Armada in 2002 was the beginning of a new era in Transformers, starting a long-term project from Hasbro, jointly with TakaraTomy in Japan.
It was a fully launched (or re-launching) of the brand, in all mediums - toys, cartoon, comic, and even a video game.
But with it came the era of the gimmick... in which each series that followed, had to focus on a binding element to sell it to the retailers (as well as the parents and kiddies).
For Armada, it was the Minicons, and the bonus features they would unlock in the bigger toys. With so many Minicons released during this series, and ever since, it is probably where the name of this series came from.
Details of this series can be read up here.
What are your Best and Worst toys of this Era?
What was your first one, and when?
What ones are you currently most looking for and why?
Show us some pics of your collection of the ones you have.