Toy Review - TR Kup with Flintlock

[BigTransformerTrev]

Seargent Kup with Flintlock
Series – Titans Return
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 4
Released here – not yet
Approximate Retail Price - $28
Approximate Size - 14cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode – Cybertronian Ute
Main Features/Gimmicks – Titan Master
Main Colours – Light Blue, Grey
Main Accessories – two cannons, Flintlock TM Partner




Robot Mode




No backpack, hollow arms and his colour scheme is too light. He is a lot more G1 accurate than the previous Generations Kup toy but looks inferior in every way. His Titan Master (Flintlock – originally a name given to one of G1 Landfill’s Targetmasters) partner is sculpted well to look like a grizzly old coot and the cockpit on the chest and proportions aren’t bad. It’s just had to get past those awful arms and the substandard colours. He is just… just too plain.


Vehicle Mode




Very faithful in shape and style to the G1 concept. It’s a shout out to your nostalgic membrane to see Kup done like this, much in the same way that TR Blurr gave us that same tingly feeling. His guns can be placed in the tray of his Cybertronian-ute mode like the 87’ Targetmaster version of the toy did. His Titan Master partner fits snugly inside the cab. I would have liked the cab to be a whiteish-opaque rather than clear but what can ya do - at least the cab seems to be on the requisite angle.



Overall
To my mind the Generations Kup we got a few years ago is supremely superior to this guy. However this toy does transform into an approximation of what the G1 toy/character did so if that is what floats ya boat then I heartily recommend getting him. Oh, and he has a Headmaster gimmick, but chances are unless you are a kid you will be more interested in the character himself.


For a more in-depth review of Kup as well as the rest of the Wave 4 TR Autobots please see my blog post HERE!

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[doublespy]

I on the contrary think TR Kup is better than Generations Kup in just about every way.

Here's my review:

Pickup mode:







This pickup mode is every bit as retro-futuristic as the G1 toy. I absolutely love it. The two shades of blue complement each other beautifully.The nose of the truck is cast in the light blue plastic then color-corrected to match the dark blue/teal plastic. It's a perfect match and the color is very pleasing to the eye, so are the painted hub caps. I wish the truck bed is a little longer and the tail lights are painted, but overall it is an excellent alt mode.


The TM pegs on the truck mode are placed at an angle, which make the gun slinging action look quite dynamic.

Titan Master dude
He uses the generic TM body we've seen a million times.


Transformation
The leg transformation takes a page right out of MMC's not Impactor and not Strika. Almost all of the potential kibble-creating bits get absorbed into the compact chunks of his lower legs via a multi-layered folding motion. Very clever. And you end up with this robot with no visible kibble whatsoever.

'Bot mode




The 'bot mode looks to be heavily IDW influenced, what with the square flat chest, the "belt" detail and rectangular-shaped arms. I don't mind it, as a lot these TR figures are more aesthetically eclectic rather than G1 inspired like the previous Combiner Wars. The head sculpt looks to be IDW-ish as well, but I think it looks way better than Generations Kup's angry shouting face. The helmet color is indeed toy accurate, and in hand it looks okay. The proportions are also better than the Generations version, which had long legs and too small a head. The guns can be stored on the back when combined.


Pose-ability is your Deluxe class average. He does have double jointed elbow due to transformation.




With some of the movie cast.

Overall
Love it. One of the best Deluxes in the line, on par with Triggerhappy and Topspin. Get at least one version of this mold.

[GoktimusPrime]

I on the contrary think TR Kup is better than Generations Kup in just about every way.

Visual aesthetics (i.e. G1 bias) aside, how do you think that this toy is superior to the previous Generations Kup? I don't have this toy and I've never seen it IRL, so admittedly I can't form a full opinion, but based on photos and reviews from the likes of BTT and BWTF (a very generous reviewer ) I'm inclined to agree with their sentiments.

As with TR Hot Rod and Blurr I'm just going to wait until I find this toy going for cheap before I think about getting it. It's a character that I already have in my CHUGUR collection so it's not a priority figure for my collection. And as per Lord Zed's sentiments, I much prefer a less G1 accurate CHUGUR toy that was well made over a toy that is just too slavishly G1 (but loses that element of imaginative creativity). When CHUGUR toys become too G1 accurate, even great toys like Sixshot, they risk coming across as feeling like "Poor Man's Masterpiece" rather than the original spirit of the Classics line when it started in 2006 - G1 characters reimagined (not just updated) with modern day engineering/designs. I really like the fact that Generations Kup is a definitive ute (and an old school lookin' ute to boot!), cos I gotta be honest, when I first got G1 Kup in 1986, I had no idea as to what sort of automobile he was meant to be. Even G1 Takara designer Ono Koujin has stated that Kup was one of their more disappointing designs, especially with the design of the rear section. But it was something that they had to do because Hasbro wanted the toy to be based on Floro Dery's design for the TFTM character. I even liked how they placed that small faux-windscreen on the top of Gen. Kup's chest, a reference to G1 Ironhide's design as Ironhide is meant to be the other Autobot old timer, so it suggests that the two of them are from the same vintage (Don Figueroa did the same with Kup and Ironhide in DW's War Within and Dark Ages comic series). There was just so much love and attention to detail poured into that figure compared to TR Kup who appears to have little else put into its design other than to look G1 (again, slavishly so). And let's not forget that the G1 Kup toy was a horrific shelfwarmer in 1986; I remember seeing shelves overflowing with this toy at either Grace Bros. or Target (it was one of thsoe "red bag" department stores in the 80s) and the toy was slashed to $5 each (my mother literally bought a trolley load of them and they were used as "gift fodder"* for the next year ).

