[Crazy Jetty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

For example, Transformers toys. Several characters share molds in the various TF lines, most notably the Seekers (Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp) and the Autobot Cars (Prowl, Silverstreak/Bluestreak and Smokescreen). This was originally done to help recoup the costs of the toy molds and beef up the otherwise small initial lineup of toys. Not only does that reasoning still hold, but now we have 27 years of tradition to back it up. We expect Skywarp to be a black and purple version of Starscream's toy.

That doesn't really fall into the classic definition of troopbuilding, though, since each one of those is a defined character with a name, and personality, and fictional history all his own. And none of them share an origin with any others, either. Prowl, Silverstreak, and Smokescreen are all completely independent of one another, with the only thing they have in common is a body frame. Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp as well.
Quite simply, none of them are generic enough, nor share a colorscheme.

Actually, Transformers has a poor track record of troopbuilding generics.
To date, only the Vehicons, Sweeps, Sharkitcons, Autotroopers, generic seekers, generic decepticon cassettes, and generic Junkions have been troopbuildable.
And the generic seekers, junkions (until now), and cassettes have never had toys. And I'm not even talking about the botcon releases for the others (Even though they also count).

For me when it comes to troopbuilding with transformers, the same criteria has to be met as with other toylines. Identical decoriation, and (at least nearly) identical designs, personalities aside. Even though there was only one Gnaw, and one Scourge, you could still use that same toy to troopbuild their drones.

I guess in hindsight, Beast Machines was the only trasnformer line specifically geared to troopbuilding.

EDIT- I forgot about the Virulent Clones.