Transformers: Alternators
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Transformers: Alternators (トランスフォーマー バイナルテック Toransufāmā Bainarutekku?, Transformers: Binaltech) is a toyline of the Transformers series produced by Hasbro in North America & Europe and Takara in Japan, the primary selling point of which is the use of 1:24 scale, accurate real-world vehicle modes officially licensed from car manufacturers. Typically for each vehicle there are two toys to go with it to match the base model and the sport model.
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[edit] Binaltech Backstory
The fiction provided herein is a summary of the booklets accompanying the Binaltech toy releases. There has been no official storyline for Alternators on any Hasbro material, though the American Mazda website cited the Binaltech storyline and the Nemesis Prime exclusive had a story featuring Dr. Arkeville.
In the year 2003 the Autobots and humans have formed an alliance, leading to the formation of the Earth Defense Command, humanity's first step towards space with the creation of a lunar colony, and the construction of Autobot City, still in progress. Meanwhile, on Cybertron, Megatron had stepped up his campaign, and many Autobots had to return to their home planet to join the fight. However, a small group, led by Ultra Magnus, remained behind on Earth to defend the planet against the Decepticons forces still working there, led by Starscream.
When the Combaticon Swindle unleashed a modified version of the Cosmic Rust plague, many Autobots fell to it (including Smokescreen, Bluestreak (Silverstreak), Sideswipe, Tracks, Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker) and were damaged beyond repair. To revive the Autobots, the EDC initiated the Binaltech Project, which saw assorted human car manufacturers produce new bodies for the damaged Autobots, powered with electro-cells. Bluestreak was the first, but due to some instability problems with his personality, he was forced to undergo several tests before he was cleared. Subsequently, the project provided bodies for Smokescreen, Sideswipe (with a TORQ 3000 operating computer from Quantum Labs), Hound - who volunteered to undergo the BT process because of his love of earth and humans (his body co-built by Hybrid Technologies Corporation), and Tracks, able to switch his colouration from blue to yellow. These new Autobots were able to defeat the Decepticons, and force them off the planet.
However, in the shadows, a secret cabal known as the Concurrence had formed, with prominent members such as Count von Rani and General Garrison Kreiger, with financial backing from industrialist Shawn Berger Jr. and eccentric big gamer hunter, Lord Cholmondeley. Another member of the group was former Decepticon ally, Doctor Arkeville, who was soon contacted by Starscream with the intent to form an alliance between the Decepticons and the Concurrence. Combining his Hypno-Chips with the Insecticon Bombshell's Cerebro-Shells, Arkeville took control of several workers in the Binaltech Project, thus providing some Decepticons with new, more powerful bodies that could take on the Binaltech Autobots. Hence, while Symultech Industries believed themselves to be building a new body for the Autobot, Sunstreaker, they actually created a new form for the Stunticon, Dead End. And while the Central City Institute of Technology thought they were constructing the new body for Trailbreaker, it was in fact occupied by Swindle (who had managed to pull some tricks and move himself to the top of the list, even though there were more injured Decepticons than he) Unable to access the electro-cell recharge facility, the Decepticons instead used stabilised exponential generators as their power sources.
To counteract this development, the Autobots launched a new offensive in the form of Project Genetronic Translink, headed by old Autobot ally, Chip Chase, which involved the displacement of a Transformer's Laser Core to subspace, from where it could control multiple bodies via Translink Ports. Smokescreen underwent this process, becoming Smokescreen GT, and now able to control up to four bodies at once. Also, despite having not been affected by Cosmic Rust, Jazz underwent this process, and in his new body can now control a red duplicate of himself nicknamed Zoom Zoom. Jazz then proceeded to participate in Operation Carwash, a secret project intended to uncover the depth of the Decepticons' involvement in the BT project.
Meanwhile, EDC top agent Dashiell Faireborn had infiltrated the Concurrence's headquarters in the Lunar Colony, learning the truth, and transmitting a message to Ultra Magnus before being forced to flee to escape capture.
