"Minibots Vs Mini-Cons" Armada-themed Exclusive Set

This started out as a general “small robot” themed set of exclusive repaints/remolds with a focus on Generation 1 and Armada (Inspired a bit by the “crossover” during the run of Dreamwave’s Armada comics), hence “Minibots Vs Mini-Cons”… But Hasbro ended up making most of the Minibot-themed Legends repaints for Combiner Wars I had planned for this set (Like Huffer and Windcharger), so the whole thing became more exclusively Armada themed for better or worse. I still like the name though and I haven’t thought of anything better so I’m sticking to it even if it no longer makes any sense.

--NOTE: The Minibot idea has since been re-implemented so the name makes sense again--

Anyway I’m surprised we haven’t seen an official Armada set from Botcon yet, I suppose they figured they’d wait a few years for nostalgia to build or maybe Hasbro still intends some more Armada homages from Generations and Combiner Wars. If it’s a matter of waiting for the right time I kinda understand, but it does sort of seem like they’ve already started scraping the bottom of the barrel in the meantime. Why wait?

I mean, when you think about it aside from a few forgotten G1 subgroups, Armada is the pretty much the last bastion of “brick” engineering. Want a poseable Armada Scavenger figure? Sorry. Want an Armada Blurr toy with actual knees? Too bad. Have an entire Botcon set of old Botcon exclusives, many of whom have releases more recently than most Armada characters in vastly more articulated molds.

Anyway with so many small figures that can interact with larger figures in the Generations line (Not to mention all the Arms Micron and other miniature Transformers) now’s probably the best time to bring back the Mini-con play pattern (Ignoring for a second that the new RID line has done just that).

The story takes place in a timeline similar to Armada's where Unicron’s corrupting multiversal influence caused his creations (The Mini-Cons) to become even more weaponized and turn against their Bulk partners. Now the Autobots and Decepticons have a lot more to worry about than how the power of the Mini-Cons will affect their own conflict, so they turn their attentions towards fighting the ever-evolving Unicron-aligned threat. Can they free their partners from the Chaos-Bringer's control before they become too powerful to stop?

(These digibashes were a learning experience. I did them over the course of many months while working on other stuff so you may notice some vast differences in quality between them. For a while I got locked out of Photoshop entirely and had to learn how to use Gimp, but luckily I eventually regained access to PS.)

Set 1-

1. Scavenger from Generations Scoop
2. Rollbar from Generations Roller (Legends Optimus Prime’s partner)

Scavenger from Scoop has been done a bunch of times, but I wanted to see one with a proper Mini-con. As for what happened to Scoop’s Targetmasters, see Set 3.

Set 2-

1. Jetstorm from Generations Starscream (Legends)
2. Sonar from Generations Payload (Legends Cosmos’ partner)
3. Runway from Generations Flanker (Legends Swerve’s partner)

This set might seem odd as the Air Defense team spent most of all versions of Armada fiction as a sword and can hardly be considered “Characters”, but Mini-cons are in the (Now unfitting) title of this set. Anyway I was planning on many more Mini-con teams, but this is the only one that panned out so far. Jetstorm has been given an upgrade to Legends scale to make for a more threatening "evil Mini-con" and now he can wield his team-mates in weapon mode rather than the three of them combining into a Macguffin sword.

Set 3-

1. Sideways from DotM Tailpipe
2. Rook from Generations Caliburst
3. Crosswise from Generations Holepunch

So that’s where Scoop’s guns went! I know people don’t generally appreciate Movie molds mixed in with Classics-aesthetic figures, but I figured if one character has to look a little alien it might as well be Sideways. I still haven’t figured out who Pinpointer (Who comes with Tailpipe) should be repainted into, if anyone.

Set 4-

1. Smokescreen from Generations Hoist
2. Red Alert from Reveal the Shield Perceptor

I know a tow truck is a bit of a departure from Smokescreen’s typical crane mode, but he was always a pretty odd-looking crane anyway so I figured there’s wiggle room there. And I mean even shelfwarmers deserve expensive exclusive repaints with inaccurate vehicle modes... Don't they? While this Red Alert is specifically supposed to reference the Armada version, the Perceptor mold works as an homage to his Cybertron Defense body as well with the shoulder-mounted cannon (And since a toy of that Red Alert was already repainted into a version of Perceptor this cycle of homages works on many levels).

