Kup (G1)/toys
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"Kup!"
"Well it does."
None of Kup's toys are as old as him.
Toys
The Transformers
- Kup (Autobot, 1986)
- Takara ID number: C-82
- Accessories: "Musket laser"
- The Transformers Kup transforms into a Cybertronic pickup truck (though how he is able to carry goods safely with no tailgate is a mystery). The entire front of the vehicle (including the windshield) is made out of die-cast metal. In robot mode, Kup has full shoulder rotation, though the way his elbows are set up means he cannot make full use of their joints. He (somewhat) makes up for it with swivel wrists. His legs feature no articulation whatsoever. Maybe Hot Rod left a piece out. He is armed with a blue laser rifle. Early releases of Kup had metal rear wheels, while later releases replaced them with black plastic.
- Amusingly, one of the details on the figure's chest sticker depicts a pair of 5 1/4-inch floppy disk drives. Whether that is supposed to indicate that he can store up to two extra Transformers' brains is up to anyone's guess.
- Kup (Targetmaster, 1987)
- Takara ID number: C-113
- Accessories: Musket Laser/Recoil Targetmaster partner
- Kup (this time with plastic rear wheels rather than die-cast) was slightly retooled with larger fist-holes and a mounting point on his vehicle mode back-end in order to make him into a Targetmaster. He came with his Nebulan partner Recoil rather than his original blaster.
The Transformers Collection
- Future Cybertron (Transformers Collection, 2005)
- ID number: 20
- Accessories: Musket Laser, Musket Laser/Recoil Targetmaster partner (you read that right)
- Targetmaster Kup was reissued in Japan, and like the Collection reissue of Hot Rod, he came with his original metal parts restored, as well as both his partner Recoil and his original gun, which was slightly retooled to fit the larger weapon-mounting points. The set also came with a redecoed Wheelie.
- This iteration of the mold was used to make Orion Pax.
Timelines
- Wings of Honor (BotCon 2009 box set)
- Accessories: Clamp attachment, hammer attachment, Earth Cyber Key
- This Timelines version of Kup is a convention-exclusive retool of Cybertron Deluxe Class Red Alert and transforms into a Dodge Magnum emergency vehicle. Plugging a Cyber Key into the back of his car mode causes two rear side-panels to pop out and reveal two spring-forward non-firing blasters. This gimmick is retained in robot mode, where they become over-shoulder blasters. He features an unusual transformation sequence where both the front and rear halves of the vehicle mode come together to form his legs. His hood halves open to reveal storage space for extra tools (a hammer-head and an opening claw) that can be attached onto his left arm blaster.
- Kup comes in a box set with fellow Autobots Flak, Thunderclash, and Landshark, and rival Decepticon Scourge.
- The Kup tooling was also the basis of the non-toy Shattered Glass incarnation of Kup. The original version of this mold was also used to make Cybertron Cannonball, and the 2007 movie toyline Crankcase.
Generations
"Shut up."
"I've had my moment."
- Sergeant Kup (Deluxe Class, 2011)
- Accessories: "laser musket" rifle/exhaust pipe
- Part of wave 6 of Generations, "Sergeant Kup" sticks to the character's roots, transforming into an old-school (or, alternatively, "retro"-styled) Earth pickup truck. The design closely resembles a Honda Ridgeline. He comes with his signature laser musket weapon, which looks like an actual musket this go-round. Like his contemporaries, Kup is covered in 3 mm rungs that are compatible with C joint clip-on weapons. There are two rungs on his backpack, plus two rungs each on his forearm kibble, and two on his lower back (these two are shown in the United version's instructions). The musket can either plug into the underside of the truck, forming a second exhaust pipe, or clip onto the roof of the truck via a C joint. Kup noticeably has a peculiar elbow setup; the top hinge moves vertically, while the bottom hinge moves horizontally. Interestingly, due to his transformation, Kup's truck mode features a working tailgate.
- Despite appearances, his musket does not have a proper 5 mm peg, being slightly smaller. This makes it impossible for Kup to hold 5 mm accessories without stretching and potentially damaging his hands. Coincidentally, it's about the same size as the smaller peg on Classics Grimlock's spring loaded launcher, meaning they can swap weapons. The extra, proper 5 mm ring on Grimlock's weapon makes it a loose fit on Kup's open hands, though.
