Two's company but three is an army built.
I highly value shelf space, so there is a fine line between not enough and too much and three is the sweet spot.

 

3 is pretty representative of a small army. Anything beyond that is smoke and mirrors.

 

Name - Have - Want

Sparkless - 1 - 2 (Doesn't seem popular. I'd like a 2nd one but I don't feel rushed)
D.A. Drone - 2 - 3 (Love this guy. I still see him in local stores, I'll probably grab the next one I see)
Allicon - 1 - 3 (I've missed chances to get more of these recently just by being bad with timing other purchases)
Quintesson - 1 - 2 (Low priority to get another because I don't like the figure very much)
Sharkticon - 0 - 3-5 (I have 3 Gnaws on PO. I'll aim for 5 if I find him in the wild)
Scourge - 2 - 3 (If there is a GS Sweep later on I'll sell my unopened Scourge to a board member for retail price)
Cyclonus - 2 - 2 (And his armada)
Refraktor - 4 - 5 (Freezeframe!)
Weaponizers (each) - 2 - 2 (These guys are like the soul of these lines, as far as play value)
Pit of Judgement - 1 on PO

I've collected 2 of each main line and generations selects Weaponizer and Modulator so far except for Aragon, $70 is a bit pricey to get a 2nd one of him even though I totally love the deco.

Of the released Fossilizers, I have 5 of each. I feel like Wingfinger will be harder to get, so we'll see what happens. Maybe just get 2 of him so I have options, unless he's shelf-warming near me.

As for Micromasters, they make good troops but I only got 1 of each, except the Aircraft teams, I got 2 of each. Fuzer+Blast Master (both versions), Whisper+Stormcloud. But I didn't get ahold of the Target 10-Pack, let alone two of them, lol. If they reissue it on Pulse, though...

Battlemasters also make good troops. I have tried to get 2 of each, and in a few cases (Slitherfang, Soundbarrier, Firedrive) 3 or 4. I still need another Singe if anyone is bored of theirs. They're junky and over-priced but the blast effects add a lot to photography and some of them match specific characters really well. They also work with the Earthrise AIR system which can be fun.

How do you feel about Beastformers as troop builders? Cheetor, Rattrap, Primal, Dinobot. Some of them are fairly nondistinct in beast mode.

 

I do 3 max

 

I’m struggling on how many SS Gnaws to get?

I have 3 Legends Class, and 2 Cyberverse Deluxes that I don’t want to get rid of. Maybe just one SS to lead them? Maybe more, not sure?

 

This is interesting because troop building never interested me. I'm not commenting to hate on it, only to say it's revealing about how differently people are motivated in assembling their collections.

 

Depends on the character involved:

Seekers (specifically the Siege Seekers) - All of them. They're all unique characters, so they all get their due. They aren't "troops" technically, even though they share the same mold.

Female autobots - They're all unique characters, despite sharing one mold. So all of them as they are releases. Not really "troops".

Sweeps - 3, always, + Scourge.

Sharkticons - I have 3 legends class from TR, and 3 from Takara Legends, and 1 from the Pit of Judgement set for a total of 7. I pre-ordered 7 of the new SS86 mold. You can make an argument for 10+ here though, as some people have. The swarm is the point.

Allicons - I have 3, but will probably get 2 more. The swarm is the point, but a smaller swarm.

Insecticons - I have 3 right now, but when they do them again, I'm going to go for 12 (4 of each). Again, the swarm is the point.

Quintessons - 3 only. Rarely did they ever show more than 3 on screen at once I think. I own 3.

Reflector - 3. Even though the model was used for standard Decepticon troops in S1, they specifically were designed for one set of characters who combined in a trio to transform, so only 3 of him.