At the same time, across the galaxy, the war was not going well on Cybertron. The Unleashers, a primitive telepathic alien lifeform, was turned on the Autobots by the Decepticons, and infected the minds of the Dinobots, driving them insane and turning them into rampaging savages, forcing the Autobots to take them out of commission. Afterward, Grimlock regained consciousness and vowed to do anything to return to the battle. Hence, Wheeljack took him to Earth, where his mind was implanted in the newest Binaltech body, combining the best aspects of all the previous bodies constructed. Grimlock hated it immediately, but made the best of it.
But elsewhere, the seeds of the past were beginning to bear fruit. Staffers of the defunct government program, I.I.I. (Triple I), unearthed a mysterious capsule from a prehistoric layer of the planet, and dubbed it Schrödinger's Box. In actuality, the capsule was the flight recorder from the craft of the Decepticon/Predacon, Ravage, who had travelled back into Earth's prehistoric past and been destroyed during his involvement in the Beast Wars. The flight recorder contained an encoded copy of Ravage's personality and memories, and when the I.I.I. staffers managed to communicate with this consciousness, they agreed to give him a new body in exchange for his future knowledge. A new body was constructed in a fake BT project, and the copy of Ravage's consciousness was implanted in it. To truly bring him to life, however, the present-day Ravage - currently in EDC custody - was stasis-locked into cassette mode and permanently implanted into the new body's cassette deck, thereby providing the body with a Spark. Ravage overcame the failsafes in his body and equipped himself with weapons and then, realising that his participation in the Beast Wars had failed to change history, he killed the I.I.I. staffers and set out on a mission to alter the future.
Meanwhile, the Binaltech Project continued. After the creation of several prototypes, a new body was constructed for the Omnibot, Overdrive, armed with his Omniblaster and a Durabyllium shield. As a result of restrictions imposed by his role of humanitarian support, however, Overdrive's body had its in-built weapons removed. Overdrive, having experiences in dimensional travel, soon began to notice reality fluxes that resulted from sabotages acts committed by Ravage, and warned the Autobots that someone from outside the timestream was attempting to alter history.
Ravage's next action saw him infiltrate the facility producing the thirteenth Binaltech body, which was attempting to utilise Transmuter technology to shape a new BT body based on Jazz's scanned data. Ravage, however, implanted Shockwave's personality component and redesigned data into the car, causing it to take his form and restore him to life. Subsequently, Ravage hijacked Wheeljack's shuttle as it returned to Cybertron and landed it in devastated Decepticon territory, where he located and reactivated the Kronosphere, a time-travel device previously developed by Shockwave. Ravage employed the Kronosphere in the midst of the deciding battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron's forces - whereas in the original timeline, Prime's forces withdrew to their bases on Cybertron's moons (thereby setting up the scenario at the beginning of Transformers: The Movie), Ravage, unthinkably, succeeded in altering history by using the Kronosphere to trap Megatron and his forces in a time-space rift, thereby changing the outcome of the battle. But Ravage knows that soon, a great darkness is coming which the Autobots must face alone. And when all is laid to rest, Megatron will return!
Unfortunately for Ravage, he is eventually captured by the Autobots thanks to efforts from Overdrive and Wheeljack, and is intensely interrogated until he finally reveals the details of his mission, including how all but Optimus are expendable, as the Autobot leader has the tool needed to defeat Unicron upon the Chaos Bringer's arrival. Despite Ravage's tempting explanation that his plan may allow some of those Autobots destined to die in the original timeline (dubbed 'Prime Time' by Wheeljack, with the current, altered timeline being classified as 'Ravage Time') to survive, his plan is deemed too audacious and dangerous to be allowed to happen, and with Unicron already making his way to Cybertron, Optimus goads Ultra Magnus to accompany him in a shuttle to take the planet-eater down, while he ordered Skids to initiate Operation: Distant Thunder, a plan to prevent Ravage's time manipulations by sending a copy of Wheeljack's memory tracks, using a time warp created from manipulating the energies of the Earth location known as Dinobot Island, to a point in history preceding Ravage's changes, alerting their past selves of the threat Ravage's plans pose to their future and hopefully stop him before he could proceed with them. With any luck, if their plan succeeded, Operation Body Shop (the Binaltech project) would be able to smooth over any bumps in future history and abort most of the tragedies in the original timeline, without anyone being the wiser. Just as Skids sent the datatracks, however, sensors indicated a massive Decepticon platoon headed their way, a platoon that could jeopardize this one, desperate attempt to set right what Ravage had disturbed.
