Cross-Country (1986)
Haven’t I covered this guy already? Sort of. At the time, I was less than kind to Cross-Country. I apologize, since he was such a likeable guy in both the comics and Sunbow cartoon. Neither he nor his vehicle were a favorite of mine as a kid or collector. It seems though, that as I dig through my collection, take pictures and write, my tastes seem to change here and there. Such is the case here.
The HAVOC was a great vehicle for a kid who had just come off of years of playing with Star Wars toys. If there was ever a Star Wars tank back in the 80’s, I think it would have resembled the HAVOC, with its angular design, rotating laser-like guns, and separating one man vehicle.
What about the HAVOC’s driver? Through a modern lens, this isn’t the most politically correct toy. In 1986, the design probably wasn’t a huge issue, but there’s not much of a chance today of a character from the southern US garbed in a kind of Confederate uniform, complete with rebel flag belt buckle. The funny thing is, even in the 90’s, the Confederate flag was more prominent on the back of the 1993 figure’s jacket.
Political correctness aside, I’ve always thought Cross-Country’s head was…unique. That face is not one of the most attractive Joes. In fact, it reminds me of Rick Moranis. The rest of the figure I do like, however. The vest has held interest for me in relation to other ’86 Joes who wore something similarly styled. Roadblock wore a vest that resembled this one in both color and the presence of a red shoulder pad. Low-Light, though outfitted in a full grey jacket, also wore a red shoulder pad. Was the red shoulder pad a theme for the year?
Terrible figure. It’s just awful. This guy looked okay in the comics but the figure didn’t live up to that image.
I don’t know what you guys are seeing–his head looks okay to me. As for the Confederate symbols–maybe Dukes of Hazzard reruns were big at the time. If we had time travel, I would’ve gone back and convinced the designer to leave the flag off the buckle–would do the same with the ’93 version.
The thing about Cross-Country is that his head sculpt is based on the guy who designed the HAVOC. I’ve seen the actual person on a documentary and they look nothing alike, unless the sculptor was going for a more cartoonish homage here.
I bought the HAVOC back in ’86 and enjoyed the vehicle even though it drifted the line further away from the more realistic (hey, at least the HAL looked like it could exist in real life) tone of the earlier years. It’s still a cool vehicle with lots of play value for your buck.
As for Cross-Country, his personality seemed a lot like Dusty, especially in the Sunbow cartoon. Larry Hama featured him a lot in the comic, to the point where I couldn’t help but like him. Since he’s from the South, I wasn’t surprised by the Dixie reference even though I knew what it stood for. Larry made Cross-Country into one of the more likeable Joes and that has always stuck with me. I only wish his noggin was smaller!
For some reason, I think he looks a bit like Sean Astin.
good call, Mr Frodo 🙂
I dislike this figure immensely and I’m glad it never got a modern update.
Biggest ARAH G.I.JOE’s head ever!
Cross-Contry is one of those figures that end up in your collection somehow,you just can’t figure out when or how much he cost. (probably not much) .The ’93 version had stone-wash jeans!
If later era Joes suffered from pinhead syndrome, Cross Country definitely suffers from mid-80s macrocepahlitis (“bobbleheadedness”). The rest of the figure is okay, but enigmatic in its design. The shoulder pad and strap are for… what? No backpack and no hostler (never mind the bullets on his belt). The orange saggy pockets on the side of his pants could hold… what? Since the puzzling lime vest is sortof a character trait, the ultimate (?) Cross Country for me takes the lower half of his v2 (featuring a tool pouch on his thigh instead of rotten tomatoes) with that head on the upper half of this v1. His neck is long but gives him a lanky look, which somehow fits him in my mind.
Can you supply a concept picture?
I might just try that!
Definitely an odd one here. The HAVOC had great play value but that HUGE windscreen was really impractical.
HAVOC is awesome. This figure is not worthy of it.
I agree that his head was too big.
As for him being ugly, well, that was a good and bad thing about 80’s GI JOE. Like in real life, some folks are just not pretty. And basing the Joes on real people gave them a lot of diversity. The bad part is they’d sometimes be to ugly or odd to be likeable and also they’d do remakes of characters that were based on some employee not the appearance of the original character.
Also, Cross Country was a partial rip off of a character from The Rat Patrol. (The show where 4 guys in a jeep defeated entire Germans armies every episode.)
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I hate that people get butt hurt over the Confederate flag on his back in the 93 version truly nothing wrong with it his dressing like the Confederate soldier shows what is truly about and not the later version where people have made a mockery of the flag lock the KKK another stupid ass neo-Nazi dumbasses