Transformers: Kiss Players (toyline)
With the Galaxy Force franchise having ending on a whimper rather than a bang in Japan, Takara opted to go with a smaller, more collector-oriented line in 2006, resulting in the controversial Kiss Players toyline. The series spins out of the Binaltech toyline, re-using the intricate, 1:24 scale molds from that series, and - apparently taking their cue from the short-lived Japanese subline, Binaltech Asterisk - pairing them with PVC figurines of cute anime girls. The fiction of the line establishes that these girls are the eponymous "Kiss Players," who power-up the Transformers and merge with them by kissing them. Each toy comes packaged with an audio CD that collects several chapters of the radio drama that was broadcast concurrently with the line.
In 2007, Kiss Players moved into is second phase, Kiss Players Position, which featured only three products, all of them exclusives.
2006
- Convoy X Melissa (Takara's counterpart of Alternators Optimus Prime)
- Hot Rodimus X Syao Syao (retool of Alternators Mirage)
- Autrooper X Atari (remold of the Alternators Meister/Shockblast mold)
- Kiss Players Figure Collection Atari X Autrooper (a reverse of the standard Kiss Players format, featuring a larger PVC figure of Atari, and a Smallest Transforming Transformers-style version of the Autrooper model)
2007
- Sparkbot x3 (Angela, Zangetsu and Star Dust, available only at "Toy Festival" convention in March 2007)
- Cassettron Set (Rosanna, Sundor and Glit, available only through eHobby in March 2007)
- Atariscream, a black and purple redeco of the large 2006 Atari figurine as possessed by the ghost of Starscream, a Dengeki Hobby magazine mail-order exclusive that shipped in April 2007.
