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They were the primary Transformers I collected at the time, and I think they were precursors to the current batch of MPs for sure. For me, I prefer cartoon accuracy first, which is why the MP line is for me. But I get where you are coming from, and in an ideal world, I think the Alt designs would have been what the Bay TF movies would have given us. Modern vehicles, complex transformations, but ultimately basic, and aesthetically pleasing looking robots. Not the jumbles of parts that we got instead.
When the first live action film was announced, I actually thought they had the perfect template to design the TFs. Of course we didn't get any of that. While I don't hate the look of bayformers, I still feel there's too many exposed parts.
When BT's originally came out I wasn't even collecting. I didn't start collecting Transformers again until 2007.
That being said I was never impressed with BT/Alternators, they were obviously improved from G1 in terms of their engineering but I didn't like how fiddly most of the transformations were, the robot modes were largely a mess of kibble and virtually all the alt modes had changed from G1 so there was no sense of nostalgia....I couldn't care less about Bluestreak as a Subaru Impreza or Wheeljack as a Ford Mustang.
Classics weren't perfect, but were a decent alternative for a while as whilst they shared some of the same issues, the robot modes were at least fun to mess with and the transformations weren't a hassle.
But once Takara had a rethink with the Masterpiece line and started increasing the range of characters then all the other official lines ceased to be of any relevance to me and even the majority of 3rd party figures weren't as appealing.
The only exceptions are,
Fans Toys
Quakewave reset the bar for build quality on high end Transformers and did it so well that even Takara products feel slightly lesser in quality.
They're also making at least 3 of the other Dinobots in Masterpiece scale and have the aesthetic down almost perfectly.
Cubex
Huff's design is up there with MP Laserbeak as one of the best transforming robot toys ever made. It's only let down by the paint issues that seem to have affected many of the production run.
MakeToys
I'm not a fan of most of their previous work but their IDW Swerve is a mini Masterpiece in it's own right.
You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I'm defending Takara as if they're perfect.
I'm not. They've had their share of issues but compared to someone like KFC it's no contest as to who are more reliable.
Unless you have in hand experience with the differences in build quality between the lesser 3rd party companies ( which KFC are one of ) and those from Takara and Fans Toys then you can't really comment on the subject with any degree of accuracy.
KFC's Perceptor and variants are plagued with breaking tabs and sloppy paint apps and I've read a few similar things about their cassettes as well.
If they can't take QC seriously on smaller, less complex items like that, then it's reasonable to think that Ultra Magnus, no matter how nice the pics look could well turn out to be a POS.
Not hyperbole, but you're the first person I've come across that wasn't impressed with the Bt line. Every bot came out perfect (save for a few such as grimlock...he's a Dino dammit, not a mustang) and I loved it not only for the beautiful designs, but also for the story TT came up with as a continuation of the G1 universe. Every announcement was exciting...then we were bombarded with redecos and eventually the line just lost steam.
As for the QC issue, well, again ill have to take your word for it again. I don't have any of the 3rd party figures so I can't comment of the build quality. If kfcs UM turns out to be a POS it'll be a damn shame. But as of now I can only comment on the aesthetics. I truly think he looks pretty darn good. A tad bit taller than I'd like but overall sharp looking.
Your point with fears of TT rushing out a UM plagued with QC issues is flawed (IMO of course, and not trying to start an argument with you, just debating). They've had years to design him, and if I remember correctly they even made a few attempts. So we can't really say UM will be rushed out. I honestly think TT simply put him on the back burner and focused on other things.
I know that in the end the choice isnt up to me and he will come out when he comes out. I'm just frustrated with TT as a company because of their release philosophy.