I only ever pulled this trick with NPCs, but I did have a 'party of inexperienced adventurers' show up in one paragon game, statted as minions....
I've toyed with the idea of "phone it in" and "punch above our weight class" options for PCs, that'd accept a block penalty to most defenses & checks in return for a huge chunk of temp hps (turning you into a faux 'Elite') and getting a big bonus to all defenses & checks in return for being bloodied by a single hit and dropped by a second (faux minion). Never actually saw the need, though - usually easier to shift the monsters/NPCs across secondary roles like that. :shrug: