Recently in alternators Category

While my stuff from SDCC hasn't arrived, the package from HasbroToyShop has.

While I won't be transforming him any time soon, I can definitely say he looks boring compared to my KISS Play Hot Rod.

I just like the white stripes on the car instead of the more gimmicky flames. But at least he's different and not just a straight up Hasbro release of the Takara version.

And I'll never warm to the Rodimus or Rodimus Major name. He'll remain Hot Rod here in the Attic!

Alternator Hot Rod is the 1977th Transformer that I've acquired.

He and Ravage are staying in their boxes for the time being..

Alternator Rumble is the 1850th Transformer that I've acquired.

Alternator Ravage is the 1849th Transformer that I've acquired.

20th Anniversary Optimus Prime is the 1844th Transformer that I've acquired.

Sure.

Shockwave becomes a gun.

And Megatron becomes a gun.

And Browing becomes a gun.

(cover your kid's eyes)

Autolooper has finally arrived!!!

Alas, Takara/Tomy has decided not to give him proper license plates out-of-the-box.

In fact, I have to put all his stickers on him.

I really really really hate putting stickers on toys. I always fuck them up and once you do you are damned for all time.

KISS Player Autolooper is the 1822nd Transformer that I've acquired.

I came across a Mirage today. He's the first I've ever seen in the wild.

And man is his quality poor. His face vents are damaged (see above) and there's glue on certain parts that made him really hard to transform.

The face damage is a shame though since I consider his head sculpt to be one of the, if not the best, Transformer heads ever done.

Mirage is the 1795th bot added to the Attic of Love.

My Stern life and my TF life just unexpectedly crashed into a head-on collision of disastrous proportions.

There's nothing worse than listening to Howard Stern do a live ad for the Transformers 20th anniversary DVD and Howard not knowing a damn thing about what he's reading.

He then lists off all of the people who did voices and asks why the hell he has never heard of this film. Howard then asked Robin what the hell Transformers the movie is and she really doesn't know but says it is robots that transform into things.

Gary then jumps on a mic and trys to explain but even he doesn't know but he says his kids like Transformers.

What a cluster fuck of an ad.

Man oh man Sirius could have provided them with a bit more info, or at least scripted the live ad a bit better.

Ugh!

TakaraTomy KISS Player Hot Rod is the 1764th Transformer that I've acquired.

I think per square inch of plastic he's probably the most expensive too. Way too damn expensive for a non-die-cast figure.

But what's a loser to do.

Ok. So I've never opened the one that Giga found for me a while back.

Hell. I've never actually seen any of these on retail shelves until today and since he's been kinda rare I got one to finally open.

Honestly I'm no fan of the bot mode and since I have Masterpiece Convoy I consider him my "Optimus Prime" for the Binaltech/Alternator line.

So I've decided that this guy will indeed be the Ginrai of my group. Hell, that's what he was originally going to be in Japan before Takara merged with Tomy and birthed the KISS Player abomination so why not.

Plus he'll stay in truck mode as well.

Alternators Optimus Prime is the 1736th Transformer that I've ever purchased.

Well it took forever. I never did find one here in Cowtown but Jeremy up in Cleveburg found me one.

Mirage is mine!!!

Number in Collection: 1672

Frowny sent me a link to a color image of the KISS Player Hot Rod retool from Alternator Mirage.

I like the simple flames on his arms.

He'll be mine. The Alts and Binaltechs I'm not getting rid of.

Giga wanted to check out Lennox Target's pricing on Titaniums based on our other Target visit today.

I knew Lennox was due for a Alternators shipment and I managed to find Camshaft, the repaint of Prowl.

Of course, Mirage has eluded me once again.

Number in Collection: 1658

What a pain in the ass. Mrs. B. managed to get me one from the San Diego Con and then I managed to acquire the 2nd by accident really.

I actually got 2 of an exclusive, which is the only way I buy two of anything now. I'm still shocked.

Number in Collection: 1642, 1643

Number in Collection: 1630

Well if this is a legitimate Hasbro product that we've never heard about then I think we may have on our hands the worst Alternator repaint ever. Well. More appropriately a repaint of a slight retool that was only available in the Takara Binaltech line.