Meanwhile, during the assault on Unicron, Optimus Prime is wounded and the Matrix passed on to Ultra Magnus. In his darkest hour, Ultra Magnus communicates with the Matrix and unleashes its power, destroying Unicron in the process. Even with Unicron out of the way, Shockwave has disappeared and the danger of freeing Megatron and his forces are greater than ever. Back on Operation: Distant Thunder, Skids and his team barely repel the Decepticon squadron and manage to send the datatracks into the past. Almost immediately, multiple warpholes open up around the Earth and it almost appears as though Skids failed until the silhouette of an Optimus Prime-looking robot extends his hands and a huge light orb engulfs the planet and dispels the warpholes. The Black Optimus informs Skids that he has succeeded, that is, succeeded in preserving one particular timeline. The incomprehensible powers of Black Optimus have preserved and detached the current timeline from the original, much to everyone's shock and dismay. Taken back to the EDC base in Antarctica, the Black Optimus is questioned, answering every one of their queries with some reluctance. He informs the Autobots that within him is a spark from the future, bestowed to him by a being known only as the The Protector, in an effort to preserve this particular timeline. Furthermore, the Binaltechs will make their ascension into the Alternity and be the genesis of great beings who will oversee the safety of multi-dimensional galaxies. Surprising everyone, Optimus Prime awakens and confronts Black Optimus, who now reveals that he is tired of his guardian role and opens a portal, manifests a Decepticon insignia and ejects the spark, while automatically leaping into the portal of unknown destination. Overdrive, with his multi-dimensional capabilities, confirms the restoration of the parallel timeline, Prime Time, and reveals the many differences (among them, the death of Optimus Prime and the leadership of Rodimus Prime). Just then, Jazz detects numerous mobile fortresses on Cybertron, presumably heralding the return of Megatron. Optimus Prime vows that to obtain the future that the Protector seeks, they must defend the present and preserve the Binaltech project, spurring the Autobots to resume their duties. Meanwhile, in a secret lab, Dr. Arkeville, succeeds in using subspace translinking to transplant an ancient and ravenous spark into Black Optimus, birthing the being known only as Black Convoy!
[edit] List of Alternators
- Smokescreen - Subaru Impreza WRC (#8 only)
- Side Swipe - Dodge Viper
- Autobot Hound - Jeep Wrangler
- Silverstreak - Subaru Impreza WRX
- Autobot Tracks - Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06
- Dead End - Dodge Viper
- Meister (aka Autobot Jazz) - Mazda RX-8
- Swindle - Jeep Wrangler
- Grimlock - Ford Mustang GT
- Windcharger - Honda S2000
- Battle Ravage - Chevrolet Corvette C5 Convertible
- Shockblast - Mazda RX-8
- Wheeljack - Ford Mustang GT
- Decepticharge - Honda S2000
- Swerve - Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06
- Prowl - Acura RSX
- Autobot Skids - Scion xB
- Sunstreaker - Dodge Viper
- Rollbar - Jeep Wrangler
- Ricochet - Subaru Impreza WRX
- Optimus Prime - Dodge Ram SRT-10
- Mirage - Ford GT
- Autobot Camshaft - Acura RSX
- Nemesis Prime - Dodge Ram SRT-10 (SDCC 2006/Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive) (Labeled No. 24 on the box)
- Decepticon Rumble - Honda Civic Si (Labeled No. 24 on the box) (Wal-Mart exclusive)
- Ravage - Jaguar XK (Wal-Mart exclusive)
- Rodimus - Ford GT (SDCC 2007/Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive) (Labeled Rodimus Prime on the instruction sheet)
[edit] List of Binaltech
Binaltech figures are the Japanese version of Alternators. Unlike Alternators, the Binaltech line features fully painted car bodies and die-cast metal parts.