- He was later retooled/redecoed into Swerve, whose head was depicted in Kup's instructions before the retool was officially announced, and was separately retooled into BotCon 2013 Hoist and Autobot Electrons.
| Generations mold: Kup | ||
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- Autobot Warriors (multi-pack, 2014)
- Accessories: "laser musket" rifle/exhaust pipe
- Generations Sergeant Kup was re-released in a three-pack with Universe Ratchet and Reveal the Shield Perceptor, available from Hasbro Asia and TakaraTomy Mall. All three Autobots feature new metallic paint decoes.
- This release of Kup simply calls him "Kup", without any additional trademark prefixes.
| Generations mold: Kup | ||
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United
- Autobot Kup (February 26, 2011)
- ID number: UN-17
- Accessories: "Musket gun"/tailpipe
- United "Autobot Kup" is a redeco of Generations Autobot Kup in metallic paint. Other changes include silver paint on his stomach, painted rims, and a smaller Autobot symbol with a silver border. Surprisingly, Kup is presented with his cy-gar attached to his mouth on the back of his package.
| Generations mold: Kup | ||
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"What did he say? Put on our tuxedos?"
"I want some taquitos."
- Autobot Set (Multi-pack, 2011)
- Accessories: Rifle/tailpipe
- Dubbed "Autobot Kup Damage Version", this redeco of the 2010 Kup mold (see above) is cast in brighter teals, with silver "scrape" paint marks (as well as other additional paint applications), giving him a more weathered look (despite his more saturated color palette). Official photography depicted this Kup as bright blue, but that was a case of photography having trouble with his shade of teal.
- This version was only available in an e-HOBBY exclusive three-pack with a clear-blue Hot Rod and Scrapheap. Preorders for the set were opened on December 13, 2010 and closed on January 11, 2011, and with the set shipping in April.
- This figure was available with a Hot Rod pin and Macrocosmic Seekers booklet directly from e-Hobby, he was also released in Asian countries outside of Japan without said pin and booklet.
| Generations mold: Kup | ||
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Bot Shots
- Scourge / Sergeant Kup / Blitzwing (Multi-pack, 2013)
- Series: 2
- Number: BP006
- Fist strength: 762
- Blaster strength: 598
- Sword strength: 260
- Part of the second wave of Series 2 three-packs, "Sergeant Kup" is a redeco of Spin Shot Ironhide in cyan in homage to Generation 1 Kup and thus turns into a pickup truck with a massive spoiler. As a Spin Shot toy, an impact to his front bumper will cause him to autotransform while his top half spins around.
- The second wave of Series 2 three-packs didn't reach mass retail in the United States, only showing up in discount stores like Ross.
Kre-O
- Autobot Kup (Kreon Micro-Changer, 2014)
- Bag number: 33501 39
- Accessories: Stand-brick, small pistol
- Part of the fourth full series of blind-packed Kreon Micro-Changers, Kup can be rebuilt from a robot to a pickup truck. His deco is based on his Generation 1 namesake, although his grey plastic is lighter than usual.
- He uses the very popular Hound style helmet.
Platinum Edition
- Autobot Heroes (5-pack, 2016)
- Accessories: Springer's weapons (dual missile launcher, two missiles, rotor blades/sword), Arcee's weapons (2 swords), Kup's "laser musket" rifle/exhaust pipe, Ultra Magnus' 2 guns, Blurr's weapons (Sniper rifle, left & right pistols), Minimus Ambus figure
- Part of Hasbro's Platinum Edition offerings for 2016 intended to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, Sergeant Kup is a more "screen-accurate" redeco of his Generations Deluxe Class toy, with his primary plastic color being cast in a lighter shade of teal, the metallic gray plastic parts and paint operations replaced with cyan, and featuring additonal new paint operations (including painted rims).
- Most copies of this figure appear to suffer from the same assembly error as Transformers Timelines Electrons and Hoist, whereby the central chest assembly doesn't fully rotate up into place. Luckily, this can be easily fixed by removing the three screws holding the chest together and turning the spring-loaded panel inside 180 degrees around, taking care of the spring when reinserting it into its slot.
