Nerf Blasters and Accessories

Nerf Jolt EX-1 Usage Tips

2012-02-23T19:26:00.000+11:00

Some specific usage tips to this tiny single shot.
1) Beware the handle. It's not a solid handle, so it can hurt if you grip too tightly. Also note the part just behind the barrel. This part can dig in too.
2) Beware the cocking arm. It can be a little difficult to pull, being so short (and therefore spring so strong to comensate), and it can hurt if it hits your hand upon firing. To avoid this, either shift your grip or rotate the cocking arm.
3) Beware pockets. Due to the cocking arm's design, if you pocket/holster it when cocked, it can catch on something and make it difficult to pull out. Just don't leave it cocked.
4) Beware the barrel. The AR in the Jolt causes more damage to darts than most other ARs, so try not to leave any darts loaded for too long.

And other non-specific single shot issues.

Nerf Raider CS-35 Usage Tips

2012-02-23T18:58:00.000+11:00

Some long overdue usage tips for the original slam firing blaster.
1) Beware the unbalanced nature. More so with the 35 drum. It can take some getting used to, but until then it may affect your mobility and aiming.
2) Beware the jams. Because it's design was not long after the Recon, using the same setup, when it jams it jams hard. Having a drum doesn't help either.
3) Beware the drum jamming. Drums are known for jamming more than straight clips, and more so with the 35 drum.
4) Beware the Raider's clip dock. It's horizontal, meaning it's not ideal for ambidextrous use. IMO it's best for right handers. Actually, it's not good for anything except looking cool. Unfortunately, this also affects your mobility because of increased chances of hitting something, especially with a 35 drum or 18 clip.
5) Ranges. They suck. My Raider got a consistent 8m range, meaning it's definetely not for long range.
6) Slam fire at will. With the 35 drum, even at max spamming, it'll take ages to eat through the drum. (35/4dps = about 9 seconds to completely empty it). Because of the slam firing, accuracy is not necessarily as important. Which is fortunate because it's accuracy sucks too.
7) The stock. USE IT. The Raider's stock is the most sturdy out there (along with the Barricade stock and Super Soaker stocks). Sure, it's got no special quality, but it's extendable for ideal length and is super strudy. Much sturdier than a Recon's or Praxis'.

Nerf Vortex Praxis Usage Tips

2012-02-23T18:49:00.000+11:00

Some usage tips for the best Vortex blaster so far.
1) Like the Proton, compensate for disc curving. It'll allow for better accuracy and more hits.
2) Try to keep 11 discs in the blaster at all times. The Praxis' included mag only holds 10, and as I always say, 10 isn't much.
3) Practice firing quickly. Without slam fire, ROF is limited to about 3 dps, which is still decent.
4) Like the Proton, use your longer range to your advantage. It'll give you/your teammates an opening, allowing for quick hits and wins.
5) Beware the dropping mag. When you touch the mag release, the mag falls out, slightly spring loaded. This helps quick reloads, but surprised me the first time it happened.
6) Swap out the stock. It's really flimsy (like the Recon's), making you fear you'll snap it if you lean too much on it.

Making Cardboard Walls for Nerf

2012-02-19T18:10:00.000+11:00

With the release of the Nerf Double/Single Blockades, I decided to make my own. Essentially all the Double Blockades are is a piece of water resistant fabric wrapped around some poles and stuck into the ground.

This particular one costs $40.
So why pay $40 when you can make your own for about $3?

Costs:
$1 in tape
$2 in fuel to pick up cardboard from a local Bunnings (cardboard is free)
??? in labour

This isn't an instructional post, because it's hell easy to make your own walls. Just consider the following points:

Support: To make it stand up by itself, you can secure it into the ground (like the Double Blockade) via tent style pegs, or give it supports. These supports should ideally be perpendicular to the wall to prevent it from falling over in winds and the like. The supports must touch to ground to work effectively. A possible option is also to weigh down the supports. There should be at least 3 supports - two at the back and one at the front. You may also need to consider reinforcing the walls if their material is to flimsy (e.g. thin cardboard). The best way to reinforce it is with cardboard because it's cheap and gets the job done.
Size: This is extremely important. There's no point making a super short wall, because it doesn't block anything and noone can hide behind it. There's no point making it too tall either, because it'll just fall over with the slightest breath of wind. There are two main sizes - a small one which players must duck behind for full cover, and a large one which covers most of a player. In a close quarters battle I suggest the smaller ones because bigger ones will just get in the way.
Holes: Will the walls have holes in which you can see through, shoot through and get shot through? These generally only apply for larger walls.
Aesthetics: A point not very important, but still fun. A plain cardboard wall does just as much as a painted cardboard wall, but obviously the painted one will look better. It also helps it stand out in the field, unless you've painted it in camouflage, in which case consider cutting holes for snipers to shoot through. Personally I can't be bothered.
Ammo Holders: An important point if no-one can be bothered holding ammo. This is really quite easy - just tape a shallow but wide basket onto the wall, and you can put darts and clips in it for players to reload with.
Material: What will the wall be made of? Will it be light and thin like cardboard so it is easy to move around? Or will it be wood which is stronger and stiffer, but a lot harder to store and move (being heavier)? Choose a material ideal for you. In my case, it's cardboard because I have loads, and it's strong enough to hold up in a CQB war. If people are using airgun snipers, consider wood, plastic or metal. Airguns pierce through cardboard easy.

Nerf N-Strike 'Elite'

2012-02-05T14:55:00.000+11:00

No, not the video game. This is a new line of blasters with special darts. ATM they look like remakes of current N-Strike blasters with extras. The paintscheme is mostly blue with some greys. The darts are blue foam with orange tips. Claimed ranges of 75ft, presumably stock. Not even modded versions of the standard N-Strike blasters can reach that range.

UT has pics and all that, link above.

New Addition to Reviews

2012-02-02T20:26:00.000+11:00

I am currently in the process of adding Pros and Cons to each review. These list the basics of the blaster without going into too much detail. If you don't want to read slabs of text, just scroll to the bottom with the scores and the Pros/Cons for a rundown of what the blaster is like and how it is compared to other blasters.

Buzz Bee Berserker/Barbarian Review

2012-01-31T20:35:00.002+11:00

The Buzz Bee Berserker is a fairly old blaster (2009) although is well known among the modding Nerf community due to it's features which I will describe in detail later. For now, I'll just say that it has a 20 shot turret and a rocket launcher in the middle. It has been reincarnated several times, first as you see above, second, as the 'Barbarian' which is identical in every way except availability, price and name (and hence the name stickers), then as the Ultimate Berserker (slightly altered shell, lots of grey) to fit in with the Ultimate series blasters (blasters which link together), the Maniac (vastly altered shell, although internals are still pretty much identical) in the Power Lock series (like the Ultimate series) and then the Berserker (a Maniac with a special 6-shot shotgun attachment for the centre).
You can see all these reincarnations via a simple search on Nerf Mods & Reviews.

First off, aesthetics. I think you will agree with me that the Berserker is butt-ugly. It's the sort of ugly you find on a monster in a horror movie. Honestly, if it weren't so good (as I will describe later), it would probably sell terribly. As it happens though, the Berserker does manage to redeem itself.

Firstly, how the Berserker feels. Sadly, due to it's shell being so ugly, it doesn't help it's feel. Yes, the 20 shot turret is ridiculously fat, but annoyingly, the pump grip used to prime the turret (the 20 shot turret is spring powered and rotated on grip pull), is no more than about 4cm wide (lazy to measure). It feels vastly out of proportion. Likewise, the handle with both triggers is quite small (as even SG pointed out) and the cylindrical structure on the bottom really just gets in the way. The pump for the air tank for the rocket launcher is not so bad, though I still find it a little small.

The priming stroke for the pump grip is very short, and the spring is quite strong. My 9 y.o. cousin had heaps of trouble priming it. It also doesn't help that the rotation mech for the turret is linked to the pump grip, making it that little bit harder. Because of this link though, it is possible to rotate the turret by simply pushing and pulling the pump grip, and not resorting to manually turning the turret.

On the other hand, the pump for the air tank is quite long, so it only takes 3 pumps to fill the tank. This is highly convenient. Resistance does build up though, so the 3rd pump can be quite difficult, especially for younger children (like my aforementioned cousin).

To trigger both weapons, the Zerker has 2 triggers - the forward one triggers the air tank for the rocket launcher, and the rear most triggers the plunger for the turret.

So why is the Berserker so popular in the modding community? Simple - it's performance and potential.
The spring powered 20 shot turret is capable of 12m ranges with Buzz Bee darts, despite the terrible barrel-dart seal. The use of Whistlers can nudge this number up to 14m. The rocket launcher is, so far as I can tell, the same style as my 4B, but from what I can tell from the internal pics on Nerf Mods & Reviews, the tank is larger so potential ranges are greater. However, because the rocket launcher barrel is the same (2 tiny air release holes), ranges are the same at about 9m.
Accuracy with Buzz Bee darts is excellent, nearly to pinpoint accuracy. The same goes for the rocket launcher.
A ROF of 3dps is possible with the turret thanks to it's shotgun style pump grip, while a ROF of a rocket every 5 seconds is possible with quick pumping.

It's true potential however is in modding ability. It is common to hear of the 20 shot turret on a Berserker reach 80ft (26m or so) or more with rebarreling, and the rocket launcher, like the 4B is capable of more than 50m (160ft).

