Cliffbee.com Crosshairs Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Crosshairs
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Weapons Supervisor
Alternate Mode: Cybertronian Dune Buggy



BUGGY MODE
Height: 4.5cm Length: 12cm Width: 8cm

   A blue enclosed dune-buggy like car with a red cage around the cabin, off white windows and big black tyres with red hubcaps. There are pop-up headlight seams and a winch moulded on the front, along with a rubsign indent, while some silver and blue stickers grace the back of the car. I'm not sure that Cybertron has dune buggies (or sand, for that matter), but Crosshairs is clearly configured for some sort of off-road activity. His colours work well, the red blue and black (which is actually a very dark grey) fit together nicely.

   The play value here is about what you'd expect - the tyres roll and you can mount Pinpointer's gun mode in a hole on top of the roof. Since there's no spoiler I feel Crosshairs looks better with gun than without. It helps that Pinpointer's colours match Crosshairs's own quite closely - the addition looks very natural. It's quite unusual for Nebulans to match the *master so well.

   The moulding here is slightly disappointing compared to Transformers of previous years, but is typical of the more stylised 1987 Transformers. Still, the headlights, winch, tyre tread pattern and some fairly intricate piping just above the rear tyres prove that effort was put into this mode.

   A good car mode, Crosshairs has the best of the 1987 Autobot Targetmasters in my opinion (although all are good). The big tyres give this vehicle character while the gun is a great compliment. A little more play value would have been nice, but Crosshairs isn't lacking compared to other Targetmasters.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Lift the back section up and ratchet it back to form his legs, lift up the feet. Swing the rear tyres behind the thighs, stand him up. Grasp the front fenders and pull out to the sides to form his arms, fold out the fists from inside the arms. Fold the rubsign onto his back, pop the head out from within the chest. Attach Pinpointer in gun mode in either hand if you like.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 14.5cm Width: 11cm

   Again a mix of red, blue and black, Crosshairs has a red chest and some more red on his thighs - the red is now far more prominent, vying with the blue for dominance. The blue is still quite prominent, mind you - on his arms and boots, while his feet, groin, hands are head are black. His face is while as is the top of his chest, which is the windshield. There's actually some white plastic on his just visible shoulder struts, which is used nowhere else on the toy. I can't complain about this colour scheme - the silver stickers are mainly on his legs and along with his white paint give Crosshairs some colour. The white paint on his face does well to highlight his facial detail.

   The front wheels sit on his arms, and along with the cabin on his chest really make it clear that Crosshairs has a car alt mode - a lot of 1987 Transformers had somewhat generic robot modes, so this is a definite plus for Crosshairs. There is a connection between his ankles which is kind of disappointing - the legs are otherwise separated. The mount on his roof forms something of a belly button, and to the left is an Autobot symbol sticker.

   Play value is again fairly typical of the time. His shoulders rotate and there's even some sideways lifting of his arms (which is a bonus even if the joints are for the transformation). The shoulders rotate through eight notches, which help Crosshairs hold his somewhat heavy weapon. I'm happy to report that the long, twin-barrelled Pinpointer makes an excellent gun, and not just because of the colour match. His knees bend as one for the transformation but this offers no poseability.

   While I'm not sure I'd count it as a flaw, this robot mode is very boxy and square. The connection between the ankles does hurt visually but I imagine he'd have trouble standing otherwise. With good colours, nice shoulder joints and a perfectly suite Targetmaster, this is a good robot mode.

Pinpointer
   A double jointed gun, the handle sits on his back, which becomes the underside of the gun while the stock is his legs. The barrels fold up on his back, attached at the heels. The resulting humanoid mode is pretty good, with a hinge at the hips, two barrels sticking out behind the shoulders and no screws or handle on the front. His face is silver with a nose, eyes and a mouth.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of.

OVERALL

   Pretty much everything works here, from the Targetmaster partner to both modes. The colours are sensible and there's some nice detailing here. I personally find Crosshairs a little uninspiring but I can't argue with the end result. Easily one of the best Targetmasters, recommended if you like the Master toys - 7.5/10

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