[EDIT]- Gave Red Alert his headlights to make him look more like his Armada self.

Set 5-

1. Optimus Prime from Prime Sergeant Kup (Ironhide)
2. Over-Run from Combiner Wars Powerglide

I had a hard time coming up with a mold for Armada Optimus because most long-nose truck Transformers are already intended to be Optimuses these days (Or quickly repainted into him) and the Armada version of the character is hardly distinctive enough to justify being repainted from another Prime. Since the Powerglide mold works so well as an Over-Run homage (He can turn into a gun and everything) a corresponding bendy Prime was required. So I guess he’s a pick-up truck now…

Set 6-

1. Wheeljack from Generations FoC Jazz
2. Blurr from Generations Blurr (Drift mold)

This set is my favorite for reciprocal homages. Armada Wheeljack got redecoed into Shattered Glass Sidewsipe, while the mold used for this Wheeljack has already been retooled into a Sideswipe. Armada Blurr got remolded into a Generation 1 Blurr homage in Cybertron so Generations Blurr will now be remolded into Armada Blurr. Confused yet?

*UPDATED* --4/28/15--
Set 7-

1. Powerlinx Hot Shot from Henkei Hot Rod (Universe Hot Shot)
2. Powerlinx Jolt from Henkei/Universe Jolt
3. Yellow Jolt Drone (x1) from Generations Blazemaster (Legends Bumblebee's partner)
4. Red Jolt Drones (x2) from Generations Blazemaster

Anyway, with the other sets you could just squint and pretend that this was just vanilla Armada with a bit of weirdness thrown in, but here it becomes a bit harder to ignore that some changes have been made. I'd say it's all because of "story reasons" but I honestly haven't decided what the story even is here. Is this Hot Shot from the future where he's been given his upgrade colors naturally? Or is he the result of Mini-Con experiments involving the effects of Powerlinx energies on Bulks? I don't know.

What I do know is that Jolt is probably going to be important to the plot somehow and that's why there are so many of him. I guess Unicron has special plans for him and the Jolt Drones are decoys to keep Hot Shot from interfering in those plans...? That sounds good enough for right now.

The actual reason for the drones is that I just wanted to use the new Blazemaster mold (Because it's a targetmaster) as Jolt, but didn't want to toss aside a perfectly good Mini-con who's already molded to be the character and everything. And there's not much point in someone only having ONE clone. This is Transformers, You gotta have a couple extra.

Set 8-

1. Powerlinx Starscream from Generations Armada Starscream
2. Thundercracker Drone #1 (Black) from Generations Jhiaxus
3. Thundercracker Drone #2 (Gray) from Generations Jhiaxus

Ah the weirdness that is Powerlinx Starscream... It's been discussed, debated and parodied and there's nothing left to say about it. Then again, why leave it at that when I have the potential to make things even more confusing?

Aside from Starscream who is just Starscream, the other two look like Thundercracker and are called "Thundercracker Drones", but they're actually just clones of Starscream... Three Starscreams in Thundercracker colors and no Skywarp in sight.

As for the story of this set: Starscream got experimented on. Now he's been powered up, cloned, and brainwashed (Finally a story reason for those out-of-place white eyes?).

*UPDATED* --5/21/15--
Set 9-

1. Skyboom from Generations Windshear (Mini-Con Assault Team)
2. Requiem from Generations Heavytread (Mini-Con Assault Team)
3. Star Saber from Generations Runway (Mini-Con Assault Team)
   • Combine into Hydra Cannon (From Generations Centuritron)
4. Legendary Weapon Projection Saber from Arms Micron Wheeljack Kunai
5. Legendary Weapon Projection Blaster from Arms Micron Dobo (Dragonfly)

Hydra Cannon was going to be part of the first batch of repaint ideas I did representing the new Mini-Con "Big Bad" a sort of acting enforcer of Unicron's will on Earth and the Mini-Con army's field commander, but coming up with a deco that didn't look like Centuritron with a couple extra paint applications was harder than expected so that whole idea didn't end up panning out before now. The final color scheme might actually be a bit too dark now in my desperation to make him look unique, but it's as good as I'm going to get as far as a cohesive design for an anthropomorphized BFG/spaceship that can separate into three smaller robots.

