Ranking EVERY Transformers Armada Toy
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2022
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I forgot how long winded I get when I talk #Transformers Armada...
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#Tierlist #TransformersArmada - Zábava
I love how most Mini-Cons were at the top or middle of the list.
My favorite memory with Armada toys came from Prime, where I got him into Super Mode and was setting up everyone else to do a big battle, and while I was acting out Prime's heroic speech, my cat came into my room and knocked him over. In fact, nearly every time I had Armada Prime in Super Mode on my bedroom floor, my cat would knock him over. Not on purpose, just the Super Mode is _that_ back-heavy that a cat headbutting the toy is enough to send him toppling.
This was the toy line that made me a fan of transformers. My first experience with the franchise was Beast Wars, but I didn't know it was a transformers show. Back then, I thought Transformers Armada was its own thing, until a cousin of mine much older than me saw Ratchet, his favorite transformer, in my Red Alert toy, then he told me about G1, and not much later I found out about its connection with BW. I really liked this toy line, because I liked transforming robot toys as a kid, but they never were attached to any story, so there it comes this one which came with comic books and had a cartoon, and I fell for it. If I ever get to finish my Beast Wars collection, I might start hunting down all the toys from this line I couldn't get as a kid: Megatron, Jetfire, Tidal Wave and Unicron (good look with these two), Overload, Starscream, the Star Saber, Thrust, ...
Armada was MY series as a kid. My first TF series was Beast Wars, but Armada was my favorite, and the show was probably where I became a "collector". I love all the characters, I love Mini-cons, I have a soft spot for a lot of the toys, even if they weren't very poseable.
I want every show character done in Legacy. We're getting Starscream in wave 3, but I want EVERYONE. Because if Override and Metroplex are any indication of how they'll be handling UT characters, I am going to be VERY happy.
And as for Wheeljack, he... was an Autobot at first. And the reason the reason he looks like Sideswipe is just a thing Takara did without Hasbro's knowledge. While I love the toys, the lack of communication between Hasbro and Takara.
I wish this series Optimus would get the masterpiece treatment. Armada Optimus was one of my first _Transformers_ toys.
I’ve honestly been hoping for an Overload weaponizer figure since the moment they introduced the gimmick in Siege. As soon as I heard about the concept he was the very first character I thought of; if ever there was a perfect match between older character and modern gimmick, that’s it
Armada definitely needs more love from hasbro. Yes there’s the rumoured voyager starscream and possible Armada prime but stuff like Blurr, scavenger, sideways, smokescreen, etc and heck the minicons could be nice to at least do the 3 combo weapons and maybe the others that turn to weapons by themselves.
Im still a bit miffed to this day that Hasbro showed off a prototype for a new Armada Optimus for the siege line and never made it.
If you want a great new armada style optimus prime look into fanshobby naval commander it's a masterpiece armada optimus prime (unfortunately its very hard to get a hold of believe me I've tried)
Keep in mind they never said it’s cancelled. They said they had no idea where to put him at that time. I’m still praying he will eventually be released as a commander class for legacy.
@@thearisen13 I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an updated armada Hot Shot. I like the generations select, but I just want to see a good update to his original design
@@tgiacin435 Nice to hear that. I hope all the armada characters get better figures with modern technology.
They are doing a megatron. So prime will come in time.
I wish Blurr could be ranked higher because he does look SO cool, but yeah, even as a kid I was always frustrated by his (lack of) articulation so he earns that Bargain Bin. I actually had 2 copies because I snapped the head off the first trying to see if it could turn since it wiggled like a separate part. If nothing else, that meant loosing Incinerator was less of a concern because I always had a spare.
Ah, the memories of Armada. The first toy line my brother and I first got into.
Honestly I’m pretty happy with this. Everything in the holy grail slot I still own. And my copies of the things in the flea market section went to the trash along ago.
This line of toys was a huge part of my childhood I loved them so much and the mini cons were awesome. My mom threw them away when we moved so I wanna collect a bunch of the old ones I had but they probably cost so much by now. I’m gonna buy them brand new to relive the nostalgia
Great ranking video! I have most of these guys! Great line!!
Demolishor was my first ever Transformers toy and I was hooked ever since!
Fantastic vid TJ, Armada is my childhood and the toy line I started collecting in. It was your Hot-shot review where I found your channel. My favorite figure remains to be deluxe Optimus, I love his articulation and the Over-Run minicon makes a pretty neat looking gun. I even picked up the Nemesis Prime repaint.
The decepticons really gotten the lion share of quality on this line.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that Hoist didn't even come packaged with the gimmick lock set. You could literally take the toy out of the box and not have to use the Mini-Con to activate the gimmick.
12:48 that plot point from plastic addict finally comes to fruition
Very enjoyable video
Man, I just finished Micron Legend a few days ago too. What great timing! 🤣
I Have all but Jetfire & a couple minicons because I got Scammed by a Seller in a Bundle & A complete jetfire is too expensive rn. I love the line Still Look Great on the Shelf
I can really appreciate the third party transformers line from FansHobby. I hope they are working on a StarScream Armada, but if not, that might be who I try to model as aspiring designer/engineer for toys.
