Solscud007 Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 And when it transforms. It is obviously some kids survival toy. Signal Mirror, Whiste, tape measure, flashlight, periscope/telescope, compass, and of course in dire moments, a blaster.
Deadzone Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 Lol...I guess I spoke too soon. I went to my local Target today to kill some time...and what do I see? I got Ravage, Grimlock, Swindle, and Windcharger. They still have some left...but barely. I guess the scalpers got to them early. Where is your local Target? I can't find squat at the ones I am going to. I have tried Los Angeles and rescently the bay area. They all seem to be hiding from me.
eugimon Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 The target in irvine california on culver and barranca is really good at getting stuff. I just scored a battle ravage and windcharger, left a grimlock and swindle there.
VF Strike Valk Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 Lol...I guess I spoke too soon. I went to my local Target today to kill some time...and what do I see? I got Ravage, Grimlock, Swindle, and Windcharger. They still have some left...but barely. I guess the scalpers got to them early. Where is your local Target? I can't find squat at the ones I am going to. I have tried Los Angeles and rescently the bay area. They all seem to be hiding from me. I went to the ones in Encino and Simi Valley.
GreenGuy42 Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 (edited) I'll be checking with my local Wal-mart this evening, when they get stocks in. The toy department manager's supposed to be on staff, so I'll ask her what's up. Edit: here's the thing, as long as SOME Alternators sit on the shelf, nothing will be reordered. She told me that the computers are set to automatically request more stock. In short, even if you have Smokescreens sitting there, gathering dust, chances are that you won't see any new Alternators until those are sold. Energon toys aren't moving, and most managers kind of lump the two transformers groups together when judging popularity. A friend of mine who works at another Wal-Mart is going to try his manager to order some boxes. If so, I'll FINALLY have my Grimlock. Edited February 9, 2005 by GreenGuy42
myk Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 I managed to pick up a Windcharger and Ravage this evening-I guess the scalpers/cherry pickers are having the week off or something...
Magnus Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 Alternators are sort of being restocked in Ottawa, but only the older releases, Hound, Silverstreak etc.Some of the newer Energon figures have come in though, so I suppose it isn't too bad. But I really really want to get some new alternators, I caved last week and picked up a Binaltech Grimlock. One cool figure. Oh hey, you're from Ottawa too? Cool. No, this city is a wasteland when it comes to Alternators .....I have a feeling we'll get a repeat of what happened with Silverstreak, Hound, and DeadEnd - a few more months of nothing, and then BLAM!, 6 new alternators flooding shelves at the same time. Which is something I really hate, because it usually bankrupts me to buy them all at once
BoBe-Patt Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 wow, I can't believe what saw today. I found all the alts at toys r us!! Ravage, grimlock, swindle and windcharger. They had like a shelf full of them. I was surprised by all this. I didn't pick any up as I don't care about ravage, and I already have grimlock. The windcharger was iffy for me.
Deadzone Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 Which toys r us and how many did you find? I could care less about windcharger and swindle, but I want to get another grimmy for customization.
BoBe-Patt Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 It's the monrovia toys r us. They had like 5 of each figure.
VF-19 Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 Alternators are sort of being restocked in Ottawa, but only the older releases, Hound, Silverstreak etc.Some of the newer Energon figures have come in though, so I suppose it isn't too bad. But I really really want to get some new alternators, I caved last week and picked up a Binaltech Grimlock. One cool figure. Oh hey, you're from Ottawa too? Cool. No, this city is a wasteland when it comes to Alternators .....I have a feeling we'll get a repeat of what happened with Silverstreak, Hound, and DeadEnd - a few more months of nothing, and then BLAM!, 6 new alternators flooding shelves at the same time. Which is something I really hate, because it usually bankrupts me to buy them all at once That's what I'm figuring what's going to happen. I hate it when it does happen. Luckly, though, it has been good to me in the past, as I was able to get all three parts in one purchase for Rail Racer a few years back...
Deadzone Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 It's the monrovia toys r us. They had like 5 of each figure. Darn, I am up here in the bay area for the week. Got to stop by some Targets and TRU when I head back to Los Angeles on Friday.