I fully recognize that the whole thing is conceptually wonky as the Legendary Weapon-named components of Hydra Cannon can coexist with their pre-anthropomorphic Mini-Con components (Like Star Saber and the Air Defense Team can simultaneously appear and not cause a time paradox or something), but they are meant to be the weapons they are named after. You could say that the Air Defense Team were stripped of their combination power so Unicron could give life to Star Saber or you could pretend any or all of them are just eccentric impostors. Nonetheless Hydra Cannon can canonically call upon the powers of the legendary weapons in the form of hard-light projections. Those are represented in this set as Arms Microns although they are supposed to be non-sentient energy weapons, but it's just more fun for the toys themselves to be able to transform rather than just be static accessories. The Skyboom Shield is unaccounted for because not only does this set included more accessories than the Centuritron mold can carry already, but I was having a hard time choosing a Micron to represent it (It was either going to be Jida or Dado, but I didn't have a strong feeling either way).

Set 10-

1. Maverick from Arms Micron Dai (Crocodile)
2. Jackknife from Arms Micron Baru (Falcon)
3. Skull Buster from Arms Micron Gabu (Horseshoe Crab)
   • Combine into Vorpal Saber (From Arms Micron Dark Matter Calibur)
4. Nemesis Prime from Prime Sergeant Kup (Ironhide)

I really honestly wasn't going to do a Nemesis Prime as much as I like the characterization (Or lack thereof) of his Armada incarnation. It just didn't seem necessary to do, especially this early on when these kinds of no-brainer exclusives are usually saved for the end when most people have made up their minds about whether a set of exclusives is worth the trouble or not. And the last thing anyone needs is another Over-Run, I mean Run-Over...

But then I remembered that Nemesis Prime had his own version of the Star Saber in the show (Which was later named and differentiated for western fans although I believe it was always a different entity in Japan) which seemed like a good excuse for more Arms Micron molds. Any excuse for more Mini-Cons...

For characterization purposes Nemesis Prime is like the Thundercracker drones except Optimus was never captured and thoroughly analyzed in order to create a proper clone so Nemesis is about as far from a standard Prime as you can get. Zombie-like in his movements and single-mindedly aggressive in his attack patterns, he seems like he would be an easy target... And he is. The problem is that Nemesis Prime cannot be destroyed, only dismantled, and will repair himself from a single piston in mere seconds.

*UPDATED* --5/24/15--
Set 11 (Revised)-

1. Demolishor from Generations Darkmount/Skullgrin (Same as before)
2. Cyclonus from PCC Commander Searchlight

UPDATED- See Page 4 for Notes

Set 12-

1. Thrust from RotF Dirge (Credit for the idea to Hiro Prime)
2. Inferno from DotM Pinpointer (Credit for the idea)
3. Skywarp from Generations Armada Starscream

Anyway I lied about there being no Skywarp in sight...

For the story Thrust betrays Megatron much earlier in this timeline and asks Sideways for protection because he knows the big guy is going to be tearing through Unicron's forces gunning for him personally. Sideways offers him his Mini-Con partner back and a new Bulk bodyguard named Skywarp. At first glance Skywarp appears like another Strascream-derived clone, but has far more autonomy than the Thundercrackers implying he might be of a different make. He likes to disappear and pursue other tasks as if he's answering directly to Unicron opposed to Thrust who he's supposed to be serving at the moment which makes him fairly worthless as a bodyguard.

Inferno is fairly useful however, offering his Bulk partner both an upgrade to his natural cloaking ability and bodily flamethrowers however Sideways asks that he be able to call on the useful Mini-Con at any time for important missions (Since their toys are actually supposed to go together). This leaves Thrust with a lot of time alone to regret his haste to join the "winning team".

*UPDATED* --6/1/15--
Set 13-

1. Redline from Generations Tailgate
2. Servo from Combiner Wars Blackjack
3. Combusta from PCC Mini-Con Groundspike

The first of the "Linkage" sets features the Mini-Con ship, Exodus' heroic Security Officer ("Exodus Security" probably not being far from the Generic naming Hasbro would prefer for the character to avoid legal problems) Redline along with Servo and Combusta who are among one the few Mini-Cons with both the willpower and the know-how to fight Unicron's control. As such they are the only ones who can seek out the "Master Key" which is the only thing that can permanently free the rest of their kind. However there are elite Mini-Con Hunters on their tail to make sure that doesn't happen...

