Do you guys at least think that at the time Toriyama wrote it he intended for Vegeta and #18 to be quite close? Having #18 saying she'd go all out is a pointless line if Toriyama intended for it to be a lie. And unlike the examples you posted, it wasn't contradicted straight-up, it's only contradicted by a series of other statements that might make it impossible. Toriyama made a point to have Trunks saying Vegeta was fighting on par with an all-out #18, along with Tien and Krillin thinking Vegeta could win, and #17 saying other people joining in would spell a loss for #18. And then he only had Vegeta start losing straight after making Piccolo said Vegeta would lose due to his deceasing stamina. From a writing stand-point, it seems clear that at the particular moment Toriyama intended for Vegeta and #18 to be fairly close in power, and for the deciding factor to be #18's infinite energy.
I do think some things can easily be explained. Like #16 saying Kamiccolo rivals #17 and #18, he could just be speaking to them as a pair than individually. In fact, #17 himself would contradict #16's statement if he meant individually by saying nobody rivals him, and this isn't shot down by #18. Unless the numbers are like:
#18: 10
Weighted Kamiccolo: 12.5
#17: 15
So weighted Kamiccolo is in the middle of both of them, and close enough to rival both of them without the androids themselves rivalling each other.
#18 saying Vegeta is nothing special could just be her taunting him cos of his big mouth. Saying he was helpless against her isn't wrong. He was helpless against her by the end of the battle, but only because of her infinite stamina.
Just curious but is it generally accepted that Piccolo fusing with Kami boosted his power by x2? I've seen that around a few times based on a statement in the Freeza saga, and if it is the case then it's a pretty tight gap between all these characters anyway.
