Pokeformers
Pokeformers is a derogatory term often used to refer to the Armada toyline or its accompanying fiction by members of the Transformers fandom who weren't particularly fond of the series. The term is a portmanteau of the terms "Pokémon" and "Transformers".
Although the term is thrown around by detractors a lot more than is fair, the comparison between the two franchises is not without a certain degree of merit, not least of all because Hasbro were deliberately targeting the Pokémon generation of kids with the line, tapping into the brand's "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" mantra by encouraging buyers to collect as many Mini-Cons as possible. Although the animated series fumbled this theme pretty badly by making Mini-Cons almost entirely interchangeable (thereby giving them no individual traits to really make it worth collecting them all), the little robots were soon proven to share multiple traits with the titular Pokémon, being as they were small, adorable, surprisingly powerful in combat, somewhat slavishly bound to their "owners", and given a rather limited range of linguistic expression (although the same could be said of the Japanese Targetmaster partners, too). There was certainly something to be said for the fact that the cartoon did not even attempt to adapt this concept in any way, leading the first half of the series to be about virtually nothing except the Transformers running around actually trying to "collect them all."
Notably, though, the vast majority of these comparisons apply primarily to the cartoon series. In the comics, the search for Mini-Cons was substantially downplayed, and Mini-Cons were every bit as verbose and articulate as their larger brethren, presented fugitives on the run rather than hapless objects to be collected.
It could be fairly stated that both Pokémon and Armada both simply tapped into a tried and true marketing approach to sell their product. Furthermore, Armada was far from the first to Transformers franchise to use the "Collect them all!" approach; it has been a common marketing theme of the Transformers brand (actually, every toy franchise) since its inception.
But hey, there's also the fact that Pokémon and Armada are both totally stupid kiddy shit for babies, not awesome hardcore stuff for the mature adults who are the ones who really buy all the Transformer toys. Seriously, if you don't like something—anything—just say it's like Pokémon. That will totally win the argument.
Yeah.