Guppy Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 And when it transforms.It is obviously some kids survival toy. Signal Mirror, Whiste, tape measure, flashlight, periscope/telescope, compass, and of course in dire moments, a blaster. lol, WTF is that thing?? I have never seen that one in my life. And I was TF obsessed when I was a kid. I would have loved that thing at the age of 9!
areaseven Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 Well, I'll be damned. Target over in Northridge replenished their stock of Alternators today. I picked up Windcharger, Battle Ravage and an extra Grimlock. If you live around there, the store still has Grimlock, Swindle and Windcharger.
areaseven Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 BTW, Windcharger is a bit of a letdown. The leg articulation is worse than that of Side Swipe and Dead End. Arm articulation is limited compared to that of Tracks. And the engine/gun (for some odd reason, Hasbro calls the weapon a "shield," especially since the ragtop is already his shield) has no locking mechanism, given that the deleted drive shaft is what's supposed to keep the engine in place in car mode. And why is it that the red Alternators (namely Side Swipe and Windcharger) tend to look bland compared to the others?
GreenGuy42 Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 BTW, Windcharger is a bit of a letdown. The leg articulation is worse than that of Side Swipe and Dead End. Arm articulation is limited compared to that of Tracks. And the engine/gun (for some odd reason, Hasbro calls the weapon a "shield," especially since the ragtop is already his shield) has no locking mechanism, given that the deleted drive shaft is what's supposed to keep the engine in place in car mode.And why is it that the red Alternators (namely Side Swipe and Windcharger) tend to look bland compared to the others? His legs suck? He has a knee joint... Yea, the erm... gun sucks... Mainly, the quality of the plastic seems to be plastic. Mine's almost translucent.
Anubis Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 I guess Wednesday is the day to go to target over here. They had 3 Swindles, 2 Windchargers, 3 Grimlocks, and 1 Ravage. I picked up Ravage, but still decided to pass on Swindle.
RFT Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 (edited) And why is it that the red Alternators (namely Side Swipe and Windcharger) tend to look bland compared to the others? Because flat red plastic (or any "lighter" colour) is always that bit translucent that it doesn't look like paint. this means light gets reflected back at you not only from the surface, but below the surface as well. this is what makes things look plasticy abd toy-like. Ironically white plastic isn't as badly affected. this will somehat flatten out the range of tones you'll see as light relfects of the differing surfaces of the toy. Grimlock and Streak are painted silver, which makes them look pretty indistinguishable from BTs. Tracks, Hound, Dead End, and Smokescreen are all quite dark colours, so this sub-surface scattering doesn't affect it as much (and smokescreens sponsor decals distract from it). I've not got Alt Swindle, so I don;t know how they've dealt with the problem on him. and on the subject of red alternators, behold Swerve Edited February 10, 2005 by RFT
Feyd-Rautha Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 uhhh ..where the hell are my binaltech JETS already?!?!...jeeeeshshshh
Valkfan Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 (edited) BTW, Windcharger is a bit of a letdown. The leg articulation is worse than that of Side Swipe and Dead End. Arm articulation is limited compared to that of Tracks. And the engine/gun (for some odd reason, Hasbro calls the weapon a "shield," especially since the ragtop is already his shield) has no locking mechanism, given that the deleted drive shaft is what's supposed to keep the engine in place in car mode.And why is it that the red Alternators (namely Side Swipe and Windcharger) tend to look bland compared to the others? A few pages ago, I mentioned that I couldn't get the knees to bend and so I asked anyone for input. I never got any so I just decided to force the knee to bend and sure enough they are extremely easy to bend after the first time. As for the arm articulation being "limited," there are two easy ways to remedy this for anyone who has the skill of precision. You can either loosen the two screws behind the shoulder until the shoulders are able to bend to a horizontal position. Edited February 10, 2005 by Valkfan
al0324 Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 And why is it that the red Alternators (namely Side Swipe and Windcharger) tend to look bland compared to the others? Because flat red plastic (or any "lighter" colour) is always that bit translucent that it doesn't look like paint. this means light gets reflected back at you not only from the surface, but below the surface as well. this is what makes things look plasticy abd toy-like. Ironically white plastic isn't as badly affected. this will somehat flatten out the range of tones you'll see as light relfects of the differing surfaces of the toy. Grimlock and Streak are painted silver, which makes them look pretty indistinguishable from BTs. Tracks, Hound, Dead End, and Smokescreen are all quite dark colours, so this sub-surface scattering doesn't affect it as much (and smokescreens sponsor decals distract from it). I've not got Alt Swindle, so I don;t know how they've dealt with the problem on him. and on the subject of red alternators, behold Swerve swerve = new alternator remold? i noticed on my hound that the plastic's all glittery, so it kinda looks a little less plasticky compared to bluestreak and Sideswipe. My grimlock's a bt though, so i dont know how the alternator grimlock is (he's painted?) man, all these remolds with different heads how many characters can you get from one mold? i think g1 smokescreen, silverstreak, and prowl were 1 - so just 3?
