Transformers Fans Toys FT-22 Koot (Masterpiece Kup)
Interestingly, Fanstoys items usually come with an outer plastic baggie to protect the box. My Koot didn’t though so I’m not 100% about this one.
Also, Koot is the only FT release to come in a matte finish box, usually FT boxes have a glossy finish. Strange.
Since this is a Third Party, non-official item, it’s best to get some stickers from Reprolabels/Toyhax.com to make this guy more “toon-accurate”.
To apply, I find the best way to stick the stickers on is to use the tip of a blade, this way you have more control over the application, as compared to using just your fingers. You can also use the blade to help gently peel off a corner of the sticker in case you didn’t center it right and need to re-apply.
Kup is an old warhorse, being one of the oldest of the Autobots, he has seen his fair share of battles since the early days of the war, often sharing thousands of his long tales of his adventures and experiences in battles with the younger Autobots. The Dinobots apparently love hearing his war stories. Kup also often serves as a mentor to young Autobot Hot Rod, keeping the brash and reckless youngster in check before he does anything too dangerous.
Musket Laser
Kup’s Musket Laser is as old as he is, it supposedly shoots highly concentrated hydrochloric acid.
Targetmaster Recoil
Recoil is a retired prismaball player, prismaball is a popular sport on Nebulos. He is the perfect partner for Kup since both are old “warriors” and appreciate what wisdom comes from old age means.
Target On!
Transforming Koot is a bit of a pain. As per usual, Fans Toys transformations can be a bit difficult and over-complex. There’s also a portion where you have to force certain parts of his backpack around to get them where they need to go, not fun and I really don’t want to do that too often as there is a tendency that the hinge might break if done too many times. Tabbing all the flaps and parts down is also a problem in some areas.
Recoil Targetmaster can also be mounted on Koot’s vehicle form.
Koot stands roughly 7.75 inches and weighs 320 Grams.
Diecast parts include:
–Chest panels
–Waist
–Knees
–Feet
Koot comes with an alternate faceplate that has a mouth hole for holding his cy-gar. In the IDW continuity, Kup and Outback crash on a planet littered with Shockwave’s Ore-8 crystals. Prolonged exposure to the crystals drove Kup insane and after he was rescued, he would continually need to rely on synthesized Ore-8 in his cy-gar to keep him composed.
My set came with 2 cy-gars for some reason. Also, Lighter blue eyes are included with the set.
Koot also comes with optional “clear window” chest pieces. I didn’t feel like swapping out the default ones as the tabs seemed pretty in there and I was worried forcing them free would break something.
Overall, it’s not bad. It looks great in robot mode and the joints and diecast heft on the figure are all good. The only real problems come from when you try to transform him as there’s no fun in it due to the over-complexity when things could’ve been more simple. Luckily he is packed in his robot mode so we don’t have to suffer through transformations every time we have to get him out of the box (unlike official Takara Tomy MPs).
The line break on the center of his chest is a bit of an eyesore for me though. It annoyed me so much that it was a deal breaker for me back when this figure first rolled out. I eventually got over it and grabbed Koot when FT made the reissue/ 2nd production run, since at that point it was very iffy if Takara would ever release an official version of Kup.
I just wish Fans Toys included an optional whole solid window piece instead of the clear halves so it would solve that problem.
Gold
