Tippmann Crossover. Why did it fail?

[Tinybear]

I own a Crossover XVR and can’t decide what it is about it that caused it to fail. Especially with the resurgence of mech play it seems a mech only version of the XVR would have been an awesome idea (hell I have yet to use mine in electro on field but I never been a electro kinda player).

It shoots great. The barrels are great. It’s easy to maintain. Tool less and hose less. What else could it have needed to succeed.

I bought it as the cheap way of getting the EMag I always wanted. It was and is the marker I bought to finally Replace my AGD 68 Automag as my primary semi auto. I purchased the Mag new way back in 1999 And it’s spawned many mags and been in my bag all theses years. Figured maybe time for a update though that mags not going anywhere it’s just joined my Carbine and PGP2K (Also both bought brand new back in the day) on the old school wall to come out to the field when I want some nostalgia.

[ATBen]

I never saw one of these in person but they always appealed to me for all the reasons you've stated. What did they retail for?

[Toestr]

Never shot one of these, but here are my thoughts.

From what I understand, these have quite a bit more vibration (mag-esque bolt) than whatever spool, and is probably more in line with a poppet. I'm also not sure how well the selector switch/mech settings would go over in tournaments. I also think the Tippmann name is a bit of a turn off for the tourney bros.

The while this would be an ideal gun for scenario play, a milsim bro would probably rather shoot a phenom over this (despite this having eyes) for the tactical look.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Hellion360]

I never saw one of these in person but they always appealed to me for all the reasons you've stated. What did they retail for?

And this is why they failed.
They were either 425 or 450 and didn't stack up to the electros at the same, or even lower, price point.

I told my Tippman reps at the time that if they released this as Mech only at $300 they would sell a lot of them. It just didn't have the features an electro player wanted, none of the creature comforts. But it was also priced outside the upper buy point for a casual player not trying to play speedball.

Tippmann should have picked one thing to do with it and done it really well. But they tried to cross over genres and didn't have any one major selling point. Over and over these sat on the wall while Axes sold, and A5's or X7's sold. People wither wanted the speedball centric features of the AXE/Mini/Etha, or they wanted a lower priced casual marker with good value (built in hopper, milsim looks).

Crossovers barrel and feedneck were not so hot either.

[Meleager7]

I would go one further, Tippmann should have released this as a mech spool(ish) marker only, and taken sales away from the Gog Enmey with better quality, and their legion of Tippmann fans......and that said , with so many Tippmann fans so used to upgrading their Tippy's shortly after purchase, they could have released the electro option to the option as an expensive kit....Crossover owners would have not been able to resist!

[Hellion360]

Meleager7 absolutely spot on.

[BrickHaus]

I really really wanted a cross over early on. The magnetic electrical contacts between frame and body were. And are brilliant imo. The ability to run it mech was also a huge plus to me.

But like stated above, they were really expensive when they came out. By the time I had money to afford one. They had a lot of negative rep and I ended up buying other stuff.

Id still buy one at the 150 ish price point, but you dont see em often.

[Drachen]

I wish they released a single finger frame for these. I love single finger electric guns, and I have never seen a reason to have a double trigger on a mech.

I wouldn't mind picking one of these up for cheap. Neat markers for sure.

[Meleager7]

Ugggg...this thread is making me want one again

[Jordan]

Me too!

(I'll have to console myself with the $20 Pimp on Kijiji.)

[Meleager7]

I saw that sweet pimp action! Great grab!

[Magmoormaster]

If the Crossover came out a year earlier, I think they would have done much better. But by the time they had come out, the Planet Eclipse Etha had been out for what, 6 months? Almost the exact same gun inside, but Eclipse just knows how to make a better gun than Tippmann. The fact that TIppmann had to release a trigger update almost immediately should tell you all there is to know. Add the crappy electronics, no on/off, and A5 threads, and it just wasn't worth getting. And when they tried to fix those issues with the XVR, it was the most half assed attempt possible.

I wanted to like them. I said they needed to make this gun immediately after the Phenom had come out. But by the time they finally did, it was just too little too late.

[Ecapnation]

To much to late...

People since 98 were begging for a center feed m98..... Instead we got this in a market already dominated by axes, ethas, and minis.

This did to much but somehow not enough for the market.