Pretty proud that the few I picked as a child (and still own) are all in Premium and Holy Grail.
I think you did really well on this list. I really wouldn't change anything.
Armada Wheeljack is a Decepticon, because, as an Autobot, he thought Hot Shot had abandoned him when their unit got ambushed by the Decepticons, so he pledged his loyalty to Megatron, after Megatron save him.
I still think that's dumb. Even after Hot Shot explained himself Wheeljack's like "no ur dumb n I hate u!"
We know
I remember wanting a bunch of toys from the old Armada line and never managing to get hardly any except Optimus, some repaints like Transmetal Megatron, and Unicron.
I had the Runamuck Cybertron repaint/remold of Sideswipe as a kid and that thing made me depressed it was so bad.
Leader Class Armada Optimus also has another issue. I think he's the last toy to suffer the dreaded GPS. both his standard robot mode elbows are a gold plastic (I think later models made them yellow) and unfortunately, Mine broke on both elbows. Doesn't help that the elbows are both a joint and they use an octagon shape to hold certain angles which places unneeded pressure/stress on the plastic.
The centerpiece of Armada collection, which I doubt I will ever complete, is an unopened Star Saber minicon team I found in a Goodwill LITTERALLY the day I first heard of a virus in China.
Still need the street action minicon team, air military minicon team, Wheeljack, Thrust, Sideways, Tidal Wave, Hoist, Scavenger, and Sideswipe's gross ass. I don't care about Unicron, but if I can I will.
im here to fight you about smokescreen ! i agree with everything you said, but he was my first transformer ever, and tho he had all those issues, his gimmicks where cool enough and his transformation was fun enough to make me a life long fan.
Starscream's swindle was compatible with blur
I’d put Red Alert in holy grail personally.
But otherwise I pretty much agree with this list.
Scavengers backstory was cool but its also difficult to figure out what it actually is in the english version. Sometimes when they talk about him swapping to the Autobots they make it out like he was a spy, because he used to be friends with Optimus on Cybertron and fought alongside him multiple times. But sometimes they talk about it like he was always a Decepticon until swapping sides when he got to Earth. Either one is cool, but I have no idea which one is actually right.
TJ pissing off the JDM enthusiasts for dissing the R-32 Skyline and Silvia S13
Cyclonus' Mini-Con was named Crumplezone. Demolishor's Mini-Con was Blackout.
Your comment on purple plastic got me thinking so I looked it up - Nintendo Gamecube was released a few years before and it's standard mass produced colour was purple, this was because purple plastic at that time was cheaper (I don't understand it either). This may have trickled down to other companies when making product in the following few years.
Overload is the brick you love. His alt mode is wtf, but he's a big beefy bot, and who didn't love the very Japanese flip up missile clusters in his shoulders?
I’m mostly in agreement with these, though I think I like Blurr, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen more.
Though I like Bendy Prime (much prefer the chunky leader), Red Alert (too big. Love his Cybertron version though), and the Air Military team less than you do.
But overall a great and fair list, especially since you looked at them through the lens of their time.
Getting into collecting armada toys and so far I have unicron, megatron, demolisher, cyclonus, and scavenger + all their accessories and mini cons. Scavenger is definitely a brick but I think he's pretty neat with his mini con being able to ride on him and the walking gimmick. Looking for tidal wave and sideways that are complete and not super expensive
I would put the Megatron in Holy Grail. Scavenger I would put in Premium; his look and gimmick were really cool. Smokescreen goes up to Retail for having a winch, and the absurd cannon is funny. I would bump down several of the Mini-con teams. Overall though, I think this is well sorted.
Tardy for the party here, but Cyclonus' Minicon was named Crumplezone.
That's fitting Sideswipe went into flea market because I just picked it up at the flea market for $1 yesterday....I am not too familiar with much outside of G1 with exception to Action Masters, which I happen to really like, and so for a George Washington I thought what the hell....I actually like the vehicle mode.
14:11 wait those sparks weren’t part of the feature , I had it happen brand new has a kid , my uncle bought it at costco
RE-WATCHED!!! 🤩👍
your ranking is very fair, although i would want jetfire higher, if only because he was and is my favorite. great choice on all the grails however.
Anyone ever notice how Smokescreen has the same exact colors as Lazerbeak?
Oh come on, the Adventure Mini-Con team was fun.
There are other non clear plastic saber molds right? Dark saber I think but what about Energon saber does it have a non clear plastic version?
No sadly. Just a clear blue and clear red one
I particularly see Hoist and Smokescreen as expies of Fire Emblem Christmas Cavalier duos. Got my gist, TJ, if you know what I mean when it comes to Fire Emblem?
Jetfire, Wheeljack, Starscream, Optimus and Hot shoot design and toys looks not bad. Add Wheeljack g1 color and then wheeljack looks nice.
