Transformers: Alternators

Alternators is a line of Transformers that started in late 2003. The toys in this series transform into fully-licensed, 1:24-scale accurate representations of real cars from automobile manufacturers around the globe, complete with opening doors, hoods, trunks, plus "realistic" open driver/passenger compartments.

Car licenses and character selection

At one point in 2003, Hasbro stated that the Alternators line would consist of "six 'hot' contemporary cars". The first six models were based on a Subaru Impreza, a Dodge Viper, a Jeep Wrangler, a C5 Chevrolet Corvette, a Mazda RX-8 and a Ford Mustang GT. Even before the line was launched, though, new licenses were already pursued by Hasbro and Takara, with the first new mold that was not part of the "original six" anymore being based on a Honda S2000. This mold was also the source of much controvery among fans, as Honda's US division had asked Hasbro that "their" toy must not include a weapon. Therefore, a long gun barrel (which doubled as the car's drive shaft in vehicle mode) present on early test shots of the toy was omitted for the mass-produced release version. Honda's Japanese division, meanwhile, had no such objections, hence the Binaltech version of the mold came with the full barrel. The next two molds, an Acura RSX and a Scion xB, were slightly modified for their Binaltech releases, as the closest Japanese counterparts of those models were a Honda Integra and a Toyota bB, respectively. Next came a Dodge Ram SRT-10 (a license Hasbro had been pursuing since at least early 2004), a Ford GT, a Honda Civic Si and a Jaguar XK. Nearly all of these models are from either American or Japanese manufacturers, with the only exception being the Jaguar, which is originally a European car.

Character-wise, Hasbro and Takara initially started out with better-known G1 characters from the 1984-85 era that had originally transformed into cars. Smokescreen started the line, followed by Sideswipe (now spelled "Side Swipe" for trademark reasons), Hound, Tracks and Jazz (renamed "Meister" for several reasons). For budget reasons, Hasbro and Takara decided very early on that redecos/retools were necessary even more than they were in other lines, thus retools of the first three molds were already available by the time the last of the "original six" molds came out. Initially, Hasbro and Takara intended to keep the retools rooted in G1 whenever possible, thus the redeco of Smokescreen became Bluestreak (renamed into "Silverstreak" for trademark reasons). The redeco of Side Swipe was originally supposed to be his twin brother Sunstreaker, whereas Hound would have been redecoed into Trailbreaker. Ultimately, however, it was decided to release Decepticons as part of the line which would be redecos of existing Autobot toys, hence Sunstreaker ended up as Dead End, whereas Trailbreaker became Swindle. Over the time, the selection of characters was expanded to include characters which had not originally transformed into vehicles (such as Grimlock, Shockwave aka "Shockblast" or Ravage, aka "Battle Ravage"). The first character difference between the Alternators and Binaltech versions of the line occurred when Hasbro named a toy that was designed to resemble the Omnibot Overdrive (who the toy was released as in Japan) after the Minibot Windcharger instead. As the lines progressed, the lines would start to diverge more, both in terms of different decos and the addition of third-stringer characters (mostly on Hasbro's end) such as Swerve, Rollbar, Ricochet or Camshaft. Even characters that had no root in G1 at all would eventually be added, namely as Decepticharge and Nemesis Prime. Ironically, the first molds to start out as Decepticons rather than Autobots, Rumble and a second Ravage toy, would ultimately also be the last new molds to be released as part of the line.

Alternators

In the USA, the Alternators line was launched in December 2003, with the toys being made entirely out of plastic (with the exception of the rubber tires). The first wave consisting only of Smokescreen, who shipped in a case all by himself. The second wave mixed Smokescreen and Side Swipe in a 50:50 ratio, with new toys being introduced in the following waves. Over the time of its original run, the Alternators line was particularly notorious for including toys that were extremely hard to find due to only shipping in one or two waves (Meister, Tracks, Decepticharge, Swerve), whereas others shipped for multiple waves, despite already been shelfwarmers (Swindle, in particular). Distribution in other countries was oftentimes even worse, with Canadian stores already dropping the line after the first four or five waves, Meister shipping in a solid case assortment (similar to Smokescreen before him) in New Zealand, thereby almost killing the line, and Europe getting a borderline random selection of toys, with different toys being available in different countries.