Sadly, because the Berserker is so old, it is not widely available. I managed to get mine from a Malaysia TRU (they had loads of Zerkers and Barbarians, as well as other Buzz Bee stuff we don't get in Aus) for 110RM - the equivalent of about $35 AUD with the current exchange rate, making it excellent value for money.
One of my favourite blasters due to its power and capacity.

Pros:
Power and accuracy are incredible, shotgun grip allows for 3dps, both weapons can be triggered using one hand (double trigger system), modded potential is extreme, resale value is very high, dual weapon types allows for greater role coverage (e.g. sniper, rocketeer due to rocket launcher, all rounder with turret)
Cons:
Hyper ugly, heavy, relatively unbalanced, pump is difficult to use as a buttstock, generic revolver cons, generic airgun cons

Power: 5/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 4.5/5
Rate of fire: 4/5
Capacity: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.67/5

Butt-ugly, uncomfortable to hold, mega blaster.
If you can find this, I highly recommend you buy one, or more if you have space for it - it commands a high price on the interweb as well as increasing internet social status by a bit.

New Page

2012-01-24T19:40:00.002+11:00

I thought I'd make a post to draw interest to a recently made page (took a few days to type, am currently quite busy). It's a page on recommendations to newbies on what blasters they should get and why. All the blasters are based on a relatively low budget.
link

Nerf Jolt vs Reflex

2012-01-16T01:51:00.000+11:00

This is a comparison of the two smallest spring powered blaster Nerf offers.

Aesthetics:
The Reflex is basically a brightly coloured box with a tiny black/grey handle sticking out the bottom. On the other hand, a Jolt has been designed with plastic used to stylise the grip and the back of the barrel. IMO the Jolt looks better, but as always I never score on aesthetics.
Accessories:
Given both blasters are tiny, super cheap single shots, there's not much to them. However, the Reflex comes with 3 darts, and the Jolt 2. The Reflex wins this round.
Power/Range:
The first important category. Reflexes achieve an average range of maybe 10-11m with whistlers/sonic micros. This is decent given the size of the plunger. On the other hand, the Jolt reaches 12m+ ranges with whistlers. This is even better given the plunger on the Jolt is even smaller. The Jolt wins this round.
Accuracy:
The Jolt is extremely accurate with whistlers. When I aimed down it's tiny iron sights, the dart followed those iron sights perfectly, barely wavering a centimetre. On the other hand, I find the Reflex's darts can waver slightly due to the design of the muzzle. The Jolt wins this round.
Usability:
The Jolt has a s3imple, easy to grip handle as the priming mech. It sticks out the bottom of the blaster. The priming stroke is a little hard given the strength of the spring. The handle on the Jolt is also a little uncomfortable.
The Reflex has a spring loaded slide as a priming mech. It is easier to prime (spring is weaker) but slightly harder to grip. The Reflex's grip is more comfortable, although does not accomodate for an entire human hand.
Due to both blasters having slight flaws, this round is a draw.
Rate of fire:
Both blasters are single shot, spring powered and have no dart storage. It takes one pull of the priming mech to prime both blasters. However, you must return the Reflex's slide to the original position for firing, while the Jolt's handle simply sticks out the bottom. The Jolt wins on this minor technicality.
Capacity:
Both blasters only hold one dart in the barrel and have no dart storage. This round is an obvious draw.
Value for Money/Availability:
The Reflex is available in a single pack in target for $7, or in a 6 pack in TRU for $50. The Jolt will be available in Kmart for $5-7 (unconfirmed). The Reflex wins this round because it's available in more than one store chain (lone retailers don't count - I got my Jolts from an independant retailer in Malaysia).

Overall:
The Jolt has won 3 rounds, the Reflex 2, with 2 draws.
I declare the Jolt EX-1 the winner of this comparison. I highly recommend everyone pick at least one up. If not more.

Nerf Jolt EX-1 Review

2012-01-11T04:38:00.008+11:00

The Nerf Jolt EX-1 is the smallest Nerf blaster available currently. It was released very late 2011 into some US stores, surprising everyone(with all the talk of the Rayven CS-18 as a distraction). It is different to most N-Strike blasters having an orange paintjob, and is smaller than the Secret Strike AS-1 (the previous smallest blaster).
The Jolt comes with itself, 2 Whistlers, and if you get the multi-lingual version, a folded piece of paper with safety instructions in many languages. I got these multi lingual ones as the store I bought from had imported the Jolts independantly - no other stores around had them.

The Jolt supposedly resembles the Noisy Cricket from Men in Black, but I haven't seen the movie, so I can't tell. Either way, it looks pretty cool with it's orange paintjob, faux grip printing and the handle sticking out the bottom.

The Jolt works like any conventional single shot - load the barrel, pull the handle at the bottom (allows for tiny size) and pull the trigger. Being so small, the plunger draw is very small, not exceeding an inch. Also, to make the handle comfortable to hold, the plunger tube is tiny. To compensate, the air seal is excellent (close to perfect, able to vacuum load supposedly) and the spring is extremely strong. This can make it non-ideal for little kids, but for big kids it's fine.

As mentioned on UT when they got a Jolt, the front part of the handle, being open to allow for the trigger mech, is rather uncomfortable and cuts into your hand. This isn't a problem the way it would be with something like an LS or AT, because you shouldn't be spending all your time in a war holding out the Jolt.

The trigger utilises a piece of plastic, rather than a spring, to stay in position. This piece of plastic is likely to snap off with excessive use, but because Jolts are so cheap, it doesn't really matter.
The handle is styled to presumably fit a small human hand, but of course can be sanded down to your liking.

Now the most important part: performance. How does something this small stand up to all it's bigger cousins?
In short, brilliantly. The Jolt hits ranges of 12m+ (will re do range check when I have the space) and has decent accuracy with Whistlers(I have one dud dart veering off, but the other one is fine).
ROF is like any other single shot - approx 1 dart per 3 seconds.

I bought my Jolt from a tiny hobby retailer in a Malaysia shopping centre (no named store) for 16RM - the equiavelent of about 5.3AUD. Given they retail for around 5USD, and will come out for 5-7AUD (no sightings in Aus yet), they are awesome value for money.
This is the best pocket blaster I've ever used. I'll write up a comparison post soon.
IMO this is also the best single shot blaster you will find. ('blasphemy' cry NF fans)
I absolutely <3 this blaster.

Pros:
Epic power, good accuracy, size is nice, handle is easy to pull, short draw allows for quicker priming, easy to holster and hide, super cheap
Cons:
Generic single blaster cons, handle is not ideal shape, extra aesthetics cause discomfort and can dig into your hand

Power: 5/5
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of fire: 1.5/5
Capacity: 0.5/5

Overall: 3.58/5

Micro size, mega power, mega value.
Must buy.

Nerf Raider CS-35 Review

2011-12-31T11:31:00.002+11:00

The Raider CS-35 was Nerf's third CS blaster, and the first to utilise 'slam fire' and a drum mag. It was originally officially released on 9/9/2009. Unlike the majority of modern Nerf blasters, the Raider (as you can see above) is blue instead of the traditional yellow/orange.

The Raider, unlike the Alpha Trooper which is all go and not much show, is a much better looking blaster. With an 18-clip loaded into it, it resembles WWII SMG's such as the Sten Gun. With it's 35 drum, however, it resembles a mix of a Tommy Gun, Sten Gun and an LMG of some sort. In other words, it resembles something machine-gun-ish.

The 35 drum is one of the key attracting factors to the Raider, as it is the highest capacity Nerf currently offers. As it is a CS drum, it is compatible with all other CS/ECS blasters such as the Stampede and Recon. It's capacity is twice that of the next largest drum/clip (18 drum/clip), and so this drum is a large advantage ammo-wise. It's also 10 more than the nearest capacity - the Vulcan's 25 dart belt.
However, all this extra ammo comes at a big price. When it's loaded into the Raider, the Raider becomes very left side heavy, and as a result can unbalance you in your first wars with it. It's not hard to get used to, as the drum isn't actually that heavy, but it's more the unbalanced nature of the Raider. Unlike most CS blasters with their centre of gravity somewhere in front of the handle, the Raider's is towards the left.
Also, hold that much ammo requires a very big drum. The circular part of the drum is twice as wide and twice as high as the AT's drum (meaning 4* the front and rear surface area), which adds a lot of bulk, especially to a blaster with it's clip dock facing towards the left. It's easy to hit walls and other objects with it when you're so used to vertical clip docks like the AT. It also means exposing more of yourself than you would have to with vertical clip dock weapons.

The Raider is primed similar to an AT, but uses a foregrip instead of a shotgun style pump grip. This can take some getting use to, but fortunately the foregrip is extremely comfortable. I personally prefer the AT's pump grip, although I know that SG Nerf prefers the Raider's foregrip.

The Raider is primed by a simple pull of the foregrip, replace the clip/drum if necessary, push the foregrip back into position, then pulling the trigger. It's very simple, and kids of most ages will be able to do it.

The Raider was the first blaster to utilise 'slam fire'. This simply means you hold down the trigger and move the foregrip back and forth as quickly as possible. This is a lot faster than the traditional pull-push-trigger method, allowing for a ROF of 5 dps if done quickly enough.

The Raider's foregrip priming action is very smooth, much like my AT. This makes priming and slam firing that little bit easier as there's almost no friction.

I've reviewed the Raider's stock a while ago, here.

