Tier Listing EVERY Minicon Transformer (Armada-Style)

[@SamanthaS92]

The thing I don’t like about these tier lists is that often there are some guys I’m not familiar with but their pictures are very small, and often crop half of the vehicle and half of the robot out to fit in the little square. It’s fine as a reference, but for me, since I don’t know THAT much about Armada, and I’m still learning, there are so many bots I just can’t see well. 😢

[@purplewolfranger22]

I'm pretty well versed in armada since I somehow had almost the whole line as a kid and retained a majority of the collection. If you have questions feel free to ask.

[@SamanthaS92]

@@purplewolfranger22 what do all the minicons he showed half cropped out pictures of look like as a full picture of either or both modes?

[@purplewolfranger22]

@Samantha so best place for looking for stock photos like that would be the tfwiki. If you have the name or the partner autobot/decepticon the minicon came with you can find it there. If you can't find it there then tfw2005 is the next best option.

[@danielbarron1779]

Yeah I feel the same way. Especially since I watch these lists on my phone. Can't see them too clearly.

[@SicMetalMaggot4life]

For Ransack (the winch-truck), you can roll him just fine without activating the cable, but if you press onto him in vehicle mode, it activates the gimmick when you roll him. His front wheels (shoulders) have tiiiiiiny springs in them that allow this.

[@alharron2145]

I've taken to using mini-cons as character pieces for the new Transformers RPG, so I'll be bookmarking this for future reference!

[@ukaszbiaas183]

There are also the ones from power core combiners. The one that turns into a rocket launcher is cool.

[@treebotreviews]

For JTMitchell87 fans, rollout will always be jimmy.

[@NerdyTransformed]

*Core Memory Unlocked*

[@silverprime5672]

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time...

[@purplewolfranger22]

Oh man the memories

[@wyldefyr4116]

As Han Solo said, that's no moon, it's a mini con

[@wakeangel2001]

one minor thing worth mentioning, the last minicon you judged, the helicopter from the Minicon Assault Team, was the first ever female character in the the proper Generations toy line, Windblade, Arcee, and Chromia would come a couple years later but that was for a time the only girl in the line, 1/3 of a unique combiner set.

[@jonathandemelo3075]

I grew up with transformers armada not a humongous transformers guy, but I respect this man for his love for transformers really nice to see

[@Snugrot]

I have no idea how I got it since I never owned hot shot, but jolt was my favorite toy when I was a kid so I brought it everywhere. Still nostalgiac for mini-cons in general.

[@HORRIOR1]

Wreckage deserves to be Holy Grail. Sure it is simple but it also has the most missiles on a Minicon and once you fire those missiles he is left with claw arms. Also the vehicle mode and overall design are cool.

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

FIrebot, the minicon famous for being yelled at by starscream to attack tidal wave and succeeding

[@iodaspark]

This one was a long time coming! Awesomeness...

[@Glhrgtzvbu]

I hope they remake all of these cause swindles (starscreams minicon) has one of the best looking formula and robot modes in the show but the irl guy is kindof underwhelming. Still for the time they are all impressive with detail and articulation despite their size

[@SilverHairedFreak25]

Personally my favorite Mini-Con, to this day, has to be the Knock Out mold. It helps that Cybertron Steamhammer was the first Mini-Con I ever owned as a kid, plus he has a good-looking robot mode, a fun transformation, and a spring-loaded missile launcher, when most Mini-Cons use friciton-fire.

[@Ken-mj4rg]

The name you're looking for for that first mini-con is Incinerator

[@WaveSineReverse]

It's arguable that the Mini-Cons from the Power Core Combiners toyline ought to have been in this selection, since most of them have a Mini-Con port rather than just a plain 5mm port. Most of them would probably not rank highly though.

[@shelbybayer200]

The Power Core ones don't Count as Mini-cons

[@GucciDavid-ez8gx]

Yeah the power core minicons are to be ranked lowest because of their poor designs and horrible ambiguous alt modes

[@awesomeguy9513]

I think the 3 combo weapon minicon, the 3 minicons teams that are target masters, and characters in legacy those minicons should get a legacy update if unicron trilogy kicks off this year. Something 1 or 2 big bundles of minicons like the battle masters in siege, the weapon minicons target/combo would work nice with figures and figures like hot shot/starscream/metroplex/probably Optimus having minicons would be cool and open up more display/play options

[@Ranma_Leopard]

Very enjoyable tier list

[@Radi0ActivSquid]

Haha! We have the same favorite Minicon! I love Buzzsaw. I'd love to see an upscaled version.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

