This is Kup in car mode, and I really like it. It's got the look of a classic pick-up truck, but redesigned for the modern world, sort of how the VW Beetle was redesigned, but... y'know... good. The truck mode being so nice may be a problem to some who feel that Kup should be a more old-skool and beaten up looking car, but in this case I really think it works great. Robot mode is 90% great, the transformation is extremely satisfying, especially the rotating body trick. It has all the posibility you'd expect from a modern Transformer, and it looks just weird, rickety and off-kilter enough to make Kup an believable older robot, especially in the legs where the gaps seem like a call-back to the Classics Ironhide, who is of course the OTHER old man robot. Kup comes with a "shotgun" but... I think he needs more guns. I'll work on that. Kups head is a terrifying glimpse into out inevitable spirals into old age and decreptitude. I THINK the aimed for effect it "Grumpy, shouting Sergeant", but honestly I reckon "Severe Alzheimer's" is more accurate. I can just imagine him wandering the shops looking for his childhood rabbit and shouting randomly. Side by side Kup is slightly taller in Robot mode, but in Car/Cant modes they're roughly the same size. Here's War For Cybertron Megatron for scale comparison purposes.
Kup, on the other hand, looks really good. Even with the grumpy-old-man head, he's instantly recognizable as Kup. How's the articulation in the feet? They look to be hinge joints at teh ankle rather than ball joints.
The ankle joins are good, they have an additional hidden hinge in the foot allowing left and right swivel, and the main hinge give back and forth.
From your photos, I think both figures would have been greatly improved if they had been given each other's eyes: That having been said, I'm still looking forward to these. Does Perceptor have any unofficial microscope mode or is that too much to hope for?
Yes on Kup, Perceptor has it build it, but it doesn't weem to work. Light-piping isn't a big deal for me, I'm just going to paint over the eyes anyway :/
How is Kup's face really? is it sort of shouting an order or screaming in horror like in Spotlight Kup? pic for reference. http://images.wikia.com/transformers/images/3/3c/SpotlightKup_Springersholograph.jpg (i know, it's the wrong wiki but the proper one doesn't have this pic)
He's definately not shouting commands, nor is he screaming, unless it's in utter confusion, vidmouse got it right, the problem is really in the eyes being SO big, he just looks like he's lost and should be drinking a tea in the local Co-Op's restaurant. tonight I'm going to be touching his paint up some, hopefully a black wash on hs face will make him look better.
You ever sat with an older person for a while and had them fall asleep in their seat? If you could make Kup's eyes look closed, that'd be almost exactly the expression the toy has.
yeh, that's pretty much it, except the older person is awake, and is slowly realising that they don't know where they are, who you are, and start breathing through their mouth. iGear head I SUMMON THEEEEE!
How're the colours on Kup mate? In your pics they don't look too bad at all, but how are they in person? Might cancel my united preorder!
Out-of-the-pack the turqouise is very nice, I don't have the original Kup to hand to compare, but it's not garish, and it doesn't look G2 silly, the photos are actually a pretty accurate representation
I like the look of preceptor but Kup just isn't doing it for me, those wheels poking out from his shoulders look a bit duff and the feet look too big
I LOVE the shoulder wheels, to me it's a call back to G1 style Transformers that didn't hide the wheels away, but also didn't try to make them look like something else, but your milage may vary. Yes, the feet are big, but that gives him great stability, and really, in person they fit the "old-bot" design I like so much.
I can't wait to obtain the most grumpy, gritty, ancient, and with a case of shouting because of his cyber Alzheimer's... the Autobot old timer, Kup. But this is in a good way.