Raindance

Raindance is anAutobotMini-Cassettefrom theGeneration 1continuity family.

Little known fact: His default mode is actually a pair of legs and this jet fighter just a cunning disguise.

Raindanceis a daredevil photojournalist who'll risk anything to capture a great picture. Witty and likable, he has seen thousands of battles and has thousands of war stories that he's more than happy to share. His lively and exciting narratives never fail to entertain his listeners.

He can combine withGrand Slamto formSlamdance.

Fiction

MarvelThe Transformerscomics

BLASTER THAT IS NOT HOW YOU EJECT TAPES

Hundreds of years prior to 1988, a troop of Autobot astronomers onCybertrondetected the legendaryUnderbasemaking its way towardsEarth.In order to alert their Autobot colleagues on that world, they encoded the information onto twoMini-Cassettewarriors, Raindance and Grand Slam. Their ship was damaged upon entry to Earth's atmosphere, and it crash-landed. The damaged Autobots were found in their cassette modes by a band of 18th century pirates, who kept them with the rest of their booty in a treasure chest. Their ship, however, would be lost at sea during a storm.

In 1988, the Decepticons on Cybertron eventually tracked down the two Autobots, and sentRatbatto Earth to find them. Ratbat and his Decepticons set their disguised desert island starship in the area of the shipwreck, and opened aClub Convacation resort for fleshlings to disguise their true intentions. TheSeaconsretrieved Raindance and Grand Slam from the treasure chest, but the two were pilfered by the investigatingJesseandBlaster,who stored the tapes inside himself. The Seacons pursued the two to Club Con's beach, and Blaster was forced to spit the tapes into the sea to end the threat to the beachgoing humans.Club Con!

The tapes were recovered by the Decepticons, and Ratbat andSoundwavewere able to useRealvisionto access the information within Grand Slam (who provided audio) and Raindance (who provided visuals). Through them, Ratbat andStarscreamlearned of the backstory of the Underbase and that it was set to pass by Earth in less than a week's time.The Flames of Boltax!

DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity

Merged as Slamdance, Raindance and Grand Slam served as a correspondent overseeing thePax Cybertroniabetween the Autobots, Decepticons, andUltracons.Engineered byUltra Magnusand accepted byShockwaveand Ratbat as a means for pooling their dwindling energy resources, the Pax was to be an ending of the Dark Ages. Unfortunately, a bombing run followed by an all-out assault by Starscream and hisPredaconsended all hopes of an easy truce, and the dramatic return ofMegatronwith his clonedAerospace Extermination Squadronended any ideas of truce at all.The Age of WrathSlamdance avoided the termination sweeps only by falling deep underground.The Age of Wrath Pt.3He eventually linked up with the resistance movement organizated by Blaster andPerceptor.The Age of Wrath Pt.2

Generations Selects Special Comic

In2050,Raindance and Grand Slam were covering theSelectorrevolution when theTerrorconscrashed the party.AbominuscausedAngolmois Energyto run wild on the planet, and the embedded reporters broadcast the effects.Abominus comic 2

Toys

The Transformers

"Huh? No, I'm notFrenzy'sjet-mode!What the Hell are you even talking about?"

• Raindance/Grand Slam(Cassette 2-pack,1988)

• Accessories:2 "proton missiles"
• Known designers:Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

Released in the fifth year ofThe Transformersas part of the final assortment ofMini-Cassettes,Raindance transforms from a Cybertronian hover plane into a microcassette. In cassette mode, he can fit in the chest compartments of theSoundwaveandBlastermolds. He has two chromed proton missiles to add to his plane mode. He can also form the lower half of the robotSlamdance.

He was only available in a two-pack withGrand Slam,who forms the top half of Slamdance.

• More information on Raindance at TFU.info

War for Cybertron: Siege

Uh, since when did I form the head?

• Autobot Alphastrike Counterforce(Multi-pack,2019)

• ID number:WFC-S26
• Accessories:2 guns (combine to form a launcher)

Siege"Autobot Raindance" is a redeco ofSkytread's jet component, which combines withGrand Slamto form the Deluxe-sizedSlamdance.He includes two guns compatible with theC.O.M.B.A.T. System,which can combine to form a launcher, form Grand Slam's tank barrels in vehicle mode or be added to Raindance.

As a redeco of Skytread's jet component, Raindance uses the same connection port and plug system asPower of the PrimesBattletrap,allowing for mi xing and matching between the six components. He features multiple hardpoints all over himself and his weapons to accommodate "Fire Blasts" from theBattle Mastersassortment, which can be used to simulate blaster fire or explosions. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Skytread's mold, Raindance ends up forming the upper half of Slamdance instead of the lower half.

The set was anAmazonexclusive in North America, which also labels the set as "Final Strike Figure Series: Part 1."

Notes

These guns are for the birds.

• Raindance's Dreamwave profile artwork incorrectly showsSquawktalk's guns mounted on top of his jet form instead of his own missiles mounted correctly below. This was likely a mistake made due to those two being archenemies, toyetically. Not only is it possible to attach both sets of weapons at once, but Slamdance can easily accommodate them in addition to all of his own weapons, so if you happen to have extra cassette weapons, there's no reason not to make your Raindance Dreamwave-accurate. Besides, this error is just an extension of the proud tradition of Slamdance never having apublishedphotographwith his weapons in their proper configuration.