And this isn't a criticism towards Hasbro's decision in going more G1-slave per se. They are essentially responding to consumer demand. Fans want their toys to be more G1-accurate, and both Hasbro and TakaraTOMY are responding to this demand. They are giving fans what they want. So it's completely logical, but I just don't agree that it necessarily makes better toys. IMHO MP Inferno would've been a whole lot better if it had a more G1 toy-accurate detailed sculpt instead of a G1 cartoon-accurate simplistic sculpt. But the majority of fans are crying for toon-accuracy, so hey... democracy in action. We certainly can't say that HasTak aren't listening to their fans.

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*All of my male relatives and friends received a Kup from us between 1986-87, and even then we still had one left over (so my brother and I had a Kup each - the only time that we ended up with a boxed double in our collective collection).

[BigTransformerTrev]

The 'bot mode looks to be heavily IDW influenced, what with the square flat chest, the "belt" detail and rectangular-shaped arms. I don't mind it, as a lot these TR figures are more aesthetically eclectic rather than G1 inspired like the previous Combiner Wars. The head sculpt looks to be IDW-ish as well, but I think it looks way better than Generations Kup's angry shouting face.

Actually, like I said in my blog review, I thought that if his arms were grey instead of their current colour he would be an almost perfect match for his Marvel incarnation rather than IDW. To each their own though

[Sinnertwin]

Visual aesthetics (i.e. G1 bias) aside, how do you think that this toy is superior to the previous Generations Kup? I don't have this toy and I've never seen it IRL, so admittedly I can't form a full opinion, but based on photos and reviews from the likes of BTT and BWTF (a very generous reviewer ) I'm inclined to agree with their sentiments.

-Infinite play possibilities. The Headmaster option opens a whole new world of options both in robot and in alt mode. Where the previous release had 1 rifle, this one has 2 compatible with Titan Masters, further enhancing it.

-Transformation: The TR version is simpler to transform back and forth than the CHUG version and cooler too. If you're anything like me and have jack hammer fingers, you'll appreciate the ease at which you can switch modes. The arms in the chest spring load trick the CHUG version utilised left me less than impressed. Kids want that ability to transform between alt modes to further enhance their play time.

-Articulation: The TR version isn't hindered by shoulder wheels or arm panels or massive sides of a pick up hanging off the sides of his legs.

All in all, I'm of the opinion that TR Kup is an improvement over his CHUG counterpart in both aesthetic and play value.

[GoktimusPrime]

That's fair enough. My opinion on this toy is extremely limited until I can see/handle one IRL. Donations welcome.

[doublespy]

-Infinite play possibilities. The Headmaster option opens a whole new world of options both in robot and in alt mode. Where the previous release had 1 rifle, this one has 2 compatible with Titan Masters, further enhancing it.

-Transformation: The TR version is simpler to transform back and forth than the CHUG version and cooler too. If you're anything like me and have jack hammer fingers, you'll appreciate the ease at which you can switch modes. The arms in the chest spring load trick the CHUG version utilised left me less than impressed. Kids want that ability to transform between alt modes to further enhance their play time.

-Articulation: The TR version isn't hindered by shoulder wheels or arm panels or massive sides of a pick up hanging off the sides of his legs.

All in all, I'm of the opinion that TR Kup is an improvement over his CHUG counterpart in both aesthetic and play value.

100% agreed.

Visual aesthetics (i.e. G1 bias) aside, how do you think that this toy is superior to the previous Generations Kup?

What Sinnertwin said

Aesthetics aside, TR Kup is a better transforming toy, and a better action figure hands down. I transform and pose my figures regularly and he's a ton of fun. I think starting from Titans Return Hasbro have finally found that fine balance between making great toys for kids and collectibles for fans.

