In a world transformed, where things are not what they seem, an age old battle comes to Earth. The Autobots come to liberate the ultimate tools of power, the smallest of the transformer race, Minicons, and save their home planet of Cybertron. The Decepticons have come to claim the minicons and all the power that they possess in an effort to finally put an end to the war that has set back their plans to conquer the universe. With the Minicons caught in the middle and the two sides battling eachother to near extinction, it's no surprise they don't notice something hungry for planets heading their way...
As of August 11, 2003 Armada is starting to wind down. With Unicron hitting stores and my heart aflutter as I'm crazed and considering spending money I would otherwise use to eat for the next two weeks on him as well as Tidal Wave, Skywarp and Overload which finally hit my area, I've got a lot to look on in retrospect. With almost nothing but repaints of what appears to be the entire line, there's not much to look forward to. Well, that's not ENTIRELY true since there's some great looking repaints like Ultra Magnus, Hot Shot, Cyclonus, Jetfire, etc. But since we've gotten to a point where we'll be seeing not one, but FOUR lines of Transformers on shelves I've got to say... I'm breathless. And while all of the Transformers owes a great debt to the delectible Beast Saga, it ain't gettin' much lovin' despite the fact that it saved the franchise's arse. Mostly thanks to the incredible shows for both lines and the awe inspiring molds that came out of that era.
But right now we're at the main event for Armada. What started out with "Mini-cons?!? Mini-*bleep* is more like it...", "What's the deal with his arms?!?", "Where's his neck?", "What's with all this safety orange?!?" and a host of other more colorful remarks has turned to grown men passing out in toy aisles and squealing like schoolgirls across the net about how cool they are. Not that there weren't (and still are). After all, we have divergent opinions all over the place as to where Armada stands and will stand in the years to come, while there was seemingly ENDLESS bashing against the series and toyline... everyone agreed that Unicron made them cream their jeans. And if they were going to put Unicron to his full use, they needed mini-cons. Why not get some of those minicons with larger figures? Why not indeed! Why not feed that nostalgic G1 craving with Galvatron as well? Oh and don't forget that he combines with Tidal Wave who would look great with the Sea Mini-con team. Despite the awful TV series and the irritating shades of Pokemon it displays, the Toys are a new flavor altogether that bring back the beloved old school "chunky" look and mix it with an array of gimmicks and new concepts in articulation that don't heavily rely on ball joints, as was the case in the Beast Era. It's different and that's putting it mildly, but in retrospect I don't really see it as that bad a thing, this Armada series. Where the TV show was an agonizing disappointment at practically every turn, brutalizing you with those awful children, the comic tells a refreshing story filled with well written elements, a gritty story, great art and real characters that make you instantly hooked. Those eyesore children show up, but because Dreamwave had some common sense, the Transformers are the main characters and the kids remain minor bit players for the most part.
And the toys, well there were concerns at first... harsh skepticism and bashing. Particularly towards the painfully yellow car who takes the place of G1 Hot Rod as the "chosen one"/Kid-interest character with tragically bad articulation. The return of Laserbeak, but as an autobot camera and not in the G1 colors we were all dancing for joy over. Grapple returns in a horrible mold and is given the wrong name, Nightbeat returns using someone else's name while his mini-con takes HIS and... Well, with all the little bouts of nitpicking going on, it's easy to get frustrated... I know, because I nitpick about the series constantly and what would have been better had it been done properly in my mind. Because I'm a nerd. However, I'm not one of the freaks raving that Armada is a sign of the apocalypse and giving hasbro all sorts of crude nicknames that make me feel oh-so-clever because they didn't do something the way I wanted like some whiny child. Because besides the fact that I spend more on the figures than ANY 10 year old could, I'm a 23 year old man and not part of their target audience and thus unimportant comparatively speaking. And I'm perfectly aware of this, so I get on with my life and collect what I enjoy, and I have to say that Armada has been nothing, if not enjoyable! My biggest beef has mainly been paint apps likes Hot Shot and Thrust, easily fixed and where they've gone wrong on occasion... Hasbro has gone oh-so-right in many other places. Supercon Optimus is an incredible figure and his paint application is beautiful! Added to him is the beatifully crafted gimmick-bricks, Megatron and the repaint, Galvatron! And if you've been fortunate enough to SEE Unicron yet, it just gets better. Armada has been just what we needed for some time, the return of Autobots and Decepticons and the introduction of Minicons which double as tools, weapons and troop builders only enhance this fantastic series!
For those getting their first taste of Transformers or those finally getting to reacquaint themselves with old friends like Starscream and Optimus in new, yet classic forms; it's been quite the treat for all involved. Naturally, there's those out there who've completely written off the Armada franchise because it's NOT G1, but a massive chunk of these idiots are the ones who've been slandering and boycotting hasbro since G2 and the beginning of Beast Wars. For those impossible to please, find help or swallow lighter fluid and chase it with a lit match. These same people were whining since 1995 and were a hair's breadth from picketing in front of Hasbro, demanding there be vehicles and that they re-introduce Autobots and Decepticons (though they never think to demand that Hasbro get back into the G1 canon...?). They got both factions as well as a new one, they're all vehicles save for the beasts which appear as filler for the deluxe assortment and they have G1 names, colors, etc.
Armada has a lot to offer and a host of awesome molds, not to mention the technical leaps which have been made in the crafting of these mini-cons. Be it spectacular detail and articulation or a host of gimmicks, the mini-cons has a LOT to offer and could stand strongly on their own, fortunately they don't have to and offer all sorts of play value and innovation to a line just begging for it. At this point, we can only hope that Energon will have a better TV series and that we'll see more GOOD molds than BAD molds. With 4 lines being out at the same time consisting of Transformers for all points of the continuity, we're in for some good years ahead.