TIDAL WAVE. hell, he got released 3 times, and let's be honest, as soon as hasbro decides on the engienering for the titan class, we're gonna get a generation selects of at least one of the other colors
I love the space team minicons; they suffered horribly from low engieneering. would have loved to see them back in the micromaster fever of siege/earthrise
demolishor is posibly the most unique design of the whole serie
sideways NEED more love. one of the better figure of the entire unicron trilogy, a little lovelly gimmick, held back only by the engieneering, and the fact the missiles had to shoot; premium at least, and I'm still kicking myself for not getting one the one chance I could have
hoist, nice figure, horribly wasted charather. smokescreen, he needed more engienering on rhe crane. call me crazy, but I really believe an update could actually work for him
My top 5 would be megatron , tidalwave , cyclonus, demolisher and jetfire for minicons I liked the 3 sets that formed the 3 main special weapons
Would the repaint of Armada Prime be doable for plastic addict or does it suffer from GPS as well?
is it wrong if I wish Alexis got a figure? I liked her (especially in the japanese version)
Mandatory bit of customizing on Demolishor: paint his face brown. ;)
Cyclonus’s minicons name is crumplezone lol
can the "cheaper/better" Optimus Prime still attach/combine with the trailer and jetfire?
Another thing is about which Primes work for the Holy Trinity of the Unicorn Trilogy. Right now there's Armada's Bendy Prime (what not with NOT wanting to literally make a trailer explode because of a really dated IR-wired electronic system), and Cybertron Prime, but what about for Energon? Let me just say this, people make lots of flak for both variations of Energon Prime, since we have the Leader Class that doesn't work in two ways for Super Mode (leading to giving the terrible Wing Saber purpose as well as add more for Omega Supreme, whenever you even want to review the latter), and the Deluxe Class that doesn't make sense narrative-wise(?), but is not plagued by terrible articulation.
Laughs in deluxe armada prime in ultra magnus colors.
I have Cybertron Runamuck, and he's SO BAD he actually loops around to being hilarious. No, not good. Not even so bad it's good. Hilarious.
The Dark Star Sabre was better for an American version, no clear plastic; pity they didn't use the comic idea of changing colour based on which team had it.
So glad all future Armada Starscreams let you fold down the engines, would have tracked down either Generations figures, if they both didn't get newer versions.
Blurr needs a remold that's not 90% kibble, and I'm happy the SS Movie figure paid tribute to the Armada Thrust, not many green figures.
With armada smokescreen as my favorite toy I'm sadly awaiting for him to get the flea market
Faction changers. Jetstorm/Jetfire?
I actually love armada smokescreen and cyclonus, even if the names didn't fit the characters, i think the robot mods of both of them looks solid and kinda unique,i Hope for a 3rd party remakes of that toys,or in legacy since WE are going to get a armada starscream
@TheDragonDAFan it’s been confirmed to be IDK. Very very unfortunate we did get 86 blurr and it’s shattered glass repaint so there already was a Blurr representation and Armada Blurr could’ve fit the velocitron racing theme but no Hasbro went with IDK.
What’s annoying is the arms still have the sides of the vehicle just hanging off they didn’t retool that to slim that down
Armada line is g1esque..the toys plastic material is rigid and thick..but the joints are not supporting the toy to be poseable..the pose of the toys are funny and silly..
Sideways needs a new toy, its been over 20 years!.. (ROTF does not count)
Is Armada Optimus catching fire actually a real thing? I can't find any search results talking about it.
Happened to Baltmatrix, he talks about it in his review
@@geo-fry6372 It was also more smoldering than actually bursting into flames (if I'm remembering right). Still a hazard, still scary, a bit embellished.
you just can’t escape this line can you?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the promotional media really didn't use the Mini-Con idea to its fullest. You have vehicles with guns on them, others that turn into weapons and weapon systems and all the show, comic, and books cared about was activating the bigger robot's gimmicks and being an alleged power booster. (Even that last one only the comics really showed.) You're calling them "smart tools", why not showcase the tool part?
The only ones I respectfully agree to disagree with you on are Jetfire leader Optimus prime the adventure minicon team thrust wheeljack and starscream Starscream and Jetfire and cyclonus and leader prime are among the best of the line not as good as Unicron or deluxe Optimus prime but definitely top tier and armada wheeljack Is 2nd tier I like his car mode and I don't mind his hollow legs I've lived with hollow transformers since the 2000s when I first became a fan and only the crummy 2015 rid figures and classics Starscream and earthrise Starscream do it badly but classics Starscream and earthrise Starscream are still decent figures for the most part
Where’s landmine?
Megatron doesnt have knees and hips in strong part because of the tidal wave combo. My first issue with your video
I suggested it. Lol. Thanks for doing this. Hell of a task.
Also I wanna add that jetfire has s ankle tilt. I didn't realize til recently.
TJ: No build to rule, assume it'll all be in the flea market section.
Me:🤣
Land Military Team: Honestly, I would put them in Bargain Bin. And I'm only comparing them to other Mini-Con three packs. They didn't really do anything beyond the average stuff that any other Mini-con could also do. They aren't terrible just not exciting.
