Transformers: Armada (toyline)

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File:Hotshotarmadatoy.jpg

Hot Shot with Jolt

Transformers: Armada marked a fresh start for the Transformers brand, a reinvention that introduced a whole new universe and backstory for the robots in disguise. The franchise also introduced a new faction, the Mini-Cons, the line's most distinctive element, as every larger toy included one or more Mini-Con partners.

The line was a hit with kids; the simpler, cleaner transformations made the toys more accessible. The numerous Mini-Cons in particular proved popular with fans and children alike, and have continued on into many subsequent toylines. It did so well out of the gate that the line had to be expanded beyond its initial offerings pretty quickly, and began the next four-ish years of direct sequels, an era that would come to be known as the "Unicron Trilogy".

Overview

The toyline marked a sharp change of design direction from the intricate, sometimes frustrating complexity found in Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and 2001 Robots in Disguise. The early offerings in particular were blocky, easy to transform, sturdy and colorful. Articulation tended to be reduced, sacrificed to keep price down in light of the need to add a Mini-Con partner to every mold. Ball joints largely disappeared. The aesthetics of larger robots hearkened back more to the blocky concepts of Generation 1, while the Mini-Cons tended to be more experimental, with odd facial designs and non-standard limbs.

Each larger toy featured a gimmick which could only be activated by attaching a Mini-Con to the appropriate hard point. Though most transformation schemes were simple, many of the Mini-Con activated gimmicks were quite complex and innovative, such as Hot Shot's "axelzooka", Scavenger's stompy-stompy action, and Optimus Prime's auto-transforming trailer. With Armada, electronics also became standard on nearly all toys larger than Deluxe/Super-Con. Frequently, overall articulation suffered to accommodate these features.

Armada introduced the first role-play toys seen in Transformers since the days of G1. One, kid-sized versions of some of the Mini-Con weapon MacGuffins of the storyline; the other, Laserbeak, was the first "life sized" Transformer toy since the likes of Generation 1's Soundwave and Perceptor. The latter concept did not seem to catch on, however, and would not return in force until 2007's Real Gear Robots subline.

Unicron, the line's largest toy.

Armada also disposed of the Basic/Deluxe/Mega/Ultra size classes, in favor of a somewhat less intuitive Mini-Con/Super-Con/Max-Con/Giga-Con system. This was presumably done to integrate the Mini-Con name into the system. Price change came with the name change; the $20 Max-Con size replaced the $15 Mega class, while the $25 Giga-Cons replaced the $20 Ultras. It should be noted, however, that the two Armada size classes tended to be somewhat more bulky and massive than their predecessors.

Toward the end, the line veered in an unexpected direction, with the introduction of the massive Unicron — a huge toy based on the character from The Transformers: The Movie, and by far the greatest wish-fulfillment ever offered to fans from Hasbro. To promote this massive toy, the ongoing storylines of both cartoon and comic changed direction to feature the character as their central plot element, and the toyline itself gained a subline imprint promoting him in "The Unicron Battles".

Apart from Unicron, a few other G1 homages found their way into the line. Most notable is Starscream and his redecos as Thundercracker and the retooled Skywarp, as well as the Constructicon-colored Scavenger and the occasional Mini-Con redeco.

Armada (Hasbro)

Mini-Con 3-packs

Mini-Cons were sold in carded three-packs at the Basic/Scout price point, each team defined by a particular gimmick or theme. Though only slightly larger than their closest precedent, the Micromasters, they generally featured greatly improved articulation, complexity, and originality of design.

Wave 1 Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Jetstorm, Runway, Sonar) Land Military Mini-Con Team (Bonecrusher, Knock Out, Wreckage) Street Action Mini-Con Team (Grindor, High Wire, Sureshock)		Wave 2 Destruction Mini-Con Team (Buzzsaw, Drill Bit, Dualor) Race Mini-Con Team (Dirt Boss, Downshift, Mirage)		Wave 3 Adventure Mini-Con Team (Dune Runner, Iceberg, Ransack) Space Mini-Con Team (Astroscope, Payload, Sky Blast) Street Speed Mini-Con Team (Backtrack, Oval, Spiral)		Wave 4 Air Assault Mini-Con Team (Jetstorm, Runway, Sonar) Night Attack Mini-Con Team (Broadside, Fetch, Scattor) Sea Mini-Con Team (Oceanglide, Stormcloud, Waterlog)		The Destruction Mini-Con Team
Wave 5 Air Military Mini-Con Team (Gunbarrel, Terradive, Thunderwing) Emergency Mini-Con Team (Firebot, Makeshift, Prowl)		Wave 6 Road Assault Mini-Con Team (Dirt Boss, Downshift, Mirage) Road Wrecker Mini-Con Team (Buzzsaw, Drill Bit, Dualor)		Wave 7 Emergency Mini-Con Team (redeco) (Firebot, Makeshift, Prowl) Sea Mini-Con Team (redeco) (Oceanglide, Stormcloud, Waterlog)

