Grand Slam (G1)

Grand Slam is an Autobot Mini-Cassette from the Generation 1 continuity family.

The Pitching Machine of DEATH!

Grand Slam (also Grandslam) is an aged and weary veteran of far, far too many battles. He has stood witness to conflict on hundreds of worlds across the galaxy and has dedicated his existence to creating an audio record of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict with all its pain, destruction, and disharmony that he hopes will one day, Primus willing, be played on a Cybertron that is at peace, serving as only a grim reminder of the horror that once consumed their world.

Grand Slam can combine with Raindance to form Slamdance.

Fiction

Marvel The Transformers comics

 

Raindance is Red, Grand Slam is Blue!! Just kidding, don't panic.

Hundreds of years prior to 1988, a troop of Autobot astronomers on Cybertron detected the legendary Underbase making its way towards Earth. In order to alert their Autobot colleagues on that world, they encoded the information onto two Mini-Cassette warriors, Raindance and Grandslam. 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 sent Ratbat to Earth to find them. Ratbat and his Decepticons set their disguised desert island starship in the area of the shipwreck, and opened a Club Con vacation resort for fleshlings to disguise their true intentions. The Seacons retrieved Raindance and Grandslam from the treasure chest, but the two were pilfered by the investigating Jesse and Blaster, 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 and Soundwave were able to use Realvision to access the information within Grandslam (who provided audio) and Raindance (who provided visuals). Through them, Ratbat and Starscream learned 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!

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Yeah, the toy is even less convincing.

Merged as Slamdance, Raindance and Grand Slam served as a correspondent overseeing the Pax Cybertronia between the Autobots, Decepticons, and Ultracons. Engineered by Ultra Magnus and accepted by Shockwave and 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 his Predacons ended all hopes of an easy truce, and the dramatic return of Megatron with his cloned Aerospace Extermination Squadron ended any ideas of truce at all. The Age of Wrath

Slamdance avoided the termination sweeps only by falling deep underground. The Age of Wrath Pt.3 He eventually linked up with the resistance movement organized by Blaster and Perceptor. The Age of Wrath Pt.2

Generations Selects Special Comic

In 2050, Raindance and Grand Slam were covering the Selector revolution when the Terrorcons crashed the party. Abominus caused Angolmois Energy to run wild on the planet, and the embedded reporters broadcast the effects. Abominus comic 2

Toys

The Transformers

Thank you, ma'am.

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

• Accessories: "smoke discharger" cannon, left & right "dual repulsors"
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Released in the fifth year of The Transformers as part of the final assortment of Mini-Cassettes, Grand Slam transforms from a Cybertronian tank into a microcassette. In cassette mode, he can fit in the chest compartments of the Soundwave and Blaster molds. His tank mode's main cannon is formed from his twin "dual repulsors" and "smoke discharger" cannon. Thankfully, if you lose those pieces, he still has a pair of small flip-out cannons on his turret. He can also form the top half of the robot Slamdance.

He was only available in a two-pack with Raindance, who forms the bottom half of Slamdance.

• More information on Grand Slam at TFU.info

War for Cybertron: Siege

Wait, since when did I form the pants?!

• Autobot Alphastrike Counterforce (multi-pack, 2019)

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

Siege "Autobot Grand Slam" is a redeco of Skytread's tank component, which combines with Raindance to form the Deluxe-sized Slamdance. He includes two guns compatible with the C.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 tank component, Grand Slam uses the same connection port and plug system as Power of the Primes Battletrap, allowing for mixing and matching between the six components. He features multiple hardpoints all over himself and his weapons to accommodate "Fire Blasts" from the Battle Masters assortment, which can be used to simulate blaster fire or explosions. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Skytread's mold, Grand Slam ends up forming the lower half of Slamdance instead of the upper half. As a redeco of the Skytread's tank mold, Grand Slam is likely to suffer from the same issues on the leg panels, with early samples featuring ankles so tight they break off.

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

Notes

• Grand Slam provides the colors for the Shattered Glass incarnation of Slugfest.