Now onto the Raider's firing. It is an old blaster, so Recon like ranges are expected. It also has a long barrel, which reduces range but supposedly increases accuracy. The barrel is not removable as the foregrip needs it for a guide rail.
The Raider is reverse-plungered, so potential range is limited.
The Raider's ranges are approx 8m when single shotting, and 9-10m when slam firing; less than an AT, but still decent in an indoor war.
The Raider's accuracy is not as good as an AT or Longshot, although it is still bearable thanks to its capacity and ROF.

The Raider retailed for $60 when first released. However, it is frequently available for $40 in Kmart and BigW in sales. As a result, it is an excellent value for money blaster, up there with the Stampede and AT.
I recommend this as it's not only good value for money, but it also bolsters your other blasters, and is a decent blaster in it's own right.

Pros:
Highest capacity available from Nerf, stock is extremely sturdy, ROF can be up to 4-5dps - more than most blasters, generic CS blaster pros
Cons:
Accuracy and range are not the best (outclassed by AT), side clip dock gives the Raider bad weight distribution when using the 35 drum, clips and drums are difficult to remove from clip dock (due to design), 35 drum is ridiculously bulky, large and heavy (although useful in the Stampede), generic CS blaster cons

Power: 3/5
Accuracy: 3/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 4.5/5
Rate of fire: 4.5/5
Capacity: 5/5

Overall: 4.17/5

Awesome capacity, great booster, decent blaster.

Nerf Stampede vs Alpha Trooper

2011-12-20T16:52:00.001+11:00

Well I had some time to kill, so I thought I'd write this up.

This is a comparison post of the Stampede ECS vs the Alpha Trooper CS-18.
Aesthetics:
In this sense, the Alpha Trooper is very similar to the Recon, but much lower profile. It is very minimalist.
The Stampede on the other hand looks awesome.
Accessories:
The Alpha Trooper comes with itself, a cute but extremely useful 18 dart drum and 18 Streamlines.
The Stampede comes with itself, 3*18 dart clips, a 6 dart clip, a blast shield, a foregrip/bipod and 60 Streamlines. Value packs include extra darts, clips and a Bandolier.
The Stampede slaughters the AT in this aspect.
Power/Range:
The Alpha Trooper gets consistent 11-14m shots. The Stampede on the other hand, when stock, barely managed about 10m range. After mods, it's fine, but in stock condition, it's not great.
The Alpha Trooper wins this round.
Accuracy:
This is the controversial section. Streamlines are notorious for being inaccurate and inconsistent. This is more apparent in the Stampede, which has a 2m diameter spray. On the other hand, the AT gets about 0.75m spray, and that's normally on the odd fail shot.
AT wins this by a large margin.
Usability:
The Stampede is full auto, so it's a case of put batteries in it, turn it on, point and spray. However, jams become more often on low battery power, 6*D batteries are very heavy, and it's difficult to fire single shots due to the Stampede's firing system.
On the other hand, an AT is easy to use. Pull the slide back, put the clip in, push the slide forward and pull the trigger. It hardly jams (500+ shots and has jammed maybe once on a bad dart), it's easy to use (slide is very smooth) and it's versatile thanks to its accuracy, power and slam fire.
The AT wins this by another fairly large margin.
Rate of fire:
The Stampede gets about 3dps on fresh batteries, and more so on extra powerful batteries. However, at higher voltages, jams and misfires become quite frequent because the clip advancement system can't keep up and the Stampede's loading system isn't ideal.
On the other hand, an AT with it's slamfire can get a consistent 5dps without jams or misfires, provided the clips/drums are loaded well.
The AT wins this one on the minor technicality of the Stampede's jamming and misfiring.
Capacity:
The Stampede comes with 3*18 clips and a 6 clip, totalling 60 darts capacity.
The AT on has one 18 drum, and hence can only hold 18.
The Stampede once again slaughters the AT.
Value for Money/Availability:
The Stampede's RRP is $100, although can be found for about $50 in sales. The AT is $30 RRP, with a sale price of $23. The Stampede is just about everywhere and the AT is a Target exclusive.
Because of the accessories a Stampede comes with, it takes this round.

Overall:The AT has won 3 rounds, the Stampede 3, with one tie.
Therefore, this is a tie.
HOWEVER: When you look at the rounds the AT has won, it's all the rounds to do with using the blaster. The Stampede has won everything to do with what the blaster comes with.
Therefore, I declare the Alpha Trooper CS-18 the superior blaster, although the Stampede is far better as a 'booster pack' for your other blasters.

2011 Nerf Sum-up

2011-12-16T19:03:00.018+11:00

This post will be a round up of everything Nerf in 2011.
Firstly, we have the release of a new Dart Tag range (albeit not in Aus *sad*). They all sport curved sleek shells in black and yellow, and introduce new concepts in Nerf - the quick load slot and battery powered full auto revolvers.

Dart Tag
The Sharpshot Single Shot Pistol
Ranges: On the internet, said to be around 25ft
ROF: About 1 dart per 3 seconds
Accuracy: Good
Capacity: 1 in barrel, 3 in holders

The Speedload 6 Inbuilt Clip Fed Pistol
Range: 30-35ft supposedly
ROF: 3-5dps at best (has slamfire)
Accuracy: Good
Capacity: Up to 6 in built in clip

The Quick 16 Inbuilt Clip Fed Assault Rifle
Range: 30-35ft supposedly
ROF: up to 5dps (slamfire)
Accuracy: Good
Capacity: Up to 16 in built in clip

The Swarmfire Full Auto Super Large Revolver
Range: 30ft or so supposedly
ROF: 3-4dps on fresh batteries
Accuracy: Decent
Capacity: 20

Vortex
We also had the release of Vortex, a family of blasters shooting discs at a 60ft (18m) stock range.
The Proton Single Shot Pistol
Range: 55-65ft
ROF: about 1 disc per 3 seconds
Accuracy: Good until 50+ft
Capacity: 1

The Vigilon Multi Shot Pistol
Range: 55-65ft supposedly
Accuracy: Good supposedly
ROF: about 3 dps at best
Capacity: 5-7, depending on squishability of discs

The Praxis Magazine Fed Rifle
Range: 60ft+
Accuracy: Good to 55+ft
ROF: 3dps
Capacity: Variable (10 in included mag)

The Nitron Full Auto Magazine Fed LMG
Range: 55-60ft supposedly
Accuracy: OK - could be a lot better
ROF: 2-3 dps depending on batteries
Capacity: Variable (20 in included mag)

N-Strike Jolt EX-1
This is the surprise of the year really. Noone saw it coming, and the general response on the interwebs was that it's awesome.
Range: Supposedly 35ft+
Accuracy: Excellent
ROF: About 1 dart per 3 seconds
Capacity: 1 in barrel

N-Strike Scout IX-3
The Scout got a new paintjob to match that of the majority of N-Strike blasters.
Range: 30+ft
Accuracy: Good
ROF: About 1 dart every 3 seconds
Capacity: 1 in barrel, 2 in holders

Pic from NM&R

Sonic Series
The Sonic series had a revamp with a few more blasters added to the line up.
-Stampede ECS
NM&R Pics
-Longstrike CS-6
NM&R Pics
-Barrel Break IX-2
NM&R Pics
-Barricade RV-10
SG Nerf Pics

Gear Up Series
The Gear Up series is a family of N-strike blasters with new orange with black stripes paintjobs, as well as special printed darts and a Vortex disc with each (ie sneaky marketing campaign).
-Maverick REV-6
-Recon CS-6
-Raider CS-35
-Barricade RV-10
http://urbantaggers.blogspot.com/2011/07/gear-up-n-strike-series-pic-spam.html
Some tasty UT pic spam.

Whiteout Series
Arguably the best looking Nerf repaint series so far, Whiteout blasters also seem to have improved performance compared to all others, as shown by NM&R's Nitefinder and Maverick comparisons.
-Longstrike CS-6
-Deploy CS-6
-Maverick REV-6
-Nitefinder EX-3
http://urbantaggers.blogspot.com/2011/07/nerf-whiteout-series-picture-essayp.html
More dericious UT pic spam.

Barricade Special Repaints
The Barricade also received two Transformers themed repaints.
The repaints were of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. (SG Nerf links)

And that's Nerf of 2011. Mostly repaints, but we get an awesome new micro pistol, a revamped Dart Tag line, and some powerful disc blasters in the form of Vortex.

2012 looks to be promising, with UT giving us a preview of the seemingly awesome semi auto bullpup flywheeled Rayven CS-18 (with fancy glow in the dark darts) and both UT and SG Nerf showcasing the not-so-revolutionary full auto DT Speedswarm 10 shot revolver.