In 2005, Wal*Mart decided to drop the Alternators assortment due to poor sales. As a result, Hasbro relaunched the Alternators line with a second assortment in late 2005, featuring a mix of new molds, redecos of older toys and re-releases of highly sought-after rarities such as Tracks or Meister. In a twist of irony, however, those toys ended up as shelfwarmers this time around, coupled with the addition of rather ununspired redecos such as Rollbar or Ricochet. Camshaft ultimately only became popular due to being released in just one wave again.

As sales for the second assortment were not particularly stellar either, Hasbro decided to drop the Alternators as a mass retail line altogether. A Nemesis Prime redeco of the Optimus Prime mold was released as a Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive that was originally offered at San Diego Comic-Con 2006, with poor handling and limited availability resulting in a lot of frustrated fans. Meanwhile, the toy was warming shelves in Asia, where it had been released at mass retail. Following Nemesis Prime, the last two new molds that had been far into development at the time it was decided to discontinue the line, Rumble and Ravage, were released as Wal*Mart exclusives in Spring 2007. The last new release after that was Rodimus, a redeco of Mirage, again available as a Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive.

The future of the Alternators line is highly questionable right now, and not very bright. At BotCon 2006, Hasbro staffers said the line was going on "hiatus" during the the 2007 movie product (which also happens to include licensed representations of real-world vehicles) takes the spotlight. The upcoming second Universe line --revealed at BotCon 2007-- is said to fill the gap for "realistic vehicles" during the run of Transformers Animated, primarily by having unlicensed approximations of vehicles in the Classics style (and possibly even Movie style as well).

Also at BotCon 2007, Hasbro staffers (notably Greg Lombardo) said that many of the licenses they'd acquired to make Alternators had expired. They hoped to make a few more exclusive redecoes using the remaining licenses (like Rodimus) before those expired in 2008, but were unsure of the available venues, noting that future retail releases --even as exclusives-- was unlikely.

Binaltech

In Japan, the line is known as Binaltech, with the primary difference being that Binaltech figures are more "collector"-oriented, featuring fully-painted car bodies and die-cast metal parts, in comparison to Alternators' color-molded plastic construction. Additionally, various Binaltech figures have same-character variants, usually released concurrently in a 50:50 ratio per case (as Japanese toys usually ship in solid cases), that Hasbro did not release (though there are numerous redecoes and remolds in Alternators that never saw release in Binaltech). Also, a Binaltech toy costs twice or thrice as much as a standard Alternators figure.

The mass retail Binaltech line was effectively cancelled (or, to put it politely, put on "indefinite haitus") in early 2006 after the release of Skids, apparently due to slow sales. Reportedly two more releases were cancelled; "Black Widow" (a silver and purple redeco of Decepticharge as the Beast Wars femme fatale, better known as Blackarachnia outside Japan) and Ginrai (Optimus Prime's Masterforce look-alike) had been solictited, but only the first was shown in any capacity.

In late 2005 (not too long before it went on "indefinite haitus"), Binaltech gained a sub-series called Binaltech Asterisk, using old molds in new decos as previously-unreleased Autobots, but also including small PVC figurines of human girls, each one based on a female human character from a previous Transformers series. These figurines had alternate arms and lower bodies so they could "drive" the Autobots in car mode. These toys were also packaged in robot mode as opposed to the normal car mode (presumably to encourage transformation to car mode so the girls could drive). Reportedly, the addition of the PVCs was to try and reach a broader market to help the line's flagging sales... though the higher price tag probably didn't help. This series only had three releases before it was cancelled; a "Black Convoy w/ Marissa set was solicited as the fourth set but never released as originally planned... it got changed for the latest incarnation of the 1:24 line, Kiss Players.