I personally prefer "update" rather than "re-imagining". The combiner teams from Combiner Wars just had the perfect amount of "updating", without either being "slavishly G1" or too different from their G1 self, and Titans Return is continuing this aesthetic trend. I don't see this beats the purpose of collecting Masterpiece. MP gives me the definitive versions of the G1 characters that I set up nice display for, and occasionally take to admire their fantastic engineering. The CHUG ones are modern takes on those character that are fun action figures. I can pick them up and transform without having to be too careful about scratching paint or leaving finger prints on chromed parts, etc. And these ones don't try/need to be a definitive version of that character, but take influences from various time/space of the vast TF universe. Being "slavishly G1" only happened twice as far as I can remember: CW Devastator and TR Sixshot, both figures were designed to be MP stand-ins (gifts from Shogo Hasui to the fans the way I see it). And they can still fit right in CW and TR collections without looking too antithetically different.

Actually, like I said in my blog review, I thought that if his arms were grey instead of their current colour he would be an almost perfect match for his Marvel incarnation rather than IDW. To each their own though

I'm not very familiar with the Marvel version but you may be right. It's the beauty of an elective aesthetic so that everyone can think of it as more of one version than another.

[GoktimusPrime]

Finally got this toy.

PROS
+ Aesthetically more G1 accurate than Generations Kup.
+ Kibble-free robot mode
+ Interactive Titan Master play pattern which doesn't impede with the toy's engineering.

Much like TR Wheelie, I really like the way that TR Kup is able to extend and compact his body to make it small in robot mode but large in vehicle mode. They've added some nice features to make it not look too slavishly G1 and more reality grounded, such as an actual tailgate, compartment doors on the sides of the vehicle etc. They've managed to recreate the G1 alt mode and improve on some of its core weaknesses, particular the rear section of the vehicle - something which G1 designer Ono Koujin has said was a particularly sore point for the 80s Takara design team. So it's cool to see that Takara have been able to revisit and finally address this issue.

I also quite like how the guns, when combined, have a Targetmaster-esque quality to it (although too short-barrelled for Recoil, but still neat ). The use of yellow highlights throughout the toy is also nicely done and helps to break up some of the grey. The metallic electric blue eyes are also a nice feature, and one that might elude some people unless you look closely.

The guns can be plugged onto the sides or rear bed of the vehicle, and on the rear the guns can be combined or plugged in separately into two separate holes. There are also several pegs to allow other Titan Masters to stand on Kup's tray bed, so Kup can actually carry a small squad of Titan Masters.

CONS
- Straight up - Generations Kup is the better toy (IMHO), especially in terms of value for money
- While G1 accurate, the lighter turqoise doesn't look as nice as the darker shade on Generations Kup
- The forearms and/or hands really should be grey
- That face. Not sure why this Kup has been sculpted with a smiling duckface. I know that a lot of people weren't fans of Generations Kup's "gasping Yoda" face, but I prefer it over "smiling duckface" Kup. He's not meant to be a teenage schoolgirl.
- The weapon stowage on vehicle mode - they either clip to the sides of the vehicle (which looks silly) or they can clip onto the vehicle tray and face backwards but not forwards. Generations Kup's rifle can either be clipped on the underside (forming a second muffler) or it can be clipped on the roof and pivot 360° on its x-axis as well as up and down along its y-axis. Generations Kup's vehicle mode feels like it's better equipped for anti-aircraft combat (like the human resistance vs Skynet )
- While TR Kup's sculpt has some great features, it's sadly lost due to the lack of paint apps. And quite frankly, the G1-accurate fantasy mode just doesn't look nearly as good as the more realistic looking ute on Generations Kup, with things like a painted grill, transparent head and tail lights, better sculpted and painted tray bed etc. Generations Kup is the superior robot in disguise, so objectively speaking (i.e. removing our G1 goggles), I have to give Generations Kup the win for alt mode.

OVERALL

I don't think that TR Kup is a bad toy; there are some really nice features on it. But IMHO Generations Kup is by far the superior figure. TR Kup is still a nice toy in its own right, but I don't think that it's worth paying $25 or more for, especially considering that Generations Kup sold here for $20-25.

PHOTOS

[KingGrimlock]

I think nearly every thought I've had about this toy has been discussed above, however after receiving it I feel like it's one of those figures where it's completely different in hand than it is in pictures. I hated the colors, I hated the face sculpt and I didn't like the over all build however getting him in hand changed that, I think it's a really nice balanced figure and seeing all the details up close have made a world of difference for me. I'm still not sure whether I prefer this version or the generations, each has there own style but to me both scream kup.

[SuspectimusPrime]

I agree that the colours were far too garish, they could have wound it back by a few shades. The leg transformation is the best part of this toy. Unfortunately my fig has a floppy waist swivel, floppy legs, and his fish holes are too loose - the guns can nearly spin a full circle when I shake it.

I like that there's plenty of room in the cab section of his alt mode. Plenty of opportunity for a future third-party face swap + cygar add-on to hide there when transformed.