- Sergeant Kup was released as part of 5-pack with Ultra Magnus (including Minimus Ambus), Autobot Springer, Arcee and Blurr. The set also included a recreation of the theatrical poster for the 1986 movie. In the United States, this set was officially a Target exclusive, but was only available via the company's website, never sold in stores. It was also released in Singapore, although it's currently unknown whether it was exclusive to any particular stores there or not. In Canada, it was available via the Canadian Walmart website but never found in stores, whereas in the United Kingdom, it was available via the UK Toys"R"Us website but was sold in some stores. In Spain, it was available via the Spanish subsidiaries of both Amazon and Carrefour, as well as the department store chain El Corte Inglés, supposedly also only available online. In Germany, it was available via retailer Real and specialty store Rappelkiste Ahlen, also only available online.
| Generations mold: Kup | ||
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Titans Return
"I pieced it together, mostly from sugar packets."
- Flintlock & Sergeant Kup (Deluxe Class, 2017)
- Accessories: 2 guns, Flintlock Titan Master
- Titans Return "Sergeant Kup" transforms from a robot based on the character's Guido Guidi All Hail Megatron design into a futuristic pickup truck based on his alt mode in The Transformers: The Movie, with colors based on his original toy. Kup's head is formed by Titan Master Flintlock, who can also transform into a robot and pilot Kup's vehicle mode, although the wideness of the cockpit combined with an ineffective tab recess often results in him falling out of position inside.
- Kup's two 5mm guns can combine into a larger weapon incorporating a Titan Master seat, or can be mounted separately on his truck bed, where there are also three pairs of pegs to attach Titan Masters. The guns can also be combined and mounted onto his back in robot mode.
- All copies of Kup (including his redecoes/retools) are misassembled; his leg panels' central lines between the two sculpted square details do not line up with the line extending beyond it. If you want to fix this, you have two options:
- 1. You can use a small handsaw to carefully cut off the parts that connect the pieces to his wheels and swap the pieces before gluing them back.
- 2. The other option involves using a soldering iron to heat the head of the pins and then pushing the wheels and the panels off, then reattaching them to the correct sides. This can be difficult and risks causing damage to the toy. If attempting this method, USE EXTREME CAUTION to avoid injury.
Legends
*sproing!*
"How long was that?"
- Targetmaster Cher (Targetmaster Kup)[1] (September 30, 2017)
- ID Number: LG46
- Accessories: Headmaster, Recoil Targetmaster
- Legends "Targetmaster Cher" is a redeco and retool of Titans Return Deluxe Class Sergeant Kup, featuring new arms, a new face on the Headmaster and a color scheme based on his appearance in the G1 animated series. Instead of the two guns the original version had, he comes with Recoil, a completely new molded Targetmaster who transforms from robot to gun. Although Kup's robot mode matches his original design better thanks to his new arms, this unfortunately creates noticeable gaps in his truck mode, as well as making the robot mode fists more visually obvious.
- Early stock photography of Legends Kup showed him in a color scheme so desaturated that he was entirely grey, but later images reflected his cartoon-accurate dark-green-grey colors. The figure is unfortunately plagued by the leg panel misassembly from the original Titans Return release.
Studio Series
- Kup (Deluxe Class, 2020)
- Movie: The Transformers: The Movie
- Hasbro ID number: 86-02
- TakaraTomy ID number: SS-61
- TakaraTomy release date: April 20, 2021
- Accessories: Musket laser, energon goodie dispenser, "Sea Squid Showdown" backdrop
- Released to commemorate the 35th anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, Studio Series Kup is based on his appearance in the Generation 1 cartoon. His limbs are attached on 5 mm posts, and can be removed to recreate the scene of his repair by Hot Rod. The pegs used to attach his limbs lack any kind of locking mechanism though, which makes it very easy to unintentionally remove them. Oddly, this feature is not documented in his instructions.
- He comes with an Energon goodie dispenser and a musket laser based on his original toy's gun accessory, both of which can be mounted on his vehicle mode.
- Like all Studio Series figures, the interior of the package forms a diorama display for the figure. In this case, it is Kup and Hot Rod's fight against the giant squid on Quintessa.
