this elsewhere, but...

 

Entertainment Earth is now listing the next Alt wave as "Cancelled" : http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo...number=HT81328E

I agree with Madhammer.

 

My Alt lust was over the first couple of "Ark" bots. Those are the ones I've always wanted reimagined and mostly those are the ones I bought.

 

I tell you, though, if they redid all the Arkbots as Classics, I'd have no problem selling off my Alts tomorrow.

 

All I've wanted out of this line was nostalgic fanwankery, and for a time that was enough, but my enthusisam for the line has waned.

 

I will likely pick up Ravage and Rumble and be done with it.

with the alt line coming to a rumored end, u can assume that hastak is doing this to concentrate on other profitable areas, classics line and movie. it seems that alts have low retail value, too expensive to make, too many intricate parts, and with too many collectors that Starscream whine and complain about what they want or what was released; if i worked for marketing i'd call it quits too. with the movie coming out, essentially were getting real licensed vehicles, alot more simpler transformations, and they can target all ages. (along with classics line where i think they are going to hook kids in early before the movie... get them real addicted to transformers n when the movie comes out, bam! new generations of TFans for years to come)

 

not that im bashing on the alts but they are for the adult collector. i dont hear of many kids picking these up, let alone have any left after the adult collector/scalper snached the good stuff. if alts were around 35 quid, would fans still consider buying it? (assuming ur still getting plastic all around, no premiums like the binaltech, and more repaints n headsculpts of existing bodies?)

not that im bashing on the alts but they are for the adult collector. i dont hear of many kids picking these up, let alone have any left after the adult collector/scalper snached the good stuff. if alts were around 35 quid, would fans still consider buying it? (assuming ur still getting plastic all around, no premiums like the binaltech, and more repaints n headsculpts of existing bodies?)

 

That's exactly why I love alts.

 

A few years ago I was looking around at a local collectables store and looking at all the different type of action figures (this, btw, was at the time basically the only way of getting TF's since local toy stores hardly carried any). What I noticed most was that a lot of lines had really good looking figures. Lifelike and highly detailed. Seeing this I kind of regretted buying TF's and SW figs, because they're simplistic and in comparison very plain and child orientated.

 

Since then SW had caught up. Not just the UNleashed line, but even the regular figures have become better looking with more movie like details and very posable. With Alts TFs also became more sophisticated looking. Just simply putting a Voyager class figure from the main line next to an Alternator, and the alt blows it away: far more detailed, more interesting transformation and all in all more a collectable then a toy.

 

For me Alts were never about the nostalgia. I don't care that much about that. I wouldn't even have minded if they would've used A/E/C characters in the alt line. I care about the figures. And those were great with alts (even though they did become somewhat simplistic at the end).

 

I know that TFs are toys for children and I have no problems with that. Most TF's I bought in a year were from those main lines and I've enjoyed those. But Alts (and the occasinal BT) were always the great treats. There's also not a single line I've got complete, except the alts. Let Hasbro keep making those main line toys. But I feel they're missing out on the market if they skip on the alts.

 

 

Having said that, I'm pretty sure the comment "alts are on hiatus", basically means: cancelled.

 

 

 

(Oh, and yes: if alts had been higher priced I probably would've bought them anyway. I've just bought Kiss Convoy & Rodimus and Nemesis Prime and paid at least twice for each what I would've paid for a regular alt and I have no problems with that. As long as the price goes for everyone I'm okay with it.)

Hmm, it's interesting what I'm reading. I think I've become more of a collector who likes what I have--no matter how old they are--and doesn't get caught up in new stuff. I had all of gen 1 before and then transformers fell out of favor with me due to some lackluster generations (IMO). Beast wars brought me back, and I have to say I'll keep my favorite beast war toys until my wife makes me get rid of them.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again--I love the alternator line. I think the engineering and the quality of the toys are great. Plus, the gen1 association and the realism to today's cars are pretty cool.

 

I like what I have, and I'll pick up some new items here and there if they interest me. But I'm not going to toss my Alternators or Beast Wars or RID out because new toys (with somewhat inferior construction, you have to admit) are coming out, nor will I lose interest in them.