In 2007, the Binaltech line got resurrected in a way similar to the state Hasbro's version was in at that point. The two new molds that had previously been intended to be released prior to the cancellation of the mass retail line were now released as redecos of the Kiss Players toys, with Black Convoy (exclusively available at the Wonder Festival 2007 Winter convention, and later at e-Hobby) being Takara's counterpart of the Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con Nemesis Prime redeco of Optimus Prime/Convoy, whereas "Rijie" (Mirage), a redeco of the Ford GT mold which Takara had previously only released as Kiss Players Hot Rodimus, was only released as a clear e-Hobby exclusive variant, using the same head sculpt as Hasbro's Alternators Mirage toy. Thus far, Takara have shown no indication of intending to release the new Rumble or Ravage molds.

Fiction

Binaltech has its own storyline written by Hirofumi Ichikawa, though it is only told in small text chunks within each toy's instruction booklet (or, in the case of the exclusives from 2007, on the toys' packaging itself). Taking place during the 'lost years' between the Generation 1 cartoon's second season and The Transformers: The Movie, the story heralds the return of the Cosmic Rust virus, which infects both Autobots and Decepticons alike, and forces them to team up with various name-brand car companies to create new bodies for the infected, which would be immune to the plague. An evil conspiracy group named the "Concurrence", consisting both of human villains from season 2 of the original Transformers cartoon and obscure villains from G.I. Joe spin-offs from the 1990s, hijacks several of the bodies originally intended for Autobots that fell victim to the Cosmic Rust and uses them as new bodies for damaged Decepticons instead. A sub-plot of the story involves Ravage's Beast Wars incarnation returning in another attempt to change history, and the Autobots' attempts to stop him and reverse the damage.

Unlike Binaltech, there is no actual fiction for the Alternators line, and it is highly unlikely there ever will be, the line's questionable future regardless. According to Hasbro representatives, they never pursued the licensing rights for "2D" representations of the car models. Though the reasons were never stated, it is not hard to extrapolate numerous reasons not to; additional costs for securing rights for an indefinite period, debatable ability to utlize those rights in a timely manner, plus clearing whatever fictional protrayal is made with every car company involved, which would massively bog down any publication. However, a few chunks of Takara's Binaltech story have made it to the Western market nontheless: A promotional website set up by Mazda in early 2004, offering the first hint at what would ultimately end up as the Alternators Meister toy, offered a brief summary of the original setting for the Binaltech story, including mention of the Cosmic Rust. More than two years later, a bio for the Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Nemesis Prime toy, written by Forest Lee, directly referred to the Binaltech story, including the names of Dr. Arkeville and his employer, the "Concurrence". For reasons unknown, though, the story was never officially released, and only found its way to the public through websites with access to Hasbro's official library for promotional material intended for retailers.

Binaltech Asterisk has its own fiction that appears to be utterly unconnected to any other Transformers timeline.

Toys

Alternators

(Note: Since Alternators do not come out in waves so much as in groups of one-to-three roughly every season, they'll simply be listed in order of release without differentiation as to when that release happened.)

• 01. Smokescreen (Subaru Impreza WRC 2003)
• 02. Sideswipe (Dodge Viper SRT-10)
• 03. Autobot Hound (Jeep Wrangler Sport)
• 04. Silverstreak (Subaru Impreza WRX)
• 05. Dead End (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe)
• 06. Autobot Tracks (Chevrolet Corvette Z06)
• 07. Meister (Mazda RX-8)
• 08. Swindle (Jeep Wrangler TJ Custom)
• 09. Grimlock (Ford Mustang GT)
• 10. Battle Ravage (Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible)
• 11. Windcharger (Honda S2000)
• 12. Shockblast (Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed Version II)
• 13. Wheeljack (2005 Ford Mustang Street Tuning)
• 14. Decepticharge (Mugen Honda S2000)
• 15. Swerve (Chevrolet Corvette Z06)
• 16. Prowl (Acura RSX)
• 17. Autobot Skids (Scion xB)
• 18. Sunstreaker (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe)
• 19. Rollbar (Jeep Wrangler TJ Custom)
• 20. Ricochet (Subaru Impreza WRX)
• 21. Optimus Prime (Dodge Ram SRT-10)
• 22. Mirage (Ford GT)
• 23. Camshaft (Acura RSX)
• 24. Nemesis Prime (Dodge Ram SRT-10, Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive)
• 25. Rumble (Honda Civic Si, Wal*Mart exclusive)
• 26. Ravage (Jaguar XK, Wal*Mart exclusive)
• 27. Rodimus (Ford GT, Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive)

