The Energon Pub

I'm very pleased that the G1 insecticons are #1. Because they ARE the original troops. And if you don't care about the gun, they are dirt cheap to get, even the vintage ones. So building an army of these is piss-easy. Especially because so many of them will have "battle damage".

Also, both TR and RiD Prime gave us excellent troops. I'm impressed.
Prime being the clear #1 because I hate TR Scourge, I find Gnaw rather "meh", while Prime Bombshell and Prime Vehicon are so FANTASTIC on their own.

I've forgotten that I've also troop-built three of the Prime Cyberverse Commander class Hardshell figure, and a small number of the Prime Cyberverse Commander class Predaking figure, with Bombshock and the Predacons Rising purple redeco Predaking serving as the generals of the troop-builders.

I really wished I bought the prid Vehicons it's one of the few non Titans Return figures that i missed out on (maybe hopefully like the tr figures I'll buy them on the net someday)

Speaking of tr and troop builders Getaway makes a good base for Autotroopers and I love Autotroopers just got to find me some cheap Getaways and hopefully a sticker set shows up that I can make the head less getaway and more trooper.

I would like to see them put out a 3 pack of current insecticons all done with the same or better yet original scheme, including chrome.

Sabrblade wrote:I've forgotten that I've also troop-built three of the Prime Cyberverse Commander class Hardshell figure, and a small number of the Prime Cyberverse Commander class Predaking figure, with Bombshock and the Predacons Rising purple redeco Predaking serving as the generals of the troop-builders.

Among the notable toy snubs in TF: Prime is a Voyager Hardshell. Probably in the same bin of destroyed dreams as a blue/yellow Smokescreen redeco.

ScottyP wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:I've forgotten that I've also troop-built three of the Prime Cyberverse Commander class Hardshell figure, and a small number of the Prime Cyberverse Commander class Predaking figure, with Bombshock and the Predacons Rising purple redeco Predaking serving as the generals of the troop-builders.

Among the notable toy snubs in TF: Prime is a Voyager Hardshell. Probably in the same bin of destroyed dreams as a blue/yellow Smokescreen redeco.

Yeah, big time! Though I am thankful that we can recreate a good cast at the cyberverse scale which makes for some fun troop building on a budget

SG Roadbuster wrote:I am legit shocked that none of the botcon toys made it to the list.

no Virulent Clones? Autotroopers? SG Junkions? Rainmakers? Dread Pirate Crew, or Reflector?

With these lists, I try to make them as general as possible leaving technical stuff to the comments (cool to see all the head canon going on here, by the way ). The fun pub stuff which it surely applies to troop building technically doesnt really work with me. Not only are most of these toys all rehashes from molds that werent designed as troop builders, but they came with a troop already. In the general sense of troop building its people buying several of the same toy to build a troop but here the troop is already given to you in threes. Plus there is the fact that fun pub is very niche in both toys and fiction (and while I may be wrong, I consider any fiction coming from a fan club as fan fiction, so anything can basically be a troop builder at this point) and as I wrote, for a list everyone can enjoy I try to make it with stuff that is/was easily attainable for all, so that it can be as welcoming as possible for anyone who wants to join the conversation.
I do love those autotroopers though.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Somewhat related: if you get all the redecos of one mold, are you troop building, even though technically each "troop" is a separate character? For example, all the different color versions of the Classics Seeker mold.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Geez, no Classics Seekers? To me those guys are the best. Even if you don't include KOs you've still got a really decent array of characters between Hasbro, Takara, and FunPub - especially if you pretend different decos can represent entirely different characters (G2 Ramjet I am looking at you). Somewhat pricy, but I dig it.

As I wrote above, I didnt want to get too technical with the list, I like to keep things general but also concise, so I stick to what is most commonly accepted and it seems troop building is buying multiples of the same toy to build a troop. There is also the sense in the fiction of troops being void of a particular personality, sometimes drones. So the idea of having completely different characters with different personalities and different looks with the seekers as troops seems off compared to the general idea. Hence why I went with the safer route and left the seekers out of it. I do feel its buying different toys when they are different characters that look different.

cruizerdave wrote:I thought I was the only one who liked TR Scourge!

Na man, that guy rocks! a gorgeous homage to G1 in looks and build, nomatter the version you get. Really fun to play with too, I think he is the most underrated figure from the line.

Troop-building's never been my thing. Just... I got limited money/shelf space. I don't need to spend it/occupy it with the same mold of the same character. Great list, WIlliam. Just... not my thing.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Geez, no Classics Seekers? To me those guys are the best. Even if you don't include KOs you've still got a really decent array of characters between Hasbro, Takara, and FunPub - especially if you pretend different decos can represent entirely different characters (G2 Ramjet I am looking at you). Somewhat pricy, but I dig it.

TBH, Universe Scourge beats out Titans Return Scourge. Sure, TR Scourge is more show accurate, but he's also a lot more boring colour wise and has a bobble head. It's nice that the Sharkticon gives him a different head for the Japanese market but it's just not enough to push out Universe Scourge. As a bonus it comes in a two pack (the one with Cyclonus) if you wanted to differentiate a few for whatever reason.

I use multiple Universe Scourges for Sweeps and a Titans one for Scourge himself.

I can't really disagree with this list, though eoples comments about the botcon troop builders are pretty fair, they do come in packs of 3 so it's pretty much a pre-existing set of troops.

My personal favorite troop builders are the Prime Vehicons, but I class all variants of the toy as part of the same troop. The Hasbro and Takara first edition versions have slightly different paint, the PRID versions have stickers or paint and then there are the two flyers and the white car vehicon, before you're really buying doubles, you have 6 variations of the same character/army. I have a few more than 6 in total...

I dunno, it seems like the reason they don't count is somewhat technical as well. I think it would have been better to define what kind of troop army you're building - very strictly the exact same toy with no deviations.

