G.I.Joe Kup Triple T.

Listen up, maggots! Cobra and the Cons are striking at us harder than ever. But they´re gonna think twice after we whip you recruits into shape. Slaughter-Bot-style training starts at 0600.

Prelude: Slaughter: At ease, disease!
Kup: A fleshy is supposed to help me whip these guys into shape? What is Prime thinking?
Slaughter: You sad sack o’bolts talking to me? Drop and give me twenty!
Kup: Listen, kid, I was dusting Cons when your ancestors were still flinging poop at each other!
Slaughter: Then maybe you need a refresher on account of being out’a shape!
Kup: You remind me of a particular feisty Con on Alpha Ceti 3. We now use him for spare parts!
Both turning to the recruits: What are you gapin’ at, punks? Why aren’t you running yet?
Both turning towards each other again: This could be fun.

Robot Mode: Let’s start with what was, for me, the main selling point of this figure as opposed to the three previous G.I.Joe X Transformers figures. In robot mode, Kup looks like Kup who scanned a different vehicle this time around, not like G1 Kup who carries a G.I.Joe vehicle around as extra kibble. Except for the two track parts on his back (which you can detach), he is a very lean robot with barely any kibble and while he sports a somewhat different look due to the different vehicle mode, he is still easily recognizable as Kup. So very nicely done on that front.

Kup is a very good-looking robot and you cannot really tell into what kind of vehicle he transforms. Sure, a tracked one, but otherwise? Tough to tell. He is very large, of course, standing at 23cm tall, but given that he is supposed to interact with 10cm tall action figures (roughly 1/18 scale, larger than the 1/24 Alternators), he needs to be that big. He is easily Leader-Class size and we’re talking early 2000 Leader-Class. His articulation is excellent, including everything from ankle tilt to hip swivel to a ball-jointed head. Opening hands might have been nice, but otherwise I have no complaint.

Kup is also very, very solid. No metal parts, no, but one, big solid piece of plastic with no hollow spaces and tight joints that make nice ratchet sounds when moved. While Kup was never among my most favorite characters, I really like this iteration of him here a lot. He just looks big and tough. The only area where he is somewhat lacking is in terms of weapons. He can use the two guns from his vehicle mode as handguns, but they don’t look that great, I must say. He also has two missiles that can either store on his back along with the guns or near his feet, but they kind of get in the way of his ankle tilt there. I thought you could also attach the missiles to his forearms, but the pegs there are only for the transformation, the missiles don’t fit.

In order to interact with his G.I.Joe partners (see below) in robot mode, Kup can fold down the black part on his back to unveil a computer station. Two Joe figures can plug their feet into the pegs on the black part, so Kup can carry them into battle on his back. A bit weird, but it doesn’t hurt the robot any and Kup can easily maintain his balance with two Joes on his back, too.

So bottom line: while this figure’s main selling point is, of course, the G.I.Joe crossover, it also delivers one of the best Kup figures I’ve ever seen in the process. The scale makes it incompatible with most other lines, yes, but still: a brilliant Kup figure and a great robot mode overall.

Alternate Mode: While most of the G.I.Joe (and Cobra) vehicles back in the day were supposed to represent mass-produced vehicles (tanks, jets, boats, etc.), some were individualized and firmly associated with a certain character. Enter the Triple T tank (Tag Team Terminator), Sgt Slaughter’s vehicle of choice, a kind of cross between a tank and a quad. Joepedia calls it a tankette. Now I am not an expert for military hardware, but I did have the original toy back in the day (the Action Force variant, naturally, living in Europa) and I can tell you: the look is spot on! I think it might be a tad larger than the original (I no longer have it for comparison), but look-wise it’s practically identical. Very nicely done.

The transformation is not simple, but not too complex, either, and the resulting tank has no visible robot bits, not even from underneath. Well, you can kind of see Kup’s robot abs, but unless you know they are robot abs, you won’t realize they are robot abs. Nicely done.

The Triple T has a pilot seat for Slaughter and a foot peg on each side, where another Joe figure can hitch a ride. Just a single handhold on top, though. Leatherneck’s rifle, rucksack, and Slaughter’s baton can be stored on the back. In this mode, too, you can flip down the back and reveal the computer station, where another two Joes can stand. The two guns on the side can rotate and the two missiles can be taken off their pegs. The tank tracks don’t actually move, though, they have wheels on the underside.

If one really does want something to complain about, it’s that the vehicle does not really look like any of Kup’s previous vehicle modes, but that was never the point, of course. So bottom line: a brilliant vehicle mode. Show this vehicle to any G.I.Joe fan, and they’ll instantly know it and probably not suspect (at least not immediately) that they are actually looking at a robot in disguise.

Partner: Like all G.I.Joe Crossover Transformers, Kup, too, comes with a pilot for his vehicle mode, plus an extra figure to boot. Both figures come on standard G.I.Joe blister cards that are almost too nice-looking to open, really, but I managed.

The main figure is, of course, Sgt. Slaughter, the driver of the Triple T tank. Modelled after real-world wrestling legend Sgt. Slaughter (real name Robert Rudolph Remus), Slaughter is a standard 1980s Joe figure with excellent articulation and a great look, too, practically identical to the original figure from 1985, right down to the baton he carries. The second figure is Leatherneck, aka Sgt. Metzger, who comes with a rucksack and a machine gun for equipment. Both figures also come with black figure stands.

I wonder whether these two were paired together because they both proudly sport glorious mustaches. Or maybe because both Slaughter and Leatherneck, just like Kup, are Sergeants.

Remarks: Correct me if I’m wrong, but the only actual drill sergeant we’ve ever seen in the Transformers franchise was Sentinel Minor in Animated. Of course the Animated Allspark Almanach mentioned that Kup had been an instructor in the Auto-Boot Camp, too, and he’s served as a mentor for many a young bot across various Transformers series, but I don’t think we’ve ever actually seen him as a tough as nails drill instructor. Unlike Sgt. Slaughter, who whipped the Joes into shape when he joined the cartoon cast in its second season.

The previous G.I.Joe X Transformers figures were interesting, but not interesting enough for me to spend money on them, especially as they’re going for a hefty price tag. Kup, however, captured my interest due to the presence of Sgt. Slaughter, whom I liked both as a cartoon character and as a wrestler, too. So I expected to get a fun Crossover toy, which I got, but I did not expect to get a damn good Kup figure out of the deal, too. Triple T Kup is pretty awesome, the only thing he’s really missing is a better hand weapon, but with a standard fist hole you can just give him a different one. Sure, his scale is a bit off, but otherwise he is brilliant. So despite the somewhat hefty price tag, I can fully recommend him to fans of G.I.Joe and Transformers both. And Hasbro, that’s how you do a proper Crossover toy! We need more like this one.

Rating: A-