Binaltech

• BT-01. Smokescreen (Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 #7 version)
• BT-01. Smokescreen (Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 #8 version)
• BT-02. Lambor (Dodge Viper SRT-10)
• BT-03. Streak (Subaru Impreza WRX)
• BT-04. Hound (Jeep Wrangler Sport)
• BT-05. Dead End (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe)
• BT-06. Tracks (Chevrolet Corvette Z06 yellow version)
• BT-06. Tracks (Chevrolet Corvette Z06 blue version)
• BT-07. Smokescreen GT (Subaru Impreza WRC 2004 #1 version)
• BT-07. Smokescreen GT (Subaru Impreza WRC 2004 #2 version)
• BT-08. Meister (Mazda RX-8 white version)
• BT-08. Meister "Velocity Red Mica Edition" (Mazda RX-8 red version, aka Zoom-Zoom)
• BT-09. Swindle (Jeep Wrangler TJ Custom)
• BT-10. Grimlock (Ford Mustang GT)
• BT-11. Ravage (Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible)
• BT-12. Overdrive (Honda S2000)
• BT-13. Laserwave (Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed Version II)
• BT-14. Wheeljack (2005 Ford Mustang Street Tuning)
• BT-15. Prowl "Patrol Type" (Honda Integra Type-R police version)
• BT-15. Prowl "Vivid Blue Pearl Edition" (Honda Integra Type-R blue version)
• BT-16. Skids (Toyota bB)
• BT-17. Black Convoy (Dodge Ram SRT-10, Wonder Festival 2007 Winter exclusive)
• BT-18. Rijie "Electro Disrupter Mode" (Ford GT, e-Hobby exclusive clear version)

Binaltech Asterisk

• BTA01. Alert meets Ai (Subaru Impreza WRX)
• BTA02. Sunstreaker meets Junko (Dodge Viper Competition Coupe)
• BTA03. Broadblast meets Lumina (Toyota bB)

Pre-release development

It's not certain what exactly originally led Hasbro and Takara to the concept of a line of Transformers based on licensed vehicles. An interview with Takara's development team confirmed that both companies initially had different ideas (for example, a different intended scale for the toys) that ultimately resulted in a compromise. It's possible that Hasbro's motivation stemmed from the Robots in Disguise line, where they were required to alter X-Brawn's headlights in order to avoid legal trouble with Mercedes, and had to acquire a license from Dodge for all iterations of the Side Burn beginning with the RiD "Super Side Burn" redeco. What is certain is that in addition to what was eventually released, a lot of toys were planned that never came out, or were significantly changed in various ways prior to their release.

