Toy Review - Generations Sergeant Kup

[lcz128]

I think at least two of us on the board own this now, so good time for a review? (:

Sergeant Kup!!
He's real! We have a Kup that's a picKup!!! Theoretically awesome, ey!? What can go wrong?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/lcz128_photos/Toys/194d4a80.jpghttp://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/lcz128_photos/Toys/ddffc72c.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/lcz128_photos/Toys/8804843b.jpghttp://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/lcz128_photos/Toys/c51eca8b.jpg

In my opinion, not much has!
I love where the weapon stows on the underside of the alt mode.
Transformation is nice too! I love the way the knees transform on this sucker and the way the torso rotates out is lovely. The shoulder pieces snap into place with some simple spring usage and it's got just the right amount of complexity to it. I think the one thing that actually let's it down on are the panels on the reverse of the arms. They don't really have anywhere to go- but I suppose at least they can be repositioned when you pose him.

I am not that big a fan of the face. He looks like he's in agony... Lol. A good solid figure overall with nice articulation and a decently involved transformation.

If you're tossing up between the united or hasbro release I imagine the united one's paintjob will make it that much more awesome! But personally I will be looking forward greatly to igear's replacement Kup heads.

(mods, any chance for a poll?? Thanks!)

[Vector Prime]

Can't wait to receive my one in the next week or so... love it the minute I saw peaugh's Youtube review (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTogiDBW6pk) - will post own personal thoughts once I receive him.

[autobreadticon]

cool pictures, learned alot about the deluxe, i reckon iGear should have a mounting port for his targetmaster partner

[autobreadticon]

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq116/Peaugh/IMG_0948.jpg

since i won't be getting it for a while, heres the entrée courtesy of Peaugh

[lcz128]

OOrrrr...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/lcz128_photos/Toys/ad83e87d.jpg
:D

[jaydisc]

Where's Delicate Warrior?

[lcz128]

Oh yeahhhhh...
Guess who still has it and protector too? Lol

[Vector Prime]

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae21/phuynh1979/P1250008.jpg

Received my Kup today and let me just say he's an awesome toy, however he does have some minor shortcomings IMHO.

Alt mode is pretty cool - he resembles a modernised retro-style pick up truck.

Transformation is above average in difficulty and is a tiny bit fiddly.

In bot mode, he looks very nice and is very stable to pose in various action poses (due to big feet).

My gripe with him is the kibble hanging off his forearms and his limited shoulder articulation (also due to vehicle mode kibble).

Other than that, he's very cool and I highly recommend getting him - he's even worth paying full RRP for IMO.

8.5/10 (would have been a 9 if it wasn't for the kibble affecting his articulation)

[Blurrprimecoolboz2008]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTisCLShQ0E

[Sutton]

Kup turned up in the post today.

Overall, I'm quite happy with this guy - he's a really strong figure. Everything in the design works as intended, which is better than some other recent figures (RTS Perceptor, for example).

The vehicle mode snaps together nice and firm. The placement of the shotgun under the car as a second muffler (and drive shaft, if you like) is neat. The wheels have heaps of clearance and roll smoothly, which is rare for a modern deluxe car in my experience. The front wheels can even be positioned to look like they're turning. Paint apps in this mode are lacking (what's new?) but it doesn't let him down as badly as Jazz, even though he is also lacking brake lights and wheel rims - I'm not sure why that is.

Transformation is well thought out, with two clear stages for the top and bottom half. Everything locks in where it should.

Robot mode is good and represents the character well. The constipated facial expression is slightly off-putting, but the face overall conveys an old man well. If the mouth were painted black, it would work better as a 'shouting' expression, but the shiny silver instead makes it look like he's choking on his robo-tongue. The small faux windscreen on top of the chest is a neat little reference to the War Within robot mode, while the rest is almost 100% G1 - the abdominal detailing that was strangely popular with bots from the original movie, the pointy knee pads, the yellow/gold belt buckle. The additional kibble necessary for the transformation only add to the look IMO, the wheels flopping around the shoulders and the panels on the arms give him a slightly 'junky' look. Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know, but it works for me.

I really, really like TF's with Shotguns, so this immediately scores Kup extra points with me. It's also the weapon of choice for old men telling people to get off their lawn (http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3203053128_43666d4475.jpg&imgrefurl=http://kellydeal.tumblr.com/post/71049757/clint-eastwood-get-off-my-lawn-sound-clip-this&h=302&w=453&sz=48&tbnid=4sMn1k-2IpupOM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclint%2Beastwood%2Bget%2Boff%2Bmy%2Bl awn&zoom=1&q=clint+eastwood+get+off+my+lawn&hl=en&usg=__RI12tqcKGHTRdfsd8KHqV0Q1wH8=&sa=X&ei=QHqITcqZGojKvQP58tzkDg&ved=0CDQQ9QEwBQ) (so ok, that was a rifle, but whatever). Yet again one of those nifty 3mm clips is included to allow for weapon-swapping fun with other RTS and Generations deluxes. Yet again, this hasn't been advertised as a feature on the packaging. Way to miss an opportunity, Hasbro. The machine gun from Darkmount/Skullgrin works particularly well mounted on his roof.

Possibly my only complaint, if it can even be considered a complaint, is that Kup and Blur don't display too well next to Classics Rodimus - the design of the classics line has evolved over the last decade, the robot modes are much better, and the vehicle modes generally err more on the side of semi-realism now than the slightly more futuristic/fantastical vehicle modes from 2006. Hot Rod looks like the odd man out in a line-up with all 3 cars. Personally I prefer the approach taken with Kup and Blur, but I can see this pissing some people off.

