Prime Sergeant Kup

 

Robot Mode: First thing I’d like to mention is that this is the second Prime figure where Hasbro and Takara-Tomy gave the same mold different paint jobs and names. Thundertron aka Lio Prime was the first, while Sergeant Kup here was painted red and released as Ironhide in Japan. Given that the alternate mode, the two arm cannons and the general look of the figure all bear similarities to Movie Ironhide, it’s quite evident that Ironhide was the original intention behind this mold, not Kup. Still, Kup is whom we have here, so let’s move on.

Kup makes for a very streamlined, compact-looking robot with no kibble worth mentioning (except one part on his back) and very nice detailing. He’s got a fake windshield on his chest, the real one from the vehicle mode being on his back, but I can live with that, no problem. The only slightly bothersome detail on him is the aforementioned part hanging off his back, the hood of the vehicle mode. A single hinge to fold it fully down or at least twist it around would have worked wonders here. As things stand it just juts out back there, but being on the back, you don’t notice it too much.

Articulation is standard for current-day Deluxe figures, meaning fully satisfying. Kup can do all sorts of poses and despite having relatively small feet, he has a stable stance, too. Finally, the weapon(s). As a nod to Movie Ironhide Kup comes with two big gun barrels that he can hold in hand or attach to his forearms. Also, the two barrels can combine into the G1-Megatron-Memorium-Blaster, which he can also hold in hand or clip to his forearm. In my personal canon Kup swiped the big fusion cannon from WfC Megatron for himself, which is why Megs doesn’t have it in the trailer for Fall of Cybertron and why he eventually reformatted into Prime Megatron. Did I give this too much thought? Probably.

Anyway, Prime Sergeant Kup is a very nice robot, full stop. Certainly not a revelation and possibly better as Ironhide, but still a very nice robot with a visual that fits into both Prime and Generations. Thumbs up.

Alternate Mode: Kup transforms into a pickup truck of no particular real-world model. It looks like a shortened version of the pickup truck that Generations Kup becomes, while also bearing some similarities to the GMC Topkick model Movie Ironhide transforms into. Not that much I can write here, to be honest. Transparent windows are always good, no visible robot parts even better. Weapons can be stored on the back (which you should do, as the loading bed looks funny when empty) or plugged into the sides for an attack mode. So all in all a fully serviceable vehicle mode. Nothing special, but quite sufficient.

Remarks: Kup and Ironhide have in common that they’re considered old veterans (at least in G1 and the aligned continuity of Prime / War for Cybertron, as well as Ironhide’s Movie incarnation), so making one a repaint of the other makes a certain amount of sense. Originally Ironhide was announced for the Hasbro Prime toyline as well, but for unknown reasons he was replaced by (or rather repainted into) Kup, while remaining a part of Takara’s Arm Microns line. Currently neither of them is scheduled to ever appear in the Prime TV series, though.

As for the toy, I like it. It’s certainly not an all-time classic and I was kinda bummed to see how much smaller it was than that other Deluxe-class Kup I own, but apart from that: really good. Now if you want a good Kup, I’d still recommend the Generations version, mind you, but Prime Kup is a nice figure and can easily fit with most of the current toy lines.

Rating: B