Crossfire
I would have to say that based on this figure and this figure alone, the future may be good for Hasbro. Until this point, all of the figures released in the 2000 and 2001 lines were straight repaints of existing figures. Crossfire is something different.
From as much as I can tell, he has Big Ben’s torso and arms, and Dial Tone’s legs. Pretty much a Hasbro designed and produced custom figure. By mixing and matching pieces and adding a newly sculpted head, Crossfire really becomes a completely new character. Something we haven’t seen from Hasbro since 1994. Could that be part of why I placed him so high on this list? Well, yeah, that’s a good possibility considering that the figure itself isn’t anything really special.
But, don’t get me wrong here! I’m not saying that I don’t like this figure. I love it. He is a classic "Grunt", a pretty non-descript infantry trooper who is a great addition to the Joe line. His plain olive drab uniform, with criss-crossing bullets across his chest, pretty ordinary features and a simple design. Perfect for what he was made for, which is a basic infantry.
But it doesn’t stop there. Based on his filecard’s bio, Crossfire is something much more. An armorer, weapons expert and veteran, Crossfire becomes a great, classic character, who looks plain and normal on the outside, but is really that much more. I see him as an older soldier, perhaps a Vietnam veteran who expertise in armor and weapons makes him a valuable asset to the team, but who also has the raw skill to back it up on the battlefield. Perhaps he was Special Forces in Vietnam, responsible for equipping the Navy S.E.A.Ls and Phoenix Force, training with them and absorbing their skill while supplying them with their weaponry. Because of his age and his abilities, he isn’t thought of as a highly skilled gunfighter on the battlefield, but is still there, doing his part with the team and making a difference. Sure, he’s not charging forward, taking out troops left and right, but he’s there, laying the cover fire, supporting the front line and doing just what he’s there for. The whole personality can be gleaned merely from a glance at his features, and from a quick read through his filecard. Another wonderful trait that makes G.I. Joe great.
I gotta say one downside about this figure, though, is his accessories. He comes with a weapon, an overused weapon (in my book), the same weapon that came with the Cobra Infantry Troopers and the ’00 Dusty which isn’t a bad weapon, per se, but still a very common one. This doesn’t really hurt the figure much, though, because it supports the idea that he is an infantry trooper, and when you give him the helmet that came with Double Blast it really adds that air of infantry to him.
Despite his ordinary appearance and lack of unique weaponry, Crossfire is a great figure and character, and I will find many uses for him in my universe.
The G.I. Joe Fire Team
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