The Super Stunt and Sonic Assault Mini-Con Teams have been broken into two different sets because I couldn't find three molds for each that worked well together in both scale and aesthetic... And if they don't match up there isn't much point in keeping them together. Aside from that it's pretty much random.

Set 14-

1. Flat-Out from Reveal the Shield Windcharger
2. Falcia from Arms Micron Arcee Blade
3. Twirl from Arms Micron Starscream Boomerang

Flat-Out, Falcia, and Twirl were separated from their teammates while seeking information about the Master Key and captured by Mini-Con Hunters. Upon being exposed to Unicron's corrupting influence Flat-Out is granted more bulk and firepower compared to his Super Stunt Mini-Con teammates whereas Falcia and Twirl have had their vehicle modes sacrificed to become stronger in weapon mode.

Falcia probably deserves better than an Arms Micron mold considering her role in the comic, but it made more sense to keep the teams together in some small way and this helps her to work better with Twirl. I guess it really doesn't make sense to distinguish Combusta from her teammates based on their lack of vehicle modes since Groundspike doesn't have a vehicle mode either... However you could easily call one of it's several non-robot modes some kind of vehicle and be done with it.

Set 15-

1. Top Gear from Arms Micron Soundwave (Prime Soundwave)
   • Fixer Bug from Arms Micron Laserbeak (Prime Laserbeak)
2. Tailslide from PCC Mini-Con Airlift
3. Midship from PCC Mini-Con Throttler

Despite being already aligned with Unicron and having no innate power beyond their reach the Speed Chaser Team has gone through a dramatic transformation of their own. Top Gear has focused on speed and size allowing him to transform into the Magnawing and take to the skies all on his own. His teammates focused on firepower instead, meaning that when the three join together they have the perfect combination of speed and power. Tailslide transforms into a Transfixation Turret which can, at full power, mode-lock a foe of any size while Midship uses his drill mode to create an entry point for a Fixer Bug to Powerlinx with them and convert them to Unicron's cause.

Despite being "Mini-Con Hunters" by name not even full-sized Bulks are safe now that they no longer need preexisting Powerlinx ports to reformat their enemies into powerful new minions for their master.

*UPDATED* --9/6/15--
Set 16-

1. Stella Holley from Human Alliance Mikaela Banes (Or new mold)
2. "Stella's Car" Exo Suit from Human Alliance Thunderhead

The last Linkage set I was planning and kinda the whole reason for the Linkage revisit in the first place. I can't be the only person who saw Stella's car turn into a mech back in the day and asked, "Why isn't there a toy of that?"

For the story, Redline and the others obtain the Master Key that can liberate the other Mini-Cons, but it can only be used once so it must be used in the very epicenter of the conflict to make sure it frees everyone. However since the Mini-Cons are at risk of falling to Unicron's influence at any time and thanks to the Mini-Con Hunters not even Bulks are safe so the the only one left to entrust it to is their human friend Stella Holley. By chance she becomes "fused" with the key and gains the power to reformat machines. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to happen in Transformers.

So of course she turns her car into a semi-sentient battlesuit.

Set 17-

1. Bug Bite from Generations Bumblebee (Legends)
2. Bad Boy from Combiner Wars Powerglide
3. Treds from Combiner Wars Warpath (Legends Megatron mold)
4. Path Finder from Generations Cosmos
5. Small Foot from Generations Gears (Swerve mold)
6. Road Ranger from Combiner Wars Huffer (Legends Optimus mold)

You may be thinking, "These weren't the Minibots I was expecting" but that's the point!

Although obviously GoBots to us, these dimensional travelers have come from their home world disguised as the Minibots known as Bumblebee, Powerglide, Warpath, Cosmos, Gears, and Huffer... Only to wind up in a universe where those Transformers don't exist! Whoops. Despite that minor slip-up the Bulks of this timeline are quick to trust these Infiltrators seeing as they have a Mini-Con apocalypse on their hands and don't have much time to question some suspiciously displaced newcomers. While seemingly ready to help however they can it seems that these "Minibots" are here to gauge and test the strength of this dimension's inhabitants. It seems that things are pretty grave on their home planet to cause their two factions to unite and work towards a common goal, but that remains to be seen.

