TLK Crosshairs

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Skyquake87
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TLK Crosshairs

Post by Skyquake87 »

Name: Crosshairs
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Rogue Sharpshooter


Bio: When the chips are down, Crosshairs is the kind of guy you'd want on your team. Or you would, if it wasn't for the fact that he's self-loving and more than a bit of a jerk. Crosshairs is a paratrooper who's a mouthful of snark with a bad attitude. He's got little respect for Optimus Prime, harbouring a desire to just be on his own or otherwise be in charge himself. Despite these vices, Crosshairs is still a crack shot who always hits the ground running and makes mincemeat out of Decepticons with his firearms before they even know what hit them. And if the chips are really down, he'll come through in the end for his fellow Autobots.

Ugh. Crosshairs. I don't know what it is with the movies that they had to make the Autobots such a bunch of unlikeable jerks. Crosshairs here is immediately horrible for being a cocky prick with nothing good to say about anyone. So, I've absolutely no love for the character whatsoever. His design is quite nice though, and the alt mode is pretty swish, so he's got that going for him at least.


Robot mode: I do rather like Crosshairs robot mode. I like the design choice of a sort of steam punk cowboy they're going for here (he's got goggles = steampunk). He's got a nice sort of swagger to him, with this duster coat look, with the way the car parts dramatically flap about him and he looks pretty cool wielding his two pistols. The torso is pretty slight and scrunched up, so he is mostly arms and legs, but he carries it off well. He's notably a lot less busy than many of the movie designs, saving all the machinery greebling for his face, crotch and some scribbles in his forearms. It there's anything I don't like, it's the usual lack of paint and colour placement. He's mostly this sea of green which makes him feel a bit cheap. He does have a lot of silver paint, which I am grateful for, but just wish we could get a black wash or something on the guy, so he looks a bit more interesting. It's just a shame such things are always the preserve of Takara or some fancy box set version. Boo to that.


Alternate Mode: Crosshairs turns into a 2014 Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray, which is actually pretty nice. I like green on sports cars. The panel lines spoil it somewhat, but I like the overall look and shaping. It's got this nice forward rake to it, and I like the way the black breaks up into the green at the back, by way of these feathered swipes. The windows are also a nice sparkly smoky black which I very much like. Plus the wheel rims are painted up, which always looks great. Figure rolls nicely too, although it's a bit rough sounding thanks to the cheapy clipped wheels, so isn't very smooth.


Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation design: Transformation is pretty good, but he's another movie bot wearing most of his alt-mode on his back, so it's not particularly complex. It works in context of Crosshairs, who wears his car parts as a coat anyway. After Barricade, I'm getting a real sense that this is going to be it for how the movie bot designs are going to work in this line. 7/10

Articulation: Crosshairs' robot mode is a little swamped by car parts, so his articulation isn't all that great. The shoulders are a particular mess, with wheels and rear mudguard parts clashing whenever you move his arms. He does have double jointed elbows, which are useful for posing him with his guns, which gets you past the clutter of his shoulders. No wrist swivels, though. Leg articulation is pretty standard and again, limited by the car panels draped around him. His head can turn, but it's on a very tight mushroom peg and I found that by turning it his head splits in half. 6/10

Durability: Aside from the problems I had with his head, which I'll put down as something exclusive to my example, he's a pretty sturdy fellow. 8/10

Fun: Quibbles about the character aside, Crosshairs is actually a neat toy. I like the design of the robot mode, even if the articulation is a bit lacking (it's no worse than a Legends toy) and the vehicle mode does look nice. 9/10

Value/ Price: I picked up Crosshairs for £9.99 on clearance, so I've definitely got my money's worth. I don't think the RRP of £22.99 was stellar for these Movie Premier editions, particularly when the concurrent Titans Return Deluxes cost less. Are you paying more for the box? 8/10

Overall: A horrible character that makes for a nice toy. Two nice modes, just let down by some rather plain looking plastics and paint apps in robot mode. 7/10
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