Maketoys Cupola Review

       Whats up guys and gals! Today I'm going to do a review on Maketoys' not Headmaster Chromdome- Cupola. Well, as we all know, Chromdome is one of the main character in the Headmaster's series, and Maketoys is following the Japanese version of Chromdome rather than the American version.

Here we have a snapshot of Chromdome from the Japanese series.

We'll go into the box design right away. Cupola's box design is very straight-forward, featuring both the robot and alternate mode in the front of the box. 

At the back we have pictures featuring some of his gimmick, his headmaster buddy and his weapons.

The black box design gives him a masterpiece kind of feel and I think its a nicely designed box. Another thing is that the box is rather small considering the size of this figure and I really do love the fact that they keep the box in a manageable size. (I'm running out of space for TF boxes LOL) Neat, compact and space saving box, nice....

Taking a closer look at one of the picture at the back of the box, featuring his alternate mode's gimmick with his headmaster by its side.

He we have Chromdome / Cupola out of the box, and as you can see, he comes in his robot mode, not much accessory, just his instruction manual and 2 blasters. Nice and straightforward. 

We take a closer look at his blasters. Its a very G1 looking baster, very much like the one in the cartoon. The mold looks nice but the color looks a bit too simple though, as it comes as a whole red plastic, with just the tip of the scope painted blue, not that its badly designed, but I do prefer the Fansproject's not Chromdome weapon.

This configuration is with a longer handle for him to hold his blaster in robot mode.

Simply flip the handle to make it shorter to attach his weapons at the back of his alternate mode.

Here we have a look at his instruction manual. Nice and helpful manual. However, he does not come with any collector's card though. Not a big deal, but most companies these days do come with collector's card.  Just saying.    :)

Next we move on to Cupola himself. As you can see, he is the most G1 accurate Chromdome till date for me. I mean, look at this guy, HE IS Chromdome! The design is very very G1 accurate, the head design, the colors, even the place he stores his tires in robot mode is also very accurate. In the cartoon, he stores his tires at his hips and both his foot, which is similar in Cupola's case. The only part which I do't really like about this figure is his feet's design. It looks a little bigger than its suppose to be, kind of like he is wearing sneakers. Feet problems aside,his body ratios are excellent in my opinion. Some features that make this figure even better is that he has rubber tires and die-cast. Overall he has a good weight when you hold him, and plastic quality is above average. So far I have no issues with Maketoys' plastic.

Side view looks just fine.

Back view is OK, just some hollow parts over his upper shoulders and feet. No big deal.

A little close up on his thighs, I do love the details and attention they put on this figure. The piston like design at the back of the thigh is nice, and if you take a closer look, the knee joints are die-cast. Hurrah!

Here we have a closer look at his upper body. His shoulders are a little higher than G1 Chromdome, but its not a glaring issue. Just a nit-pick. Love the G1 accurate color.

Next we move on to Cupola's face. The design to me is very G1-like, Kudos to Maketoys for their effort. Sadly mine has a tiny bit of paint blemish over his orange face plate. Not very obvious, but its there. Also, I wish they would use a slightly lighter orange and the face will look much better for me. The light grey part for his face looks OK but I think a little panel lining would make the face look much much better. 

Just for comparison.

Side view for his head design. Great design as a whole. Just ignore my previous nit-picks LOL. He looks great.

Back view.

His head turns a full 360 degrees.

You can make him look up or down, but you can only choose one at a time. You need to turn the part that connects his head the other way around if you want to change from looking down or up.

This way for looking down.

This way for looking up.

Some parts of his shoulder are die-cast if you look carefully.

And here's the best part I like most about Cupola - the headmasters gimmick when they have transform and attach their heads. It shows their individual stats namely: Speed, Strength and Intelligence. It does not show up as we insert the head like the G1 toys, but it still brings back memories. The static stats on his chest are die-cast. 

The mid-section of his body is also well designed and is very cartoon accurate. The red crotch piece and wheels by his waist is G1 accurate, unlike Fansproject's CODE who does not have a crotch piece altogether. 

Next we have a look at his lower body. The feet are not badly designed per se , just that it makes him looked like he's wearing sneakers. Most people's complain come from his feet design and I do agree, but not to the extend of not purchasing this figure.

Just a little comparison with the cartoon, the wheels actually made up his heels and the only the tip of the feet are milky color.

His shoulder rotated a full 360 degrees, pretty standard for today's figure.

Shoulder abduction is about 95 degrees,

Not sure how to describe this articulation, but you get the idea. Lets call it the hugging pose. 

With a little manipulation of his shoulder you can go all the way. 

" I went fishing with Hotrod, and I caught a fish, it was this big!"

His shoulder does move backwards to some extend.

And slightly forward movement over the shoulder.

Elbow flexion and internal rotation/biceps swivel.

Biceps swivel turns a full 360

Elbow flexion is about 90 degrees.

His hands has no individual articulations, the thumb is static, and the other 4 fingers move as 1 unit.

Its a little disappointing that a 3rd party figure this size does not have individual articulating fingers. I means X-transbot has done a wonderful job for his not Megatron figure with fully articulating fingers. 