Junkions - This is a strange one because it's more of a subteam than troop, and the troop building was mostly a function of limited molds. I'd say 1 of everyone, as they are released. Right now I got 1 RTS Wreck Gar, 1 Junk heap and 1 Combiner Wars Wreckgar. I'll be getting SS86 Wreckgar, and probably 2 of the following Jukions. I'll then get a replacement head for RTS Wreckgar to turn him into a Junkion troop. The Junkions should have a non-standard design, and are united by color scheme and general theme. So all orange/brown/black/red figures of this type should always work together and will never really be replaced.

 

(Not mine)

one is too many, too many is never enough

 

Money always is my limiter. Not that the toys themselves are always expensive, but the idea of "I could be getting a whole new toy experience for this same money". Ultimately, I'm a fan of transforming toys moreso than having big true-to-fiction displays. A new tactile experience is worth the most, personally.

This is why I didn't army-build the Seacons (Masterforce style) because the toys were just too much to warrant getting a second Tentakil instead of a whole new voyager or something like that. If they'd been regular retail, I probably would have justified it. On the other hand, I found the Earthrise wave with Fasttrack on a big sale, so now I have a Guardminder army for my Masterforce dudes at least. I don't know if it's because of other collectors army-building or just bad distro, but I was lucky to find even one Alicon, so I never got more (I do have the bailiff on the way though). I'll get at least 1 Gnaw, not sure if I'll get more. I'll have the legends-scale one (and the Pit redeco) to go with him and maybe that'll be enough. I'll have to see what the SS86 Sweep actually looks like before committing on those.

I do really hope we end up getting a few mold/paint variants on Wreck-gar, I wouldn't mind having a variety of Junkions. I'm sure there will be a few 3P kits to make more too.

 

HEY! That's mine! I am going to recreate it using all the new Sharks I have got since.

 

One. One is enough for me, and is one too many if I'm not particularly interested in the figure itself. I'm not criticizing anyone who engages in troop building, but it's not anything I've ever had the slightest inclination to do. But then, I'm likewise not into dioramas or re-creating cartoon scenes, which may be an activities that lend themselves to troop building.

 

Normally, with larger figures like Transformers and various 6" figures, my trooper building limit is usually 3. For 1:18 scale figures I would normally do 6.

Gnaw: I have 3 and I don't plan on anymore. But, I have 1 Titans returns, 2 KO Titan Returns, 2 Cyberverse, and 3 MFT versions.
Sweeps: I have 1 so far and only plan on a 2nd one
Allicons: I have 3, but then I have that Quintesson Bailiff as well from the Pit of Judgement set, so 4 really.

 

2 to 4 is my rule.

2 is the minimum, 4 is the maximum.
when I got my sweeps, I got 2.
When I got my sharkticons, I got 3, then the one from the quintesson pit, and now the SS86 one so I got 5 but there's one bigger one.
For the Dessius drones I got 2.
My Alicons I got 1 and 1 from the pit so I got 2.

 

Unless you're making a more or less permanent display, imo troop building is a trap. It's addictive and the money could be spent on other things.

If you are building a more or less permanent display...then it's never enough

 

Three (3) is my go to number, generally. It clearly shows multiples, but it keeps the squad small and manageable.

 

If I were an army builder I would buy 2 and put one on each side of a leader character

 

You've got to be shitting me.

 

So I've never "troop built" - but mostly due to Space/Money limitations.
I would think the max would be dependent on the troop. Like Horde type troops like the Gnaws of the world - go nuts! But maybe stick to multiples of a squad for things like Seekers or Sweeps.

 

Since I've been collecting forever I don't really troop build. For ex.
I have ss, tr, titanium ,takara and gens versions of scourge so already have scourge and a sweep army.
Same with TFP vehicons got one of each version.
To me they look better as a group then 5 of the exact same figure.

 

I don't troop build as a rule, but if the price is right I will do it.

For instance, I got a lot of Blackwings and Cyberverse Prowls for dirt cheap prices. Granted a lot of those Blackwings were used for extra limbs, but they were still useful. One of them I custom'd into Leozack. All the Blackwings are 'cleverly' named after Blackwing Yugioh cards (because NERD Points and you aren't a nerd if you didn't do this).