Top 5 Best Transformers Troop Builders
Sunday, November 19th, 2017 12:29am CST
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Top 5 Best Transformers Troop Builders
Ah the infamous troop builder. I will be honest, it was a concept I was not familiar with when I got back into collecting in my adult life. As a kid I got toys on my birthday and Chritmas so you bet your ass that I was gonna ask for a different toy and not the same one again just because there was more than one of the same character model on the screen sometimes. But of course, I get it now. With more disposable income, we can now indulge in recreating scenes and armies from the shows we love. And to build those armies in your display, you are gonna need troops. The Transformers brand has had a lot of toys to build troops with over the years and we will look over the best ones right now. Enjoy!
5. Transformers Titans Return Scourge
I really like the Generations Scourge toy but what makes the Titans Return version better for troop building is that you can change his face. So now, your army of Sweeps can have some different characteristics. The Ptero head for instance looks like the type of head given to his sweeps in previous releases. Takara also released a different head (shown below) just to build a sweep army. But you don't have to stop there, you can given them any heads and make them as diverse or similar as you like. It's a decent toy all around as well. Very accurate to the cartoon and both the Takara and Hasbro versions have fun features in their different decos.






4. Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Cyberverse Hardshell
This is one of the very best Commander Class toy from the Cyberverse line, if not the best, and it also happens to be a troop builder. The size works well for a Cyberverse scale army and an affordable one at that since he was at a lower price point than deluxes. Intricate transformation, well detailed and show accurate, what more would you want? Well aside from a voyager scale one for a much pricier army.


3. Titans Return Sharkticon
Yes, Titans Return have given us several troop builders, and good ones too. Sharkticon is an iconic little guy, due to his appearance in the 86 movie and this is his best toy yet. He is a fun little guy on his own, with a smooth and smart transformation, a great look and even the ability to act as a sub for little Titan Masters. But then you add more of them and you get a menacing (while also cute) army. And them being smaller figures, which is true to the scale, makes them a more affordable troop to build.





2. Transformers Prime: Robots In Disguise Vehicon
I have raved on this toy before and it's pretty crazy that an undisputed top 5 (top 3?) toy from that whole Prime line was the troop builder Vehicon toy. If only the jet versions were as readily available and affordable, we could replicate Megatron's army as seen on the show.



1. Transformers G1 1985 Insecticons
I think this is the first time a G1 toy ends up being number 1 on a list not specifically about g1. But yeah, there is no better option to me. This is the original swarm and the original troop builder and still the most impressive. These guys take the cake because of their variety of design from one another while also being uniform. This is where the generations versions of these guys fail since the colours, plastics and builds don't match. they end up being seen more as individual toys than a united swarm. While the articulation may not be optimal, the quality of these toys remains unmatched to this date with a combination of clear plastic, chrome, die cast and even functional wheels to give that extra mecha component. And the swarms are in insect mode anyway, so robot mode articulation is useless. Plus, these guys have been rereleased plenty of times that they end up being the same price point as a set of the 3 generations figures anyways, so I whole heartedly recomend anyone curious about g1 toys to check these out. They are still to this date the most faithful looking versions of the most iconic troop in Transformers history.



Honourable metions: Beast Machines Sonic Attack Jet
While Beast Machines deluxe Jetstorm was a decent toy, it lacked screen accuracy in both the deco and the sculpt. In comes a redeco that has more vibrant colours, closer to the look and feel of the show. And it happens to be an army builder for the Jetstorm drone army. So while not ideal we do get a differentiation between the leader and his goons and it is luckily the masses that have the more screen accurate deco, which I personally feel looks much better.
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Posted by Rodimus Prime on November 19th, 2017 @ 12:46am CST
5. G1 Insecticons
4. TR Scourge
3. TR Sharkticon
2. 2011 BotCon Animated Autotrooper
1. Prime Vehicons
Honorable mention: Beast Machines Jetstorm
Posted by Fires_Of_Inferno on November 19th, 2017 @ 1:04am CST




Posted by Deadput on November 19th, 2017 @ 1:27am CST
I also use the mold for Repungus right now and he actually fits the body quite well he also kinda color matches with the yellow and red from the same colors on the Hasbro Hardhead (Those colors are mostly on the "belt") and in my collection Quake was a former member who joined the Decepticons.
Posted by SG Roadbuster on November 19th, 2017 @ 6:54am CST
no Virulent Clones? Autotroopers? SG Junkions? Rainmakers? Dread Pirate Crew, or Reflector?
Posted by Deadput on November 19th, 2017 @ 7:10am CST
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?
Their good characters for troop builders but their expensive bot con exclusives and unless your rich as hell no one is troop building them.
Posted by Randomhero on November 19th, 2017 @ 9:20am CST