Astro Team: I would put in Premium Price... honestly any Mini-Con team that worked in a combiner gimmick deserves to be in Premium. Granted not all of the combiners were good and I'll admit they had some problems but it added more play value to those particular figures because they had an extra function you couldn't do with any other Mini-con team. If there was another team who could also form a more cohesive blaster I'd probably rank it lower but being unique in that regard instantly makes it more worth the price in my opinion. And keep in mind every Mini-con three pack was sold for the same price so getting more play features out of a three pack that other sets can't do makes sense to me to rank it higher.
Sea Team: I'm of two minds about that set... on one hand they are exactly like the Land Military Team in that they are very basic Mini-cons with no real play features beyond what any other Mini-con can also do. On the other hand I'm a sucker for any aquatic Transformers figure so I'm going to split the difference and put them at retail.
Air Military Team: I agree with EVERYTHING you said here... though on mine the claw weapon guy has some loose joints which specifically only effect the claw weapon mode. Everything else on him for the other two modes works fine but the claw mode isn't the greatest. Anyway... I would only place them in Premium cause like the combiners they're doing something unique that you can't do with other Mini-cons, I love when a Mini-con can do something other than transform and plug onto a larger robot. But I have a hard time justifying any Mini-con team as "Holy Grail" worthy.
Not Race/Street Speed whatever team: I remember those being impressively articulated for their size especially in a toy line that didn't have a lot of articulation to begin with but the designs are so basic and generic plus all the issues you pointed out again, I'm going Bargain Bin. If it wasn't for the surprising level of articulation that was engineered into these I'd have dumped them all the way in Flea Market cause they don't even have any firing missiles or anything, they're just cars to slap on a Mini-con peg.
Starscream: Why are you talking about knees and hips? Because of his Transformation Starscream has OVER 90 degrees of knee bend, it's impossible for his knees to be better, he can already kick himself in the butt, what more do you want out of them? His hips also work just fine. The legs weren't the problem, it's his ARMS that had the articulation problems. His shoulders could pretty much only rotate at the bicep and and he had no wrist articulation. This was fixed in the Thrilling 30 version but the original Armada toy for being designed as a swordsman lacked the arm articulation to actually use a sword.
The Firetruck in the Rescue Team is actually named Firebolt, it was a reuse of Hot Rod's Targetmaster weapon from G1. Granted Hot Rod's Targetmaster didn't transform into a Firetruck, it was just a gun but it's a pretty nice reuse of the name.
Street Action Mini-con team: I'd put in Premium Price, plus they'd be above all the other Mini-con teams because their combiner mode is actually a larger robot rather than an weapon and Perceptor is the only Mini-con combiner three pack. I'm specifying 3 pack here because there is technically another robot combiner but it's Rook and Crosswise combined to form Sideways' rider. And I'd still place these 3 above those two anyway because Sideways' Mini-cons don't have their own Vehicle modes they're just meant to function as part of Sideways himself not as vehicles on their own. Anyway there are other Mini-cons like Perceptor that I think are better but they're the Energon version of the same team and the Thrilling 30 Mini-cons which technically aren't part of the Armada toy line so for the time this was the best Mini-con team and I still can't believe they made a Transformer out of a Skate board! They've actually done this twice now because I believe BotBots also has a Skateboard but I think the Armada version is even better than the more recent BotBots toy.
Adventure Team: At first glace they seem like really basic Mini-cons except they do have that extra gimmick built into them. I'd put them in retail but they'd be pretty low end retail because like you said there's another team that does it better. I would like to point out that Hoist is also designed to interact with this gimmick... I don't remember HOW exactly but the Mini-con he came packaged with has the same gimmick as Cyclonus' personal Mini-con which these guys also have. Also according to TFWiki the Japanese version of Hoist was actually sold with the Adventure Team so it really seems like they were intended to integrate into Hoist. The weird thing is... the only actual gimmick I remember Hoist having is plugging the Mini-con in the back of his scoop or what would become the top of the right shoulder to activate the shovel gimmick. I can't recall any place for that specific gearwheel gimmick to plug onto like the under side of Cyclonus' cockpit. I should look for my Hoist.
Air Defense Team: So mine are actually still in the exact same condition they were right out out of the package... well sort of there's a bit of paint I added to them which I actually kind of regret doing now... I was trying to do something for a custom and trying to paint something that small didn't turn out right. Anyway the sword mode NEVER held together in the first place, the connection points were loose right out of the box. Maybe if the connections were tighter it would have broke over time but it's never even been possible for me to just leave them in Star Saber mode cause they won't hold together in that mode. I can pretty much pose them and hope they stay together but any movement at all will cause them to fall apart and I live in California... I'm maybe 200 miles from the nearest faultline so despite living here more than 30 years I've only ever felt one Earthquake EVER but I'm pretty sure even a minor Earth quake I can't feel would be enough to make them fall apart.