In Japan, Prowl was released as both a standard police car (as one would expect for eventual release in the US) and also in a plain blue version sans police lights and sirens.

This "supposed" Camshaft is a repaint of that simpler retool and man, if this is in fact real, it is the worst possibly repaint that could have been created as shelf-filler.

I don't even know if a new head would make it any better but that would have at least helped it a tiny bit.

That leaves the practically impossible to find Optimus Prime, the yet-to-be-released Mirage, the yet-to-be-released Rumble, and this.

There's probably a Nemesis Prime repaint of the Dodge Ram and maybe a Frenzy repaint of this Rumble mold too.

Man. I think Alternators may just be winding down.

The first decent image of Alternator Rumble popped up on of all places Wal-Mart's website.

Yup! He's most definitely the modern incarnation of Soundwave's favorite bot-mode cassette. I mean let's face it, Frenzy is practically a non-entity in the scheme of use.

They've kept the back-mounted weapons. He's got a variation of his pile drivers too but I can't say I like them since I'm a "hands man" for bots.

The cassette deco on his chest is fantastic too.

What's funny is the way his doors hang off his waist reminds me of Car Robots Prowl for some reason but that's no doubt pure coincident.

Of course. No doubt we'll get a bluish repaint called Frenzy.

Hasbro has obviously put the nail in the coffin of the old clash between toy and animation names where Rumble is blue in the cartoon but his toy is red and Frenzy is vice-versa.

Rumble is now definitely in the reddish palette!

Number in Collection: 1552

Number in Collection: 1548

Wow!

What a plastic cracky week!

I found Alternator Skids at a Target we rarely frequent. Yay!

Yeah. I don't care about him since Hasbro, with always the best thoughts of the collector at heart, choose to do the Alternator Skids in a totally non-homage color scheme and put hideous ugly flames on a frigg'n Scion. Ugh!

Thankfully Takara has released Skids with his original blue/red coloring so I'll be snagging him for my "official" Skids.

And for those on the look out, there are now tons of Prowls, Tracks, and Sunstreakers all around the Cowlands.

Numbers in Collection: 1522

There's plastic crack in them thar stores!!!

I was shocked to find an Alternator Sunstreaker at Lennox Target of all places. They never have anything new!

Someone had snagged the Skids and Prowl. Just Sunstreaker and Tracks and I'm willing to bet someone thought he was a Dragstrip since at first glance they kind of look the same.

But you are finally home in the Attic where you belong with your brother Sideswipe. We know that Dead End was supposed to be you. Yes. We do.

Number in Collection: 1518

Holy Shit!!! Giga totally blew me away tonight because he found me an Alternator Prowl at the ToysRUs thing I blogged about earlier.

Prowl is like one of the hardest damn figures to find and few have popped up in the Cowlands. For one of have been acquired is like panties moistening goodness.

Woot!!! I've been looking for him for ages with no luck. Hell. My life has been like a Shortpacked comic strip.

You know it is crazy when the quest of find a frigg'n Alternator becomes a 3 part comic strip.

Alas, we are the addicted.

What's even more bizarre is that Prowl wasn't on a the shelf. Giga and Evebird had gone through all the TF plastic crack and there was nothing. Since they needed a cart for other stuff Giga headed up back to the front of the store and after he got the cart he saw Prowl sitting in what looked like a return bin waiting ot be put back on the shelf.

And he snagged him for me!!!

Number in Collection: 1464.

I can't believe it but Evebird totally surprised me with an Alternator Dragstrip he managed to find at a local Toys R Us today.

Woot!!! I've been looking for him for ages.

Number in Collection: 1436.

I feel very sorry for the crack addicts who couldn't find Alternator Tracks last year and ended up spending vast amounts of cash on Ebay to get one.

Hasbro has started producing more now and they are being released in the new round of Alternators packaging.

The rarity of this figure just nose-dived big time.

What I never could understand was the number of people who just didn't want to buy the Takara Binaltech version. Here's a die-cast metal version that rarely was more than $50 retail and the crack heads would spent $100 on the all-plastic Hasbro version but not just buy the better one. It made no sense.

Then again, that's why it is addiction.

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