Transformers
Alt-Modes (2016-2017) Overview
Price: $5-7 U.S. each (depending
upon store)
In late summer/early fall
2016, Hasbro released a subline of Transformers called "Alt-Modes", though
honestly the figures are more oriented on the Transformers robot character
than anything else. Done in a very "superdeformed" style, the robot heads
are absolutely huge proportionally, making up well over 50% of the mass
of the toy. The eyes are also bigger than they usually are, which again
is right in line with the "superdeformed" style. They all have either an
Autobot or a Decepticon emblem on top of the large heads-- yanking up on
the emblem quickly (it's used as a handle) will cause the figure to "convert"
from robot to vehicle mode and visa versa. How it does this is by utilizing
a ratcheting mechanism that simply rotates the bottom part of the toy around
one-half rotation, flipping one section down through a "face flap" below
the large head and the other section behind the large head and out of sight.
Thus, although the robot modes look very much like what you'd expect from
a "superdeformed" toy of a Transformer, the vehicle modes are actually
little vehicles below the large robot heads. It's definitely an odd look,
and takes some getting used to; generally after seeing these images you're
either going to like it or hate it, so that by itself is probably the biggest
indicator of whether you're going to like these or not. The "cranking"
mechanism of switching modes lightning-fast by just yanking up on the allegiance
symbol repeatedly is very addictive, though, which makes these great desk
toys. That said, the mechanism doesn't always work flawlessly; about a
third of the time (in my experience, anyway) the rotation mechanism only
does a quarter-turn or a third of a turn as opposed to the half-turn it's
supposed to. This is easy enough to correct, however-- just yank up the
allegiance symbol a few more times and it'll straighten itself out. However,
the biggest flaw of these toys is that the vehicle mode is the only mode
in which the toys are "stable". In robot mode, the head is so massive and
the feet so small that the Alt-Modes are almost impossible to stand up,
and if you do get them just right, the slightest bump and they'll tumble
over. All Alt-Modes toys can move up-and-down at the elbows and at the
hips, but these are completely loose joints with no resistance and droop
wherever gravity wants them to (most assuredly due to the automatic nature
of the transformation, in which they have to automatically "fold up" when
they rotate back into the head). Thus, from a design point I can understand
it, but having a superdeformed Transformer that can't easily stand up is
a major flaw; they should have had larger feet, or something.
Listed below are the
various Alt-Modes toys. As one can see, Series 1 was very heavy on new
releases compared to the others, and had nearly all of the new molds; Series
2 only had Hound and Sideswipe in terms of new molds, and Series 2.5/3
only had redecos for new releases in the assortment. Two important things
should be noted-- first of all, with the exception of Series 1, the toys
listed in the waves below were not the sole toys in their assortments,
but simply the NEW toys, with repacks for popular characters like Optimus
Prime, Starscream, and Megatron being common. Second, the idea of where
Series "2.5/3" fits exactly in the assortments is a bit of a mystery/oddity;
they were labeled Series 1 toys, despite having different box art and an
assortment, and they were found after Series 2 had already been released.
As such, the Series "2.5/3" monicker is one of my own invention, given
that the packaging itself is incorrect.
Series 1:
-Bumblebee (Car)
-Cliffjumper (Car)
-Megatron (Tank)
-Nemesis Prime (Truck)
-Optimus Prime (Truck)
-Prowl (Police Car)
-Skywarp (Jet)
-Starscream (Jet)
-Thundercracker (Jet)
-Ultra Magnus (Truck)
Series 2 (New toys only):
-Autobot Hound (Jeep)
-Bluestreak (Sportscar)
-Sideswipe (Sportscar)
-Silver Optimus Prime (Truck)
Series 2.5/3 (New toys only):
-Acid Storm (Jet)
-Smokescreen (Sportscar)
-Sunstorm (Jet)
As one can see from the
lineup, this is a very "redeco-heavy" lineup. Obviously Starscream and
all the Seekers are the same mold, as are the various Primes; Bluestreak,
Prowl, and Smokescreen; and Cliffjumper and Bumblebee (Cliffjumper particularly
suffers from this, having the wrong head crests and a smiling expression
on his face that does not at all fit his personality). The only unique
mold uses are for Megatron, Ultra Magnus, Hound, and Sideswipe. As such,
this limited, I believe, the collectibility of them-- more unique molds
should have been made straight off-the-bat, with more redecoes coming down
the line only if the line was successful. (It wasn't, and the line quietly
left store shelves in late Spring 2017 as The Last Knight toys invaded
stores, with most cases nearly untouched in every store I went to-- purely
anecdotal evidence, of course, but one that seems to be common.)
Of additional note is
that the Alt-Modes toys are "blind-boxed" in assortment, meaning-- theoretically--
that you don't know what you're going to get with each purchase. This is
a bit hard to swallow when the toys were $7 each at their original full
price, and so many are redecoes of molds you may already have. However,
luckily, Hasbro left a bit of a "hack" for those who come prepared-- there's
a little circle cut-out in the side of the boxes. It's fairly small, and
the bag that the toys are in further obfuscates a casual glance inside
unless you're looking for one in a unique color (like, say, Acid Storm),
but if you bring with you to the store a little flashlight you can almost
always tell which toy is actually in the box if you shine the light inside
the circle and jiggle around the toy a little. (The only ones that can
get a bit difficult are the gray ones, given how relatively many there
are of them-- Starscream, Silver Optimus Prime, Bluestreak, and Megatron.
Thundercracker and Ultra Magnus are also easy to mix up at certain angles,
given they're both the same shade of blue.) The toys came packed 24 to
a case; as far as I could tell each toy was produced in roughly the same
number, but were packed randomly in each case (i.e., one case might have
a surplus of Optimus Primes and Starscreams, while another case at another
store might have a surplus of Skywarps and Prowls). Generally at least
1 of each toy in the assortment was in each case, though.
In general, the Alt-Modes
toys were an interesting oddity, and are remarkably fun desk toys if you
just want to fiddle with something for a few seconds before going back
to work, as opposed to spending minutes transforming more "normal" Transformers
toys. However, the number of redecos likely hurt the line, along with the
relatively high price for something blind-boxed (even if, with a flashlight,
you could correctly guess 80% of the time who was inside the box). Thus,
it's understandable why the line was clearanced out after less than a year
after its debut at retail. The gimmick, while initially impressive, needed
a bit more "oomph" or variety-- once you got one Alt Mode toy, you essentially
got them all in terms of play value. The lack of being able to stand up
stably in robot mode or any kind of real articulation particularly hurts
them. I'd recommend buying one or two if you're curious, but only big-time
desk toy/Transformers completists should try to hunt down more than that.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Above Average
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