*UPDATED* --10/10/15--
Set 18-

1. Rook from Combiner Wars Windcharger
   • Spy Shot from Generations Reflector
2. Glyph from Generations Bumblebee (Legends)
   • Scarabot from Generations Chop Shop
3. Tap-Out from Generations Bumblebee (Legends)
   • Haymaker Twins from Arms Micron Bulkhead Knuckle (x2)
4. Wipe-Out from Generations Tailgate
   • Seeker Bug from Generations Waspinator (Legends Accessory)

The Minibot Investigation Team are researchers of multiversal phenomena so the massive corrupting influence of Unicron that extends beyond this universal cluster is something they would normally be very interested in... However without Bumblebee, their disappeared leader, they are a bit uncoordinated to say the least and have traveled far and wide in search if him oblivious to a multiversal catastrophe unfolding all around them.

Rook, Glyph, Tap-Out, and... Let's say Windcharger, find their way into the conflict going on in this universe and meet the incognito Bug Bite who they suspect of being their leader who he just happens to be disguised to look like. While it's quickly clear that Bumblebee or not he's clearly not their Bumblebee, the so-called "Minibots" they find are incredibly suspicious and they decide to investigate. While they may have stumbled on to an actual mystery here, they have merely distracted themselves from the more pressing matter of a spy for Unicron being among their ranks. Wipe-Out was once a nobody that would declare his loyalty to any Decepticon bigger than him (Which to be honest, is pretty much all of them) who was captured and reformatted by the Chaos-Bringer into a chameleonic shape-shifting spy who can disguise himself as any Transformer of a similar size or smaller... Which would otherwise be a pretty significant weakness if not for all the Mini-Cons and Minibots running around in this universe. Along with his Seeker Bug minions he goes around destroying all evidence of Unicron's involvement and leaving his "allies" even more incapable of discovering the truth about what's going on. Could Wipe-Out have staged Bumblebee's disappearance in order to prevent the discovery of some greater secret?

Set 19-

1. Predacon from Generations FoC Grimlock (W/ Unused Megatron Headsculpt)
2. Terrorsaur/Famine from Beast Hunters Soundwave
   • Mini-Terrorcon from Beast Hunters Ravage

Both Terrorsaur and the enigmatic being known as "The Predacon" once fought together as beast warriors against the Autobot's own beasts in the jungles of a deadly organic planet. Many years later Unicron's Four Riders of the End seek an audience with him as the one now known as the Beast of Famine recalled his feats of cruelty as a Decepticon. The Predacon has since forsaken his old cause and has become obsessed with organic species and believes that Cybertron's future rests in their species' willingness to adapt and evolve into greater survivalists like the beast warriors did. To accommodate his plans he has created a virus that will transform all life on Cybertron into Techno-Organics, but it still needs testing. Unicron's followers promise the amoral scientist all the test subjects he needs if he promises to use his research to escalate the confrontation on Earth and increase the strife and hatred Unicron needs to grow more powerful.

In order to show off the potential of his virus the ex-beast warrior scientist tests it on a damaged Mini-Con, transforming it into a new kind of creature he dubs a Terror Mini-Con/Mini-Terrorcon or just "Terrorcon" for short. Famine thinks that Unicron will find much use in these kinds of minions in the future.

Set 20-

1. Airazor/Death from Beast Hunters Starscream
2. Cheetor/Pestilence from Beast Hunters Ratchet
3. Ravenus from Beast Hunters Dreadwing

As Famine takes The Predacon to Earth, Death and Pestilence arrive at the scientist's lab to free his deadliest creation after the techno-organic virus, Ravenus. Once an Autobot who became too reliant of Powerlinx energy, Ravenus was left a burned-out addict when the Mini-Cons were exiled from Cybertron. A convenient test subject for the corrupt Predacon's experiments, Ravenus was considered a failure in regards to technorganic testing but his savageness would be more than enough to pique the interests of Unicron's heralds.

However once on Earth, Ravenus would prove completely uninterested in the Autobots or Decepticons instead pursuing the Mini-Cons for his own personal gain. This is far from a setback for Unicron's Riders who saw fit to entrust him with an artifact known as the Doomstone without his knowledge. Now as Ravenus provides an excellent distraction on the battlefield, Powerlinx energies are being channeled directly into the Doomstone to prepare for the next phase in Unicron's plans...

