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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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Ackula's review: Glit, Sundor & Rosanna

KISS Players Position

Hello there, pull up a chair, we are going to review a KISS Players set of figures. That is right, no wait, come back...there are no penis tongues or suggestive images of young anime girls. Just repaints of G1 cassettecons in very interesting colors.

Getting on with things, I will review each figure separately and grade them seperately, and then review the set overall on all points. These figures were available only in Japan, and were E-Hobby exclusives. This of course means they are a little harder to find, and a little pricey, but we'll get to that later. The set consists of Glit, Sundor, and Rosanna.

Name: Glit
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Doctor; Surgeon
"Either shut up and let me treat you, or stop getting injured! It's your choice!"

"If he is seen in a battlefield, there will be no winner in the war. That is because no warriors will die that day."
These words were passed down from soldier to soldier on both the Cybertron and Destron armies, throughout the long years of the Great War.

Glit is the most skilled surgeon that the Destrons have. His keen sense of smell and gently glowing optic sensors never miss a wounded soldier, even if he is of the enemy army. He appeared as an angel even to jaded enemy warriors who had fought through the millenia.

Although Glit is soft-mannered, he makes his own opinions clear and has an inner strength that will never give in to violence or threats. On the other hand, he has a childish, stubborn side that refuses to budge from a decision that he has already made. It is said that under his ministrations, even the most battle-hardened veteran or bloodthirsty criminal becomes as passive as a child with a skinned knee.
Once, Glit's commanding officer Megatron was displeased by the fact that Glit had given medical treatment to the Commander of the enemy army. He ordered his soldiers to cut off Glit's arms. However, many soldiers spoke up, citing Glit's vital importance and necessity, and Megatron was forced to reconsider.


STR 4, INT 9, SPD 4, END 9, RNK 6, CRG 9, FPR 1, SKL 10

Alternate Mode:
Glit's alternate mode is that of a mini-cassette head cleaner, which is a bit different than what we are used to. Sure he still transforms into a cassette, but with a decidedly different function than most. In cassette mode Glit is primarily white with tampo printed details, featuring dark orange lines running across the cassette, his name and "MC 60" also in the same orange, and a orange and yellow medic style cross symbol. Being a repaint of Ravage, he of course looks very much like a folded up cat in this mode, however the tampo printed details really help add character. The bottom of the cassette has some metallic blue as well, which stems from Glit's feline legs in his beast mode.

Overall it is still a very convincing alt mode despite the obvious jaguar bits, and it features very nice paint applications that adds character and uniqueness to the mold. And of course Glit fits perfectly in my G1 Soundwave's chest, and looks pretty cool to boot, with the unique color scheme.

Beast Mode:
Glit's beast mode is that of a jaguar/panther/some large feline. A repaint of Ravage, he obviously shares many similarities. Glit has a predominatly white color scheme with the only thing standing out being a bright yellow Decepticon sigil. He also has the two missiles that Ravage came with, except now they are referred to as "Medical Storage Compartments" and they are a bright metallic blue color. Glit's die-cast bits on his lower legs is also made in the same metallic blue color. Glit also has tampo printed yellow eyes, with thin black outlines, which really make the eyes stand out on the figure. All around the figure features a very excellent paint job, and mine has no smudges or defects at all.

The figure is impressively articulated for a G1 cassettecon mold. You can achieve several different poses with Glit, much like Ravage, and the sitting pose is very cute as well I might add! The missiles, err..Medical Storage Compartments..fit very snugly in the cassette holes and there are no problems with them popping out with play. I might be worried about chrome wear though, however I hardly get the figures out to play with them, so I haven't seen any as of yet.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 10 out of 10, it doesn't get much easier than this really, just fold him up, well designed G1 figure.
Durability: 9 out of 10, I can't imagine the figure breaking, but I guess if you really tried you could snap off a leg or something.
Fun: 8 out of 10, to me it is a very fun figure, I like to play with it every now and then and pop the cassette in and out of my Soundwave. If you like Ravage, you should like Glit.
Price: 8 out of 10, the set usually sells on eBay for around $50, so you are looking at roughly $16.50 per figure. I don't think that is too bad of a price, especially for a Japanese E-Hobby set.
Overall: 9 out of 10, I love Glit, his unique colors and excellent paint applications really make him stand out amongst my other cassettecon figures. I also have a soft spot for the character based on his tech spec and bio, as well the history I laid out for him at the TFA RPG.