Also I can't really blame you for mixing up Jetstorm and Runways names, even Hasbro mixed up their names. The packaging for the figures and the instruction sheet swapped their names around so depending on which one you go by technically the middle one is Jetstorm. Personally I think the middle one is suppose to be Runway because he seems to be based on a passenger jet while the tip of the blade actually has some visual similarities to Beast Machines Jetstorm. It's difficult to say for sure when even Hasbro themselves couldn't be bothered to keep their names straight. They even completely changed all their names for the Energon version.
Wheeljack: Just wanted to point out that you can transform the figure without the Mini-con and it's not actually hard at all... mostly because literally ANY Mini-con can be use to activate that gimmick so you'd have to lose every Mini-con in your entire collection to make that difficult. Also because the little central peg that activates all the Mini-con gimmicks is exactly the size of a paperclip so really if you have a paperclip you can still activate any Mini-con gimmick without a Mini-con. It's actually much harder to still be able to transform some Cybertron toys if you loose their Cyber keys... again you can use any Cyber Key to activate them but unlike Mini-cons if you have no other Cyberkeys available I don't know any other way to activate those slots without one. Plus I literally only have Primus so not only do I need his Cyberkey to transform him but I also can't lose the Omega Lock cause that's also needed to unlock parts of his Transformation. Primus is impossible to transform without those parts. That said I don't really like Wheeljack too much just wanted to point out that Mini-con gimmicks can be activated with a paperclip so it's really not a big deal if you don't have any Mini-cons on hand to activate them.
You are correct about Blurr though because that gimmick isn't activated via the typical plug Mini-con onto peg method he absolutely does need a very specific Mini-con to make that work. I love Blurr's design though he's actually my favorite version of Blurr. I HATE the G1 incarnation, Animated looks cool but like him better as Transtech Cheetor, and I'm kind of just indifferent about RID2015/Rescue Bots Blurr, I don't hate him as much as fast talking Blurr but I don't like him either and the designs are cool but actually really he should have been Mirage instead of Blurr. The Armada design and his personality in the show... a show I freaking HATE by the way, Blurr is one of the only characters in the cartoon I actually liked and I like his toy... I can't really deny the issues with the figure, I'm putting him at Premium because that's how much I just really like the design... yeah I'm ignoring a lot of problems but there are worse figures in my opinion.
Scavenger: I have QUITE a few issues with this figure. For one he's actually a spoiler for the series. In the show Scavenger actually was a Decepticon first and later we find out that he was an Autobot spy sent by Optimus to infiltrate the Decepticons but this toy sporting the Autobot insignia was released BEFORE that reveal ever aired so not only did it confuse long time fans who thought he looked like a Constructicon but he confused current fans who were wandering why the hell he was being sold as an Autobot when he was still a Decepticon in the show at the time. There's also the fact that this toy has a chest plate that can fold over and there's no reason for it to need to do that other than hide his Autobot insignia and reveal NOTHING. They could have waited until the reveal came out in the show, molded the toy with a second chest so he could switch from Decepticon to Autobot just like he did in the show instead he just has a chest panel that flips over for no reason and gives away that he's actually an Autobot before we're meant to know that. The walking gimmick is cool for like a minute but then you quickly realize the motor is super loud and it's not even convincing, like his "legs" which are just flat panels lift straight up and down they can't even move correctly to even give the proper illusion of walking. The only kind of neat part about it is that the giant wheel that makes the walking gimmick work also works in vehicle mode so he can also drive on his own... in a straight line... until he runs into a wall... it just doesn't feel like that gimmick is worth not having actual articulated legs. My final issue with the figure is that while at the time it was impressive that he had actual working treads this was before I realized that the material the treads were made out of can deteriorate over time so not only does he have a dumb gimmick that hinders the figure, was released at a time that spoiled a major reveal in the show, but he's also a ticking time bomb! I could forgive a lot of Armada toys because the gimmicks were generally fun so it didn't really bother me that their gimmicks usually hindered their articulation but in Scavengers case the gimmicks didn't make him with it at all and especially being one of the larger more expensive figures in the toy line the fact that he's the ONLY figure in the entire toy line who actually loses value over time because he's prone to breaking... FLEA MARKET! Scavenger more than anyone needs a modern update because his only toy ever is likely to not exist fully intact anymore.
Thrust: I'm debating between Bargain Bin and Flea Market. His gimmick is terrible, one of the worst gimmicks in the entire toy line but it's also one that doesn't actually hinder him all that much. You can just not use it and he's pretty OK otherwise. But he also has a very weird robot mode with no hands, missiles that can only shoot himself in the feet, and it's not really him gimmicks that hinder his articulation but rather this own kibble. I'll put him Bargain Bin cause I like him ENOUGH to spare him from Flea Market but he's still not a good figure.