• The first toy planned for the line was Jazz (probably to be named "Autobot Jazz" for trademark reasons) as a Porsche 986. A prototype was made, but Porsche refused to grant Hasbro and Takara the license, stating that "are not worthy carrying the Porsche trademark. They are war machines and the toyline in no way represents the lifestyle and ideas which Porsche represents."Transformers are war toys and do, therefore the toy never went into production. Photos of the prototype were depicted in the Japanese book "The Transformers: Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide", and Hasbro later displayed the prototype during the BotCon 2007 Hasbro Tour.
• The second prototype produced was Tracks as a Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Although the toy eventually came out, Chevrolet initially denied Hasbro and Takara the license as well, presumably fearing that "these car panels that separate apart conveys an image of being broken". This led Hasbro and Takara to conceive an alternate concept for Tracks as another "well-known American sports car", namely a Dodge Viper.
• The third design was for Bumblebee as a Volkswagen New Beetle, with Cliffjumper as the redeco. Unfortunately, VW had similar concerns as Porsche, what with not wanting to be associated with "war toys", therefore the design never made it past the control drawing stage. Control drawings for both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper have been published in the aforementioned Japanese BT guide book.
• Another prototype, which was apparently created before the final scale for the line was settled on, was a smaller version of Smokescreen, displayed by Hasbro as part of the BotCon 2007 Hasbro Tour. Oddly enough, though, the prototype is a different scale than the one Takara claimed having initially pursued in their interview in the Binaltech guide book; furthermore, the small Subaru prototype was stated to be the second prototype after the Porsche version of Jazz (which was displayed next to him), which also appears to contradict the Takara interview; and lastly, the Subaru prototype mixes a Smokescreen head sculpt and a WRC (Smokescreen) front bumper with a WRX (Silverstreak) rear spoiler.
• The last design to be a "direct update" of the respective characters' G1 alt mode was Hound, originally planned as a Jeep Rubicon, sporting a slightly different transformation that would have somewhat reduced the back kibble. The change from the Rubicon to the Wrangler model Hound ultimately came out as was presumably due to Jeep wanting their more common model featured.
• The redeco of Hound (as a customized Jeep Wrangler TJ) was originally intended to be Trailbreaker, with the head sculpt being a hybrid design between the original toy's helmet and the cartoon model's face. Ultimately, however, the remold ended up as the Decepticon Swindle, in different colors. A proposed color guide for Trailbreaker was depicted in the Japanese BT guide book, next to a color guide for Swindle (unfortunately only in black & white, however).
• After Chevrolet had initially denied Hasbro and Takara the license for the Corvette Z06, they came up with an auxiliary plan for Tracks as another "well-known American sports car", this time as a Dodge Viper SRT-10. It's quite possible that Hasbro's previous experience with Dodge's licensing department played a part in this decision. Additionally, Chevrolet's concerns that had led them to reject the design for Tracks as a Corvette were addressed by not having the hood of the Viper mold splitting in two halves. Furthermore, the redeco of the Viper was intended to be Sunstreaker, originally as a Dodge Viper GTR (which later became the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe). Eventually, though, Chevrolet had a change of mind and granted Hasbro and Takara the license for the Corvette design after all. As a result, the Viper mold was slightly redesigned, was given a new head sculpt and ultimately ended up as Sideswipe instead (called "Side Swipe" for trademark reasons). Sunstreaker, meanwhile, would ultimately and up as the Decepticon Dead End, in different colors, with a proper Sunstreaker repaint only being released more than a year later, due to huge fan request.
• The 1:24 scale The Subaru Impreza mold was apparently the first design that went without any major difficulty at any stage in its production process, if one ignores the smaller scale prototype. It should be noted, though, that the Streak (the WRX street model) was originally designed first, with Smokescreen (the WRC rally model) being intended as the redeco, but Takara's licensing department decided to reverse the release order of the two versions, thinking that the rally model would have "more visual impact" as the first relase of the line.
