Wednesday, 12 May 2021

Toybox REVIEW: Star Wars Black Series Crosshair

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Release Date: February 2021
RRP: $19.99/£19.99

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is fully underway on Disney+ and it's nice that there are actually toys from the series available to coincide with the release for once. That said, it probably helps that Clone Force 99 aka "The Bad Batch" had already debuted on The Clone Wars last year. While Hasbro sadly couldn't get the whole team ready for the series premiere two out of five certainly isn't bad, as Black Series Crosshair joins Hunter in the latest wave of the six inch action figures. The team's sniper, Crosshair was augmented with sharper vision to make him the perfect shot on the battlefield. His superiority complex and uncaring attitude has often caused him to butt heads with the "regs", as well as making him more susceptible to the Kaminoans' programming and Order 66.

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Crosshair is the second release in the Black Series’ Bad Batch range, which has adopted a dark burgundy red as its secondary packaging colour. The front of the box simply gives you a good look at the figure and accessories stored inside, whilst the spine features that gorgeous piece of connecting character artwork. It’s a shame these figures haven’t been numbered in a way that the five Batch Batch members will be altogether on the combined mural, but at the very least Hunter and Crosshair look great together. On the back of the box you’ll find that same artwork yet again alongside a short character bio, which keeps tight-lipped about Crosshair’s path in the Bad Batch series but does make reference to his unparalleled accuracy skills and “sense of superiority” compared to those around him. Open the box up and you’ll find the clone trooper, along with all his accessories, neatly laid out on the moulded plastic tray.

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Even though the Bad Batch each have their own unique traits and body types compared to regular clones, there's still an element of reuse to the figure themselves. Black Series Crosshairs uses exactly the same body as Hunter, although there are a few differences here and there with the armour. In addition to his helmet, Crosshair's armour sports a modified left shoulder pauldron as well as a unique bandolier and connecting belt piece. Though similar the armour underneath is actually a slightly different shape to that of Hunter's, giving him a very slightly different body shape. Most importantly of all though is that unique head sculpt, which does a fantastic job of taking Crosshair's animation model and presenting it in more "realistic" fashion. The facial features are nicely defined, and Crosshair's distinct scarring around his eye has come out far better than the skull markings did on Hunter's face. The most impressive thing is that despite looking so wildly different to the rest of the clones, you can see the traces of Jango Fett/Temura Morrison in there. Crosshair's armour sports similar battle damage to Hunter's but the carving isn't completely identical, nor are the splashes of silver paint dotted about. It makes each figure look that little bit more distinct, despite having a considerable amount of shared parts between them,

Crosshair also includes removable backpack and helmet pieces, both of which are unique to this figure. The helmet is a modified design with a sleeker shape and thicker mouth area, but more significantly sports a simplified visor that enlarges around Crosshair's right eye. The markings around it then shape it into a crosshair. While all the moulding is there to give the helmet this distinct look, it completely lacks the white paint apps to give it that proper punch. While the Black Series having to skip on certain paint apps isn't new and expected somewhat, it is sad to see this one didn't make it through given how much it adds to the overall look (not to mention the fact it's in his name). Meanwhile the backpack is similar to that of Hunter's, but has a section carved out of it. This is because the rifle included with the figure can be split in two and actually sorted in the backpack, with the main body slotting into that area and the barrel pegging onto the side. Together with the handgun holster on the belt, that means Crosshair is actually able to keep all of his accessories on his person even when not in use.

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Being largely the same figure articulation is identical to that of Hunter, which altogether includes the following; 
- Ball jointed head, neck, torso and hips
- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles 
Crosshair also features the same rubbery shoulder pauldrons as Hunter, which are fastened to the shoulder joints and thus able to bend and rotate along with them. The jury’s still out on whether these pieces will eventually deteriorate over time, but for now it seems like a pretty good solution that allows the arms to do everything they need to. All of the problems Hunter had are still present here, although previously I said that kneeling poses were pretty much impossible. That wasn’t technically correct - they just don’t look very good. And either way the problem is still the way the legs can easily clash with the crotch piece, which can very easily chip the black paint or even damage the leg armour’s soft plastic. The knee swivel continues to look pretty odd when used alongside fixed kneepads as well, taking away the more natural look a simple double-jointed knee could have had. Crosshair is still capable of a good variety of poses, but that leg design could have definitely done with some work prior to release.

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As previously mentioned Crosshair comes packaged with his removable helmet and backpack, but on top of that there are also two weapons included - a DC-17 hand blaster and the 773 Firepuncher rifle. The former weapon is just the same standard clone trooper firearm we’ve seen with plenty of releases before this (Hunter, Rex and Wolffe just to name a few), but the rifle is definitely one of the most impressive pieces we’ve seen in the clone armoury yet. The weapon is moulded in black plastic with a light silver wash to give it a more metallic look, with an impressive level of moulded detail running across the whole thing. It’s been designed to grip in the figure’s right hand, with the left hand also able to grip onto the barrel for additional support. The left hand’s grip is moulded pretty tightly though so softening it up with a bit of heat first is recommended. This is one area where the new trooper body really shines, as Crosshair doesn’t have any problem whatsoever raising the rifle up into a proper aiming/firing pose. It looks fantastic, and even though the hefty backpack can offset the figure’s balance somewhat it isn’t hard to get him into a great pose with it. The fact it can break apart and be properly stored somewhere when not in use is a great bonus, especially since it makes the figure all the more screen accurate. Hasbro can sometimes miss the mark when it comes to clone trooper weapons (or maybe it’s just that standard issue clone weapons are actually quite boring), but they’re really doing a great job on these Bad Batch figures. Clearly individuality goes a long way.

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Hunter was an excellent start for the Bad Batch range and Black Series Crosshair is another fantastic release - potentially even edging out the team leader thanks to the sharper head sculpt and more interesting accessories. That said - the minor problems with the mould itself still see the figure falling just short of perfection, and the missing paint app on that key area of the helmet is disappointing even if somewhat understandable. But the most important thing is that both Hunter and Crosshair look fantastic together, and the individuality these figures have really make them standout out from the rest of the line’s clones released thus far. With his completely unique sculpt Wrecker should prove a very interesting release, and after that it’s only a short wait until Tech and hopefully Echo as well.

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