Nerf Stampede ECS Review

The Stampede ECS is the legendary 9-9-10 blaster. Pics of it emerged on the internet many months before its release, and it was also found in some markets in Asia before the release date. It's speculation is well deserved - 3*18 dart extended clips (mags), a 6 dart clip (mag), a tac-rail blast shield, a foregrip/bipod and a full-auto clip (mag) fed system.

The Stampede looks AWESOME. With its massive clip (mag), blast shield and foregrip/bipod, it looks quite menacing. Looking down the barrel of one of these is not a nice feeling.

The Stampede is the first ever full-auto Clip (Mag) System blaster. It is also powered by a 'direct plunger', which is the same system used by the Longshot. This delighted many modders.

The Blast Shield is a welcome addition to the tac-rail attachment list. It attaches to any blaster thin enough enough to fit it. Many blasters fit this but aren't easy to use with it, and others don't fit it at all. It is very useful in areas where there are no reliable sources of cover, such as an oval. However, the blast shield gets in the way of just about any sight/scope. The foregrip/bipod is another welcome addition, providing a stable holding point and a sturdy bipod for leaning your blaster against a solid object, like a railing, or the back of a sofa.

The 3 18-dart clips (mags) are an extremely welcome addition to anyone's arsenal. Previously, you had to either stick with 6-dart clips (mags) (or make a 12 dart 'superclip' [mag]), or get the Raider's 35 dart drum. These are two extremes, and most people would rather have an in-between. They are also ideal for the Stampede, with its high rate of fire. What's even beter is the inclusion of 3 of these, making a capacity of 54 darts. With the extra 6-dart clip (mag), you get a nice round number of 60 dart capacity, and 60 streamline darts. Of course, these 18-dart clips (mags) can be used with any CS-blaster.

The Stampede was originally titled the ECS-50, because it was originally going to have a 50-dart drum. This, for whatever reason, was cancelled, and the 18 dart clips were included instead. The Stampede also would not have included the Foregrip/Bipod. There was also meant to be an Upgrade Kit, with the Foregrip/Bipod, an 18 dart clip, carry strap of some sort, and 18 Streamlines. This was presumably (and sadly) cancelled with the cancellation of the 50 dart drum. On Urban Taggers, there's a picture of the ECS-50 in the AUSTRALIAN Toy Fair. Does this mean it'll be real? Only time shall tell. And if it is real, we'll all spend more money on getting the ECS-50 for the 50 dart drum. Nice marketing ploy, Nerf. Guess there's no ECS-50, seeing as nothing has changed about the Stampede. Unless of course the release it in 2012.

                                         ^ The original ECS-50 ^

The Stampede fires 3 darts per second at 9v, which is around the same as a Vulcan. This makes it ideal for assault, defence, and extreme spraying. This eats up the darts in the 18 dart clips (mags) and 6 dart clip (mag) very quickly. This shows what a good idea it was for the inclusion of 3 of them. The rate of fire isn't as high as an Alpha Trooper or Raider, but it takes so much less effort.
Particularly when overvolted to voltages of 15v or more, the Stampede can spit out darts extremely fast, and more easily than any other clip (mag) system blaster, making it perfect for creating walls of foam.

The use of D cell batteries adds MASSIVE weight to the rear, nearly doubling the Stampede's total weight. I highly recommend the use of AA-D battery converters. This lets you use AA batteries, which reduces the weight drastically, and also allows the use of Trustfire 3.7v batteries, allowing an increased ROF. Usage tips here.

The handle of the Stampede is reasonably comfortable and large, making it suitable for kids and kidults, although its weight makes it more of a teen/kidult blaster as kids are unlikely to be able to handle such weight easily. The stock as you'd expect is extremely solid, although lacks any curvature which would allow it to slot onto your shoulder. Again, the weight makes it rather uncomfortable to wield compared to most other blasters.

The Stampede is incredibly inaccurate (at least mine is). It uses Streamline darts, which is really annoying. It isn't unexpected, however, since the Stampede is a Clip (Mag) System blaster. Quite often, the dart will curve away from the target and hit a point up to a metre away, at a range of around 9m. It also seems quite weak, stock condition (at least mine was). It couldn't hit my front door from 9m away consistently. However, for some reason, an increase in voltage slightly increased range. Filling the air release hole in the plunger also helped. It is now hitting around 10-12m.

Overall, the Stampede's reputation is well deserved. While it doesn't deserve a 5 as a stock blaster, it definitely has potential and comes with heaps of great stuff. At $60 from BigW (RRP is $100), it is also more affordable than before. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants/needs a full-auto blaster/high capacity clips and useful accessories.
The stock Stampede is not a very good blaster. Its ranges are low and its accuracy is terrible, especially compared to today's Elite blasters. Where the Stampede does have a place is in modding, where it can spit out darts extremely quickly, and because it is spring powered it does not need to rev up like flywheelers.
The full Stampede kit is an excellent booster pack for other clip (mag) system blasters, with its 3 18 clips (mags) and 6 clip (mag). Especially on clearance prices, the Stampede is good value.

Pros:
Comes with many useful accessories, cheap given what you get with it, comes with 3 18 clips (mags), 18 clips (mags) are useful in all other (E)CS blasters, blast shield is usable on several blasters, foregrip/bipod is useful on several blasters, looks epic, full auto fun is unparalleled in spam factor and trolling, can easily be modded to fire at a ROF of 4-5dps, compatible with the 35 drum allowing for prolonged spamming
Cons:
In stock condition range and accuracy are below average, even for an (E)CS blaster, becomes unreliable and jams more if batteries are low on power, cannot be fired manually (requires batteries), slight delay between pulling the trigger and firing, very large, use of D batteries makes the Stampede heavy and very unbalanced 

Power: 2.5/7
Accuracy: 2/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 3/5
Rate of fire: 3/5

Overall: 2.96/5

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 - stock it's cool looking and fun, modded it's awesome.

Big gun, ok power, high spam factor.

Pic credit goes to SG Nerf

NOTE: I have now modded my Stampede with the following:
-Air release hole sealed with hot glue
-AR removal with screwdriver
and it gets 13-14m shots with slightly increased accuracy.
The hardest part of the mod, funnily enough, was removing all the damn screws in the Stampede. (30+?)