Transformers Armada Mini-con Teams

[SuspectimusPrime]

I love you, didn't even think of the old ebay. Stuck on damn expensive collectible sites. Would you happen to know if there are any other lines of toys that turn into weapons?

A lot of the modern Transformers lines such as Powercore Combiners and Human Alliance include Mini-con Targetmasters. Some of the other lines/toys which turn into weapons include Action Masters, Beast Machines Deployers, Beast Wars Neo, Universe Cyclonus, Masterpiece Rodimus and the Seacons.

There's also the pricey United Exclusive (see bottom of the page) repaints of Powercore Combiner Microns. Most of them are painted in plain black/silver to resemble the original G1 Targetmaster, and were gifts with purchase in Japan if you spend 3,000 yen or more at various locations/times (making them quite hard to get a hold of). On the secondary market now, you can expect $30+ for each of them

And if you're after expensive repaints with weapon partners, you can't go past Million Publishing's Exclusive United Stepper and Artifire (Artifire's got two little guys that turn into weapons to justify his price)

Edit: @Liege: BBTS Stepper's gone down again! Stock levels at 175 units. Argh, I just made a few purchases elsewhere..

[Mythirax]

yup, that's exactly what I meant - yeah you have to build them like little gundam kits but less complicated - really simple. AM (Arms Microns are basically TF Prime toys only without much paint details - they use stickers for detailing and instead of regular weapons like the Hasbro ones have they come with micron (minicon) partners which you build...sorta like targetmasters in a sense.

While that sounds cool, I'm not a fan of the stickers. Find most toys I've ever had with stickers ends up pretty cruddy after a fair few years.

[GoktimusPrime]

Stickers have always been a cheap way of adding more details to toys. It's something that Beast Wars did away with, replacing it with painted and/or tampographed detailing, which has since become the standard. Arms Micron takes a big leap backwards in reverting back to relying on stickers. I don't mind stickers on G1 reissues -- because they're trying to capture that authentic old skool feel. That's fine. But on a modern Transformer toy it just feels cheap and lazy.

As for the Arms Microns... stickers aside, I find them quite inferior to regular Mini-Cons. They're really not as solid as a normal Mini-Con toy and the plastic quality is like a model kit and doesn't feel as hardy as a regular action figure. Even their weapon modes aren't really solid either. I find the PCC Mini-Cons are much better... and I think PCC Mini-Cons themselves are pretty crap!

[Mythirax]

Stickers have always been a cheap way of adding more details to toys. It's something that Beast Wars did away with, replacing it with painted and/or tampographed detailing, which has since become the standard. Arms Micron takes a big leap backwards in reverting back to relying on stickers. I don't mind stickers on G1 reissues -- because they're trying to capture that authentic old skool feel. That's fine. But on a modern Transformer toy it just feels cheap and lazy.

As for the Arms Microns... stickers aside, I find them quite inferior to regular Mini-Cons. They're really not as solid as a normal Mini-Con toy and the plastic quality is like a model kit and doesn't feel as hardy as a regular action figure. Even their weapon modes aren't really solid either. I find the PCC Mini-Cons are much better... and I think PCC Mini-Cons themselves are pretty crap!

This is how I felt towards it, but not owning one I couldn't judge it properly. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I'll stick to the PCC and others without stickers

[GoktimusPrime]

Perhaps you could look at someone else's Arms Micron toy first. Try before you buy.

[Mythirax]

Perhaps you could look at someone else's Arms Micron toy first. Try before you buy.

Would be a good idea, but I'm the only person I know 'in real life' who collects transformers

[GoktimusPrime]

I recommend checking out the Meetups section and see if you can attend some meets and make friends with many of our fine members in Melbourne.

[Mythirax]

I recommend checking out the Meetups section and see if you can attend some meets and make friends with many of our fine members in Melbourne.

I may have to do this at some stage, however I have found some that I think is pretty damn awesome. Might have to buy it. It's AMW01 Arms Micron A, AMW02 Arms Micron B and AMW03 Arms Micron C joined together, to make an awesome giant sword.



EDIT: Update - Video review of the above

I also ended up buying the lot of Jetfire in the sky's Armada Mini-Con MOSC Clearout. So can't wait for these to pop up in the mail, hopefully this week.

[BigTransformerTrev]

It's certainly not a cheap option but I know you get a set of 4 of the mini-cons you are after if you purchase the Collectors Club Astrotrain. I bought him a couple of years ago as they were having a clearance, if they have any left they are probably even cheaper now

[Mythirax]

It's certainly not a cheap option but I know you get a set of 4 of the mini-cons you are after if you purchase the Collectors Club Astrotrain. I bought him a couple of years ago as they were having a clearance, if they have any left they are probably even cheaper now

If these are the ones you're talking about, they're pretty mad. So is that Astrotrain. I think they're the Giant Planet mini-cons.



EDIT: Unless it's this one, if so I'm getting the mini-cons that make the blaster here from Jetfire



However, now I want that astrotrain.