- BT-01 Smokescreen - Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 (#7 & #8)
- BT-02 Lambor - Dodge Viper SRT-10
- BT-03 Streak - Subaru Impreza WRX
- BT-04 Hound - Jeep Wrangler
- BT-05 Dead End - Dodge Viper Competition Coupe
- BT-06 Tracks - Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (Millennium Yellow & LeMans Blue Metallic)
- BT-07 Smokescreen GT - Subaru Impreza WRC 2004 (#1 & #2)
- BT-08 Meister - Mazda RX-8 (Crystal White Pearl & Velocity Red Mica)
- BT-09 Swindle - Jeep Wrangler custom
- BT-10 Grimlock - Ford Mustang GT
- BT-11 Ravage - Chevrolet Corvette
- BT-12 Overdrive - Honda S2000
- BT-13 Laserwave - Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed Version II
- BT-14 Wheeljack - Mustang GT Street Tuning
- BT-15 Prowl - Honda Integra Type-R (Patrol Type & Vivid Blue Pearl)
- BT-16 Skids - Toyota bB
- BT-17 Black Convoy - Dodge Ram SRT-10 (Wonderfest 2007/e-Hobby exclusive)
- BT-18 Ligier Electro-Disruptor Mode - Ford GT (e-Hobby exclusive) (also spelled "Electro-Disrupter")
- BT-19 Bluestreak - Subaru Impreza WRX (Blue)
- BT-20 Argent Meister - Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed Version II (Silver movie colors)
- BT-21 Arcee - Honda S2000
- BT-22 Convoy - Red Dodge Ram SRT-10
Binaltech Asterisk
- BTA-1 Alert meets Ai Kuruma - Subaru Impreza WRX Prefecture Police Type & Policewoman
- BTA-2 Sunstreaker meets Junko Shirakami - Dodge Viper GTS & Race Queen
- BTA-3 Broadblast meets Lumina Hoshi - Toyota bB TV Interview Vehicle & Scene News Reporter
Kiss Players
- Convoy x Melissa - Dodge Ram SRT-10
- Hot Rodimus x Syao Syao - Ford GT
- Autorooper x Atari - Mazda RX-8 Patrol Car
Kiss Players Figure Collection
This line varies from the Kiss Players as the vehicles are done in a miniature scale while the PVC girls have been scaled up
- Atari Hitotonari x Autorooper - Mazda RX-8 Patrol Car Micron
[edit] Contrary to Plans
The Alternators and Binaltech lines haven't always worked out as originally planned.
- The very first car mold developed for the Alternators-Binaltech line was the Porsche 986 Boxster, originally conceived as Autobot Jazz. Porsche rejected any involvement with "war machines," making it impossible to obtain the license for the figure's release. The original prototype still exists and has been shown as recently as BotCon 2007.
- Hasbro had also been actively seeking a license from Volkswagen in order to update the Autobot, Bumblebee (who was a Volkswagen Beetle). Volkswagen declined, presumably due to their World War II history, claiming that, as with Porsche, they do not endorse "war toys." All Alternators sport some manner of weaponry (although Alternators Windcharger had its gun barrel removed because Honda of America disallowed it) and Hasbro insisted that Bumblebee carry a gun. Concept drawings of the Bumblebee toy and a Cliffjumper re-mold still exist and the design made a cameo as a possible "future" Bumblebee in the BotCon 2005 comic, "Descent into Evil."