Sideways: I would like to point out that it's actually the grey one that activates the Autobot insignia and the black one that activates the Decepticon insignia. Now in the show it is reversed and there was a running change in the toy line where they actually fixed the gimmick to be show accurate but if you got the first run of the figure like I did the heads are backwards from how it was in the cartoon... and I actually prefer the inaccurate version. I never understood why the cartoon flipped the heads around cause black one is molded with a lot of spikes and sharp edges plus having angry red eyes while the grey one is rounder and friendlier looking. There's also the color schemes light and dark usually representing good and evil... it looks so weird seeing the heads reversed that I feel like the cartoon is the mistake and the original run of the toy is how it was suppose to be. There's also a 3rd head in the toy itself and the Mini-cons do also have a claw weapon mode that can peg into either arm. It does kind of suck that they don't have vehicle modes but this is still one of my favorite figures in the toy line. I agree with where you placed him just wanted to point out that running change with the insignias being backwards and the weapon modes.
Cyclonus and Demolishor: Yeah I actually waited till you talked about Cyclonus to even bring up Demolishor cause these two were always a pair in the show both Armada and Energon so it's kind of hard for me to talk about one and not the other. They even feel like a pair in the toy line because they're both Deluxe wave 1 Decepticons. Anyway... I like Demolishor but he doesn't feel like Holy Grail to me. I do like his Mini-con integration, there's even a seat specifically for his Minicon in the back of his tank mode. One problem I have with Demolishor is that if you loose his shoulder missiles which can all launch then it kind or ruins the look of the figure. Cyclonus on the other hand, I LOVE the Mini-con integration on him. I love that there are Mini-cons specifically unique to him. I love how it actually changes up the look and function of his vehicle mode rather than just being a useless chunk of plastic that sits on a peg. Cyclonus on his own is kind of on par with Demolishor, assuming they're both complete, but factoring in that Demolishor loses play value if you lose his missiles and Cyclonus gains play value if you have all those other Mini-cons Cyclonus can easily become one of the better figures in the toy line. Even better than his Autobot counterpart who I can't even remember how the gimmick integrated into Hoist. I know he had it too but Cyclonus clearly did it better since he's the only one anyone actually remembers.
Hoist: Speaking of... so um... Refute is not the worst Mini-con. I mean he has the same gimmick as the Adventure Mini-con team you mentioned earlier in the video. Ramjet is actually the worst Mini-con. Ramjet is the Mini-con that comes with Tidal Wave and the reason that I say he's the worst is that even for an already small Transformer to begin with, Ramjet is the smallest Mini-con ever produced and he still has to fold up awkwardly to fit inside of that little compartment in Tidalwave's shoulder. That's literally the one thing he was designed to do is to be a little tiny air craft for this giant aircraft carrier to carrier and he still ended up being both too big for Tidal Wave and too small compared to any other Mini-con. His tiny size also means that's he's the only Mini-con with conjoined legs while every other Mini-con actually has two independent legs. Even figures that can't move their legs still had actual legs, Ramjet can't even be bothered to be molded to give the illusion of legs. It looks like he just has one massive leg and foot in comparison to his torso. I can't really complain about his tiny little arms too much cause other Mini-con jets have the same problem. I don't mind Mini-cons with gimmicks that are designed around one specific figure when it's at least a fun interesting gimmick but Ramjets one gimmick is being able to store away some where you'll never even see it and mine pretty much never leaves that compartment in Tidal Wave's shoulder cause it's such a terrible Mini-con and no other Mini-con can fit in that compartment and Ramjet serves no other function so why would I ever take him out? Refute at least has an actual function and a pretty neat gimmick, stick him on Cyclonus.
Red Alert: I just wanted to point out an extra gimmick with him you forgot to mention and it has nothing to do with Mini-cons... I think he may be the only character with a gimmick that wasn't Mini-con related. Anyway his left "hand" which isn't actually a hand but a tool where his hand should be was actually removable and he had I think 6 different attachments that each had their own storage compartments in his back pack when you weren't using them. He comes with one preinstalled which is the one seen in the product photo that he used most often but I kind of love the interchangeable tools. Especially for a character who's suppose to be a Medic and it's a gimmick I wish they would bring back. It would even make a lot of sense to have a version of Shockwave with a similar gimmick because he's a scientist, why not have interchangeable tools rather than a gun hand that is great for combat but kind of impractical in any other situation. But yeah I really like Red Alert, there's a lot you can do with that figure even without a Mini-con he's more fun on his own that a lot of other figures in the toy line.
Star Saber (Role Play): I forgot that thing even existed. I saw that in the store, quickly realized it doesn't transform, isn't at all accurate to the toy or the animation model of the actual Star Saber, asked myself "what is even the point of this" and never picked it up. I have Laserbeak and I prefer Laserbeak over that thing cause at least he transforms... barely but he does. I feel like if Laserbeak is going to be in flea market this thing should rank under him. You're also paying more money for less features cause Laserbeak was only a deluxe and I believe the Star Saber was an entirely separate classification all on it's own because there were no other toys like it. It was about on par with Optimus in terms of Price but does nothing.
