Review: Nerf Modulus Stealth Ops Kit

The Nerf Modulus blaster was a fairly disappointing release. It's basically a big Stryfe with some extra parts and yet another different paintjob to not fit with the Elite stuff. However one big positive it brought us was the ability to purchase attachments without blasters, in the Modulus line. Yes there are still a tonne of attachments out there not available separately yet, but seeing as this is just the first wave of Modulus, I'm sure we'll see plenty more attachments available later.
Of the four Mission Kits currently available, the Stealth Ops kit was the most interesting to me.

Back of the box, just shows off all the parts currently available.

The parts are tied down a tray thing, even simpler than how most blasters are packaged.

A manual is included, mainly filled with safety warnings and other such stuff that most of us would ignore.

Stuff out of the box.

Let's take a look at the "Proximity barrel" first.

The Proximity (Proxy) barrel is a pretty basic piece, just a stub of barrel with a fancy shell.

Irritatingly the Proxy barrel uses the narrower faux barrel, increasing its chance of interfering with the path of a dart. The barrel is pretty short so it likely won't have a significant effect, but I still would have preferred the wider faux barrel for practically no effect.

Here's the Proxy barrel next to its most similar existing attachment, the Spectre barrel. Though similar in style, there are a few notable differences. One is the thickness of the rear end that locks with the muzzle of a compatible blaster; the Proxy barrel is much wider than the Spectre barrel.

Another major and obvious difference is the faux barrel width. The Proxy barrel uses the more common narrow faux barrel, while the Spectre barrel uses the wider faux barrel.

Another difference is the locking mechanism. The Spectre barrel uses a spring loaded orange nub as seen on the left, which provides quite a solid retaining force for the barrel. The Proxy barrel uses a thin strip of plastic, barely noticeable to the left of its faux barrel. The Proxy barrel is much looser than the Spectre barrel, which I don't like.

Next up is the Red Dot Sight.

The RDS is a redesign of one of the most popular Nerf-made attachments, the Pinpoint Sight. The various Pinpoint Sights were sought after partly due to their tacticool value and partly due to scarcity, but the RDS naturally has none of that scarcity.

A look down the sight, that top screw port is really annoying and does cut off the top of the sight picture.

The front, with a better look at the rather weird reticle on the lens. Note the battery compartment on the bottom, which fits 2 AAAs. The battery door contacts are much better than the old Pinpoint Sight design, and have no issues contacting the batteries.

With the red dot on. It's much brighter than the picture shows, the flash screwed it up.

Here's the RDS next to my Elite PPS, the stylistic differences are clear but so are the similarities. They function identically.

Here's a comparison of the sight pictures, note how much the top screw port of the RDS cuts off.

A comparison of the red dot positions, again the flash really screwed it up. In case you can't quite see it, the red dot of the RDS is much lower than the dot of the PPS. Something to consider if you want to try and use them for actually aiming.

Finally, the Folding Grip.

The Folding Grip has a weird grip design, skeletonised like that of the Messenger. It's weird because besides being more uncomfortable than conventional designs, it probably uses just as much, if not possibly more material. The shape of the grip is also weird, it has a few small bulges here and there that don't seem cohesive and don't quite fit the style for me.
Note also that the Folding Grip has a weird hook like structure at the bottom, not sure what it's about.

This shot gives you a good look at the bulge of the grip. I do think the Folding Grip is more comfortable than the Messenger handle, but I still prefer a conventional grip.

In hand, it's a sufficient length for me.

Being that it's meant to fold, the Folding Grip has a button that unlocks the grip from its position, allowing rotation into the other position.

Just depress the small orange nub and the grip is free to swivel...

...into folded position.

I'm really not sure what use folded position is, it's not very comfortable and still sticks out a fair bit.

Here's the Folding Grip next to a Retaliator Foregrip, notice that the Folding Grip is position further forward to accomodate for the folding funciton.

Here's the Stealth Ops kit on some blasters.

The Stealth Ops kit looks like it was made for a Stryfe, the designs and colours fit the orange Stryfe perfectly, and the Folding Grip is more comfortable than the Retal Foregrip since your wrist isn't jammed into the magwell.

On a Rapidstrike, the RDS and Proxy Barrel work well, but I think the Folding Grip is too far forward.

On a Retal, the RDS and Folding Grip work reasonably well, but are both unnecessary. The RDS impedes priming and the Retal already has its own foregrip.

On a cut down, extra tac rail Demolisher, like with the Stryfe the Stealth Ops kit works pretty well. The colours (ignoring the green accents) blend in almost perfectly with the Demolisher and look good. Obviously this setup requires an extra rail on top, and the missile launcher replaced with another rail.

Being that none of the attachments significantly improve the blaster they're attached to, the Stealth Ops kit is entirely for tacticool. If you're a purely practical Nerfer and/or on a tight budget then obviously give it a miss. If you're looking to jazz up a blaster, then naturally the SO kit is a solid candidate, provided said blaster will accept the attachments obviously. It's all personal preference really, if you like red dot sights, folding grips and/or stubby barrel extensions (or completionism for that matter) then the kit is worth a look, but it's certainly not an essential purchase. I think it's best suited to the Stryfe, but since there's little practical use to the parts, it's all about personal preference.