- Hasbro and Takara tried to get a license for a MINI Cooper from BMW, the owners of the MINI brand. BMW said that as long as the figure did not have a gun, they would approve it. Hasbro and Takara had already started creating the prototype before getting permission, prompting BMW to revoke the license.
- Dead End - based quite clearly on his sculpt - was originally intended to be Sunstreaker. For unexplained reasons (theories include that Hasbro may not have wanted two yellow cars on the market at the same time (Tracks was originally intended to be yellow) and that fans wanted a Decepticon, prompting Hasbro to change one of their characters) the toy was renamed and recolored as Dead End. The change was explained away in the BT story. Later, the Dead End mold was repainted by Takara in their Binaltech Asterisk line as Sunstreaker and Hasbro followed suit during their second Alternators packaging reset (the more recent "fish bowl" box) in early 2006.
- Chevrolet originally rejected Hasbro's proposal to make a Corvette Transformer so Hasbro designed a new Dodge Viper body for Autobot Tracks. Chevrolet changed their minds and the Viper body was given a new head and released as Sideswipe. As such, many of design cues from the Viper mold share common traits with the Generation 1 Tracks figure. Additionally, Alternators Tracks was intended to be yellow, but problems stemming from the transparency of the yellow plastic saw the toy switched to Tracks' iconic blue, delaying it's release. In Japan, Binaltech Tracks was released in yellow and later blue versions (the blue one with added flame sticker for further homage), explained away story-wise as a color-changing ability.
- Swindle was originally intended to be Trailbreaker (based on the head design), but due to Hasbro's lack of the "Trailbreaker" trademark, the figure was repainted as Swindle and the change was explained away in the BT storyline (it's worth noting that Generation 1 Swindle turned into a jeep type vehicle; Trailbreaker did not). As the lines are seemingly over, Trailbreaker seems he will never be officially made.
- Windcharger was originally intended to be the name given to the second Ford Mustang figure, with a head designed to evoke the classic Generation 1 character. However, when complications with the Honda S2000 Overdrive toy occurred (presumably either resulting from a rejection of the name Overdrive by Honda, or lack of trademark possession), the Windcharger name was applied to the Honda S2000 figure (only in the Alternators line; the Binaltech S2000 is still named Overdrive and there is no figure named "Windcharger"). The second Mustang became Wheeljack.
- The original head sculpt for Windcharger was used by Hasbro for a Decepticon re-mold/re-paint of the Honda S2000 toy called "Decepticharge" (a composite of Decepticon and Windcharger), with a fictional racing deco. In Japan, Takara planned to release the toy as Wildrider, of the Generation 1 Stunticons, and although the headsculpt bore no resemblance to him, the color scheme and racing decals bore were similar to the unreleased Generation 2 repaint of Wildrider [1]. Wildrider never saw release.
- Plans were changed again, turning Wildrider into Black Widow, the Japanese name for Beast Wars Blackarachnia. Black Widow was delayed continuously, despite a finished Binaltech story chapter. Due to the cancellation/delay, Autobot Skids' ID was moved up from from BT-17 to BT-16. Since then, the Binaltech line and the Black Widow figure have been cancelled.[1]
- Not all Alternators have been made available in every single country. For example, it was announced by Hasbro that Prowl was not going to be released in the UK as children wouldn't recognize the car as a proper police car. It has also been announced that Meister was also not going to be released in that country either.
- In Takara's Kiss Player manga, there are depictions of a modified Honda S2000 that stalks Kiss Player Atari and transforms into a robot that has a very Generation 2-like Megatron head, albeit with a slobbering, phallic tongue. It was later revealed that the character was not Megatron, but a new character named Legion. Legion is destroyed in the story and there has been no indication of a toy based on it in either Binaltech or Kiss Players.
