Here we have the Insecticons in their bug modes. We have Shrapnel the stag beetle, Bombshell the rhinoceros beetle, and Kickback the grasshopper. These three are mechanical bugs, so they don't need to conform with being organic. That being said, they have wheels and are more vehicular than normal given their Diaclone history. The chrome normally looks the best on G1 toys, but the silver paint at least looks better than had they stuck with bare gray like with Shrapnel's legs.
The cockpits could open for any Diaclone pilots you somehow have lying around, but Bombshell's barely budges unless you slightly move the legs back.
The transformation for each of them is very simple, with Bombshell's being the easiest followed by Kickback and then Shrapnel. Bomb and Shrap do have some decent tricks with the head reveals via their bug appendages, but Kickback has a basic neck swivel. Side note, his antennae are far too loose in some areas. The resulting robots modes are decently consistent with yellow chests, black legs, and silver bits, but Bombshell stand out for his chest being gray in addition to having no purple whatsoever. This was done to make him cartoon accurate, but I think the purple looked better on him. I guess this should make him the leader of this trio. Shrapnel, meanwhile, lacks yellow on his back. Articulation is about the same for all three, with shoulder rotation and slight leg movement, while Shrapnel has waist rotation, Bombshell has slight knee movement, and Kickback has neck rotation. Only Bombshell has normal fist holes for his gun while everyone else wears theirs on their forearms.
The torsos can store Energon cubes, 6 included per con. Shrapnel can store two with his barrel chest. He must have a bigger appetite.
Oh and Bombshell has a random Ramhorn to go with the toom-accurate Blaster. This figure has barely any paint apps beyond the black lines and Autobot insignias. He looks better in bot mode with the gold cannons and on top of having articulation and width comparable to Ravage, but he looks like a chocolate bar!
If you want, you can have a scenario where Ramhorn eats the Energon stash of the Insecticons before they shoot him down.
As far as reuses are concerned, the Insecticons in the original line had darker colors, clear cockpits, and chrome. No energon cubes were included, of course. Differences may also include rounded areas, face paint, or slightly different sculptwork for rubsigns.
They also had reissues in packs of 3 for the Collection, Universe 2008, and Platinum Edition lines. They remain faithful to the originals with varying sticker quality. The Platinums came with Energon cubes.
They also had a set exclusive to eHobby representing clones named (from top to bottom) Salvo, Shothole, and Zaptrap. These rare repaints match the Diaclone colors they used to have, and they also came with Energon cubes.
As for Ramhorn, the original had either chromed silver or gold guns as well as cassette details that were either stickers or paint apps.
Ramhorn also had a Shattered Glass repaint that homages Rumble as he appeared in the IDW Bayverse comics. Gee, wouldn't THAT be the more enticing Studio Series Rumble, Hasbro???
For a size comparison, here are all 3 Insecticons with their Legacy counterparts. Though I never cared about the trio as characters, I still find these three charming as a set if you can get them for cheap. The Legacy versions are the highest I can get, but these three are otherwise still fine as they are. At least they have silver paint unlike Hound.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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