Nerf Reflex vs Secret Strike

2011-12-05T16:30:00.002+11:00

This will be a comparison between the Reflex IX-1 and Secret Strike AS-1 - the two smallest blaster until the introduction of the Jolt EX-1.
Aesthetics:
The Reflex IX-1 is essentially a box with a tiny handle attached. In this sense, it's very minimalist, with the only 'extra' being a sling loop at the end of the handle. The Secret Strike is more stylised. Although it is even simpler in construction, it has a fancier shell. Personally, I think the Reflex looks better, although I don't award points in aesthetics.
Accessories:
Neither blaster comes with extra accessories - just the blaster and darts. However, the Reflex has 3 darts, the Secret Strike has 2.
Therefore, the Reflex wins this round by a metaphorical millimetre.
Power/Range:
The Secret Strike, being air powered, has variable power. However, at full power (approx 10 pumps safely), a good condition SS can reach approx 10+m. I'm not too sure, as neither of mine work properly. It has serious potential for those who can be bothered to increase the airtank size.
On the other hand, the Reflex is plunger powered, and therefore should have a consistent range. For whatever reason, it seems to vary between units. However, both of mine got consistent 11m ranges with Whistlers.
From what I remember, my Reflexes beat my Secret Strikes, therefore the Reflex wins.
Accuracy:
The Reflex, having a barrel designed the way it is and using whistlers, has ok accuracy - better than most CS blasters, but not as good as blasters like NF's and Mavericks.
The Secret Strike, as it works well with Suctions, has better accuracy.
The Secret Strike wins this round.
Usability:
The Secret Strike, having a miniscule pump, requires a minimum of 7 pumps to get a decent range. With something that small, it can be a pain. I also find the Secret Strike is not particularly ergonomic, being so small.
On the other hand, the Reflex, being plunger powered, only requires one pull of the slide to prime.
The Reflex wins this by a large margin.
Rate of fire:
Both blasters being single shot, they are quite slow to fire. However, the Secret Strike must be pumped 7 times, while the Reflex only once.
Therefore, the Reflex wins this round.
Capacity:
Both blasters are single shots, and only hold 1 dart - the one in the barrel.
Therefore, this round is a tie.
Value for Money/Availability:
The Secret Strike is $3.75AUD from KMart, and the Reflex $7AUD from Target.
As the Secret Strike is just above half price of the Reflex, it wins.

Overall:
The Reflex has won 4 rounds, and the Secret Strike 2, with 1 tie.
Therefore, I declare the Reflex IX-1 the overall winner.
However, do note that the Reflex has very little modding potential being reverse plungered (max range of approx 18m or so), but the Secret Strike is more diverse (power wise), capable of ranges 30+m with a tank expansion.

Nerf Maverick vs Spectre

2011-12-04T17:43:00.003+11:00

This post will be a comparison post between the Maverick REV-6 and Spectre REV-5. I have both, and have used them extensively.
Aesthetics:
The Maverick is quite large and bold, but is also the most recognised blaster in the world (being so popular), having been out for numerous years. The Spectre on the other hand, if far more low profile, being thinner and less bold. The attachment of its silencer also adds to this effect. Being new (late 2010 released), it is far less recognised than the good 'ole Maverick. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I will not declare a winner.
Accessories:
The Maverick comes with itself and some suctions/whistlers (and in the case of Gear Up, a Vortex disc and extra Gear Up darts). The Spectre comes with itself, 5 whistlers, a silencer and a folding stock.
Due to the addition of the extras, the Spectre wins this round.
Power/Range:
Mavericks from around 2007 to around 2009 have an average range of 9 or so metres with suctions. I am not sure about the range of the original blue ones, having never used or seen one. Mavericks from about 2010 onwards have 10+m ranges, as do Sonic Mavericks. I also believe Gear Up and Whiteout Mavericks have 11+m ranges, Whiteout being the most powerful.
Spectres get around 11+m ranges with whistlers. This is expected due to the apparent improvements in Nerf technology throughout the years.
Because of the similarities in range, I declare this round a tie.
Accuracy:
Mavericks, using suction darts, are extremely accurate. However, as the barrel rotation is reliant on trigger pull, and barrel-plunger alignment relies on a perfect trigger pull, it can be a little inaccurate.
On the other hand, the Spectre, despite using whistlers, is also extremely accurate. It is even more accurate when using Suctions. Also, the Spectre's barrel rotates upon priming, and the turning mechanism is different to that of a Maverick's, so the barrel are almost always aligned correctly.
The winner of this round is the Spectre.
Usability:
The Maverick primes upon pulling the slide, while the barrel turns on trigger pull. This can create issues where the barrel does not align correctly with the plunger output, reducing range and accuracy. Also, the slide, having no gripping mechanisms, can be a little hard to prime, more so when one's hand is greasy, sweaty or wet. The barrel also pops out a part of the way it could, exposing only one or two barrels.
On the other hand, the Spectre is far more user friendly. Its barrel rotates on priming, so the barrel-plunger output alignment is far more consistent and accurate. The slide has lips which keep one's hand in place, making it easier to prime and reducing the effects of a greasy, sweaty or wet hand. The barrel on the Spectre pops out all the way, exposing 3 or so barrels (the rest obscured by the mechanism which holds the barrel in place).
The winner of this round is also the Spectre.
Rate of fire:
The Maverick can achieve approx 3 darts per second, although usually only if the hand used to pull the slide is not greasy, sweaty or wet, due to the lack of gripping mechanisms on the slide. The Maverick is also prone to misfires, reducing the ROF.
The Spectre on the other hand, can achieve a consistent 3 darts per second no matter what condition your hand due to its barrel revolving mechanism and its slide design.
The winner of this round is yet again the Spectre.
Capacity:
The Maverick begins to claw back some points here. It holds 6 darts, while the Spectre holds five.
The Maverick wins this round (obviously).
Value for Money/Availability:
Yet again, the Maverick claws back some points. It is available from almost everywhere for approx $10 AUD if bought from the right place, or at the right time. The Spectre, on the other hand is only available at Aussie Targets for $24 off sale. (down to $19 on sale)
The Maverick wins this round too.

Overall:
The Spectre has won 4 rounds. The Maverick has won 2. There has been one tie.
Therefore, I declare the Spectre REV-5 as the overall winner. I also personally prefer the Spectre to the Maverick, due to its feel.
However, in an indoor setting, the Spectre's extra accuracy is not particularly apparent, and the Maverick's extra shot compared to the Spectre can be a big factor.

Nerf Ammo Box Review

2011-12-02T12:16:00.005+11:00

The Nerf Ammo Box was released some time ago (2009 or something), and is very basic. It comes with 100 darts of either Sonic Micro (Whistlers with reversed colour scheme) or Streamlines (of course). Along with comes (obviously) a plastic box with Nerf printed on in and some other fancy engraving and other details.
In essence, it's a relatively cheap made box, but for the price, it's a good ammo replenishment and storage item to purchase.

The box is made of relatively thin grey plastic and is advertised to hold 300 darts. It is capable of much more, such as holding clips, drums, ammo belts and torches, as demonstrated by SG Nerf:

In it are 5*6 dart clips, 2 Magstrike mags and a Vulcan Belt. However, using these methods to hold darts reduces the total dart storage - in this case the box is full, and it's only holding 75 darts. (30 from clips, 20 from mags, 25 from belt)
Although the plastic is rather thin and flexible, this does help prolong lifespan - it can survive more bumps and hits than a more rigid box, although is more easily damaged by sharp tools and corners.
The clasp mechanism on mine was quite loose (ie the lid can randomly open if held upside down), but the lid holds itself down by gravity, and you can always use tape to hold it closed. I use a ruler wedged between the clasp and the box to keep it closed. Given its cheapness, it wasn't unexpected.
In Australia, it's available for $29 at K Mart. This is good value as Camo Ammo Bags are $30, as well as AT's.
All in all, I recommend this if you need darts and/or a storage method. There's no real reason not to have this.

Pic credit to SGNerf.

Alpha Trooper Inconsistencies

2011-11-23T21:34:00.001+11:00

I recently bought an Alpha Trooper for my brother's birthday (him agreeing with me that the AT is the best blaster in our war setting), and noticed several differences between ours.
-Range/Power: Mine has a consistent 11-12m range with good darts. However, my bro's has an inconsistent 10-15+m range. Occasionally a dart sails from one side of the house to the other.
-Accuracy: Mine has good accuracy for a CS blaster, though from what I've read, this is normal. However, my bro's has more inconsistent accuracy. I believe it's due to the power.
-Cocking smoothness: My grip slides back and forth very smoothly, as if the grip has been greased. However, my bro's feels like it's scraping against something. However, given that mine is nearly a year old (got for christmas 2010) and my bro's is new, this is likely due to it being worn.

Has anyone else noticed any differences between stock AT's or is this just our pair? I know UT got a bad AT and a good AT, and posted the results/differences, but I haven't heard of it anywhere else.

Longshot LSFG Integration

2011-11-16T20:19:00.002+11:00

I recently epoxied and blu-tacked my LSFG onto my Longshot after cutting a whole lot of stuff off. ~~I would have used hot glue but the glue gun exploded before I could use it. :(~~ I've got a new one, so hotglue reinforcements done.
The LSFG has had its AR's removed because it is pathetic. The Longshot is stock so far, until I get boltsled reinforcement brackets, at which point I'll mod it if I feel like it. I'm intending to do the following:
-Remove AR's
-Add NF spring
-Reinforce boltsled
-Reinforce stock (if needed)
~~-Reinforce LSFG integration (with hot glue)~~
The shotgun grip I've made is completely removable and works well, but is slightly uncomfortable (being wood).

Nerf Vortex Praxis Review

2011-11-09T16:34:00.004+11:00

~~Goodbye AT and Furyfire as my favourites. You are now being replaced by this. Well whaddya know. AT and Furyfire are now my favs again.~~ Now the Praxis is an equal favourite with the others. The Nerf Vortex Praxis is the second most expensive Vortex blaster so far. It is the cheapest one to use disc clips. The Praxis is supposedly the most popular of the Vortex blasters, because of all its factors put together.

Firstly, the Praxis' aesthetics. From the side, it looks epic, seemingly being designed to be like a sci-fi laser blaster, being nothing like any modern weapons. The clip from the side appears similar to N-Strike clips, and at first I thought the pump was a little short and too fat. Also, while the stock looks great from the side, from the top it looks excessively undersized, with the Praxis being as fat or even fatter than the Proton. The stock is about the same dimensions as the Recon stock, and as such is extremely undersized compared to the rest of the Praxis. Without the stock attached, the Praxis appears and feels similar to a double barreled shotgun, and you feel cool just holding it.

