Xtb Magnus and Springer in there would look sweet as hell.

 

Yeah thought as much, thanks for confirming!

That’s pretty much the plan  

Although I’m not sold on the UM gorilla arms…

I reckon I’ll still be able to squeeze a Perceptor and a Blur in there too….can’t be long till XTB announces their version…can it?

I reckon the default face sculpt on this is fantastic btw.

 

I'm hoping so. They seem to be on fire aesthetically with the Autobot Movie crew.

 

Although it’d prob still be about 4 years away minimum  

Looking at him stood there now, and knowing the target masters will stay in the box for me and likely many others, the one accessory I wish they’d given him….

….a tiny box of energon goodies  

 

The treats? Somebody still offer the 3d printed one on ebay?

 

Wait, whut? (Opens eBay app)  

 

my daughter just took a wiff of the inside of the box and figure i asked her what it smelt like and she instantly said farts ( well her first description was "like shit" and then like farts   )

 

If anyone is interested in selling me their v.1, in any condition, for parts (looking for hands and faces, or at least the neutral face) please send me a PM. Thanks!

 

So aside from the, uh, smell... which is unsettling and sounds unpleasant... is the consensus that v2 is a categorical improvement and fixes the issues of v1?

 

I don't understand why the two tone legs... Is it something done on purpose?!

 

If its any consolation, in person it'd not a big deal. I can only presume its different plastics used for a particularly reason. What that is I have no idea.

My only issue is it's terrible for tabbing in the shark tail and gun. The gun especially.

 

I find the kup too white and clean so i use black shoe polish to dirty it a bit.

 

Okay I managed to screw his arm tighter and that sorted the wrist issue. I feel a bit better about my V2 now. Although the plate behind his head does not want to plug into his backpack

 

I had to shave down the peg that goes into his thigh in alt mode, but only on the left side. There was no way it would go in otherwise, it was about 20% misaligned.

The hips are dyed plastic. The thighs are painted metal.

You need to adjust the wheel arch parts.

 

Of all the circuit glitch, diode blowin' dim wittery, you left a piece out!!



Interestingly v1 has a knee ratchet, whilst v2 doesnt:




Might look at swapping that ratchet into v2 at a later date. Wanna see how the thigh swap works colour wise first.

Edit - done!

Very close according to my eye:




And just v2 + swapped lower thighs with Hoodlum:



They slide and seem to line up better too. Gonna look at swapping that ratchet mechanism next. Locke v2.5 inbound lol

 

Just spent some time with V2, went to alt mode and back, then compared components to V1.

Transformation was a lot easier, primarily because all the joints are more refined but also because tolerances are better. There's an extra locking mechanism between the front and rear of the legs which fully secures the legs together which makes the knee joint much more usable. There are other engineering differences, the obliques now have a locking tab to secure them to the backpack. There is no longer a vertical slider with rocker which means you lose the subtle torso side crunch he had but in favour of a much more solid torso and easier transformation. The pivots on the smaller moving pieces are stronger and nothing feels like it's on the edge of breaking. Overall the build is just as good as I'd hoped.

Pros ( against V1 )
- The paint and colour is much more to my liking, it's a darker blue with a nudge toward green. It's a subtle difference but enough that it's instantly more familiar as Kup. The paint is also a HUGE improvement
- The truck bed and sides of the truck now all secure nicely and seamlessly. there's no disjointed panels on the rear of the truck any more and it all holds together %100.
- There is more clearance in the torso because the arms and shoulders are on a vertical slider, they no longer get in the way of the wheels. The whole torso process is better because of it.
- The thigh sliders now lock as they should
- The wrists lock as they should

Cons ( against V1 )
- The windshield colour still isn't to my taste. Previously it was bright pale blue, its now a duller colour but blends into the torso still.
- There are some paint inconsistencies, this is mainly where you have the same colour painted onto diecast and plastic side by side. Clearly the materials take the paint differently. This is far far less of an issue in hand then photos but it is still there
- Still some poor painting in places. This is really minor but small paint runs etc. It's a shame as the paint is %100 on point everywhere else. But this is really nitpicking.
- Whilst all the tolerence issues are fixed, it's still a complicated transformation - But there also comes massive pros with this.
- It still has a slight wobble, even though all the joints are stiff there's just that tiny amount of play to give him an almost wobbly sensation. We don't see this with FT joints.


This is as good or better than any Fasntoys figure... hear me out.

There is nothing safe about this figure, XTB are aiming high. It's complicated, it's got a million moving parts in the torso alone, it's got diecast, paint, great articulation but does something no one else strives to do and I see it in the upcoming XTB Galvatron and Magnus. It's Accurate from every angle. In both modes, no matter how you look at it, it's cartoon accurate from the front, sides and back. An incredibly clean alt mode with no sacrifices, Koot had the most simple leg design going and it still was just toes at the end of a truck. In bot mode, we even have a rear waist flap which is accurate and functional becoming part of the truck bed. The backpack / Gas canister which is toon accurate also transforms into the truck bed. The whole design is so incredibly well done and deserves huge credit for that. I would like MORE articulation. The Ab crunch is a great step toward other modern releases but butterfly joints and fully articulated neck would be nice, appreciate that isn't always possible but Takara have set huge benchmark there and it's something to strive for.

So it has as much paint as FT ( granted, close but not quite as perfect ). It's sculpted as well as any FT. IT's built as well as any FT, it's more articulated then most FT it has just as much Diecast as an FT and it's just as solid in both modes as any FT... All whilst being accurate from the front and rear, something FT just simply don't bother to do. There is no reason this isn't up there with the upper top tier FT pieces. Coming from someone that owns every FT piece so far, excluding this figure from an argument as one of the better pieces available is just weird. The only figure I prefer to this I think is Roadking who was EXCEPTIONAL.

If FT paint is a 10. This is a 9 for %99 of the figure and a 7 on the few small issues.. It's certainly up there but just missed the mark ever so slightly.

This is Kup.... I'm now actually look forward to Virtus rather than being incredibly apprehensive. Bring on Perceptor, bring on Magnus, bring on Galvatron and give me a Hotrod / Rodimus.

 

should have held off and kept my v1   but wasn't to know they would screwup the leg colour

 

%100

 

TCP has the reissue up for preorder.

 

That’s wonderful news! Can finally pick this guy up. Thanks!