• The Mazda RX-8 (which ultimately ended up as Meister) was originally intended to be named "Camshaft", according to various early store listings and a premature reply from Hasbro's customer service. This would also fit with the early idea of making the Alternators toys "direct updates" of their characters' G1 predecessors. A prototype was leaked to the public in early 2004 sporting the same basic colors as the later Alternators "Autobot Camshaft" toy (the Acura RSX), although it's uncertain whether the prototype colors for the RX-8 were supposed to be indicative of the proposed colors for Camshaft (since the Acura redeco was originally intended as a G1 Bluestreak homage before being renamed into "Autobot Camshaft"). The reason why the RX-8 Alternator was ultimately not named "Camshaft" was apparently because the real-life Mazda RX-8 car doesn't have a camshaft. Furthermore, there have been at least two different reasons stated why Hasbro toy was named "Meister" rather than "Autobot Jazz": For once, Hasbro were still hoping that Porsche would have a change of mind and grant them the license after all, like Chevrolet had done; also, Aaron Archer has been quoted stating that he thought a third toy named "Autobot someone" following "Autobot Hound" and "Autobot Tracks" would have been somewhat "redundant".
• A working name for the Ford Mustang mold (which ultimately ended up as Grimlock) was "Freeway", according to various early store listings. The redeco was originally planned to be Windcharger (presumably in red), but ultimately ended up as Wheeljack instead, with a new head sculpt, while the head sculpt originally intended for Windcharger ended up being used for the redeco of the Honda S2000 mold instead, named "Decepticharge".
• Takara's originally intended name for their version of Decepticharge was "Wildrider", but they ultimately had to abandon that idea because they couldn't get the trademark. Instead, they decided to give the toy an entirely new deco, as the Hasbro toy's deco didn't appear to their ideal of "real-life accuracy". In robot mode, the toy was given a color scheme based on the Transmetal 2 incarnation of Beast Wars Blackarachnia, with the toy's name being changed to "Black Widow", Takara's name for the character. Ultimately, however, Takara decided to cancel the toy altogether, as they were fearing that another redeco (in addition to the upcoming Binaltech Asterisk toys) would be too repetitive. Plans to release the toy as part of a different line were never picked up again.
• The Acura RSX mold was original supposed to be Red Alert, as backed up by a placeholder listing found at Hasbro's website and a Takara color guide for the toy that uses a control drawing which sports a head sculpt based on Red Alert. Eventually, however, it was decided to release the toy as Prowl instead.
• Originally, the Dodge Ram was intended by Hasbro to be a completely different character altogether than Optimus Prime (which character is unknown), but Takara reportedly demanded the Ram be made into Optimus out of fear that the toy (whose vehicle mode is scarce in Japan as a real vehicle) wouldn't sell as well in their market if it wasn't a popular and easily recognized figure; as the figure reportedly cost twice as much to build as the others, Hasbro had to agree in order for Takara to continue fronting part of the production cost. In an ironic turn of events, the Dodge Ram was prematurely solicited by Takara not as "Convoy" (Optimus Prime), but as his Masterforce look-alike Ginrai, whereas the obligatory Binaltech Asterisk redeco was supposed to be Optimus Prime's evil counterpart, Black Convoy. Ultimately, however, both Ginrai and Black Convoy were cancelled, with only Hasbro releasing Optimus Prime as originally planned, with a black Nemesis prime redeco following later that year, as a Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive. Eventually, Takara released the Dodge Viper as as part of the new Kiss Players line, now named "Convoy" (Optimus Prime), whereas Black Convoy was ultimately released as a Winter Festival exclusive over a year later than originally planned, thereby essentially relaunching the Binaltech line as a line of convention and store exclusives. That way, Takara actually found a way to make use of the diecast molds initially created for Binaltech Ginrai, as the Kiss Players Convoy toy had been made entirely out of plastic.
• For a short time, Takara contemplated releasing a Hot Rodimus variant of the Alternators Mirage toy as the next Binaltech release after Ginrai, but that plan became obsolete when Takara decided to cancel the Binaltech line as a mass retail line altogether. Instead, Hot Rodimus also ended up as part of the Kiss Players line. Presumably, Takara never created any diecast molds for the Ford GT mold, hence their own "Mirage" version of the mold that was later released as an e-Hobby exclusive Binaltech toy was made out of clear plastic, as an alleged "invisible" mode, to justify the absense of diecast parts.
• The deco for Hasbro's redeco of the Acura RSX mold was originally designed with Bluestreak in mind. Early leaked packaging samples even sported an abbreviated form of the name "Bluestreak" on their license plates. Ultimately, however, Hasbro decided to rename the toy and release it as "Autobot Camshaft" instead.
• Another new mold, a Cadillac XLR, was also planned. According to Hasbro at BotCon 2006, the toy would have been Megatron, but when it was decided to put the Alternators line on an indefinite hiatus, the Cadillac Megatron plans never went beyond the early planning stages.

External links

English translation of the Binaltech story, with images and footnotes

From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.