Super-Con Class

Wave 1 Hot Shot with Jolt Cyclonus with Crumplezone Demolishor with Blackout		Wave 2 Smokescreen with Liftor Sideways with Rook and Crosswise		Wave 3 Blurr with Incinerator Optimus Prime with Over-Run		Wave 4 Side Swipe with Nightbeat Thrust with Inferno		Super-Con Smokescreen with Liftor
Wave 5 Rhinox with Armorhide Terrorsaur with Ironhide		Wave 6 Airazor with Nightscream Hoist with Refute Wheeljack with Wind Sheer		Wave 7 Cheetor with Cliffjumper Powerlinx Cyclonus with Crumplezone Powerlinx Hot Shot with Jolt Powerlinx Thrust with Inferno		Wave 8 Powerlinx Demolishor with Blackout Nemesis Prime with Run-Over

Max-Con Class

Wave 1 Red Alert with Longarm Starscream with Swindle		Wave 2 Scavenger with Rollbar		Wave 3 Thundercracker with Zapmaster		Wave 4 Overload with Rollout Skywarp with Thunderclash		Max-Con Scavenger
Wave 5 Predacon with Skid-Z and Side Burn Powerlinx Red Alert with Longarm

Giga-Con Class

Wave 1 Megatron with Leader-1		Wave 2 Jetfire with Comettor		Wave 3 Galvatron with Clench		Wave 4 Tidal Wave with Ramjet		Giga-Con Tidal Wave
Wave 5 Powerlinx Jetfire with Comettor

Super Base

Wave 1 Optimus Prime with Sparkplug

Wave 2 Powerlinx Optimus Prime with Corona Sparkplug

Super Base Optimus Prime

Supreme

• Unicron (planet) w/ Dead End (moon)

Role Play

Role Play Triple Changer Laserbeak

Deluxe Role Play Dark Saber Star Saber

Exclusives

K-Mart exclusive Optimus Prime

K-Mart

• "Battle for the Matrix"
  ("Powerlinx Optimus Prime", "Corona Sparkplug", "Powerlinx Jetfire", Comettor, Adventure Mini-Con Team, Longarm)

Despite the various toys in this set being labeled "Powerlinx", they're not actually the Powerlinx versions. Just so you're not shocked when you click the links.

Micron Densetsu (Takara)

Regular retail

Wave 1 (12-26-2002) Convoy Super Mode (w/ Prime) STD Convoy (w/ Surge) Cyberhawk Grap (w/ Lift) Hot Rod (w/ Jolt) Ironhide (w/ Search) Megatron (w/ Barrel) Ratchet (w/ Hook) Sandstorm (w/ Cannon) Starscream (w/ Grid)		Air Defense Micron Air Defense Micron X-Dimensions Destruction Micron Destruction Micron X-Dimensions Land Military Micron Land Military Micron X-Dimensions Race Micron Race Micron X-Dimensions Street Action Micron Street Speed Micron		Grap & Race Micron Hot Rod & Air Defense Micron Ironhide & Land Military Micron Sandstorm & Destruction Micron		Wave 2 (04-24-2003) Devastor (w/ Dirt) Double Face (w/ Bright & Shadow)		Rampage with Hawk
Wave 3 (05-??-2003) Silverbolt (w/ Turbo) Silverbolt & Street Speed Micron		Wave 4 (06-??-2003) Jetfire (w/ Sonar) Thrust (w/ Thunder) Air Military Micron Thrust & Air Military Micron		Wave 5 (07-17-2003) Shockwave (w/ Sonic) Air Military Micron X-Dimensions Space Micron		Wave 6 (08-14-2003) Rampage (w/ Hawk) Stepper (w/ Cha) Air Assault Micron Sea Micron Space Micron X-Dimensions Rampage & Air Assault Micron
Wave 7 (08-28-2003) Grap Super Mode (w/ Spark Lift) Adventure Micron Grap Super Mode & Adventure Micron		Wave 8 (09-??-2003) Hot Rod Super Mode (w/ Spark Jolt) Megatron Super Mode (w/ Spark Barrel) Ratchet Super Mode (w/ Spark Hook) Starscream Super Mode (w/ Spark Grid)		Adventure Micron X-Dimensions Emergency Micron Sea Micron X-Dimensions		Wave 9 (09-??-2003) Ironhide Super Mode (w/ Spark Search)
Wave 10 (09-??-2003) Ultra Magnus (w/ Magnus) Unicron (w/ Bug)		Wave 11 (10-??-2003) Emergency Micron X-Dimensions