Now, on to the feel of it. Like I said in the Proton review, I disliked the curved handle at first. but like the Proton I really like it now, with it being very comfortable. The pump grip is also comfortable, being less wide than the barrel, which in my opinion looks best and also feels best to grip. The lip at the back allows for better grip. The Praxis, though light, also feels like it has a good weight in it. Unfortunately, the Praxis's feel is ruined by the stock. It is like the Recon stock - good looking but flimsy. It doesn't even hold an extra clip.

Now on to operation.

The Praxis is shotgun gripped and is hence easy to use. The clip can also be inserted or removed at any time, allowing for 11 discs to be loaded instead of 10. The clip is released by a small switch above the trigger. This is probably due to my being used to CS blasters, but I at first found it a little annoying that the clip flew out of the clip dock, and the position of the switch a little odd. After a short while though, I started to like the way the clip flew out of the clip dock, making it easier to reload.

The Praxis fits all other Nerf stocks, and it's stock fits other Nerf blasters, but given the colour scheme and design, the Praxis looks best with its own stock, and it's stock doesn't look good on any other Nerf blasters (yet). The Praxis has a tac rail in the perfect spot for sights. Sights are actually quite useful on Praxis, as will be explained later. Personally I like the Pinpoint Sight most on it.

Being clip fed, the Praxis is easy to reload and is also compatible with the Nitron's 20 clip. This allows for both accuracy and spamming.

Although the Praxis does not have SlamFire, it can still manage about 3dps courtesy of its easy to use shotgun pump grip.

Now onto ranting about its stupid (but effective) safety locks and other emergency stuff. The trigger cannot be pulled except when it's primed and loaded with a disc. The pump can only be pulled back if a clip is loaded. There is a jam released button, but due to the nature of the blaster and ammo, you shouldn't need to use it unless you're experimenting or totally stupid (or have a defective Praxis, disc or clip).

Now onto the most important part, performance.

The Vortex blasters are boasted to have good ranges (for stock blasters) and good accuracy. The Praxis does not disappoint. It reaches the 60ft mark easy, with mine reaching 65-70 on occasional shots. It also has incredible accuracy considering it's a toy, being able to hit my front door handle from 9m away with relative ease. It's stock helps here too. As mentioned earlier, it has a max ROF of around 3dps which is good for a non SlamFire blaster. Like the Proton, the discs are prone to curving but mine don't seem to curve much, even at long distances.

All in all, the Praxis is an excellent blaster, with my only gripes being ammo incompatibility (impossible to solve) and it's flimsy stock. Modability isn't an issue for me.

For 25AUD (RRP 50) it's excellent value for money. It's also worth noting that 10 disc clips are (meant to be) available separately to amass a bunch of disc clips cheaply.

Pros:

Range and accuracy typical of Vortex, operation is easy, ROF is decent with shotgun grip, shotgun grip is comfortable, handle is comfortable, stock attachment allows use of any N-Strike/Super Soaker stock, sights are useful due to accuracy, mags allow for easy reloads, possible to load 11 into Praxis (chamber a disc, then reload the mag), looks awesome

Cons:

Included stock is pathetically thin and flimsy, disc projectile speed is not quite capable of matching darts

Power: 5/5

Accuracy: 5/5

Value for Money: 5/5

Usefulness: 4.5/5

Rate of fire: 4/5

Capacity: 4/5

Overall: 4.583/5

Great looks, great performance, nice price.

Longshot Availability

2011-10-26T16:19:00.000+11:00

Recently I checked the comments which were made on this blog, and I noted that a number of them had stuff to do with Longshots. Most of them said to re-release the Longshot into retail stores in the USA. Why? If you want them so badly just come down to Aus. We have loads of them. Myer, BigW, Kmart, ToysRUs and Toyworld all have them, and for decent prices of down to $35 or so on sale. Only now have the Longshot stocks begun to thin out. A few months ago we had stacks of them (ie more than 20 in a store) often at $30 or so on a sale time.

But why? Why is the LS so popular? Of course, I've read numerous mod guides for them, but basic mods don't seem to do much more than reverse plungered blasters. Then of course, there's the custom brass/PVC/etc breech for the Longshot, boltsled reinforcements and other more 'extreme' mods.

Personally, I don't like the LS. It's too big and bulky, and as I can't be bothered to mod it (and I don't have the tools/materials anyway) it is outranged by my single shots, my Mav's (some modded to be so), my Barricade, my Furyfires, my AT, my Deploy and Recon, my Stampede (lightly modded) and my 4B (obviously). In other words, just about everything outranges my Longshot.

So when all is said and done, I really don't care about the Longshot being discontinued. After all, we have the Stampede to fill in for a direct plungered blaster. And we have stuff like 4B's for long range. And then there's the yet-to-be-released Rayven which (according to UT and the ACT/NSW DT/HvZ team) reaches 25-30m ranges consistently at 16.8v (which is achieved merely by replacing batteries), and can reach up to 40m. So what is all the hype about really?

Nerf Vortex Proton Usage Tips

2011-10-17T09:44:00.001+11:00

Some usage tips for the smallest and cheapest of the Vortex line.
1) Practice dropping the disc in the slide. It's not as hard as loading darts, but remember not to put it in upside down. Practice will save time in the heat of battle.
2) Remember to compensate for the disc curving to the right at 10m+ ranges.
3) Use your long range (compared to dart blasters) to keep your enemies at a distance. Not only will you be safe from retaliation, but it can provide an opening for you and/or your teammates to rush your enemies when they're scared.
4) Remember that although discs fly at the same speed as darts, they travel further and therefore have longer air time.
5) The Proton is a single shot. For other notes on single shots, go here.
6) Forget using the tac rail. It's stupid and pointless, and looks utterly horrid with anything attached.

Nerf 'Rayven CS-18' rumour

2011-10-08T21:27:00.002+11:00

Normally I don't post rumours but this interests me greatly.

Note the 'not final' scrawled all across the picture, presumably meaning that this blaster actually exists.

Points to note:
-Barrel extension
-Bullpup CS blaster
-Semi auto - being bullpup, there's no space for a plunger, so it's presumably flywheel
-Glow in the dark streamlines
-18 clip which supposedly lights up the streamlines
-Green, not traditional N-Strike yellow/orange/grey/black
-Battery compartment looking hatch (grey hatch above clip)
-Looks quite small, given the guy is single handing it

I really want this blaster. (presumably it's compatible with standard clips/drums and normal streamlines)
First saw this pic over at UT.

EDIT: New pic first seen on UT. Looks like it's real.

EDIT: (19/10/11) UT now has a Rayven. Go over to their site to see full details. Link on the right.

Nerf Vortex Proton Review

2011-09-17T17:02:00.004+10:00

After months of relative quietness, I have something interesting to say!

That's right, I now have a Proton!
Now quick background while I lecture the ill-informed.

[rant]

Vortex is a series of Nerf blasters (officially released on 10/9/11, or 9/10/11 to you Americans) which fires discs, not darts. This is not a one-off set of blasters, due to the advertising of 'N-Strike vs Vortex'. Vortex was initially heavily criticised for its use of discs (despite the accuracy at 40ft range and range of up to 60ft) because people wanted darts. A fewmonths before the official release date, Nerf released several short videos showing off the Vortex range and accuracy, as well as showing off the Proton and Praxis in extra detail. Vortex blasters hit the shelf a little early (I think August) and the 10/9/11 (or 9/10/11) kind of failed. Nevertheless, they recieved generally good reviews.

[/rant]

Anyways...the Proton is the single shot blaster of the family. Pull back the large slide at the top, place a disc in it, flick a switch and fire. Being single shot, it can only be jammed by over-eagerness and experimentation or pure stupidity. It has a jam button on the slide, although I highlyl doubt its need given most of us have fully functioning brains.

The Proton is FAT. This is to allow for the discs to fit inside it. It is approx the width of 4 tac rails lined up side by side. Ignoring its obesity, the Proton is damn good looking. While not like any conventional weapon (the way N-Strike blasters are), the Proton looks rather like a laser or energy pistol in a sci-fi movie. Expect ample use of repainted Protons as props.

All the Vortex blasters have curved grips. I was at first dubious about these, as they detracted from the looks of the blaster. Once I picked up the Proton, however, all this dubious-ness disappeared instantly. It is incredibly comfortable, and does not actually feel curved. It follows the curves of a human hand gripping an object, so you can't really feel any bumps or uncomfortableness.

The large grey/red structure in front of the trigger is, weirdly enough, the perfect size and shape for me to grip. I'm not sure if this holds for all users (after all, some are big, some are small). Personally though, I prefer gripping this like a pistol - both hands on the handle.

The Proton has a tac rail on the top! And you should attach absolutely nothing! It adds unecessary bulk and probably won't help.

The large green slide at the back which you load with looks rather ugly and out of place, in my opinion. The Proton looks very sharp and accurate, and then here comes a long a nice curved slide with a circle in the middle. I don't blame Nerf though, it's an ideal shape for a loading sled.

The sled is retracted by the use of one of two small switchs on either side of the blaster, just above the trigger. This springs (literally) the sled back into its normal position, loading in the disc.

