Preface:
So how good do we have it? Really damn good. You’ll not find negativity in this series of articles. I’m going to only cover the positives.Refer here for Robots in Disguise:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=36452Armada.
The title alone brings with it a tide of discontent, disappointment, and overall dislike. Arguing for the high points in this line is like playing Devil’s Advocate. Childish, lacking articulation, and gimmick heavy, Armada is the whipping boy of modern Transformers lines. I have to admit, after being taken in by RiD, I was certainly taken back by Armada. Many of my early purchases of this line were actually due to boredom or just to buy something ‘fun’ (I was working a miserable, exhausting job as nighttime security for my University…). Needless to say, my first take on the toys, like many people who see them today for the first time, was not necessarily positive.
Interestingly enough, the line started to sell really well. Not only that, but there was a lot of hype and excitement around the series, much like Animated is causing today. There were people who were unhappy with this new series, but for the most part, those folks were able to get by on the new and exciting reissue G1 toys that were appearing from Takara. Hard to believe in a way, but Armada got less popular with collectors as time went by, where as most series toys seem to see a slow but steady gain in popularity.
Why take another look at this series? Do we really dislike these toys to the degree that popular opinion would suggest? I don’t think so... We all know the bad, I’m going to review some things which might just change your mind, well, that or have to justify to your girlfriend and/or wife why you are spending $40 on a Mini-con.
I’ll start with the big guy. There is one figure from Armada that almost every generation of collectors will find a way, excuse, or reason to include in their collection: Unicron. If you weren’t collecting when the news of this toy broke, I’m not sure if you can understand what a big deal this was. Not only was this one of the more important characters in the Transformers mythos come to life, but it was the return of truly massive Transformers. There had not been a genuinely Supreme sized figure since G1 (Supreme Cheetor does not friggen count.). There were a fair number of fans who were literally escorted out of Wal-Mart for routing through pallets after midnight and opening cases without permission.
Now Unicron wasn’t technically G1 accurate, but he was as close as most people needed to fill that role. First, but certainly not last in a line of planet formers, Armada Unicron remains a figure piece in most collections. Huge, accurate to the Armada show, and containing vast amounts of articulation, features, and detail, Unicron is probably the best toy in the line. What else is there in the Armada line? Micromasters, Target Masters, Head Masters, the remnants of Transtech, Starscream-Thundercracker-&-Skywarp, and more G1 homages that only truly 1337 fans will notice than you can shake a Star Saber at.
Masters!
Of the micro/target/head/power kind!, otherwise known as Mini-Cons. Everyone in Armada got one. Unfortunately, something was lost in the translation of the story and key elements were left out which would explain away one of the major problems fans have with the concept: “Why do Transformers need Mini-Cons to activate weapons etc, that are already in their bodies? Did they not know they had a gun in their chest?”
Here’s the part that was lost somewhere in the sea of translation: When a Mini-con first links to a larger Transformer, the link causes a small scale reformatting. The first link-up actually does change the Transformer and after that they are free to use the weaponry as they like. See, the other story-driven aspect of Mini-Cons which isn’t so well known is that they were intended to be tools of Unicron which would give Transformers big, destructive power and cause strife among the race. Unicron is a jerk hunh?
Now that you know all the powerlink stuff has some rhyme and reason behind it, take another look at what Mini-Cons actually do for the toy line: They make everyone into a potential “Master” character. Your favorite character is a sharpshooter? Hook him up with the Emergency team; they turn into guns. Instant Targetmaster! Want to replicate MicroMaster Base goodness? Take Optimus Prime’s trailer and put a squad of Mini-Cons with it. That’s the point of the trailer after all. Mini-Cons serve a wide variety of uses ranging from aesthetic, to functional, to story based, but they always allow you to customize your figures and accessories. You do want to accessorize don’t you?
G1-ishness
One thing that I always try to remind people of when they look at the Armada series in a critical manner is that the comparisons to G1 are readily evident. We have blocky, yet robust designs that are willing to focus on play value over movement. While this might mean that your Armada toys aren’t going to be kicking high all that often, they are going to be lots of fun for kids and are going to display well on the shelf of a collector.
Oh the homage! (like, Oh the carnage!, but happier)
I like pointing out that Leader Class Optimus Prime from Armada is not much more than an updated Star Convoy. After winning this discussion time and again, I like to follow up by pointing out that Jetfire is just an updated Galaxy Shuttle. These two are the most interesting in my opinion, but there are plenty of others about. Some of those lost Transtech designs even made their way into Armada. Megatron and Scavenger are both directly descended from those concept drawings.
All the rest…
Notice anything which particularly stands out? Likely not; Armada is a series of toys which expresses itself in an almost schizophrenic number of ways. Good and bad, large and small, blocky and slick, it’s all there. It becomes easy to find something to like about the toys and just as easy to find something you don’t.
Armada displays aspects of all the best Transformers lines, lacking only in consistent articulation. Sure, toy technology is better now and many of these toys could possibly be better done today. Still, I enjoy the toys as Transformers in spite of these flaws. For every Sideswipe, Hotshot, and Smokescreen failure, there is a Tidal Wave, Megatron, or Overload slice of awesome.
Of course, Energon would look to fix many of the issues we take with Armada, but it would be a long time before we see the variety and scope of toys that Armada introduced to hoards of fans.