At least that weird plot-device is usually used to promote/sell toys. There's no TFPrime Insecticon toy in current existence... unless it's "proactive toy promotion" (i.e. hoping that it'll promote a toy that they'll make later. The potential problem with this could be:
1: by time the toy comes out, the Insecticons have already been shown to be weak ("Armada")
2: the character may not be fresh in the minds of kids; we've seen this happen before w/ some other toys that shelfwarm despite being good toys because they came out so long after the canon has ceased being current (e.g. ROTF Legends Devastator, DOTM Quejack etc.)
3: the toy never gets released at all, meaning that screentime was wasted on that character (e.g. Animated Constructicons, Animated Omega Supreme, DOTM Mirage etc.).

...hence why I prefer Transformers to be conceived as toys first - canonical characters second. A good toy will sell well even without canonical appearance (e.g. G1 1984; grossed US$1.4 million in toy sales before most kids had ever seen the cartoon) .