Should you forget to load a disc (derp), you can freely pull the sled back out to put a disc in. You will notice that it is a lot easier than the first time. This is because the first pull of the sled cocks the spring, and subsequent pulls do not. ~~The Proton cannot be de-cocked without firing a disc, thanks to a massive array of various safety locks and that rubbish. Dry firing is impossible without excessive effort and extra materials.~~ Actually, I've found a way to dry fire it but given it has no AR's or the like, I wouldn't recommend it.

Now lets get onto the discs themselves. As UT stated, they are plastic frisbees with foam glued around the outside. The foam is very soft, Nerf dart style. The plastic is...well...plasticky. HOWEVER, the middle of the disc is very, very thin plastic and is prone to warping and breakages. Thankfully, it is very unlikely a disc will have its centre hit when fired.

Note that for whatever reason, around 30-45ft or so into a flight (depends on disc), the disc curves towards the right. According to ever helpful Oznerf, they say it's because the firing mech puts spin on the disc to make it glide properly, like a frisbee. Either way, it's annoying.

And now, the moment some have been waiting for, and others will probably skip.

Ranges:

-15m
-17m
-20m

Depending on disc, with slight wind. In other words, the Proton holds up to expectations and official claims of 60ft (18m) ranges.

Accuracy:

For around 10-15m, the disc should travel very straight, depending on the disc. After that, the disc will begin to curve towards the right, hence ruining long range accuracy. However, general accuracy is fine, so this only slightly detracts its score.

Potential rate of fire is around 1 disc per 2 seconds. ie standard for a single shot

The Proton only holds one disc - the one it's about to fire. Some people hope that the grey-red structure would be disc storage.

Overall, the Proton is a good buy at $12.84AU, although rather expensive for a single shot. I recommend it to those sceptical about Vortex (like me). Unfortunately, it does not fit in the Tac Vest holster.

Pros:

Range and accuracy typical of Vortex, snap load sled allowing for relatively quick reloads (for a single shot), looks awesome, various locks and safeties to prevent damage to blaster or misuse

Cons:

Very large for a single shot meaning difficult holstering, too fat for Tactical Vest, generic single shot cons, no storage for extra discs

Power: 5/5

Accuracy: 4.5/5

Value for Money: 3.5/5

Usefulness: 3.5/5

Rate of fire: 2/5

Capacity: 0.5/5

Overall: 3.17/5

Good looks, good performance, good change.

Nerf at Supermarkets

2011-09-04T17:02:00.000+10:00

I was shopping with my parents, doing usual grocery rounds and happened to spot a Nitefinder and a few Barricades in my local Woolworths. For those who don't know, Woolworths/Safeway in Aus is a supermarket which sells generally only groceries and that.

There was only one NF, and it was on clearance for $4. Naturally I bought it.
There were 3 Barricades, and I assume they're $20, given that all the other items on the shelf were $20.

Weird or what?

Air Zone Darts Review

2011-08-20T18:01:00.001+10:00

Air Zone makes special darts for their blasters. They are made of orange-ier foam than Nerf darts, and are slightly shorter than Nerf darts. The tips are quite solid. They are made of solid rubber (I think) and are blue. The tips are approx the same diameter as the foam, so they can be used for modded CS blasters. Because the tips do not have any holes in them, they are pinpoint accurate.

Results:

Stock Mav (Sonic):
Suctions: 11m
AZ Darts: 14m

Stock Furyfire (Orange):
Whistlers: 13-14m
AZ Darts: 13m

Modded NF:
Suctions: 12-13m
AZ Darts: 15+m

Modded Recon:
Streamlines: 15m avg (horrid accuracy)
AZ Darts: 14m (great accuracy)

Price: $10 for 30 darts

These darts are great for revolvers, and I recommend them if you aren't one for stefans.

Pic to come soon.

Stampede mods

2011-08-09T12:03:00.002+10:00

I've done the following mods to my Stampede:
-AR removal
-Air release hole filled
-'Servulus' spring (10+kg load)
For indoor wars, I use the stock spring (no need for epic ranges).

Ranges:
Stock spring:
Streamlines: 13-14m
Lite/Heavy silis: 14-15m

Serv spring:
Streamlines: 25m
Heavy silis: 30m or so

I highly recommend the Serv springs, which can be purchased off Oznerf from 'Servulus'.

4B Shotgun Attachment

2011-07-26T18:46:00.001+10:00

The promised shotgun attachment using the stupid Tek 3 turret. Only gets 30 ft per dart at 4 pumps. I believe its due to the turret.

EDIT: With paper barrels and whistlers, this setup gets 20m per dart.

VicNerf

2011-07-26T18:37:00.000+10:00

VicNerf is a small Nerfing forum. At the moment, there aren't many members, and not much content. Yet.
http://vicnerf.forumotion.com

Nerf Dart Tag Furyfire Usage Tips

2011-07-18T20:50:00.010+10:00

Some usage tips for my new favourite.
1) Keep the Furyfire at full capacity. It's very easy to reload individual darts, and 10 darts isn't exactly a whole lot.
2) Refrain from spamming, unless completely necessary. Likewise with 1), 10 darts isn't a whole lot. If anything can teach you that, a Magstrike can.
3) No need to increase the Furyfire's size or weight - it's accurate enough using the tac rail, and unless you're doing a night war and need light.
4) Learn to fire fast. With a lack of slam fire the Furyfire takes a lot of practice to fire quickly.
5) Outdoors, the Furyfire is outclassed by air blasters and direct plungered blasters (The Furyfire is reverse plungered). Use it as a secondary outdoors if you don't like the Barricade. Alternatively, get a Hyperfire (it's direct plungered).

Nerf Dart Tag Furyfire Review

2011-07-13T19:30:00.004+10:00

The Furyfire is a 10 dart revolver. It is under the Dart Tag range, hence the odd colours. It also comes with 2 vests (in green and orange), 2 DT safety glasses and 20 DT darts (10 each). This is definitely my favourite revolver.

The Furyfire in my opinion looks excellent, although the choice of colours in my opinion wasn't the best. They look rather like miniature revolving grenade launchers.

The 2 vests included are very small, but still fit on me (weirdly). I'm 165cm + tall, yet the vest doesn't seem out of place. Out of size, yes, but not out of place. They are meant for the darts to stick on to as they are made of felt (I think) and the darts have velcro strips (hook end). This lets you see where you got hit, and the vests have 3 target areas for more fun.

The 2 safety glasses are really small (being designed for like 10 year olds), but for whatever reason they fit OK on my head. Unfortunately, as I require prescription glasses because my eyesight isn't 20/20 I can't wear those glasses. Apparently they're really tough (according to Oznerf) and can withstand the shots from the most powerful blasters (read: Singled Titan) and not get dented or scratched.

DT darts are often praised for being awesome. They get awesome range, being almost on par with Whistlers, while being almost as accurate as Suctions. In the Furyfire 2 pack you get 20 - 10 orange and 10 green. These are used for denoting team stuff, so you don't get hit by friendly fire.

Now onto the Furyfire and why it's my favourite blaster. The Furyfire is pump-action. The pump grip is very comfortable and quite easy to pull back. I believe that this is because it is small enough that your hand can wrap around the entire grip to provide excellent...grip. Even with it's spring, which to me feels quite strong.
The Furyfire's turret rotates upon trigger pull, making loading and reloading easy. You can load 7 darts before needing to rotate the turret, so you only need to pull the trigger twice to completely fill the turret. This is a real advantage when needing to reload.
The turret is very open on both sides allowing this easy reloading.
The Furyfire also holds an extra dart in the handle.

Although the Furyfire has a tac rail, there are two main issues:
1) It doesn't look great with any attachments - trust me, I've tried them.
2) Colour. Furyfire's aren't yellow.

I find the Furyfire a little front-heavy (no stock or other rear structure) and the handle is a little small. Other than that, I have no real problems with it.
Now onto the important stuff. Just to emphasize it's awesomeness, I'm going to make a list of sorts.

Cost: $39 (for 2-pack)
Cost for single unit: Less than $20
Range: Depends on darts:
DT darts: ~14m
Whistlers 14-15+m (ie awesome for a stock blaster)
Accuracy: Excellent with DT darts or Whistlers
ROF: approx 3 darts per second. The grip is comfortable, but there's no slam fire.
Awesomeness/Win factor: Over 9000.

To sum up, decent capacity, good ROF, great range and accuracy, great price.

Very awesome. I call this a must buy, like the Alpha Trooper.

Pros:
Power and accuracy are excellent, high capacity for a revolver, pump action allowing for good ROF, turret area is quite open allowing for easy reloading, generic revolver pros
Cons:
Generic revolver cons

Power: 5/5 (Yes, that's right)
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 4.5/5
Rate of fire: 4/5
Capacity: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Great performance, great functionality, super cheap.

Nerf Longshot ACOG Scope Mod

2011-07-04T16:54:00.002+10:00

This is a better looking ACOG than my toilet paper roll one.

Materials:
Plastic cutting tool
Hot glue
Hot glue gun
...
...
Oh yeah, an LS scope.

Instructions:
1) Cut wherever there are coloured lines. Black means remove the piece, and the different colours correspond to different parts in the scope.

2) Assemble and glue the parts like this:

Click the pictures to view a larger image.

You're done! It's really that easy. It's actually more complicated, but I forgot to take pictures during the process. Sorry :( Basically, you avoid cutting into the plastic lenses.

