The Energon Pub

Was there a G1 Decepticon counterpart to the minibots (or minicars or whatever they're supposed to be called)? Apart from those repainted Go-bot thingies (Bad Boy is awesome, he should totally get a new figure - Classics Powerglide repaint anyone?), were there smaller Decepticon figures in the same price and size range as the minibots would have been in the G1 toyline?

Unlike the later years the first and second year releases weren't "paired off", each faction had its own distinct subgroups. So no, the Minibots had no Decepticon counterparts. The pairing started in 1986 with the Scramble City combiners, but a rivalry of some sorts was already made in the cartoon a year prior, with the Dinobots vs. the Constructicons, their combined form Devastator to be exact.

The absolute closest equivalent to the minibots, at least until the Micromasters came out, were the Cassetticons.

I honestly believed all minicons were decepticons when I first heard of Armada.