Grand Slam

"The sounds of war are history speaking."

War-weary veteran of ten thousand battles on a hundred worlds. Dedicated his life to recording the sounds of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict: the nervous laughter, the cries of pain, the blistering explosions, the chilling quiets. Hopes his work will one day serve as a grim reminder of the awful price of war. Can audio-record up to 20 years of sound. Armament is purely defensive: smoke discharger combines with dual repulsors. With his partner Raindance, combines to form Slamdance.

STRENGTH

6

INTELLIGENCE

8

SPEED

3

ENDURANCE

8

RANK

4

COURAGE

9

FIREPOWER

3

SKILL

7

OVERALL

48

Click the image above to see the alt mode, or view more photos here
First Appearances

First/Last Comic Appearance (US) - Issue 47, December 1988 / Issue 48, January 1989
First/Last Comic Appearance (UK) -
First/Last Cartoon Appearance -
First Toy Appearance - 1988

Click here to see Figure Details and review

Figure Details

AKA 'Slam Tank' by Keith's Fantasy Club

Additions/Mods:
- Added an Autobot symbol to the side of the tank

Review

I had no idea that Grand Slam existed until recently, as he was quite late to the party in terms of Blaster's other mini-cassettes. But, reading his rather OTT bio, I feel I have done this war-weary veteran an injustice. Anyway, he was rather unique in that he could combine with his pal Raindance, to form a combiner called Slamdance, which sounds more like an American sport than an Autobot. Anyhow, in one of the less-expected 3rd party homages this year, a company called Keith's Fantasy Club (or KFC, see what they did there?) elected to visit these characters. Nothing that KFC has done thus far has really interested me, but I thought these characters might be worth it at the price. Was I wrong?


Appearance (Robot Mode) 7/10
This figure is similar to Laserbeak et al in that he does not have a humanoid mode, with the main mode in this case being a tiny but unfeasibly well-armed tank. It's nice enough I suppose, but could do with being more rigid. It has a digger-style barricade at the front, and a multitude of chromed guns forming the turret. This figure is very successful in homaging the original, as all of the weapons are slight variations on the originals. The colour scheme is suitably garish in the way that only late G1 figures are. There is very little in the way of paint , which I think is a tad lazy and lets the overall figure down somewhat.

Appearance (Alternate Mode) 6/10
This is a cassette which is compatible with the original G1 cassettes as well as the BTS offerings. It is quite nice and does evoke the original pretty damn well, but is just inescapably bland. Save for some black paint and some gold detailing (which is relevant to the combiner) this is one boring piece.


Transformation 7/10
There's not a major amount to do here, most of the more complex transformation is not relevant unless you are combining the figure. Basically the tank tracks are split at the front scoop and are rotated so that they tab in and from the main body of the cassette. The turret is stripped of most of the weapons, and is rotated horizontally and then vertically into place. That's pretty much it.

Poseability 6/10
This figure has a turret which can rotate on its axis, as well as pitch up and down. That's about as much as you can hope for with a tank, I guess.


Quality 6/10
I'm really not overly impressed by the plastics used on this figure, nor the lack of detail as I perceive it regarding paint apps. My main comparison for a figure this small is 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, tighter joints and more frequent paint apps than this effort.

Overall - 32/50
I have scored this figure low but it is important to remember that most people will just be using this to form the combiner, the review of which can be found elsewhere on this site. As an individual component this figure is lacklustre, with a tank mode which lacks coherence and a cassette mode which lacks, well, anything of note. The chromed weapons are probably the nicest thing about this figure, and while it adheres rigorously to the G1 character of old, it falls some way short in terms of its quality.

Raindance

"Every picture tells a story."

The death-defying daredevil of the skies. Willing to take any risk to record the best picture. With partner Grand Slam, he's covered thousands of battles. Entertains everyone with stories about each one of them. Witty and well-liked. Can video-record up to 20 years of pictures. Carries two self-defense air-to-air proton missiles. Combines with Grand Slam to form robot Slamdance.

STRENGTH

4

INTELLIGENCE

8

SPEED

6

ENDURANCE

5

RANK

4

COURAGE

9

FIREPOWER

5

SKILL

8

OVERALL

49

Click the image above to see the alt mode, or view more photos here
First Appearances

First/Last Comic Appearance (US) - Issue 47, December 1988 / Issue 48, January 1989
First/Last Comic Appearance (UK) -
First/Last Cartoon Appearance -
First Toy Appearance - 1988

Click here to see Figure Details and review

Figure Details

AKA 'Jetdancer' by Keith's Fantasy Club

Additions/Mods:
- Added an Autobot symbol to the cassette
- Added Autobot symbols to the tailplanes

Review

So looking at these guys' bios it seems like they have been involved in 'thousands' of battles together which makes their paltry number of appearances all the more galling. Grand Slam has been written up as a ponderous bore, whereas Raindance is apparently a voyeur, or a forerunner to the US-controlled drones which apparently endlessly spy on 'places of interest'. I love the fact that he can also 'video-record 20 years of pictures'. How amazing that must have sounded in 1988. Anyhoo, he is the second-most important component who combines to form Slamdance. But at least he comes across as less pompous than the bugger who makes up the torso...


Appearance (Robot Mode) 7/10
Again this is another case where a mini-cassette lacks a true robot mode, but unlike others his primary mode is not even a beast, but a vehicle. Confusing. I guess you could argue that his primary mode is the legs of Slamdance, but then these will be covered off elsewhere. Anyway, we are presented with a rather bland blue jet, with the sole paint app being a flat black cockpit, hardly inspiring. By sticking on some reprolabels I have effectively doubled the amount of 'apps' visible in this mode, this is obviously not good. Luckily, the chromed weapons and other plastics make things a little more interesting and this is quite a nice little plane.

Appearance (Alternate Mode) 7/10
I neglected to mention in the review of Grand Slam that both of these guys come with covers for the cassettes, but that that is because I don't care, although some of you might like this attention to detail. This cassette mode works a lot better than Grand Slam's, being horizontally symmetrical which I think is essential for a coherent mode. The lack of detail is again a problem although at least there is a nice chrome panel in the centre which draws the eye. I wonder how this is utilised in the combiner mode?


Transformation 6/10
This is a largely simple affair barring the tiny tab you need to release in order to tab the legs together to form the 'plane. It is maddeningly small/tight and I have found a scalpel the only effective way to free it. Other than this very annoying step, things are pretty simple, with what will be the legs comprising the body of the vehicle. These are split and the hip joints rotated to allow them to collapse for cassette mode. The chromed piece which forms the landing gear in 'plane mode is used to join the various parts together for the cassette, and it does this job well.

Poseability 5/10
Well I mean there is nothing. Although a poseable plane would be odd.


Quality 6/10
I'm really not overly impressed by the plastics used on this figure, nor the lack of detail as I perceive it regarding paint apps. My main comparison for a figure this small is 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, tighter joints and more frequent paint apps than this effort.

Overall - 31/50
Another deservedly low score for the guys at Keith's Fantasy Club, with my one caveat being that the combined aspect of the 2 figures will be covered elsewhere. Hopefully these guys will be more than the sum of their parts...

Slamdance

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.