Nerf Scout IX-3 Half-Review

2011-07-04T10:09:00.004+10:00

The Nerf Scout IX-3 is a single shot pistol, which so far as I know was released in red in the UPS. I've heard that it was released in green and blue in a target practice set, and in a yellow two-pack in the Philippines. It's a reverse plungered blaster, but has almost no deadspace in its plunger assembly, making it the closest to a direct plunger blaster that a reverse plunger can be (read: very, very good).

In terms of aesthetics, the Scout in my opinion is the best looking single shot blaster which isn't realistic looking that any toy company has ever made.

The Scout that I purchased was pre-modded, so I can't comment on range. However, I can tell you that the Scout is ridiculously accurate, being able to hit targets with error of a few millimetres using Suction darts.
I believe that the stock range would be around 11m, the same as any normal single shot pistol.

The rate of fire of the Scout is the same as any single shot pistol. However, for some odd reason, I find it easier to reload the Scout than any other single shot I've used.

The handle on the Scout is extremely comfortable. It has contours which fit hands of almost all sizes, and has no parts which cut into your hand. The slide is very easy to pull, and is quite large which accommodates for people with small and large hands.

The Scout has a small button in the plunger catch mech which allows it to be remotely fired when attached to the Titan ASV-1. As I don't have a Titan, I simply use a screwdriver to test it. Pushing the button is almost the same as simply pulling the trigger, and hence it is reliable.

I cannot comment on the value for money, as I did not buy the full NIB set. However, I do know that the UPS can be purchased for $50 on sale, and $70 at standard RRP. The Titan is worth $30-40 (possibly more) while the Hornet (if working) is worth around $25. Hence the Scout is worth $5-15 in the NIB set. This is great value for such a great looking and performing blaster.

I may change this review if I buy a NIB set.

Pros:
Looks epic, can be fired from Titan when attached to Titan, standard single shot ranges (meaning outranges most blasters), standard single shot accuracy (ie awesome), holds 2 extra darts, small size allows for easy holstering
Cons:
Generic single shot cons

Power: 4/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Usefulness: 4/5
Rate of fire: 2/5
Capacity: 1.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Great looks, good performance, bad availability.

EDIT: Now available in 2 packs in yellow from BigW for $15, making it great value.

Maximising usage is the same as all other single shots: here

4B Revisited

2011-07-01T12:25:00.001+10:00

When I received the Foam Sports Sample Pack, I decided to use the PETG barrel for my 4B. Here are some pics.

Don't ask me what the coupler thingy is - I have no idea.I just found it at a hardware store for $3.
Shotgun attachment possibly coming - make use of my Tek 3 turret.

And now some ranges, because everyone loves ranges. All were done with Foam Sports' heavy sili darts,
2 pumps:
40m - 131'
3 pumps:
45-47m - 148 - 154'
4 pumps:
50m - 164'

Nerf Vortex Nitron

2011-06-30T09:08:00.000+10:00

Head over to UT for the story. The link is on the right.
It looks....horrid to me, but having 2*20 mags and 40 discs looks pretty cool.
I'm not sold on the flywheel idea though - I expect that at low voltages it'll start flinging discs inaccurately.
The scope looks very much awesome win, and it's more useful than, say, the LS scope.
Sure, you'd be just as accurate, if not more with iron sights, but hey, electronic sights are awesome!

Foam Sports Sample Pack

2011-06-29T16:58:00.000+10:00

As you may or may not know, I ordered a sample pack from 'Foam Sports' (aka Oznerf member informer, aus_nerf_supplies on ebay). In it contains 5 small 'snap caps', 5 large 'snap caps' and 5 heavy silicone tips. It also contains 15 pieces of what is simply known as 'blue foam'. The pack includes a small piece of a barrel material known as 'PETG' approx 3 inches long (10 or so cm), as well as hot glue and super glue for assembling darts. My pack came with extra snap caps, extra blue foam, 5 pieces of pink foam and 3 light silicone tips.

Obviously the left foam is the pink, right foam is the blue. This foam is stiffer and tougher than Nerf foam, as well as being slightly thicker, making it ideal for Nerf blasters.

This is a picture of all 4 different darts. From left to right, they are: Small Snap Cap, Large Snap Cap, Light Sili Tip, Heavy Sili Tip. I believe they are also suited to blaster of proportionate power - weaker blasters on the left, the most powerful on the right.
Snap caps are small pieces of plastic shaped similar to a dish, such that it can hold a weight inside it. Should the snap cap break off, the weight breaks off with it. They are quite hard.
The sili tips are tips made of silicone (ORLY). They have been designed specifically to provide the optimum weight and shape for Nerf blasters.
In my snap cap darts, I've pulled off the tip of a streamline dart and used that as a weight. As a result, it provides an ideal weight for low power blasters. The two silicone darts are highly accurate and also provided a decent range boost.

In conclusion, I think this is worth your ~$10 - about $5 of it is shipping.

Well done Foam Sports.

Nerf Vulcan EBF-25 Usage Tips

2011-06-18T21:06:00.001+10:00

Some usage tips for getting the most out of the Vulcan.
1) Have more belts. 25 darts can go pretty quick, and having to refill the belt after emptying it is really time consuming.
2) Use the tripod. It takes the weight strain away from you so you can focus on aiming and/or spraying.
3) Have a long range weapon. The Vulcan, even with extensive mods is held back by its design. So far as I've seen, the greatest range achieved by a Vulcan is at best 80ft. Have something like an NF perhaps.
4) Have good backup. Even if you have extra belts, switching the belts is quite annoying, and is a lot harder than switching clips in the CS and ECS blasters.
5) Get AA-D converters. They'll greatly reduce the weight, which'll give greater mobility and ease of aiming. Also, it allows the use of 3.7v 14500 batteries which'll provide a greater ROF.
6) Lug around as many belts as possible. Sure, it's not cheap or light, but it'll give you a massive ammo advantage on the battlefield. Besides, the Vulcan's weight is far more than multiple belts.
7) Find a grip which is most comfortable for you. The Vulcan has multiple ways of holding, so choose the one which suits you best.
8) It's best you take on a defence role. The Vulcan's tripod allows easy pivoting of it, which lets you pivot and spray down attackers.
9) Due to its bulk, the Vulcan is not particularly good in small cramped spaces. Hence use it where there is a lot of space to maneuver.
10) Learn to burst fire. You don't want to waste all your ammo.

Nerf Recon Shotgun Grip Mod

2011-06-15T15:35:00.001+10:00

That's right peoples, I made my Recon shotgun gripped. And now I'm going to show it off. As I said on Oznerf, inspiration for this mod goes to Psyk on the SG Nerf forums, who posted his much cleaner and in my opinion better mod. His link here.
And now some pics.

You can see the vast differences between mine and Psyk's - mine's a lot less clean with more hot glue and e-tape. :D

Now I'm just waiting for Orange Mod Works to release the Recon Stage 2 kit - I'll probably get both kits and make my Recon uber awesome.

Nerf Vulcan EBF-25 Review

2011-06-12T21:01:00.002+10:00

The Vulcan EBF-25 is Nerf's belt fed machinegun. It was released in (I think) 2008 (correct me if I'm wrong) and upon release, it was one of the most awesome Nerf blasters ever. (Raiders, AT's, Barricades and the like didn't exist). It comes with a 25 dart belt using whistlers/sonic micros, a large ammo box, a tripod, and a snap-on carry handle. Older versions included a very short barrel extension (as displayed in the pic) which IMHO makes it look a little cooler than it already did. At the time of release, the Vulcan had the largest capacity ever released, so that gave it a massive advantage in the Nerf wars of those days.

Firstly, the Vulcan fills in the role of 'massive awesome belt fed machine gun' that people liked. It looks extremely awesome, with its belts feeding through, the massive barrel, the large ammo box and all the things which give a machine gun its awesomeness.

Working the Vulcan is easy. There's an on/off switch. And the Vulcan's full auto. Alternatively you can manually fire it. Pull back the cocking handle, let go (it should spring forward) and pull the trigger. Either way appears to yield similar ranges.

Now onto to weight. Because the Vulcan uses D cell batteries, it's darn heavy, and that's annoying. Luckily, it includes a tripod, so the Vulcan becomes more of a defence weapon than an offensive weapon. Thankfully, you can get AA-D cell converters which allow the use of AA batteries which are much lighter than D batteries.
Due to it's weight, the Vulcan is unwieldy and it's design is not ideal for the weight distribution.

Onto the belt fed system. Sure, it's awesome, and it's a great capacity. However, it's a pain in the butt to reload, and that can be the difference between victory and defeat (in a CTF game). It can use all types of darts (although I haven't tried Streamlines). It can be modded to be longer, but doing that has the risk of damaging the Vulcan's motor and gear system.

The ammo box is almost an essential. It reduces the stress on the Vulcan's motor as it holds the belt, as oppose to the belt dangling and increasing stress on the motor to pull up the belt. Besides, attaching it makes it look pretty awesome.

All this means nothing, however, if the Vulcan sucks. Luckily, it doesn't. The Vulcan gets approx 8m ranges flat, consistently with Whistlers. This is decent as it gets approx a 3 d/s ROF. Therefore, you get an easily spammable decent weapon. Because it uses Whistlers, the accuracy is decent, but not epic.

The Vulcan's good, but I don't like it. It's too heavy and too unwieldy. I'd take a Stampede over it any day. Pocket on UT has also shared a story where a boy he talked to bought a Vulcan, and got owned by people with Mavericks.

The Vulcan ranges from $45 to around $120 depending on where you get it from. Also, extra belts cost between $10 and $20, or so I've seen.

