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Click the image above to see the alt mode, or view more photos here
First Appearances
First/Last Comic Appearance (US) -
First/Last Comic Appearance (UK) -
First/Last Cartoon Appearance -
First Toy Appearance - 1988
Click here to see Figure Details and review
Figure Details
AKA 'Airdancer' by Keith's Fantasy Club
Additions/Mods:
- Added an Autobot symbol to the chest
Review
So this review will deal with the combined form of Raindance and Grand Slam who was of course present in the G1 contemporary fiction, right? Actually he wasn't. In fact, the combined form of these 2 mini-cassettes never saw the light of day and only appeared in any G1 fiction after Dreamwave had bought the comic rights. It's fair to say that his 2 components were featured rather sparingly in G1 fiction, but it was reasonable to expect that at some point their combined form would be shown. Imagine their disappointment, then, when this was denied of them. So anyway from a personality perspective there is little to go on here, since the combined form did not even get his own bio, but going on the bios of his 2 components we can expect Slamdance to be a voyeuristic and pompous ass. No doubt he would be thrilled by this effort by KFC to homage him, and give him the limelight he was so cruelly denied back in 1988...
Appearance (Robot Mode) 7/10
Apart from being rather long in the body, this figure is otherwise a very successful homage to the original figure. And to be fair, the original figure was long in the body, too. This also explains the rather monkey-armed gait. Kibble is relatively minimal apart from the forearms which comprise of not only part of the tank tread, but also the scoop from the front of the tank as well. Unfortunately, the scoop pokes out quite far, and there is no way to hide it other than to pop it off the tiny ball-joint. The headsculpt is okay but let down by minimal and sloppily-applied paint. It's a problem that runs to the whole figure which is unfortunate, because the sumptuous use of chrome is somewhat diminished. Here is a figure crying out for some Reprolabels, a cry I fear may go unheeded due to the relative obscurity of this character. When all the weapons are placed in situ, this figure does look quite impressive, so it's just a shame he is let down by lackadaisical paintwork.
Appearance (Alternate Mode) 7/10
The alternate modes here are either the two vehicles or cassettes, depending on your preference. The plane and tank look cool together, and make me think of Silkworm, which was an old videogame shoot-em-up where you could control a jeep and a helicopter. The idea of 2 attack modes similar to this really appeals to me and makes me feel all nostalgic. The cassettes on the other hand are just cassettes and really just leave me cold. Perhaps if they had some stickers to at least evoke the G1 cassettes a bit more, then I would be more inclined to like them.
Transformation 8/10
I get a real kick out of combining these figures - they fit together really well and the result is impressive. Raindance forms the legs and this is achieved by unfolding the 2 sides of the cassette to form the legs. The chrome feet are then folded down and this allows you to stand the legs up, looking eerily like a recently-dispatched ED-209 from Robocop. Grand Slam has a rather more involved transformation, which requires the tank mode to be partially assembled before folding the front treads over to reveal the fists. The turret is rotated to form a backpack of sorts, and the head is revealed from the top of this part, and requires rotation. The base of the 'neck' slots into the shoulder are to keep the whole assembly rigid. Then you are ready to combine the figures, which involves slotting the two together, and then using what will form Slamdance's chest plate to lock the figures in place. Then you just need to add the plethora of weapons!
Poseability 8/10
The range of movement in this figure is not too bad at all, and I am happy to report that all of the joints are reasonably tight. The head is ball-jointed and there is also waist swivel. The shoulders and hips are both ball-jointed and the figure is also blessed with the all-important bicep and thigh swivel. The elbows are double-jointed and the knees also have a joint, although frustratingly the legs can never be completely straightened, which results in a slightly simian gait, which is only emphasised by the monkey arms. There is no wrist swivel but the feet benefit from ball-joints.
Quality 6/10
I'm really not overly impressed by the plastics used on these figures, nor the lack of detail as I perceive it regarding paint apps. My main comparison for figures this small are Perfect Effect or BTS, and unfortunately Keith's Fantasy Club have a way to go before they can compete with either of these 2 companies. Both offer better plastic and greater/better applied paint apps than this effort.
Overall - 36/50
This is certainly an improvement over the 2 individual figures, offering better play value by virtue that you actually have a robot to play with in this mode. Overall this is a pretty successful homage which I feel could have been better with a bit more quality control and attention to detail. I feel like KFC are aspiring to iGear at the moment, whereas I would like them to be much more like 'the masters of the miniature', Perfect Effect.