Opens up, and you can see the groove in his hands to fit his blasters.

Wrist also rotates a full 360 degrees.

His hips can rotate a full 360 degrees, but you need to lift up his alternate mode's hood to allow him to rotate.

Kind of like Fansprojects' Steelcore.

Next we have a look at his hips. range of movement over his hips for abduction is rather limited as it is hindered by the 2 tires on either side of his waist. Sad that he can't perform a perfect split. The only good thing about his hips is that they are on a nice ratchet joint.

Hip flexion is also limited to about 70 degrees, this time hindered by his crotch piece.

Extension is much better to about 90 degrees.

He has a thigh swivel which allows a full 360 rotation and they are on a tight ratchet joint.

Knees are also on ratchet joints and it allows 90 degrees knee flexion.

Really love the rubber tires and the gold chrome finishing. Looks awesome.

Some foot flexion.

Foot extension.

Minimal inward tilting.

Another issue with his feet is that the front part tends to pop out easily, which can be a nuisance. You can easily pop them back on, but they do sometimes get you frustrated when you try to pose him.

OK, next we have a look at the headmaster himself. As a whole he is a very detail figure even for his small size, the paint job for him is great, the face, the visors, they look cool, just that the legs looks a bit bigger than they should. ( Again, the feet issue! Why do they always miss the feet? )

The headmaster is not very accurate in the sense that the hands are not painted red, chest design is not the same and he really needs some panel lining. 

Side view looks a bit funny though, not sure how to comment, haha.

From the back we can see the eyes are well hidden, the concept is the same as the Fansprojects' headmasters. It automatically hides the face as the headmaster stands up.

Feet issue aside, this mini figure has the most articulations among all the headmasters that I own. (Yes, even PE Warden) His hands does go all the way up, but he is unable to rotate a full 360 degrees as his is hindered by Chromedome's face.

But he has about 80 degrees of abduction over his shoulder. How cool is that!?

Elbow flexion is about 90 degrees.

he can even do some hip abductions.

Some hip flexion action.

His knees can flex all the way in as it is part of his transformation.

A little close up 

Transformation is similar to PE Warden, and even Saber for MP24.

And next we move on to his alternate mode. He transforms into a cycbertronian car and again he is very very G1 accurate alternate mode. Hard to find a figure who is G1 accurate in both robot mode and alternate for a 3rd party figure, but I think Maketoys nailed it. Transformation is moderate from robot mode to alternate mode, you basically fold out the robot then fold it back again to transform him. Not sure you understand what I'm saying, but that's the rough idea. You can see-through the windscreen and you can observe the headmaster happily driving his car on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. 

Looks very sleek and love the designs. 

Top view.

Side view. The rubber tires roles nicely without restriction and the gold chrome looks very awesome.

I would say the alternate mode looks 95% accurate from this view :)

Back view looks a bit like an APC, but if you have a look at the Headmasters series again, it is actually very accurate.

Here we have the headmaster showing off his new ride.

Youcan see the car seats for his alternate mode and the interesting part is that its a 2-seater and later he can accommodate his other headmaster buddies for a ride around town LOL.

The driver's seat also features a steering wheel which itself has some nice details. 

He sits comfortably inside.

We can see him inside the car. ( Though not very clear )

Looks good to me.

His 2 blasters can be attached at the top of the car hood just like in the series.

A little size comparison with MP-18

Though his scale in robot mode for MP is quite accurate, his alternate mode is not I guess. Or maybe Cycbertronian car is just big.

OK, now we compare Cupola with Fansproject's CODE. Well, as a whole, Maketoys' take on Chromedome is more G1 accurate than Fansproject both in robot and vehicle mode. Maketoys features die-cast parts and rubber tires, while Fansproject does not. Fansproject wins in terms of articulation and interesting transformation. Both have issues with their feet. One looks like a duck feet while the other forgets to take off his sneakers. LOL

Oh, another advantage for Cupola is that it scales well with MP series. (Which seems like path most 3rd party is going )
Both are interesting figures, depends on your personal taste and what you look for in a figure.

Have a look at the pictures below and compare both of them for yourself.

They ae both going for a ride while you debate which is the better Chromdome.

Cupola basically has an awesome upper body design and articulation and he is so flexible that he can hold Starsaber's sword with both hands and look cool doing it.

A little boxing pose.

A little size comparison with MP8

With Maketoys' Green Giant.

With Fanstoys' Soar.

And here he is with MP9 and MP10. They do look good together.

A little idea for scaling. Taken snapshots from the series.

Here he is with Apollyon 

With Swerve and Wardog.

With Bee and Prowl

With Steelcore.

Summary:

Pros: Scales well with MP figures, awesome G1 accuracy for both robot and alternate mode. Has die-cast, rubber tires (with gold chrome), chest stats gimmick, great articulation for his headmaster. Above average plastic quality, almost perfect paint job, fairly stable figure. 

Cons: Ugly feet, Front part of feet pops out easily, poor articulations over hips, no individual articulating fingers.



Thank you for reading folks! DO drop me a comment about what you think about this review and ways to improve it.