[Tinybear]

I would argue it may have been too soon. Really it predates the mech play resurgence. You really need to view the crossover as more a mech gun first that can switch it up with electros when the need or desire arises.

The trigger on mine feels good though I will say I wish it was a single trigger. The on/off is a bit goofy but functions. And I honestly don’t know much about setting up the different modes. But from my fiddling it is confusing for sure.

The perfect Marker for me would be a centerfeed pro/carbine with a crossover guts.

[spikeball]

Do you like your Numech drop forward? Been considering getting one.

[Magmoormaster]

Nah, if it came out later it would have been worse. It does not compete with modern mech spools. Even the eNMey kicks the crap out of it and at less than half the cost.

[SignOfZeta]

Speaking as someone who was never the target customer and also had never heard of this gun until now, here are the reasons I wouldn’t buy it.

1) “Tippmann”: I’d sooner buy a Hyundai.

2) They aggressively designed it to look exactly like everyone else’s thing.

If it really did cost $450 then that would be enough for a veto but honestly when I see a low end name on something hyper unoriginal to the core then I’ve seen enough at that point and I don’t ask the price. For paintball, for anything.

I like the blue!

[coyote]

I think timing was less of a problem then labeling. Reminds of the JT Impulse. Fine platform, needed a different branding.

[spikeball]

Tippmann releasing a speedball style marker is why they ultimately failed I think. I agree, if this had been strictly a mech platform, and released more recently, it would have done fine. A few features were lackluster on these though. I should know. I own three.

First, the feed neck as already mentioned. A plastic ring with a lever lock around a slightly too big inner neck. Most hoppers I use on mine need a bit of tape to hold tight. My Vmax being the one exception.
Second, barrel options. For a speedball style gun, they really should have deviated from their norm and gone autococker threaded. New they come with an adapter, but it's not great. At least you can find some decent A5 barrels out there from time to time and their barrel kit is pretty solid.
Third, and this one I think is the nail in the coffin for this type of marker, is the shot quality. It's got a bit of a kick for a spool.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE these things. Unique, kinda quirky, easy to work on, flexible, and certainly a conversation starter at the field. Yeah, they were expensive new, but used they can be found anywhere from $175 to $300 depending on condition and color.

[Tinybear]

Nah, if it came out later it would have been worse. It does not compete with modern mech spools. Even the eNMey kicks the crap out of it and at less than half the cost.

That I will argue. I bought an eNMEy when they first came out as I love mech play and wanted to like it. I hated it and gave it to my sister who was playing back then with my Pro/Carbine. The eNMEy feels cheap and weak. It looks even worse and I personally I can’t gel with it at all. I dislike the trigger for lack of any kinda feel. The frame feels flexy not solid. And the stock barrel was laughably bad. Theres no balance to the marker and in turn made my play with it underperforming. To be fair my sister like it’s much lighter weight but even she comments on the Carbine feeling like a better gun. She has not played in years but intends to join me this summer so will see how it

As for the drop. I started playing back in the hay day for drops, I also incidentally ended up with a 100ci tank (I have others) so figured I’d try the drop and see if i could get some use from that big tank. Turns out to work perfectly and balances out very nicely with the rotor on top.

I got my crossover new after they discontinued them for $350. Shot quality I’d say feels similar if not slightly better than the 68 Automag. Its crisp with a bit of feel (the eNMEy is softer but no where near as crisp). The trigger is much nicer on the Tippmann. And the Tippmann is also much lighter than the much smaller entirely stainless steel Automag.

I know Tippmann gets a bad rap these days, but they were such innovators In the early days and grew this sport more than any other brand I feel. That and I Just love my old Tippmanns. My pro/carbine has required nothing but lube and a couple o-rings since I bought it new in 1998. It has shot more paint than I can hazard a guess at, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it out any time for any game. And the ergos on the carbine just plain work. My SL68II with palmers brass barrel (.680) is my preferred pump, small LIGHT compact, matched with the 26ci tank and a revy playing hopper ball it’s near perfect balance and shoots awesome. The lack of porting also adds to the fun as this thing is comically loud. And now my XVR crossover is so far been fun. It fits well shoots well and looks pretty good in my eyes. Hoping it to be as reliable and dependable as my other tippmanns.