Race Team: So oddly... despite having both Swindle and Zapmaster who is the repaint that came with Thundercracker, and Mirage, I never noticed that he was a retool. They do share a lot of the same engineering though they remolded nearly everything except his arms. They also added a waist swivel cause Mirage's legs are backwards and Swindle can't even do that. Anyway... I agree it's not a great shield and much like Star Saber mine can't even hold together really well... I mean the top two guys are pretty solid on their own but Mirage barely holds on and even when he does the added weight makes it harder to balance with him attached. It would almost be better if Mirage just wasn't there. On the flip side the shape of it and the name "Skyboom" ironically makes this thing a better jet than a shield. I didn't even know it was a shield originally when I got it till they started calling it that in the show, I just thought these three cars combined into a jet. It's the worst weapon but if you look at it as a jet more it's not as bad. I'd put them some where in Premium just because of how much they can actually do compared to other Mini-con teams.
Destruction team: Well yeah, two out of three of them I think work the best with Cyclonus but I love that gimmick. Can you tell by how much I've talked about it already. So yeah this team would probably be at the top of my retail list cause they're not great on their own but if you have Cyclonus they're amazing.
Jetfire actually is the best of the three on his own. The shuttle mode is great, the robot mode actually has decent articulation. It's hard to tell that he also is a combiner. It's actually the combined mode that suffers cause Jetfire's pants mode doesn't have any articulation. It looks nicer than the trailer pants but it's just as much a statue as the super mode.
While I like that the Mini-con integrates into the vehicle mode to form his front landing gear, and the rear landing gear flips out from the chest shield that connects to Optimus in combined mode... the bad part about that is if you lose those parts no more landing gear. I have both versions of Jetfire, I lost Powerlinx Mini-con and one of the chest shields... I don't know which chest shield because they're both IDENTICAL to each other that's how similar Jetfire's color schemes are, there's only one mode where you can actually see the difference between the two versions as the Powerlinx version ads some stripes to vehicle mode. That's pretty much the only difference. Maybe it's me being color blind or the fact that they're both mostly white and black shuttles with only little bits of color in robot mode but I just don't see what the Powerlinx version actually changed.
Sparkplug I'm impressed by the level of engineering in the transformation for that size he's really fun to transform but as far as integration into the main figure it just plugs on and that's it. I think he should have been called Bumblebee and Goldfire. Unfortunately they didn't have the trade marks at the time but he is clearly a homage to the G1 design. Even more unfortunately after 2020 the official name (Corona Sparkplug) for what I'm just going to call Goldfire from now on did not age well. I lost my "Goldfire" which is really upsetting because he wasn't just repaint of the regular "Bumblebee" he was a complete remold into a more futuristic design which also made his feet less comically large in robot mode. He was all gold chrome which also made him a lot more interesting to me than the flat yellow plastic of the original. And then there's Over-run who is the only reason I also have the deluxe version. I love the jet mode, love the robot mode, and I think he has one of the best weapon modes.
The main figure Optimus on it's own I don't think is actually as bad as people seem to remember it. Honestly they should have made bendy prime based on the super mode because that's the mode that has all the problems. Because of the way the trailer transforms the legs don't don't work. And for some reason Optimus has one real missile launcher built into one leg but the other leg is molded with a fake one to match it. Why not just design it with two missile launchers or intentionally make it asymmetrical? If you lose that missile the legs won't match anyway.
I will say it is kind of impressive the way the trailer transforms. It's all automorph activated by flipping a switch, if it has batters and if you have it off you can still work it manually. You unfold the trailer into a base mode which this is the reason why he has that one missile launcher in his leg. There are a bunch of features that Mini-cons can interact with. I typically don't like base modes cause they usually look like lazy half way points between modes they decided to call a mode when it's not really but this was intentionally designed with the Mini-con gimmick in mind. The whole trailer then folds inside out to form the pants for super mode. Now I think if you took out the base mode and the automorph that you could get an actually functional supermode but for what it was and everything it was designed to do it was pretty impressive.
Overload is admittedly a BRICK but he's a nice brick. There is so much molded detail and paint work on that figure I just love looking at him.
Rollout I think is the best Mini-con in the entire toy line. He's the largest Mini-con ever produced which sounds like an Oximoron, a large Mini-con. The Thrilling 30 Mini-cons are larger than the traditional Mini-cons because the combined robot had to be in scale with other Deluxe class figures but even their individual robot modes are still smaller than Rollout is. The reason Rollout is so big (in comparison to other Mini-cons) is because of the gimmicks packed into him.
Rollout's vehicle mode is needed to haul around Overload unless you also have an Optimus. I believe both the Supreme and Deluxe versions are able to hook up to him in truck mode. Overload also has a secondary hitch that can flip down and plug into the back of Optimus' trailer. So there are multiple options for hauling Overload around in vehicle mode. As you mentioned in the video Jetfire can also sit on the back of Overload though he doesn't actually peg in anywhere he just sits there so Jetfire can fall off.
Rollout has his own robot mode which oddly I rarely ever have him in robot mode because he's integrated into all of Overload's modes and his articulation is G1 Rodimus Prime level bad, there's not really much reason to ever have him in robot mode. It looks nice, I like it, but it's oddly his least interesting mode. I mean I guess if I have Optimus hauling Overload then Rollout can be a robot.
