Title:
Tracks 3rd Robot Mode
Description:
Autobot Tracks (2004, 2006)
Alternator ID number: 5
Binaltech ID number: BT-06
Accessories: Engine/blaster
The Alternators toy of Tracks updates his alternate mode to a licensed 1:24 scale Corvette Z06, featuring opening doors, an opening hood with an engine block underneath, a realistic interior, a "steering” mechanism that makes the front wheels move in unison, and rubber tires. Amusingly enough, his rocket launchers are stored next to the passenger and driver seats.
In robot mode, Tracks greatly resembles his Generation 1 self, though with one major difference: The roof of his actual car no longer forms the front of his chest. Instead, he has a pseudo-car-roof chest piece that folds down. His large shoulder pads, formed from the rear halves of the car, give the impression of the wings his original toy had. Equipped with a double-barreled gun (formed from his car engine), two pairs of double-barreled, slide-out wrist blasters, and two shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, Tracks is the most heavily armed Alternators toy.
Tracks was first released in Japan under Takara’s Binaltech line with yellow as its primary color. The Hasbro version, named "Autobot Tracks” for trademark reasons, was initially also intended to be released in yellow first, with a running change to blue intended to come out later. However, when problems with the yellow plastic were discovered at the test shot stage, Hasbro decided to scrap the yellow version (presumably before it ever made it to the packaging stage), and instead released the toy in blue from the get-go. (Any rumors that the toy was shipped to stores and then recalled have never been backed up by any evidence.) A blue Binaltech variant was later also released to match the Hasbro version, which retroactively replaced the yellow version as the "main” color variant in Takara’s promotional material for the line (even though the blue version’s packaging and instruction booklet still depict the yellow version).
The main difference between Hasbro’s Alternators version and the Japanese Binaltech version is that both color variants of Binaltech Tracks have the majority of their car body panels constructed of die-cast metal, which are also fully painted, whereas the Alternators version is made out of unpainted plastic. In addition, the blue version of Binaltech Tracks (which is a slightly darker shade of blue than its Alternators counterpart) also came with a large reproduction of his Generation 1 predecessor’s hood flame sticker. This sticker was eventually released with Hasbro’s own Alternators Swerve, a retool of Tracks.
The official images always lie.
Initially, Chevrolet had denied Hasbro and Takara the license for the Z06 Corvette. Thus, an auxiliary plan for Tracks was devised, this time as another "well-known American sports car”, a Dodge Viper. 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 sculpt was slightly redesigned, given a new head sculpt, and ultimately ended up as Sideswipe instead (called "Side Swipe” for trademark reasons). The Tracks head sculpt originally designed for the Viper body ultimately ended up being used for the Corvette version of Tracks, though.
In addition, the original prototype for Tracks (seen in the Takara stock photos on the toy’s packaging and in the Hasbro instructions) featured a spring-loaded trigger mechanism for the arm cannons, which was changed to the final toy’s manually deployed cannon mechanism starting with the test shot stage.
Due to only shipping in two waves, Tracks initially ended up as one of the rarer Alternators toys. When Hasbro tried to relaunch the line in 2006, a re-released Tracks (with no changes other than the different packaging) was part of the first wave of the new assortment. Ironically, the re-released Tracks ended up as a shelfwarmer this time around.
This sculpt was retooled significantly to make Alternators Battle Ravage (aka Binaltech Ravage), and later given a second retool that only replaced the head sculpt for the aforementioned Swerve.
Alternator ID number: 5
Binaltech ID number: BT-06
Accessories: Engine/blaster
The Alternators toy of Tracks updates his alternate mode to a licensed 1:24 scale Corvette Z06, featuring opening doors, an opening hood with an engine block underneath, a realistic interior, a "steering” mechanism that makes the front wheels move in unison, and rubber tires. Amusingly enough, his rocket launchers are stored next to the passenger and driver seats.
In robot mode, Tracks greatly resembles his Generation 1 self, though with one major difference: The roof of his actual car no longer forms the front of his chest. Instead, he has a pseudo-car-roof chest piece that folds down. His large shoulder pads, formed from the rear halves of the car, give the impression of the wings his original toy had. Equipped with a double-barreled gun (formed from his car engine), two pairs of double-barreled, slide-out wrist blasters, and two shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, Tracks is the most heavily armed Alternators toy.
Tracks was first released in Japan under Takara’s Binaltech line with yellow as its primary color. The Hasbro version, named "Autobot Tracks” for trademark reasons, was initially also intended to be released in yellow first, with a running change to blue intended to come out later. However, when problems with the yellow plastic were discovered at the test shot stage, Hasbro decided to scrap the yellow version (presumably before it ever made it to the packaging stage), and instead released the toy in blue from the get-go. (Any rumors that the toy was shipped to stores and then recalled have never been backed up by any evidence.) A blue Binaltech variant was later also released to match the Hasbro version, which retroactively replaced the yellow version as the "main” color variant in Takara’s promotional material for the line (even though the blue version’s packaging and instruction booklet still depict the yellow version).
The main difference between Hasbro’s Alternators version and the Japanese Binaltech version is that both color variants of Binaltech Tracks have the majority of their car body panels constructed of die-cast metal, which are also fully painted, whereas the Alternators version is made out of unpainted plastic. In addition, the blue version of Binaltech Tracks (which is a slightly darker shade of blue than its Alternators counterpart) also came with a large reproduction of his Generation 1 predecessor’s hood flame sticker. This sticker was eventually released with Hasbro’s own Alternators Swerve, a retool of Tracks.
The official images always lie.
Initially, Chevrolet had denied Hasbro and Takara the license for the Z06 Corvette. Thus, an auxiliary plan for Tracks was devised, this time as another "well-known American sports car”, a Dodge Viper. 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 sculpt was slightly redesigned, given a new head sculpt, and ultimately ended up as Sideswipe instead (called "Side Swipe” for trademark reasons). The Tracks head sculpt originally designed for the Viper body ultimately ended up being used for the Corvette version of Tracks, though.
In addition, the original prototype for Tracks (seen in the Takara stock photos on the toy’s packaging and in the Hasbro instructions) featured a spring-loaded trigger mechanism for the arm cannons, which was changed to the final toy’s manually deployed cannon mechanism starting with the test shot stage.
Due to only shipping in two waves, Tracks initially ended up as one of the rarer Alternators toys. When Hasbro tried to relaunch the line in 2006, a re-released Tracks (with no changes other than the different packaging) was part of the first wave of the new assortment. Ironically, the re-released Tracks ended up as a shelfwarmer this time around.
This sculpt was retooled significantly to make Alternators Battle Ravage (aka Binaltech Ravage), and later given a second retool that only replaced the head sculpt for the aforementioned Swerve.
Theme:
Alternators
Manufacturer:
Hasbro
Year:
2004
Country:
United States
Series:
Alternators
Date Added:
2022-07-31 08:08:30