I love the Mini-Cons and even I can't keep all their names straight. I know I'm an outlier but I kind of think Nightbeat has a certain charm to him and I don't hate him. The same for Divebomb. I also like Jolt but he does have the problem of his feet design. And being paired with Hot Shot My theory is that Overload is Rollout in disguise, pretending to be a regular Autobot to help protect his Mini-Con kin. He also has a Mini-Con port on the part that becomes his gun mode handle so he can also double as a second port. It's been a while since I broke him out, but isn't Commetor Jetfire's front landing gear? Sparkplug should have been called Roller. Naming him after one of Prime's components, especially with this Prime having one of G1 Op's old modules in a sense (a base and a super mode body part), would have made more sense. Between Crumplezone and the Destruction team Cyclonus got the best of this line when it comes to Mini-Con integration. Leader-1 (besides being Hasbro sticking it to their former rival line...again) is a good example of my running complaint with Armada (and even Energon) media. Instead of just treating Mini-Cons as power boosters they should have looked at the weapons, headlights, jets, and other aspects of the vehicle modes and used them as actual "smart tools" instead of just calling them that. Given your Targetmaster comment this seemed the right place to bring it up. Again. The Street Speed Team, if memory serves and I got the team name right, were promoted as being extra articulated for a Mini-Con, and they do work. It may have been practice for figures like the original Cyberverse concept as mini robots rather than the kids toy line. At least we got a T-Rex that wasn't Grimlock or T-Wrecks. Longview's head is so small I think it went into the cracks in floor and I can't find it. The problem with that mold (Dreadwing) is that the head doesn't stay in well. It's too bad because I really like it. The brown is better than Dreadwing's colors. Runway, Windshear, and Heavy Tread is my favorite of the Mini-Con combiners. Odd that I was watching Optibotimus' review and the more he trashed it the more I liked it. Not because of him, mind you. We just had different tastes and the more he showed it off the more I liked it. So I bought it first chance I got and still not disappointed. They also can use Mini-Cons. It's just too bad they were the last of the classic Mini-Cons. The ones in RID2015 were really lame and the gimmick has sadly died. The idea of essentially Micromasters who can also be attached weapons, armor, and gadgets is really cool to me and I wish they had been better utilized by the media.

[@renji90998]

I always liked mini-cons the most. Sometimes I would buy the transformer just so I can play with the mini-con. In no particular order, my top three favorites are Mirage, Makeshift, and Terradive. I do think Maroge should be a bit higher, but I understand why. I actually prefer the red and white version. Mainly because the face is silver instead of red, which shows a bit more detail.

[@jwilliams3493]

I remember as a kid folding the rear wheels back like thrusters and bending the arms forward to give him a flight mode.

[@francobonazzola5012]

Wooow, 90 Minicon molds, never thought there were so much.

[@NightmareZerogbs]

Man, Bonecrusher was really the whole package huh? it even had knees and an elbow!

[@Straswa]

Great vid TJ, I really like Over-Run, Sparkplug and MakeShift. I paired Makeshift with my Armada Rhinox, the gatling gun mode seemed fitting.

[@joshlucas8681]

Fair decision to put Sideway's minicons in the not grading tier, since they never really exist as individual minicons, they're helmet gimmicks for the robot mode and have to combine to serve as a rider. Would also be nice if while talking about a figure you'd bring up a bigger picture (in the bottom left maybe?) because for most of these it's hard to see detail from the picture size.

[@Time2Henshin]

wanted to mention the dark saber team, due to the plastic having to move through tooling originally meant for translucent plastic, the durability is still lower than average. certainly, my figures would last longer but are still subject to the same eventual breakage. this is only fixed in later runs of the figures, like the ones from Cybertron vs 2packs.

[@renji90998]

Sometimes I take certain minicons apart and add features to a main one. Using Mirage’s body, with Energon Highwire’s hip joint, and Terrordive’s legs. Also sometimes add E-Highwire’s arm ball joint on the legs to give more flexibility. Trying to see if there’s a mini-con part that I can attach Mirage’s arm/shoulder’s. Specifically, a part that can make me move his arms back-and-forth. If anyone happens to know a mini-con with that part, let me know if you can.

[@johnwhite3960]

I think the pcc mini cons should have been listed. With integration mode ignored ( breast plate mode) some ain’t too bad. But they are the only exclusion I disagree with and I appreciate the time taken. I miss minicons and think with the escalating prices they need brought back.

[@robinthedragonhunter64]

I like the longer videos when they can be done

[@jonathanfrakes1284]

12:16 - Thunderclash (Skywarp's minicon), only available in Hasbro's Armada toyline and not in Takara/Tomy Micron Legends' normal retail line.

[@KRBrickBot]

I'm just going to put this in the background while I play and archive stuff from the very last days of Forged to Fight.

[@codymiller2781]

Tbh there was a few of them you had in premium that i would have bumped up to holy grail besides that it was spot on

[@brokenbond2012]

makeshift is one of my favorite minicons and one of the last I've held onto throughout the years but is sadly finally starting to degrade and will probably break in the next couple of uses of it so I don't even try touching it anymore I just leave it on a shelf

[@russellharrell2747]

Ranking all minicons? You’re crazy, you’ll never survive! Oh wait, the video is less than an hour, I guess he did it after all.

[@wybob6508]

6:01 DID TJ FBOMB??? 😮 (LOL)

[@SamanthaS92]

I know you’re probably kidding, but it sounds like he was just going to say fork lift too early, “it’s a f… it’s a forklift.”