Rollout is technically a headmaster/Powermaster at the same time since he simultaneously forms Overload's head and part of his chest. But I really just see this as a Super Mode for Rollout... I don't know why they even gave the trailer it's own name if it can only form a robot if Rollout is plugged into it.
Rollout is also technically a targetmaster as he has his own gun mode for Optimus to hold. I don't know why Optimus needs a hand gun when he has two shoulder cannons attached but as part of his combination with Overload you're also suppose to give him Rollout's hand gun mode.
Optimus has 7 different guns. This is not counting misc. Mini-cons or all the various guns in his trailer's base mode, this is only counting the guns that Optimus Prime himself can wield that come packed with him or characters intentionally designed to combine with him. Smoke stacks on his arms combine to form a hand gun. G1 inspired Ion Blaster stored in his trailer he can wield in super mode. He's also some times depicted in his base robot mode with this gun rather than his smoke stack pistol. Over-run's gun mode. Jetfire's gun when they're combined. Rollout's double barreled gun mode. The shoulder cannons formed from Overload. Of course he can't use all of these weapons at the same time but it's insane how much fire power this particular version of Optimus has.
Megatron DOES have hips and there is a reason why he doesn't have knees. The way he transforms kind of makes knees impossible... HOWEVER, if they had given him a thigh swivel and changed the engineering for his feet allowing the outside of his legs to become the front then the transformation hinge could have doubled as his knee. As it is his legs bend in the wrong direction meaning he can't have knees. Anyway, as a figure by himself I actually like Demolishor better both in tank mode and in robot mode. But Megatron does have a lot of neat features. I also really like his Mini-con, it's really simple but I like it. It's a little weird that one of his gimmicks is a tiny knife which why would he ever use that when he has a giant cannon that he could shoot you with before you ever get close enough for him to pull out his little tiny hidden blade weapon. I also never understood the giant antlers on his head. I know it's part of the vehicle mode but it makes no sense in vehicle mode either so why not reverse the engineering for that pointless panel that covers his face that you'll never see anyway and instead make the head with no antlers sink into the chest. That would make for a better robot mode and a better tank mode.
Tidal Wave, I've mentioned it earlier how I think he has the WORST Mini-con of the entire toy line but Tidal Wave himself is one of my favorite figures. True the combined mode is terrible and it actually hinders Megatron even more than he was to begin with because having Tidal Wave on him means now all his joints are completely useless. At least by himself he at least had shoulders and elbows but now he can't move his arms at all... it's like a little kid with a winter coat that is clearly too big for the kid. I like the LOOK of the combined mode but the function is terrible.
Oddly the Decepticons are better individually than they are together unlike the Autobots where the opposite is true.
Individually I kind of agree with where you placed them but they're really not intended to be judged as individual figures. As combiners I'd put them all in Holy Grail. Unicron, Tidal Wave, Jetfire, Optimus Prime, Overload and then Megatron.
Tidal Wave and Jetfire are really high on that list because they could just be figures by themselves. Optimus and Overload are kind of in the middle because they're problematic on their own but I really think all the things you can do with them when you have all 3 makes them worth it. Megatron's at the bottom because to quote Emgo... it's more options and options are good. I fully admit that it's not well designed, I don't really like Megatron as a figure by himself, I don't really like the combined mode that much, and yet these figures I've put in my Holy Grail are still the ones that I actually have on display while all my other Armada figures are in a box. I haven't touched most of them since I was in high school.
Once again, I disagree that Sideswipe is worse than Blurr.
He's a much better toy than Blurr.
Blurr *looks* cool and that's about it.
In terms of play and even articulation, Sideswipe is superior.
The fact Hotshot didn't have his own below flea market tier is proof of character development
36:46 I always put his wings down as a sort of cape
41:18 They are the ghosts come back to haunt you, TJ Omega! As for Optimus Prime... the trailer can be manually transformed. You don't _need_ to use the motors.
Weirdly I would put Jackie higher just for the unique paint app of the crossed out Autobot symbol
Armada was my introduction to the franchise (and the '86 movie, to an extent, as I had a VHS copy of it that I watched constantly from my older brother).
Looking back at it now? Yeah it's...not perfect. By...any stretch of the imagination. But I still have a soft spot for it.
wheeljack was autobot but got betrayed by hot shot so he got saved by megatron and joined them
Technically it wasn't a betrayal but rather Hot Shot's commander forbidding him from going back and saving Wheeljack, with Wheeljack believing Hot Shot willingly left him to die. But yeah, the whole point of him was that he was an Autobot first so was given an Autobot name, even if he probably should have been named Sideswipe.
At least that's how it was in English. Something that always seemed odd to me with Wheeljack and later Mudflap in Energon, was how they were named in Japan: Rampage and Demolishor. Both turncoats who started as Autobots with names that seemed to fit better with the team they switch to, with as far as I know no changing of names to fit the new team. I thought the English names worked better, sounding like they fit in with their original allegiances.
Despite the clear plastic, I wish Jetstorm was upscaled as a scout class figure.