Valkfan Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 Or you can sand down the black hinge(upper arrow) so that it doesn't make contact with the rear inner door jam(lower arrow).
Valkfan Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 And when you're done, Windcharger will let you know that everything is okay.
areaseven Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 Thanks for the suggestions, Valkfan. I'll go dust off my needle file and sand off those hinges. Tracks, Hound, Dead End, and Smokescreen are all quite dark colours, so this sub-surface scattering doesn't affect it as much (and smokescreens sponsor decals distract from it). Yeah, but Smokescreen is still a bit plasticky while Tracks and Hound have some metallic sheen on their molds. Since Dead End is black, the plasticky look is hardly noticeable. The yellow on Swindle is very tolerable for a bright color.
areaseven Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 and on the subject of red alternators, behold Swerve Is that official or a fan-made repaint?
areaseven Posted February 10, 2005 Posted February 10, 2005 Official. new head resculpt. In that case, Takara should've made him a C6 instead of recycling the C5 Z06. BTW, got pics of the head?
cschell Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 Since I know there are some Tucson folks on here, I thought I would let you know that the Toys R Us at Broadway and Craycroft has a few Grimlock and one Battle Ravage if you're still looking for either one.
Valkfan Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 and on the subject of red alternators, behold Swerve I'll believe it when I see a RED Autobot symbol instead of the PURPLE Autobot symbol in those photos. The head looks fairly legit but the miscolored faction symbol screams Photoshop.
Myriad Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 Since I know there are some Tucson folks on here, I thought I would let you know that the Toys R Us at Broadway and Craycroft has a few Grimlock and one Battle Ravage if you're still looking for either one. Rosemont Target has had them sitting on shelf for 3 days. (Wind, Rav, Swin, Meist) Nice to see another Tucson person.
eriku Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 and on the subject of red alternators, behold Swerve I'll believe it when I see a RED Autobot symbol instead of the PURPLE Autobot symbol in those photos. The head looks fairly legit but the miscolored faction symbol screams Photoshop. Actually that's not the case. Many of the Alternators prototypes have had miscolored faction symbols.
Anubis Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 I'm going to say meh about another corvette repaint. Not planning to buy a 3rd one. If they do that though, they should be able to release a Subaru Prowl. That would be cool. Eagerly awaiting Shockwave. Any ideas what the Mitsubishi is yet?
al0324 Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 and on the subject of red alternators, behold Swerve I'll believe it when I see a RED Autobot symbol instead of the PURPLE Autobot symbol in those photos. The head looks fairly legit but the miscolored faction symbol screams Photoshop. Actually that's not the case. Many of the Alternators prototypes have had miscolored faction symbols. Yeap, i've seen a proto chevy battle ravage with red decipticaon symbol. interrrrresting.
zeo-mare Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 yes many of the protos have the wrong color symbol, i have seen them also with the wrong symbol as well, i saw protos for Ravage and Swindle that had the Autobot logo on them instead of the Decepticon. chris
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