[@wybob6508]

Oh! Agreed!

[@larrychilders6599]

Deep Dive may be the only submarine transformer with a robot mode, he isn't the only Sub, there's also the Energon Submarine 4 of Prime

[@masterfarr8265]

For me Rollout will always be the best Minicon. Not only does he form a decently sized minicon. But he literally has his own mech suit with Overload and he even doubles as a targetmaster.

[@renji90998]

Firebot to does have a great design but unfortunately some of his parts are either too fragile or strict. I had one of the recolor versions of it and the twin cannons eventually snaps whenever I try to transform it. Also have the original and the ball joints on his hips eventually snapped as well. The socket was too stiff. Only option was to glue the joint back in and have it stay in robot mode permanently.

[@DragonxFlutter]

I'd personally swap Payload and Astroscope. Astroscope is nice in concept, but I think execution is what absolutely slaughters it.

[@Godzillawolf1]

Deadend's existence is fear and pain if you read into his bio.

[@TheFaiftrain]

Cybertron Laserbeak is specifically a Minicon, would you consider ranking it or lump it with the other cassetticon incarnations as not a Minicon?

[@SamanthaS92]

Lol, thank you! 😅

[@masterben9592]

My Makeshift was my favorite mini con for several childhood years......then in 2020....mine crumbled thanks clear plastic

[@MiXVoy]

Their dialogue is just as creepy as the TargetMasters from the HeadMasters anime

[@MiXVoy]

If only Takara Tomy made an animated comedy series about them, Pop Team Epic-style, it would've been better than the BotBots from Netflix

[@zeograndmaster6507]

Am I the only one that sees Leader-1 as a Cykill toy in disguise? Like, go get an image of the cartoon Cykill, then look at Armada Leader-1

[@Radi0ActivSquid]

I have a misassembled Oceanglide. Always frustrated me.

[@serPomiz]

I disagree with drillbit. but that's because I'm a sucker for giant drill and boring machines (the actual name of drill-tank vehicles, who knew) more than anything seeing overrun again makes me annoyed at the legacy targetmaster, would it really have been that much costlier to do something like that?

[@Xeno-The-Wanderer]

a real shame the combining ones are the most expensive minicons especially the Energon Saber's non clear plastic versions. how rare was the dang two pack the components were in?!

[@RialVestro]

I think this is the most I have ever disagreed with a tier list on this channel. First of all grading them just on their own I don't think is fair cause the Mini-cons are mostly terrible, there's a couple that are decent for what they are but most of them just suffer due to the size. They're really just made to plug onto larger characters and activate gimmicks so my criteria for judging them is based on how well they actually integrate as accessories rather than as figures on their own. That said a lot of them only transform from Robot to Vehicle, plug onto a robot and don't really do anything interesting or unique. For these I would start in Bargain Bin and move them up to retail for characters like Sparkplug who actually have decent articulation for their size. Mini-cons like Ramjet I would move down to Flea Market because they either don't hold together well or have zero function outside of just plugging into a larger Transformer. The more unique Mini-cons that have extra functions outside of just plug into Mini-con port, those I would start out in Premium and move down to retail if they end up suffering from the extra gimicks, not holding together properly, that sort of thing. I would include the satelite, the sword Mini-cons, the Helicopter from that Deluxe generations combiner because I like how they look but they do tend to fall apart. I'd move others up into holy grail such as Rollout because not only is he integeral to form Overload's robot mode, he's also really well molded and painted for a Mini-con, also forms a weapon mode for Optimus Prime in combined mode, and is one of the few Mini-cons that I think actually is good just on his own. Since Retail would be a mix at this point of the worst of the unique Mini-cons and the best of the basic Mini-cons that might make judging them a little bit harder cause the worst of the unique ones, as much as I like what they can do a lot of them as I said don't hold together well while the best of standard Mini-cons do function much better that's the whole reason I put them up there. Would be way different if basic Mini-cons and Unique Mini-cons were separated into totally different tiar lists cause I don't think it's fair to compare them when they don't all have the same functionality.

[@Wolfie1262]

No Cliffjumper?

[@WolfBoy83090]

Introduce the dog

[@glxblrt]

39:17 Nautica.

[@brandonswanson8902]

I disagree with the ranking on Jetfire's Minicon; mine broke WAY too easily, and after it did? It was completely useless and worthless too! So so much for Jetfire's shuttle mode being able to land! What a waste,... That is the only transformer, Minicon or otherwise I own to have broken on me BTW, so kudos on how well literally ALL of my other Transformers were made to last and very durable, but not that moon rover piece of slagging scrap!

[@sebastianthomsen2225]

😉👍

[@drag00n365]

this tier list is so inconsistent with itself and your normal stance when reviewing. half your top picks are bricks and youve got rollbar, a minicon with massive amounts of articulation and a unique transformation at the bottom. and how is swindle better than mirage? mirage is literally just swindle but with an extra waist swivel and the ability to combine with other minicons, literally better in everyway unless you prefer your transformers to not be able to move.