Posted by Sabrblade on November 19th, 2017 @ 10:44am CST
Speak for yourself. I'm a middle-class guy with only a part-time job (though, sometimes it feels like full-time, but I digress) and yet I've been troop-building several of the BotCon troop builders.Deadput wrote: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?
Their good characters for troop builders but their expensive bot con exclusives and unless your rich as hell no one is troop building them.
As of this typing, I own six sets of the BotCon 2015 Dread Pirate Crew (12 pirate clones total), and six sets of the BotCon 2015 Waruders (24 Waruders total, though one set is for the four repurposed characters whose bios came out online last December, making it be 20 Waruders and four unique characters).
And soon I plan to purchase eight of the BotCon 2013 preassembled Blastcharge Strika Drones to go with the one I currently have, making nine drones in all.
I would have gone for some others too but they either weren't as high a priority for me at the time or they sold out from the Club Store before I could get them. Right now, I have only one set of each of the following BotCon troop-builder 3-packs:
- BotCon 2011 Animated Autotroopers
- BotCon 2012 SG Junkions
- BotCon 2013 "Welcoming Committee" Rainmakers
- BotCon 2016 Reflector
Aside from all that, I've also troop-built about ten of the Hasbro TF: Prime RID Deluxe Vehicons, six of the Prime FE Deluxe Starscream figure, and have aborted troop-building Titanium 6" Scourge (stopped after getting two of him), Generations Deluxe Scourge (stopped after getting two of him, not the TR version), and Generations Deluxe Junkheap (stopped after getting two of him).
Posted by Ig89ninja on November 19th, 2017 @ 11:02am CST
I fell like an army of TLK reveal the shield optimus primes led by a fireburst optimus would make for a cool, human built, vehicon army
Posted by blackeyedprime on November 19th, 2017 @ 11:09am CST
TR sharkticon is too small for my liking (Hasbro even deceptively -on purpose or not, maybe it's just to fit him in the packaging, has him looking like a taller figure with a mistransformation of his legs) and sadly he's usually stood behind other figures to hide the legs/make him taller.
Wreckgar riding himself makes the rts figure look amazing but sadly botcon exclusives or the platinum packs (hotrod, 2 junkions) are too expensive for troop building for the most part.
I'd have honorably mentioned the Baynus deluxe swindle, as he was the cannon fodder decepticon in the video game.
Posted by Rodimus Prime on November 19th, 2017 @ 11:40am CST
Posted by YoungPrime on November 19th, 2017 @ 12:30pm CST
Randomhero wrote:I army built this guy. He was so cool and unique looking and back w8hen they come out he was like $6 I think



Yeah, I love these guys. I have 3 of these, the one they renamed Generations Laserbeak and 2 of the yellow and white ones that share this mold (Sunspot).
As far as the list.
My Fav Troop Builders are..
1) Insecticons (both G1 and Generations)
2) Sweeps (TR and T30 version)
3) Junkions (T30 versions)
4) Sharkticon (TR version)
My personal Honorable mentions:
1) G1 Minicons (I have over 30)
2) Titan Masters (I have about 13 of those)
3) Shockwaves! (Started of as placeholders going back to Animated Shockwave. Then the Target exclusive one showed up, then DOTM, then FOC's Deluxe version and I also have 3 CW Legends class Shockwaves. FOC is my Main Shockwave until Hasbro makes a better Voyager class one. The rest are the equivalent of "Doombots"/minions).
4) Skystalker ROTF Molds: 3 Skystalker, 2 Sunspots and 1 Laserbeak.
5) Sonar x3
Posted by YoungPrime on November 19th, 2017 @ 12:44pm CST
Deadput wrote: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?
Their good characters for troop builders but their expensive bot con exclusives and unless your rich as hell no one is troop building them.
Not even rich. I'd still pass on troop building Funpub figures unless someone's selling them at a legit price.
Posted by Emerje on November 19th, 2017 @ 1:52pm CST
YoungPrime wrote:Randomhero wrote:I army built this guy. He was so cool and unique looking and back w8hen they come out he was like $6 I think
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Yeah, I love these guys. I have 3 of these, the one they renamed Generations Laserbeak and 2 of the yellow and white ones that share this mold (Sunspot).
I'm sure I would have liked it too, but none of the versions of this mold ever made it into stores around me (if Laserbeak made it into TRU I never would have known anyway). For both RotF and Transformers 2010 the stores around here didn't carry the last two waves of Scouts. For that matter the one time I saw Mindwipe was at a Kmart and I continue to regret not buying it when I had the chance. Strafe, on the other hand, I never saw once (I got my Grapple from that wave in the movie refresher set sold with the brown Universe Vector Prime).
Emerje
Posted by thunderjacker on November 19th, 2017 @ 2:00pm CST
Posted by thunderjacker on November 19th, 2017 @ 2:03pm CST
Posted by cruizerdave on November 19th, 2017 @ 2:05pm CST
Posted by thunderjacker on November 19th, 2017 @ 2:09pm CST
Posted by thunderjacker on November 19th, 2017 @ 2:10pm CST
Posted by Gauntlet101010 on November 19th, 2017 @ 5:01pm CST
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.
Posted by blackeyedprime on November 19th, 2017 @ 5:14pm CST