Store/event exclusives

Ito Yokado Destruction Micron Undergrove Edition Race Micron Road Assault Edition Street Speed Micron Overdrive Edition		Jusco Destruction Micron Space Galaxy Edition Rhinox with Armorhide Terrorsaur with Ironhide		LaOX Powerlinx Cyclonus with Crumplezone Powerlinx Thrust with Inferno		Hello Mac Land Military Micron Ultimate Edition
TF Station affiliates Micron Booster Ver.0 (Rod, Atlas, Mach, Jetter, Shuttler, Drift, Spin, Indy) Destruction White Micron		ToysЯUs Land Military Micron Ultimate Edition Land Military Micron Night Attack Edition Magna Convoy DX Set (Convoy Super Mode Final Battle Color Version, Ultra Magnus Special Clear Version, Street Action Micron X-Dimensions)		Airazor with Nightscream Cheetor with Cliffjumper (website only) Powerlinx Jetfire with Comettor Predacon with Skid-Z and Side Burn (website only) Skywarp with Thunderclash		Toy's Dream Project/Toy Card Powerlinx Thrust with Inferno (red version)
World Hobby Fair Street Speed Micron Overdrive Edition

Media exclusives

Theme CD pack-ins Air Defense Micron (blue) Street Action Micron (anime color)		Micron Densetsu DVD pack-ins Super Stunt Team (Flat-Out, Redline, Servo) Top Gear Midship Tailslide		Falcia Combusta Twirl Freeboot Bilge		Sunburn Kingbolt Impulsor Quench		DVD pack-in Top Gear
Micron Densetsu Year Book 2003 "Special Color" Impulsor "Special Color" Kingbolt "Special Color" Quench Hikari no Unicron		Tele-V Magazine Tokubetsu Ultra Magnus with Magnus		TV Boy magazine Kinpika Convoy with Prime Prime Super Mode		TV Magazine Crystal Convoy with Spark Surge Black Megatron with Barrel Scourge with Sweep		Hikari no Unicron
??? Kinpika Jetfire with Sonar

Eunha Yeongung: Cybertron (Sonokong)

Takara licensee Sonokong released a smaller selection of Micron Densetsu toys in Korea, under the name Eunha Yeongung: Cybertron (은하영웅 사이버트론, "Galactic Heroes: Cybertrons").

Cybertron Cyberhawk Hyena (w/ Dirt) Jetfire (w/ Sonar) Super Optimus (w/ Prime) Patrol (w/ Hook) Ultra Magnus (w/ Magnus)

Destron Hide (w/ Search) Megatron (w/ Barrel) Scream (w/ Grid) Shock (w/ Sonic)

Other Double Face (w/ Bright & Shadow) Unicron (w/ Bug)

Multi-packs Red Gun & Air Defense (w/ Jolt) Smoky & Race (w/ Lift) Sandstorm & Destruction (w/ Cannon) Sunbolt & Street Speed (w/ Turbo) Sniper & Air Military (w/ Thunder)

Cancelled toys

• A redeco of the Street Speed Team seen at OTFCC 2003 - one-off "color shifts" of the Japanese Street Speed Micron Overdrive Edition - was intended for mass release, but never saw the light of day.
• Redecos of the Adventure and Space Teams surfaced from China, but were likewise not released.
• At OTFCC 2003, it was announced that the more show-accurate Japanese version of Wheeljack and Wind Sheer would be released in the North American line as a running change. That never happened.
• Likewise, the red version of Powerlinx Thrust was supposed to hit North American shores as a running change, but never did... although it DID see release in Japan, Europe, and Israel(!).

Post-Armada releases

Though it does not quite (yet) have the nostalgia-pull of older series, Armada has nonetheless had a number of toys released based on its characters, and even several all-new characters put into its universe since the Unicron Trilogy closed up shop. (Obviously, we're not counting toys from the direct-sequel series here.)

Hasbro

Universe (2008) Hot Shot (w/ Jolt) Overload Unicron Blight Bodyblock Boltflash Brimstone Makeshift Suppressor		Mini-Con 10-Pack (Crosshairs, Longview, Overcharge, Ransack, Scavenger, Sky Shadow, Snow Cat, Stockade, Treadshot, Windrazor)		Mini-Con 12-Pack (Backstop, Blight, Bodyblock, Boltflash, Brimstone, Cloudraker, Flatfoot, Heavytread, Knockdown, Makeshift, Skyhammer, Suppressor)		Kre-O Demolishor Iceberg		Universe Hot Shot with Jolt
Generations Starscream Mini-Con Assault Team		Combiner Wars Megatron

Hasbro via Fun Publications

Transformers Collectors' Club Skywarp Spacewarp

TakaraTomy

Robotmasters Double Face

Legends Armada Starscream Super Mode

Unite Warriors Grand Galvatron (Curse Armada Thrust)

Notes

• According to Aaron Archer during his stint as ORSON, the Armada Autobots and Decepticons had intentionally different design aesthetics. The Autobots were designed to be symmetrical with clean lines and detailing, while the Decepticons had asymmetrical sculpts and details to invoke a more foreboding and battle-worn feel. A good example of this would be Hot Shot versus Cyclonus.
• The official Hasbro press releases for Armada used the pricepoint titles from the Beast Wars era - Deluxe, Mega and Ultra - instead of Super-Con, Max-Con and Giga-Con, the designations specifically created for the toyline. Confusingly, one press release even referred to the "Mega Figure Assortment" as consisting of "MAXCON figures"...