- The vehicle mode roof's coloration appears to be based on an incorrect fan-coloring of his character model that takes its colors from a scene in the film that features a mixture of highly exposed lighting and very dark shadows, leading to a lot of colors looking similar if one doesn't pay close attention. This model regularly makes its rounds on the web due to it being readily available on Pinterest. Unfortunately, due to the incorrect fan-colored model, it appears that the entire figure's transformation was built with this color layout in mind, as the sides of the roof form his faux-shoulder wheel wells and the center of the roof has been painted into the lighter shade to match said parts. A more accurately colored-model that was recreated using production material and color charts can be found here. Oddly, Kup also has movie-styled Autobot insignia with "angry" eyes instead of the Generation 1-styled insignia.
- Care should be taken when rolling Kup along any surface in vehicle mode; the painted robot mode crotch area that is part of the vehicle mode undercarriage does not fold up far enough to prevent dragging and paint damage.
- If one so chooses, Kup can accommodate Legends Recoil in robot mode; however, there is no way to mount the Targetmaster onto his vehicle mode.
Buzzworthy Bumblebee
- Kup (Deluxe Class, 2021)
- Series: Studio Series
- Movie: The Transformers: The Movie
- ID number: 86-02BB
- Accessories: Musket laser, energon goodie dispenser, "Battle of Autobot City" backdrop
- A minor redeco of Studio Series Kup, now sporting an opaque windshield instead of a clear one, tampographed scuffs and damage, gray wheels, and a Generation 1-style Autobot insignia instead of the live-action film Autobot insignia. Also, notably, the vehicle mode roof is now a more accurate green instead of the turquoise the above Studio Series figure sports. This release replaces his original backdrop with a "Battle of Autobot City" one. His eyes are also painted a brighter shade of blue, resolving the dead-eyed look of the original release.
- The problem with the vehicle mode undercarriage dragging on the original release of this mold was fixed on this version.
- Like much of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line-up, Kup was found at retail in Taiwan in early December 2021 with no prior announcement.
War for Cybertron Trilogy
- Behold, Galvatron! Unicron Companion Pack (Leader Class, 2022)
- War for Cybertron Trilogy Kup is a non-transforming and immobile minifigure, barely 10mm tall, scaled to interact with the immense HasLab Unicron figure and its clear display base. This was one of a set of 14 minifigures in the "Unicron Companion Pack" that was included with the "reformatting" version of Galvatron. The set was exclusive to Hasbro Pulse.
Merchandise
Transformers Trading Card Game
- Sergeant Kup, Veteran Sergeant (2018)
- Wave 1
- Rarity: CT
- Card Number: T34/T40
- Stars: 7
- Sergeant Kup, Veteran Sergeant is one of forty double-sided character cards available in Wave 1 of the Transformers Trading Card Game.
- The artwork on the card is reused from the Transformers Legends mobile game, and is based on the Transformers: Generations Sergeant Kup toy.
- Sergeant Kup, Wrecker Leader (2020)
- Wave 5: Titan Masters Attack
- Rarity: RT
- Card Number: T35/T46
- Stars: 7
- This card's set was originally set for an April 2020 release, however due to the global COVID-19 pandemic the release was pushed back to May 29, 2020.
Notes
- Kup's appearance in the Takara Kre-O online manga pre-dates his reveal as a Micro-Changer. Given wave-mate Rodimus also appears in the story but doesn't actually use the same parts as the toy version, it's a safe bet that this was a coincidence.
- Two almost-realized BotCon exclusives from Fun Publications included a redeco of Generations Sergeant Kup into Generation 1 Crosshairs and Machine Wars Hubcap (utilizing a Hoist/Electrons head).[2][3]
- The Thrilling 30 Deluxe Class Orion Pax mold had a pretooled alternate head based on Kup, but this tooling never came to fruition. At the unofficial Pete's Robot Convention 2018, former Fun Publications displayed a mock-up of what this Kup figure would have looked like, courtesy of extra parts from a test run of the 2015 figures Lio Convoy and Nova Prime.[4]
References
- ↑ The Japanese text on the packaging is チャー / "Cher", but the English subtitle says "Kup".
- ↑ BotCon 2014 attendee report
- ↑ Tweet by Jesse Wittenrich, 2017/03/20
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/PetesRoboCon/posts/569672986709925