I use multiple Universe Scourges for Sweeps and a Titans one for Scourge himself.

Nice. That's one way to do it!

The only Scourge I can't bring myself to buy multiples of is the Titanium one. It just sucks too much.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Troop-building's never been my thing. Just... I got limited money/shelf space. I don't need to spend it/occupy it with the same mold of the same character. Great list, WIlliam. Just... not my thing.

Very kind of you to say. And I totally get it, I too find the troop building prospect quite a luxury in this hobby but that makes it all the more unique and intriguing when you see it brought to life in a collection. I never thought I would have troops myself but by sheer luck or coincidence I ended up with a few. When I was getting back into collecting I would buy G1 lots locally, to build a collection, and there would always be an insecticon in there since they were so abundant back in the 80s (and less expensive than other characters). Those were the toys I wouldnt mind getting a double of.
And for Scourge, I got the universe one and I found the Platinum Cyclonus set for a relatively good price so I ended up with a few of the same mold (with variations) and then I got TR Scourge and found another at a thrift store but with no head (of course), but that last part doesnt matter since I can just give him any head and make that one a little different.

Plus, back when Hasbro and Takara had their factories in China, there would be a lot of surplus inventory that was dumped on e-bay for cheap prices (of course, with no instructions and out of the box since they never got to the packaging process). I wasnt seeing Generations Tankor at my retail stores so I simply placed low bids on a bunch of them on e-bay (low as in 6$ for the Takara version) and while I thought I wouldnt get any, I ended up with 3. Once again, just my luck that the toy I end up with multiples of ends up being a troop builder.

UltraMarginal wrote:I can't really disagree with this list, though eoples comments about the botcon troop builders are pretty fair, they do come in packs of 3 so it's pretty much a pre-existing set of troops.

My personal favorite troop builders are the Prime Vehicons, but I class all variants of the toy as part of the same troop. The Hasbro and Takara first edition versions have slightly different paint, the PRID versions have stickers or paint and then there are the two flyers and the white car vehicon, before you're really buying doubles, you have 6 variations of the same character/army. I have a few more than 6 in total...

Thanks for understanding Your army sounds fun, do you have any pics of it? I could even add them to the article if they are posed.
And oh man, I wish someone had a shot like this available but actually made up of vehicons instead of random toys:

william-james88 wrote:
Thanks for understanding Your army sounds fun, do you have any pics of it? I could even add them to the article if they are posed.
And oh man, I wish someone had a shot like this available but actually made up of vehicons instead of random toys:

I'll have a look through my photos if I get a chance, at the moment they are packed away to make room for other toys on display.

One of the guys on the OTCA forum in Australia, Goktimus Prime, made up a similar photo but a mashup of pictures using Microsoft paint and only a couple vehicons. years ago now but it was pretty cool.

Well, thanks in part to this list (and also thanks in part to the fact that I really wanted to buy something else that's out of stock basically everywhere, and wanted something to make my order's shipping costs worthwhile), I finally bit (pun intended?) on 3 Takara Legends Sharkticons, bringing my total number of sharkies to 6. TR Sharkticons are the only toys I've ever troop-built, and while their size means that a group of three isn't actually that intimidating, I'm hoping that six will be a large enough number to put up a fair fight against Hot Rod and Kup on the shelf.

So thanks for that Will, I hope you're happy. ...I know I am

(And now it turns out that since my other thing doesn't release til next month, I can't combine my AmiAmi orders and the Sharkticons are gonna ship separately anyway, negating the "shipping value" of ordering them in the first place. Ah well, at least they'll arrive sooner I guess.)

When it comes to the Titans Return seekers, I don't like them all that much. It's mostly the blockey heads that bother me and the rectangular wings, but there fine if you like them.

Qwan wrote:So thanks for that Will, I hope you're happy. ...I know I am

If you are happy, then I am super happy.

Also, I have learnt that for countries like yours and mine, anime export might be the best option. They will hold your items for as long as you want so you can ship them all at once. They will also declare whatever amount you ask them to inorder to help them get through customs easier.

The only bit that people dont like with anime export is that you have only a few weeks to preorder an item and then you cant preorder it anymore. Plus, you pay everything upfront (but that bit doesnt matter too much in deciding between that or amiami since neither let you cancel an order).

I would never put it in contention for best troop builder seeing as they're not a troop/army in any fiction, but I adore PotP Slash so much I made up an excuse to buy more.

Much like the raptors in Jurassic Park, my three Slash figures hunt as a pack. I painted their robot heads different colors and added tiny splashes of detail to differentiate them while keeping the aesthetic mostly pure. I left the original Slash alone since she looks good enough as it is.

If you want to take a peak

Just read through this list properly, and as always it's great. I need to get myself some G1 Insecticons, they look like a lot of fun.

Some I'd be tempted to add would be:

Energon Divebomb (because he's one of the best Scouts ever made, THE best birdformer ever made and a damn fine toy in general)

Movie Swindle (cool car mode, unique robot mode, weird but neat gimmick, fun transformation and makes for an excellent "heavy weapons grunt")

G1 Seacons (technically they were drones in Masterforce, I think, and they're great little toys for their age)

And some I'd be tempted to use as army builders even though they aren't _actually_ army builders...

G1 Scramble City limbs in general (their small size, very generic stylings, relative cheapness and general cuteness makes me think they'd make good "drone" units- a fleet of Groove police drones, a battalion of Brawl tank drones etc)

The TR clones (as individuals they're highly forgettable, but as generic army fillers? Hell yeah!)

Knockoffs in general (cheap, often unusually coloured, plentiful, expendable...sounds like superb generic fodder to me!)

Energon combiners (literally zero personality, but fun toys and pretty cheap)