Toy
name: Crosshair Assortment: Valor vs. Venom
Wave 5 Price: MSRP $7.99 Availability: October 2004
Throughout
the classic history of G.I. Joe, we only really got one "sniper"...Low
Light. Whether the specialty was too taboo back in those days or there just
wasn't much interest, the fact is, he was the one and only marksman on either
side of the fence. As the new sculpts got released, that quickly changed. Since
2002, we now have three different snipers...two Joes and one COBRA, and this
suits me fine, as I see it as a pretty critical componant of the military machine,
both for kill-power, or for instruction purposes.
It's pretty
cool, too, that every one of these sniper figures is a pretty cool one, mold-wise...but
none as cool as Crosshair.
Figure Mold
In Wave 5 (or
Spy Troops Wave 1, whichever you prefer...) Hasbro hit the bullseye. Pretty
much every figure was a great figure, a great character, or both. Cool code
names, new characters galore, proportional molds, and new accessories. It seems
like so long ago.
Crosshair is
widely regarded as one of the greatest new sculpt figures released to date,
and it's a declaration he wholeheartedly deserves. His face sculpt is simple,
but extremely character-driven, and looks fantastic. As I said, his mold is
slim and proportional, with nicely sculpted legs and arms, actually working
well together. He has a strong, powerful military motif, yet looks different
enough to belong to an out-of-the-ordinary strikeforce. While I'm not a huge
fan of the mid-riff vest, it's a small complaint when looking at the bigger
picture. The vest hides a nicely detailed shirt, and I LOVE his quilted long
sleeves...this is a big thing with me and a reason why I like strange figures
like Skidmark and Captain Grid-Iron. Something about those quilted sleeves just
looks cool to me. His fingerless gloves are on hands a tad too small, but they
grip the sniper rifle well. His legs are straight-up military issue with nice
added kneepads (since he is a sniper and all) and very cool boots. Just a great
figure mold-wise, all in all.
Paint Applications/Color Choices
Well, nothing
is really going to top the two previous paint decos we got for this figure.
He came outfitted in a perfect jungle-green themed uniform for his first release,
and his second "Night Force" release (coincidently, in this same wave
assortment last year) was absolutely perfect to a "T". It covered
night operations, urban operations, or anything in between. This figure, while
still maintaining a cool camouflage deco, just isn't quite as cool as the previous
versions. He may top version 1, but compared to the Night Force Crosshair, he
doesn't really match up.
His vest and
pants are done up in the same tan/gray/green of Alpine's base color scheme,
and like Alpine are really some pretty cool base colors. They blend in with
numerous environments, look pretty realistic and blend nicely together. I dig
the camo on Crosshair's face, and the black gloves stand out nicely, too. The
paint apps over all seem a lot crisper and clearer on a non-paint washed figure
and the overall effect is pretty decent.
Tiger Force
would be a whole lot more successful as a unified team of troops if Hasbro could
come to a consensus on color and styling, and then stick with it. When every
other series of "Tiger Force" figures come in completely different
decos and color themes, they are completely pointless and do not work as a team
at all. These two figures don't seem to match ANY previous installments of Tiger
Force and just fall pretty flat in that regard. However, Crosshair at least
stands out nicely as his own figure, even if he's not quite as cool as the previous
two versions.
Accessories
Well, at least
Crosshair comes with his same old cool accessories...that much hasn't changed.
His vest, belt, and hat all remain great and I love their rubberized texture
that allows them to fit easily. His sniper rifle still works very well also,
and in black, it's a great little weapon.
Final Comments
Crosshair is
an amazing figure, but this version is not the best of the three. The mold and
accessories remain fantastic, but considering you have two stellar versions
of the figure to choose from, I can think of few redeeming reasons why you should
bother picking this one up. The addition of the camouflage pattern does help
to give the figure some new life, but not really as "Tiger Force"
and not necessarily any more effectively than the previous offerings did. Since
Alpine is just plain bizarre, I cannot really recommend this set.
Throughout
the classic history of G.I. Joe, we only really got one "sniper"...Low
Light. Whether the specialty was too taboo back in those days or there just
wasn't much interest, the fact is, he was the one and only marksman on either
side of the fence. As the new sculpts got released, that quickly changed. Since
2002, we now have three different snipers...two Joes and one COBRA, and this
suits me fine, as I see it as a pretty critical componant of the military machine,
both for kill-power, or for instruction purposes.