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Name: Sundor
Allegiance: Autobot (not really...see tech spec)
Function: Decepticon Spy
"The universe revolves around me. That's because I'm the sun!"

Sundor is a relatively new recruit amongst the Cybertron Cassettebots. However, he never shows any respect for his more experienced seniors... or rather, he doesn't realize that he should. Due to his extreme confidence in his blindingly shiny body, the only thing that Sundor respects is the beauty of the sun as he looks up at it from Earth.

Sundor was originally a Destron Cassetron warrior, but he was affected by sunspots while passing through the Space Bridge from his home planet of Cybertron to his assignment on Earth. This caused an abnormality in his component molecules, giving him a mutant body that glows with a unique light that cannot be explained by current Cybertronian science.

Shortly afterwards, Sundor cut off communications. He did not join the Destron Earth Army, but instead appeared as a Cybertron warrior. Rumors spread throughout the ranks that the sunspots had affected his logic circuits and driven him mad. Nobody yet realizes that this is a top-secret spy mission to which only Sundor and Megatron are privy. The Cybertron Broadcast, who had been suffering from a lack of aerial support compared to the Destron Soundwave, welcomed Sundor without suspecting a thing.


STR 5, INT 5, SPD 7, END 3, RNK 5, CRG 3, FPR 10, SKL 4

Alternate Mode:
Sundor's alternate mode is also a cassette tape, a repaint of Laserbeak, and quite ugly to boot. The primary colors of the cassette are orange and gold with dark red designs resembling suns drawn over the gold. There is also an Autobot sigil underneath the cassette reels. Instead of the awesome paint applications we get on Glit, Sundor has very foil like stickers instead. The decals are pretty nice looking, but they look as though they would come off with very little provocation. The figure itself is molded primarily in an orange plastic.

The cassette mode is not as convincing to me as some others, and Laserbeak's mold has always felt that way to me. There are very large gaps where the transformation takes place, and Sundor's legs never seem to really sit flush with the wings, making the cassette a little in-proportionate, and hard to insert into Soundwave without fiddling with it.

Beast Mode:
Sundor transforms into a bird of some sort, just like Laserbeak. He is orange in color, with the die-cast part of his body being painted a dark red. His wings are covered with foil like stickers and are a shiny dark orange to yellow transition. He has two eyes, tampo printed in yellow, one on each side of his head.

He features two lasers that fit into the cassette holes on his back, and they are a metallic gold color. It may just be my figure, but the lasers are very loose in the holes, and wobble from side to side with any movement of the figure. One of the lasers will actually fall right out of the hole if the figure is turned upside down.

There is very little articulation here, the head and neck moves, the wings can move a little bit. If you have any versions of this mold you will know what to expect. He does look kinda cool perched on Soundwave's arm though, but not so much in his chest.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 8 out of 10, the figure's head is a bit frustrating to pull out from cassette mode, and sometimes will pop off. Otherwise a simple transformation.
Durability: 7 out of 10, as mentioned above, the head does like to come off at the neck sometimes, and the lasers do not fit very snug at all.
Fun: 6 out of 10, there really isn't much you can do with this figure to be honest, besides pop him in Soundwave's chest or perch him on his arm/shoulder. Very limited poseability hampers the fun.
Price: 8 out of 10, the set usually sells on eBay for around $50, so you are looking at roughly $16.50 per figure. I don't think that is too bad of a price, especially for a Japanese E-Hobby set.
Overall: 7 out of 10, this is my least favorite figure from the set. His color scheme is really ugly to me, and the stickers are not very nice in terms of quality. I would have much preferred tampo printed details as opposed to stickers, but I suppose they couldn't do that as the colors are largely chrome looking. The loose lasers also really bug me, for the price the QC should have been better.

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Name: Rosanna
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Pop Idol
"Is everyone feeling happy? Then I'm happy too!"

