Transformers Prime: Sergeant Kup

Presenting Sergeant Kup from the Transformers Prime toyline.

I'm not really sure why I picked him up. I'm not a big fan of redecos (He's technically Iron Hide, his ugly mug even looks like an Iron Hide.) Though to be fair, he's technically not a direct redeco. The Prime Sergeant Kup is based upon the Cyberverse Iron Hide (A red/orange and black F150) which is smaller than Sergeant Kup - Though there is an Iron Hide that includes an Arm Micro Transformer named Iro that should hit the market soon which is an exact redeco of Sergeant Kup.

I must have been bored.

Especially since Sergeant Kup has yet to appear in the Transformers Prime series - but who knows?




The Transformers Prime Sergeant Kup's blister card reads a very terse "Sergeant Kup delivers advice and encouragement, even in thick crossfire." Amazon happily provides a slightly longer product description: " "There's a rumor among younger Autobots that Sergeant Kup is laserproof. The aging soldier has a habit of walking calmly through even the thickest crossfire to deliver advice or encouragement to raw recruits cowering under cover."

His Transformers Prime wiki says "Kup always has advice for the youngsters. Always. Even in the middle of the worst firefight, with smoke and death all around, Kup is ready with a calmly-told tale with the right advice to get them out of a terrible situation. His incredible longevity and fearlessness in the face of Decepticon assault has given rise to the silly rumor that lasers just bounce off the veteran Autobot... and the less-silly rumor that he's just a little bit crazy. Hot Shot isn't particularly fond of working with him."

What's to like about the Transformers Prime: Sergeant Kup?

Well I have to say that one of the biggest problems I've always had with Sergeant Kup is that he looks old. And I don't mean that in a good way, I mean he looks like he's close to dropping dead. It made him a field liability in Transformers: The Movie (Go protect the old guy). Even his Generations version looks old.

So I'm quite happy that we finally have a Sergeant Kup that really looks like some old stereotypical terror drill Sergeant who will kick your ass straight out of Full Metal Jacket. Kup is solid. This particular incarnation of Sergeant Kup actually looks like someone who will be cursing at people to move forward while leading the charge with double barrages from his arm mounted cannons or with his single combined cannon.

Transformers Prime Sergeant Kup transforms into an F150 which is pretty solid but looks slightly compact. There's a drawback in terms of that gaping hole in the back which disappears if you use his cannons. His cannons can be mounted on the back, becoming some form of boosters for the F150, or on the side where they can be used as cannons:

That's about it


What's NOT to like about the Transformers Prime: Sergeant Kup?

Let's start with his articulation. Most of Transformers Prime Sergeant Kup's articulation is severely hampered by his shoulder pauldrons, his inability to turn his waist, and... his huge groin area (the "wings" on his groin) - it almost looks like his junk is sooo big he has to walk permanently with his legs open. To his credit, Sergeant Kup can kneel - in a fashion.

Next up is that big scorpion tail sticking out from Sergeant Kup's backside. I'm not really sure why the Hasbro designers just didn't fold it down back there. It sticks out like a sore thumb. You can detach it and re-attach it backwards to keep it from sticking out, but you shouldn't have to do that when you think about it.  That particular stand out also makes transforming Sergeant Kup from truck mode to robot mode a bit difficult. Because of the way the locks are designed, it sometimes feels like you're breaking the piece just for it to lift out of the hood.

That also leads us to the biggest problem of Transformers Prime Sergeant Kup: His transformation completely removes Sergeant Kup's ability to look left or right thanks to where his shoulder "armor" appears.  Here is Sergeant Kup fully transformed at a 45 degree angle: Can you see his head?

So literally if Megatron was standing beside him, Sergeant Kup would not be able to see him.

It's a really bad defect that his Generations counterpart does not have:

The simplest solution - which also solves the scorpion tail sticking out his back, is to lower the entire "hood" and not attach the shoulder pauldrons:

Of course that makes his back look fugly, but at least he can see now, and his shoulder articulation is greatly improved as the remaining pauldrons can now move up instead of being locked in place. 

But there's nothing to be done about his huge groin.

The Transformers Prime Sergeant Kup is available on Amazon for US$ 21.89 (Roughly PhP 919 plus shipping). This particular Sergeant Kup was purchased at retail from Toy Kingdom in SM Fairview for PhP 699.75 (Roughly US$ 16.66). 

Go buy the Transformers Generations Sergeant Kup instead. 

Sergeant Kup could swear he could hear someone dancing to Gangnam Style.