--Anyway more to come...?--

 

That blurr is downright lovely.

 

Lovely...love Sideways from Tailpipe...

 

These are all very well done and thought out! Nice job!

 

Would've never thought Armada Optimus Prime from Prime Kup, but now I want it...

Awesome job!

 

What about Hot Shot from Generations Bee, just a suggestion.

 

I want this. All of it. Now.

 

Try pinpointer as sparkplug (Primes first minicon)

 

Great stuff.

I literally just broke my Sargent Kup after prepping him to do something similar to your digibash.

 

That Sideways is awesome. (better than his Armada counterpart)

 

Not gonna lie, I'm not all that fond of Armada/Energon/Cybertron, but I seriously want this to be the next theme for Botcon.

 

These are some very cool concepts. I'm not a normally a bandwagon jumper, but that Optimus Prime set is amazing.

 

Thanks everyone, I was thinking maybe some people would say "Hey nice idea" and that would be it, but it's really cool to see people who would be interested in these kinds of figures actually existing.

Hmm, well I was thinking part of the point of this would be to get the rest of the Armada cast up to the standard of Universe/Henkei Hot Shot and Generations Armada Starscream. Because the ideal would be New Molds For Everyone, whereas new heads on other figures are just a temporary solution.

So even if the aesthetic of the set matches up more with Leader Armada Megatron rather than the new intended-to-be-Armada-from-the-start molds, I still don't see any need to "update" the characters who are already in the envious position of having new toys (Even if Universe Hot Shot can hardly be considered a relatively recent figure nowadays).

Not that I don't have some ideas...

Yeah I don't know, you can kind of slap the colors of any Mini-con on Pinpointer and make it a generic Targetmaster accessory for just about anyone. But that's the thing there are so many Targetmaster/Micromaster/Arms Micron/Legends figure options out there that there's a better-fitting mold out there for just about anyone and with some of them already pulling double duty as mini-vehicles and weapons another generic Mini-con that turns into a box with guns on it suddenly seems superfluous to try to force in anywhere.

I mean it really doesn't make much sense with anyone besides Tailpipe, but does a mold that small really need three entirely different transforming accessories? And who would even make sense as Sideways' third Mini-Con partner?

This is all... Thematically nebulous. And I don't know what to make of it.

Oh no! That actually sucks  

I hadn't even considered the possibility that this might inspire someone to do something similar in real life... But I do feel bad that happened.

 

I love all of these ideas man.

Smokescreen shockingly works so well.

 

I'd use the Pinpointer as the Mini-con Inferno and partner him up with a Thrust made out of a HFTD Dirge.

 

That would work even better than my idea. PS: This seems to me that this would be way cooler than that bizzaro world Megatron in the Cybertrons most wanted set. Keep up the amazing work and maybe try to do some minibots to go with the title  

 

coupla ideas if you're up for them
powercore combiner bombshock as Blackout and Leader-1
pcc heavytread as Crumplezone
pcc takeout as Inferno
pcc Leadfoot as Swindle

pcc doubleclutch as sparkplug
pcc searchlight as jolt
pcc leadfoot as incinerator
dotm human alliance sandstorm as rollbar

 

Just thought of this: have you considered designing sets for Energon and Cybertron?

 

That could work actually...

Eh, I'm pretty much over the idea of Minibots being included now... I'll probably come up with a new name for the completed set unless someone out there has some good ideas for exciting new Minibot homages.

To be honest it just sounds like too much work to implement as I had originally intended at this point, especially to implement them so extensively that it justifies "Minibots" as the first word in the name of the entire set that will probably end up having far more Bulk characters than even the Mini-Cons who are also part of the title.

Interesting ideas, definitely works to better represent the "weaponized"/evolved Mini-con threat I was going for from the story than most of the stuff I've done so far... Although I already know what I want to do with some of those guys already, I'll definitely consider these for the rest.

If you mean a whole set of exclusives like this one, I have considered it and probably wont. However I do have some ideas for other Unicron Trilogy series stuff that will probably just get tacked onto this set as a bonus or something instead.

Anyway, should be able to update this with some new disgibashes soon...ish.

 

Do Alpha Bravo as Armada Cyclonus and Generations Thrust as Armada Thrust.