Early Android Saga gaps breakdown

[Hector]

-Nineteen and Twenty were originally written as the two Androids about whom Trunks said he could barely fight them evenly one on one. I don't think that power was ever retconned, since AT wrote their battles with that in mind.
-It is stated that SSJ Vegeta doesn't start out at full power against Eighteen. It is safe to say that he didn't start out at full power against Nineteen either.
-Vegeta expected the new androids to be a lot stronger than Nineteen, yet he was still confident that he could take them out even if they attacked him all together.
Therefore, we have:

SSJ Trunks (debut) =< Nineteen << Expected Eighteen << SSJ Vegeta (warming up) ~ Eighteen (warming up) << Eighteen (more serious) ~ SSJ Vegeta (full power) << Eighteen (full power)

Is that a good starting point?

 

[GSM123]

Vegeta was showing off vs 19, so he was at full power. Otherwise Piccolo wouldn't know that he surpassed Goku.

I don't disagree with 19/20 > Trunks, but we don't know when exactly Toriyama changed his mind. Their absorption ability also means they can start as underdogs before climbing their way up.

 

[Hector]

Vegeta was showing off vs 19, so he was at full power.

It makes no sense for him to use full power against 19 and then start out by warming up against androids he knew were stronger than 19.

 

[GSM123]

It makes no sense for him to use full power against 19 and then start out by warming up against androids he knew were stronger than 19.

You just repeated what you said in the OP and didn’t address my argument.

 

[Hector]

You just repeated what you said in the OP and didn’t address my argument.

I think I did.