Rosanna is a "miracle" cassette-bot hand-picked from amongst many Cybertronians by Broadcast, in his ambitious drive to raise his own cassette-bots to counter Soundwave's cassette warriors. She is one of the few Transformers who can sing and dance, and the sole person who understands Broadcast's love of music. Rosanna does not possess a powerful singing voice, but her songs have an indescribable charm. Some find that her songs soothe and heal their wounded hearts, while others are given new courage by her songs.
Besides being constantly cheerful and high-energy, Rosanna has a strong sense of responsibility. She will attempt to mediate even the smallest disagreements; however, her good intentions are off-set by her lack of social skills (specifically, the ability to read the atmosphere of a situation). Most of the time, she ends up making the situation more complicated.

No matter how dire things may be, she knows that positive thinking is key to turning a situation around. At times, she has used her singing and her ability to dance the Robot Monkey dance to raise her comrades from the pits of despair.
However, Rosanna was not born as cheerful and high-spirited as she is now. Those who knew her in the past cannot hide their surprise at how much she has changed. This is not to say that her physical appearance has changed...

Ever since she was constructed, Rosanna had an inferiority complex about the way she looked, and could not gain self-confidence. Because she had a different way of thinking than the others, and because she was exceedingly sensitive, she feared rejection and avoided contact with others so that she would not be hurt. Because she was negative about everything, she had no comrades that she could call friends.

Rosanna personally applied for the Cassette-bot Troop out of a desire to change herself. As she interacted with her comrades, she learned the importance of putting her faith in others, and began to shine and glow from within. She believes it is her duty to share the path of positive thinking that she has learned from her departed comrades with as many people as possible.


STR 2, INT 5, SPD 3, END 10, RNK 3, CRG 8, FPR 1, SKL 5

Alternate Mode:
Rosanna turns into....wait for it...a micro cassette! Not only any cassette though, this cassette is so full of love and femininity, that you will love it or hate it largely depending on the type of person you are.

The primary colors are white and pink, that is right girly pink. The cassette has decals in silver/chrome with magenta lines running across. Rosanna's name is also present on one of the decals, as is two red hearts. The decals on Rosanna do not seem as cheap and flimsy as the ones used on Sundor.

Overall this is the most convincing of the figures in this set, and very few join lines can be seen, and the ones present are very tight. The cassette is very girly, and a huge departure from other cassette's in the Transformers series, but not that shocking considering that it is a KISS Players figure.

Robot Mode:
Rosanna is a repaint of Eject/Rewind/Flip Sides. Her primary colors are again, white and pink, with some chrome detailing on her chest. There is a decal on the side of her right arm that features a bright yellow Autobot sigil, and she has two red hearts tampo printed on her right shoulder. Her visor is painted in a lavender color as well.

Rosanna includes two guns that are a very light blue chrome color. They fit very snugly in the cassette holes on the side of each arm, and do not hamper the arm articulation in the least.

The figure has really decent articulation for a G1 cassettebot, with actual knees and articulation of the arms. The amount of poses are limited, but it is a nice little figure, and it has a ton fo charm and character, at least to me.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: 10 out of 10, perfectly simple, yet highly inventive G1 design.
Durability: 9 out of 10, can't really imagine it breaking unless you really tried to break off an arm or leg for some reason.
Fun: 8 out of 10, quite fun to fiddle with for me, I love the transformation and the character itself. Looks really neat in Soundwave or Blaster, what with the girly pink and all.
Price: 8 out of 10, the set usually sells on eBay for around $50, so you are looking at roughly $16.50 per figure. I don't think that is too bad of a price, especially for a Japanese E-Hobby set.
Overall: 9 out of 10, I really like Rosanna. The figure has an interesting tech spec bio, and color scheme that many will/do hate instantly. Not really for everyone, but personally I love the little pink bugger.

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Overall For The Whole Set:
This is a set for completists and/or fans of the KISS Players line, or for people who really love the G1 cassettes mainly. The set comes beautifully packaged with a ton of really neat artwork (no there are no perverted things going on here folks) and includes a music CD featuring the voice actors doing a version of the G1 cartoon theme song, which is actually quite good if you like J-Pop at all.

Overall I wouldn't suggest it to people who do not fall into one of the above categories, myself personally I love the set and think that $49.99 is a very fair price for a set of beautifully packaged Japanese exclusive G1 repaints. Overall score, 9/10
 
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