G1 Kup

Robot Mode: How do you make a robot look like an old man? Well, in Kup's case the designers opted to put some strategically placed lines on his face to make it look aged and gave him a body design that somehow manages to look dated. It's not as successful at conveying the old-man-look as Animated Ratchet, but it does a pretty good job, too. You wouldn't mistake Kup here for a young whipper-snapper, that's for sure.

Kup is a pretty typical example of the year he was built in. In 1986 the emphasis of the G1 figures shifted away from realistic alt modes with the robot mode coming to second toward robots with futuristic alt modes, leaving a bit more freedom in regards to robot design. Kup looks pretty decent and, considering the time, he is actually not that bad in terms of posability, either. He has full arm articulation including wrists and elbows. The rest of him is a statue, but that still makes him quite a bit more posable than other figures from that year.

As a weapon Kup carries a simple laser pistol. This was later replaced with a Targetmaster figure when the figure was reissued in 1987. But we're not quite into the gimmick-years, yet, so Kup we're pretty much done now. Bottom line, Kup is a decent-looking figure, nicely detailed and, for his time, quite posable. A good robot mode.

Alternate Mode: Kup transforms into a futuristic-looking pick-up truck, hence his name: picK-UP. Not really a whole lot you can write here. The transformation is simple and the vehicle mode looks pretty smooth and simple. Sadly there is no place to mount his weapon, that only came later with the Targetmaster version. The back of the pick-up could have used a bit more work, too, it's just a flap resting between Kup's spread legs, but all in all the truck is okay. Nothing spectacular, but a good, solid vehicle mode.

Remarks: One of the major new characters introduced in the Transformers Movie (1986) was Kup, the grumpy old veteran who liked to tell stories of old adventures and always offered advice, whether it was asked for or not. He went on to play a major part in the third season of the cartoon series, too, and became a Targetmaster in the G1 cartoon finale "Rebirth". He didn't play a major role in the comics and in current IDW comics continuity he's a vegetable floating in a CR chamber, but Kup is still one of the more prominent G1 characters.

While Kup doesn't quite pull off the old man look as good as Animated Ratchet does, he still does a pretty good job and is a nice, solid figure considering the time he was made in. He's certainly not among the top Transformers of all time, but seeing as he's one of the major players of the Movie and season 3 of the cartoon, he should be part of any serious G1 collection, either in this or the Targetmaster version. So recommended to all G1 fans.

Rating: B