- The Alternators Dodge Ram SRT-10 figure is considered an updated Generation 1 Optimus Prime. Originally, the Dodge Ram was meant to be a character other than Prime (though precisely who is unknown), but due to the obscurity of pick-up trucks in Japan and out of concern that the huge and expensive mold would not sell, Takara insisted that the Ram be made into a truly iconic character: namely, Optimus Prime (known as Convoy in Japan). Being reportedly more expensive to make than other Alternators, Hasbro consented so that Takara would continue to front part of the development cost. Ironically, when Takara finally solicited the figure for Binaltech Asterisk, the figure was relabeled Ginrai, the Prime look-a-like from Transformers: Masterforce. At the time, Ginrai was put on indefinite hiatus. After the die-cast Binaltech and Binaltech Asterisk lines were canceled, the figure was re-solicited as part of Takara's new all-plastic Kiss Players line, restoring the Convoy name. The already developed die-cast plates were used later in the development of BT-17 Black Convoy.
- According to Hasbro at BotCon 2006, along with Ravage, the Jaguar XK, and Rumble, the Honda Civic Si, there was a third rumored Alternator, first referenced in store listings as a Cadillac XLR. Hasbro confirmed that the figure was intended to be Megatron, but has been canceled and the Alternators line itself postponed for the duration of the live action Transformers movie.
- The appearance of a second Ravage figure may have had its roots in the search for a more conventional alternate mode for the original Generation 1 Ravage. The Corvette remold Ravage was a departure for most fans being that it was a Corvette as well as it having a humanoid robot form in a storyline that takes place in the middle of G1 continuity (according to the BT story, Corvette Ravage was not an updated G1 Ravage, but his future, humanoid self from Beast Wars, powered by the dormant spark of G1 Ravage to sustain him); thus, fan demand might have been the spark that set about the creation of a more traditional panther mode, as well as sporting a Jaguar vehicle mode (as a nod to his Japanese name), both of which were integrated into the second figure.
- In a similar fashion to the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Alternator, Nemesis Prime, a year before, Takara-Tomy released a Wonderfest exclusive Binaltech in late February 2007. The Binaltech line was revived for one more figure. The numbered figure, BT-17 Black Convoy, was packaged in a retrofit Alternators-style "fishbowl" box, saw the return of die-cast parts (presumably from the developed but previously unused plates from the canceled BTA Ginrai figure) and gave a degree of closure to the Binaltech storyline. After the quick sell-out at Wonderfest, the highly sought after Black Convoy was later briefly available on Takara-Tomy's affiliate site, e-Hobby, where it quickly sold out as well, overwhelming the e-Hobby servers in the process.
- Following on the heels of BT-17 Black Convoy, BT-18 Mirage (Rijie in Japan) Clear Version was announced at the end of March 2007 as an e-Hobby exclusive. As die-cast plates were presumably never developed for the Ford GT mold and given that the figure will be made of clear plastic, it is the first Binaltech to be all plastic.
- As of Spring 2008, given the end of Alternators and the lack of die cast plates for newer figures, Takara has decided to repaint a selection of older figures with new color schemes, including a mold variation of the Honda S2000 never before released, designated as BT-21 Arcee as well as a maintstream release of the die-cast version of the Dodge Ram mold. Nevertheless, there are Alternators that have never received Binaltech treatment (i.e. Ravage and Rumble) and it remains to be seen if Takara-Tomy will eventually shoehorn them into Binaltech or create another spin-off line, ala Kiss Players.
- As of writing, Hasbro announced at BotCon 2007 that Alternators will be discontinued. Instead, several new figures will be released in the Transformers: Universe sub-line in 2008 that will continue the theme of Transformers toys with realistic vehicle mode. However, the Universe toys will be distinguishable enough from the Binaltech figures to avoid having to pay licensing fees to the car manufacturers Hasbros have licensed the vehicles from.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Doug Dlin relaying a response from Hirofimi Ichikawa regarding the fate of the Honda S2000 redeco, posted at the usenet group alt.toys.transformers.
[edit] External links
- Alternators official website
- BINALTECH official website
- Kiss Players official website
- English translation of the Binaltech story
- article on "Kiss Players" line