Overall I can recommend this guy to anyone who remotely likes the character...good luck finding him with the recent Big W news, however!

[Lint]

I'm a fan of this Kup! His transformation is intuitive and satisfactorily complex (which is a hard ask in this modern age of fiddlyness) and his bot mode just screams of old school badassery. I am a fan of more non-pistol weapons (particularly long ones) so his musket/shotgun/rifle scores points as well. Play value is a great, he is quite poseable and very stable and the rifle can mount on the cab turning him into a mobile weapon's platform. I also really like his headlights. Quality!

My only two minor gripes are:
The face, although it looks like Kup, his screaming like he's on fire really doesn't fit the character.
His alt-mode pickup truck mode, while a realistic equivalent earth-mode isn't really instantly recognisable as Kup. They could have been a bit more adventurous and tried to emulate the G1 colour scheme, but this would have arguably ended up with bad results :p

[griffin]

Toy Review - Sergeant Kup

Series - Generations
Sub-line - N/A
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 6
Released here - Expected here April 2011 (released globally January)
Approximate Retail Price - $25-30
Approximate Size - 15cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Pickup-truck/Ute
Main Features/Gimmicks - none
Main Colours - Aqua-green, grey, black
Main Accessories - gun

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/gen14a.jpg

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/tftoys/gen14b.jpg

[kaiden]

+great alt mode
+transformation is not boring
+perfectly fits the igear box carrying replacement heads.

-horrible looking head - yoda like.
-cygar-less
-horrible elbow design - it goes one way and then needs to go another way...
-door panels stuck on forearms are annoying - would have preferred them going to the back like the hood.
-hands cannot grab the shotgun barrel (for a more cool pose)

[GoktimusPrime]

+perfectly fits the igear box carrying replacement heads.
I don't think HasTak engineers had this in mind when designing the toy. It's more likely that the 3rd party heads were designed to fit with this toy. :)


-horrible looking head - yoda like.
The "Yodaness" I don't mind so much. I think they were trying to make him look old, which even the original G1 toy had on the facial sculpt. Cos ya know, metal skin gets saggy. :p But what does bug me with the face sculpt is the open mouth. It looks a lot like Pat Lee's trademark "dull surprise" expression. Either that or he just had a cyberferret run up his tailpipe.


-cygar-less
I don't blame HasTak for that. The majority of people buying these toys are parents of young children and Hasbro probably didn't want to risk upsetting them for potentially trying to push smoking on their kids. But the photo on the back of United Kup's card (which I saw in person the day before yesteday) shows that Kup was meant to have a cygar in the earlier stages of the toy's design; but a decision was made later on to opt out of it.

Maybe that's why his mouth is open, to accomodate the Cygar... and without the cygar he just looks stupid. Just a theory.


-horrible elbow design - it goes one way and then needs to go another way...
Yeah, it's not great but I don't mind it too much. Scourge's shoulders bug me more.

-door panels stuck on forearms are annoying - would have preferred them going to the back like the hood.
Yeah, that bugs me a bit too -- but it's not a huge deal for me. I guess they thought that he already has enough back-carrying kibble as it is. :p Because a good portion of his chest is faux, he inevitable ended up being a bit of a shellformer. The alternative would have been to incorporate more of the vehicle mode into the robot mode, but then he'd possibly look less G1 like.
<shrug>


-hands cannot grab the shotgun barrel (for a more cool pose)
He can hold the shotgun barrel, but yeah... he can't actually grip it properly.

The front wheels don't properly "lock" into place - you just have to kinda position them there, which kinda bugs me as during rigorous toy play they can sometimes get knocked out of alignment and not roll straight (or roll at all).

[kaiden]

The front wheels don't properly "lock" into place - you just have to kinda position them there, which kinda bugs me as during rigorous toy play they can sometimes get knocked out of alignment and not roll straight (or roll at all).

actually they do sort of. behind the wheel theres a rectangular indent which semi-locks onto the grey-rectangle flat side on his shoulder.

just rolling it on the floor now and it seems to roll fine.

as for my review, it was just personal opinions really with a bit of sarcasm thrown in (igear box :P)

[i_amtrunks]

While not based on a real ute, I personally found Kup a far more enjoyable and sensible homage to his G1 namesake than Alternator Prime.

Great transformation, nice colour that is close enough to the original and a very solid figure. Head is not perfect, but I think it does try to capture the character. Well worth every cent spent on him.

[Soundwarp]

I must have him

[Bumbleb33]

Really nice figure, solid and highly poseable :D
Pictures do not do him justice enough. Plus he's teal, how many teal figures do we honestly get?!

[Doubledealer]

It's all about the igear heads for me, without 'em it's just not Kup. With 'em, pure win! My preference goes to the eHobo release but the Generations one is certainly no slouch either

[Soundwarp]

The more i see this guy the more i want it

[LordCyrusOmega]

Awesome homage. Everything about him works for me, even the arm kibble.
Transformation is nice and simple, I thought it would be harder.
Head's not to bad, I can live with it.

[Sam]

For those that have this figure, what do you think?

I got this today, my thoughts:

- Vehicle mode looks nice
- Good colour scheme
- Am pleased with overall styling

[kaiden]

http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=10792

http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=9807