Transformers Studio Series Crosshairs review

Crosshairs was covered waaaaay back 3 years ago, which is a different time period if you ask me. Ah, what a different time period before COVID happened and during the seemingly large chance of WWIII happening. I apologize for making this sound political. Anyways, TLK Crosshairs was a pleasant surprise after the mixed bag of the AOE Deluxe, as he doesn't have the rubber trenchcoat pieces nor a weird-looking vehicle mode. However, a Studio Series update was inevitable, especially after the lack of presence for that movie in a good while. Granted, the film wasn't well-received, but it, along with the preceding movie, shares the least amount of figures representing them both. So we'll see if Crosshairs' Studio Series entry is worth the wait.

Here is his backdrop, depicting him getting his finger broken by the knockoff C-3PO called Cogman (sold separately!). Yeah, I kind of wish it was his more iconic parachute scene from Age of Extinction, but this is a Last Knight release so shrug.

Here is Crosshairs in his vehicle mode. It's the same 2014 Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray model whose name you probably read in a dull voice similar to Thew in his review of the character's Power Battler in 2014. As expected, it captures the look of the real model quite well, and it is also the first time we see the model better resemble the on-screen car in terms of proportions. The original toy's look was a little squished, and the TLK version, while closer, didn't quite land the mark in terms of the design of the vehicle, and the color scheme, while not metallic like the real car, does look closer to the proper car's paint job. The black on the vehicle is also applied onto the car nicely, and we'll see if it either adds or loses to the deco in the car mode comparison.

In general, it's a great car as one would hope for a movie character, and it's nice to see that he has pinned wheels, though the rims feel like a mix between the Age of Extinction use of silver and the designs of The Last Knight. Honestly, while Hasbro could have easily decided to just make a chase variant to depict him with slightly altered decos or rims, but I'm happy that they chose to leave it here. It's not like Hasbro has any other incentives to make him worth getting again like with Jetwing Prime. 

His spoiler is unusually removable, which stems from it being a part of the toy being made on its own rather than being integrated into the car. I wish it was molded on since there's no glue used to keep it in there on top of it likely needing to be painted in black rather than left in gray. Maybe they're saving this for the inevitable AOE variant.

For a vehicle mode comparison, here he is with the TLK release. The first thing that stood out to me was the different shade of green used on this release compared to the TLK Deluxe. While neither version is 1:1 with how the actual car's metallic sheen looks, the shade of green on the Studio Series release is closer to what the car would look like if it was in a very lit room, like a light showroom instead of a dark one. His deco on the back is a little more dynamic than on the TLK version.

Transformation is very different than what the TLK version had, utilizing a new sequence not seen on the character till now. While the bottom of the car mode would hide the front of the robot mode underneath, it now faces upwards while its car parts are in their vehicle mode configurations. His legs transform similarly but not exactly like the old toy, and the same also goes for the back kibble, as it goes over the torso and onto the back rather than shifting around the back. His resulting robot mode is much leaner and closer to the CGI model than ever before. Gone are the massive car parts that were on his shoulders and chest in favor of a cleaner design from the front view. On the back, it's a mess, and probably a bit worse than the original in some ways (but we'll get to that in a moment). His trenchcoat kibble now uses parts of the hood for the cloak while the doors go on the back. His arms are no longer part of the vehicle mode and have their own, defined sculptwork this time. His shoulders don't utilize parts of the back of the altmode, and the tires now stay on the sides of the ankles rather than the back, which is actually accurate to the model. I do wish his legs had paint apps applied onto them, especially the feet since they could use some gunmetal gray to go with this torso, arms, and face.

Speaking of, head sculpt is much closer to the CGI model and doesn't lack any of the major paint apps he'd need, including his goggles (though I feel his left lens should be blue instead of red). The back of the head is lightpiping, which is needless since his eyes are painted. His articulation is kind of frustrating, as his head still moves with the same limitations of his older counterparts, shoulders move front and back as well as in and out yet still feel limited in spite of his cleaner shoulders, swivels bicep yet they feel too stiff, he loses the wrist articulation, his hips move front and back, in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend, his trenchcoat hinges in and out as well as up and down on the front, and he has some foot articulation thanks to the transformation. His twin guns are newly made for this mold, and while they can store in the coat, the tabs suck. Now remember when I mentioned something about the back of the altmode? You can remove part of the figure with a ball joint in order to make his silhouette cleaner. While this is a great display option, I'm not too much of a big fan of when you have to remove a part of a robot in order to make them cleaner. At least it's only a ball joint.

For a robot mode size comparison, Crosshairs is certainly a marked improvement compared to the original toy, having a more refined design that had not been done well with the TLK release. The sculpt work is more accurate, the colors are closer to the CG model and car, and the trenchcoat is better handled; the only thing is that the back kibble is worse, though that's something you can fix if you really wanted to. Honestly, this guy is nearly perfect; had his shoulder articulation and parts of the kibble been better handled, he'd be even better. As it stands, he is still an improvement with a few tweaks needed here and there.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