In 2003, Hasbro toys and sister company Takara partnered together to bring the world the first collector targeted series of Transformers. In the U.S. & Canada this series was known as Alternators and in Japan, Binaltech.
Both toy lines shared many likenesses. The toys themselves were virtually the same. Japan’s Binaltech series however featured Die-Cast metal and detailed paint applications whereas Alternators were produced in plastic and some liberties were taken with the paint applications to perhaps save a little money. Another major difference was the price point. Binaltech’s could be imported to U.S. collectors for about fifty dollars each while Alternators retailed in the U.S. for a very reasonable twenty dollars. Both series were popular with many collectors. However, due to many other more fiscally successful Transformers series’, both Binaltech and Alternators were put on a permanent hiatus
Collector’s who are interested in the higher end collectable may have another shot at realistic vehicle’s that transform into highly detailed robots with Takara Tomy’s new Transformers series’ Alternity. Similar to Binaltech, Alternity will feature highly detailed realistic cars loaded with die-cast metal and a great attention to detail for the more critical toy collector. However, there are many differences from the Binaltech series. The most obvious will be the scale of the cars and action figures. Binaltech’s were done in a 1/24 scale while Alternity is scaled down to a much smaller 1/32 scale. Strangely the price of an Alternity action figure is listed by most importers in the fifty dollar range. Another major difference is that Alternity will feature a similar feature to the movie toys “Auto-Morph” transformation. How this will work is still a mystery but if it is anything like the movie toys, it will be very minimal and will not take too much away from the fun of the transformation process.
The series will launch with whom else but Optimus Prime (Convoy in Japan)? It has sparked a bit of controversy amongst Transformers collectors because the legendary leader of the Autobots will no longer be a truck but a car as a Nissan GT-R. There will be two paint variations released: a version in a Vibrant red color to better match up with the distinct look of Optimus Prime and a version painted in the GT-R’s signature color of Ultimate Silver. In June, there will be one more repaint for Convoy. This time in black to most likely emulate the popular Nemesis Prime.
Not too far behind the release date of the Optimus Prime will be the second mold from the Alternity series. This time it’s the evil leader of the Decepticons, Megatron. Megatron will also be a Nissan Automobile as the Nissan Fairlady Z. Megatron will also feature two color schemes in both silver and blue. Megatron also features a samurai inspired robot mode. Gone is his arm cannon but now Megatron will wield two swords.
There is no news of Alternity action figures being released outside of Japan which may disappoint many collector’s who are unwilling to shell out nearly fifty dollars for a small toy in today’s economy. However, this robot junkie is ready to embrace another high end Transformers series.
Will Transformers Alternity garner the same collector following as Alternators and Binaltech? It is far too early to tell. Who even knows if Takara Tomy intends on expanding this series beyond the two leaders respectively. I for one hope so. I am in no way bothered by the choice to make Optimus Prime and Megatron cars. I find it rather refreshing. With that said, I still greatly miss Alternators and Binaltech and I am hopeful that Alternity will fill that void for collector friendly transforming robots.
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