Transformers The Last Knight Crosshairs review

Crosshairs has a big ego. People act like the other Autobots have that douchey nature that Crosshairs has, but it's way more prominent with this character to be honest. He's not as keen on mankind, doesn't have the mindset of following the same goals Optimus and crew has, and he's kind of a coward when he saw Grimlock turn into his dino mode. Would be jarring to see him suddenly be an average good guy with a "Don't worry I'll save you!" mindset, but he is at least capable of combat. That said, the coolest part of Crosshairs is the trenchcoat duster he has. Sure, it'd be weird to see how it _exactly_ works, but it's an overall neat attempt at having a unique look to be honest. Figure form hasn't been too hot with AOE, but could the TLK retool be better?

Here is Crosshairs in his vehicle mode. It's a very nice take on the Corvette Stingray used in the movie, what with the green and black color combo and the sleek body, though I'm not sure if the vehicle mode's rims are supposed to be black or silver. I've only seen The Last Knight twice (and won't plan on rewatching it unless it's for a 5-movie marathon spanning from Monday to Friday), but I've seen the Jada Toys have the rims colored in black. If they are colored black, then this could be screen accurate only to Age of Extinction; that said, I prefer the silver because it's at least capable of looking better overall. I'll discuss more in a bit, but the proportions of this alt mode are perfect! Much better than the AOE Deluxe in terms of capturing the overall sleekness of the car mode.

It's nice to see the proportions look a lot more accurate, but best of all, the deco is complete from this side! The AOE Deluxe was missing paint on this side, but it now looks presentable on both sides.

Here it is next to the AOE version. You can certainly see how much sleeker the TLK version is in comparison to the AOE version that came before it. Honestly, IDK why Hasbro made its proportions look a lot different in comparison, but it doesn't scream Corvette to me. Honestly looks more like it attempted to avoid licensing issues with General Motors.

You can tell just how different the previous attempt looks next to the TLK version. I should have taken another image showing off the other side, because that at least had the complete paint apps. Only the Autobots United set has that complete deco, but it's in a pack that's possibly hard to find; also pointless thanks to the new guy.

Transformation is almost identical to what the previous Deluxe had to offer. It's pretty shellformery if you ask me, though the only differences now is that the car hood folds up and the hands aren't obscured somewhat by parts of the sides. Given how Crosshairs works, there had to be something done to make the robot mode avoid the downfalls of being a shellformer, and I feel this guy does a decent job at it.

The robot mode still has that shellformer aspect of the AOE Deluxe, yet it at least manages to look more refined in comparison. It's less muddled with shell compromises than the AOE version is. That said, does it look 100% better? I don't think so. It's mainly the paint that's missing on this figure, and it'd look so much cooler if it came with that paint. Alas, its colors have more green than black (while the AOE version has a better color balance)

Head sculpt is not too great. The details aren't sharp enough, but the worst part is the lack of paint aside from the silver face and the eyes. I can excuse someone like Optimus Prime not having the silver for his ears in some figures, but this looks like a factory error in comparison.

Articulation is pretty decent overall. Head is on a ball joint, shoulders move front and back, in and out, swivel at the bicep, bend at two points at the elbow, and swivel at the wrists. Hips move front and back, in and out, swivel above the knee, bend at the knee, and hinge the feet forward.

His accessories are the two guns that he's known to brandish from time to time. Last time he had two sticky bombs and one gun, but this is the more accurate weapon selection of the two.

Here he is next to the original AOE Crosshairs, and while it's not as immediate in some instances, you can tell how much less restricted the TLK Deluxe is in comparison to what came before it. Sure, it's not a perfect figure, but I appreciate that there are fixes on this guy, like with the trench coat not being rubber this time.

Funny part of this AOE figure? It's done up like this in most of its packaging. Now he passes his gun to the TLK guy...

I feel this figure is pretty decent though still has a lot more room for improvement. More paint is needed, and I do wish it wasn't hard to find (actually got this for cheap at Ross in 2018), but it's starting to fix the flaws present of the AOE Deluxe.

Also, he can do this. So overall, not a perfect upgrade, but better than what was done previously.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