Pros:
Extremely high capacity, ROF is decent on recommended batteries, ROF is easy to increase with higher voltage batteries, spammability is extreme, looks epic, tripod is easily capable of supporting its weight, has carry handle, has manual function (unlike Stampede)
Cons:
Super heavy, handle is at very back for very bad weight balance when single handing, belts are difficult to reload, accuracy is not the best

Power: 3.5/5
Accuracy: 3.5/5
Value for Money: 3.5/5
Usefulness: 3.5/5
Rate of fire: 4/5
Capacity: 4.5/5
Overall: 3.75/5

Great looks, decent performance, uber heavy.

Nerf Maverick REV-6 (Sonic series) Re-review

2011-06-11T17:14:00.003+10:00

The Nerf Sonic series is simply a set of blasters which have been made in a translucent green shell. They are generally exclusives.

Now I'll reveal a rather embarrassing secret - throughout my Nerf life, I've never actually owned one. I've modded 5, but never actually owned any. And now that I have one, I can say, with confidence, it's awesome.

In my previous review, I stated that the Mav gets around 7-9m range. My new Sonic one, without mods, successfully gets 11m with Suctions.

I also feel the Mav is extremely comfortable to hold, and because there's no major painting, there's no fear of rubbing away the Mav's looks.

For some reason, my Sonic Mav is easy to rapid fire, easily achieving a ROF of 3 d/s

All in all, I feel this new Mav is better than all others I've used. Also, I got mine for 12 AUD - $15 standard price, 20% coupon.

Power: 4/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of fire: 4/5
Capacity: 3/5
Overall: 4.3/5

Better looks, better performance.

~~I dare say I like this more than my Spectre.~~ Not any more - I prefer the feel of the Spectre. Still, it's awesome.

Upcoming lack of posts (again)

2011-05-30T16:23:00.000+10:00

It's now close to exam period, so I have to study a lot.
Nevertheless, there is light at the end o- oh never mind, cliches never work. Anyway, the following will be done soon after exams:
-Raider CS-35 review
-Vulcan EBF-25 review
-Furyfire review (they should arrive soon)
-Relevant usage tips posts
-Custom scope #2 - a small Reflex scope.

Thank you for your patience.

Modded 4B

2011-05-26T11:37:00.008+10:00

After a bit of boredom and a case of CBS with homework, I decided to single my 4B. IE, I gave it a dart shooting barrel, as well as doing some other bits and pieces.
-Super short paper barrel with a twist-fit with Nerf darts
-Tac rail from Reflex glued on
-10 dart holders

Ranges:
1 pump:
8-9m, 30ft
Suctions and Whistlers

2 pumps:
13m, 45ft
Suctions
>15m, >49(?)ft
Whistlers

3 pumps:
>15m, >49ft
Suctions and Whistlers

Sadly my house isn't big enough for a full range test. :P

EDIT: The paper barrel broke, so I taped on a crayola barrel.

Ranges are more than 15m with 2 pumps, using hot glue streamlines. And almost no dart drop. Also really accurate.
EDIT: Ranges
2 pumps: 23.5m, 77 ft
3 pumps: 33m, 108 ft
3.5 pumps: 41m, 135 ft
3 pumps + heavy angle: 45m, 148 ft
3.5 pumps + heavy angle: 60m, approx 200 ft :D
Using hot glue filled streamlines.
3.5 because the OPV (or whatever it is) kicks in.

EDIT:
This thing, at close range punches holes in cardboard. :O

Nerf Dart Tag Furyfires - on the way!

2011-05-18T21:59:00.001+10:00

I ordered a 2-pack of Dart Tag Furyfires today, so they should be here within a few weeks.

The pack comes with 2 Furyfires, 20 Dart Tag darts, 2 Dart Tag Glasses and 2 Dart Tag Vests. The Furyfires have recieved fairly good reviews, hence me ordering them. Also, according to a post on Oznerf, the Dart Tag Glasses can resist a shot from some of the most powerful Nerf blasters (modded) at point blank range.

Hot Glue tipped Streamlines

2011-05-10T16:15:00.004+10:00

I took the plunge, and filled the tips of 18 streamlines with hot glue. Here are the results:

Stock AT: No distinct range/power difference, but a MASSIVE accuracy change - much, much better. Love the noise when it hits a target, too.
Modded NF: Scary. More power than Suctions, and hurts much more.
Modded Maverick: Wow. Better range and accuracy than Whistlers.
Stock Spectre: More range than Whistlers, but less accurate.
Stock Deploy: Better range, more consistency and more accuracy. All round win.
Stock LS: Less range, more accuracy. I'm confused.
Uber 4B: Epic win. Punches through cardboard.

I believe that the LS does not work with hot glue Streamlines properly because the loading mechanism does not push the dart in all the way, and hence less air pushes the dart. I could be very wrong.

I actually had the density to shoot myself at point blank range. It really hurts, even from the AT, and even through clothing!

All in all, good and easy mod, and excellent benefits. If only it weren't so tedious.

X-Shot Stealth Review

2011-04-30T15:22:00.005+10:00

The X-shot series is another non-Nerf blaster set. What makes them different, however, is that they have a water gun built into a Nerf-like dart blaster. They are (as you can see above) green and black, and use black darts with yellow suction tips. Now I'll proceed to review this particular blaster, the X-Shot Stealth.

It is a single shot and comes with 6 darts. It holds one in the barrel, and 4 in dart holders, leaving one spare. The water is held in a tiny banana clip, and both the darts and the water are fired via the one trigger. The water gun is a squirt pistol, nothing more.

The handle is very comfortable, with contours to fit fingers. The entire shell is quite rounded, and I like it that way.

The banana clip for the squirt gun is quite small, and doesn't hold much water. The water gun feels like a last-minute decision to me, if you know what I mean.

The cocking mechanism is just like that of an NF's or Element's and is comfortable and easy to use.

Instead of an air restrictor to protect the plunger, there is a second small spring inside to cushion the plunger.
The plunger draw is very short, being about one inch (2.5cm). I thought this would be pathetic, but I was wrong (luckily).

With initial shots with the darts provided, I was getting a consistent 10-12m range. This is impressive, being on par (roughly) with an NF. The squirt gun was getting around 5m, which isn't too bad. Also, the darts were travelling in an extremely straight line.

The only criticism I have is a lack of an iron sight. There is a tactical rail, but Nerf accessories don't fit and the end is blocked by a nice curved part at the front.

All in all, this is awesome, especially for the price. This was $12, and the NF is around $10 as well. I highly recommend this.

Pros:
Power and accuracy are on par with average NFs, high novelty factor due to double function, has 4 dart capacity (quite high for a single shot), relatively cheap
Cons:
Water gun is terrible, included darts are not the best quality, plunger rod is quite easy to snap, generic single shot blaster cons

Power: 4.5/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Usefulness: 4.5/5
Rate of fire: 1.5/5
Capacity: 2/5
Overall: 3.7/5

Looks wierd, fires well. Great alternative.

I even dare say that this is better than the NF.
Pic credit goes to UT.

EDIT: The plunger rod on my Stealth broke, so I had to fix it. Luckily, it's not something hot glue and a long nail can't fix. :)

Usage is same as any single shot. Tips here

Modding - my opinion

2011-04-28T16:39:00.004+10:00

Over on NM&R, Jerm received a comment from a 'Nerf purist' who hates modding. This sparked a bit of debate, so I thought I'd post what I think here.

I prefer not to mod if I don't need to. Most blasters reach a range of at least 8-9m, which is ok because I only war indoors at home. I don't mind doing mods like my Secret Strike/Recon Light integration because it makes use of something completely useless. Most Nerf blasters are not totally useless, being useful for some purposes. For example, the Recon is good as a 'poser rifle' (quote from UT) and a clip-fed pistol.

If the blaster is one that I don't use in combat, I could be bothered to mod it, like my 4B sniper. Mods such as increasing the voltage on my Stampede and Barricade are both beneficial and easily reversable (by reverting to standard batteries).

I am not against mods such as NM&R's Longploy, because both blasters are still good and function well.
However, I don't do them, because I need as many blasters as I can get - my friends don't have primaries and secondaries - one has a Recon, and another has a Maverick.

What do you guys think of modding?

Edit:
After seeing everyone say how bad a Triple Shot is (stock), and how easy it is to make better, I might make my own Quadshot and then make up my mind on modding.

Star Wars Captain Rex Blaster Review

2011-04-21T14:45:00.001+10:00

The Star Wars blaster released in 2011 has 3 variants: Captain Rex's Pistol (above), Cad Bane's pistol and General Grevious' pistol. I will be reviewing Captain Rex's pistol as it's the only one I have.

The Star Wars blaster comes with 3 unusual darts. They have a hard rubber tip, which doesn't compress so it hits a lot harder. They also have a rubber tube running down the centre which helps keep its shape. For whatever reason, they fly quickly and accurately, which is nice.

The blaster itself is only slightly larger than a Reflex, and holds 2 darts in the handle. It therefore lacks the sling point that the Reflex has. It is also cocked like a Reflex, with the entire top section being the cocking mechanism.

The handle has quite sharp edges, and is quite small, so for adults it would probably be quite uncomfortable. However, because I'm not that large yet, it's ok for me. Even so, a Reflex is more comfortable. Also, for whatever reason, the trigger on mine was sticky, which was annoying.

Now onto the performance. Sadly, this is where this blaster falls down. The range is less than a Reflex, averaging around 7-9m, even with its special darts. Also, despite being a single shot, and using pretty good darts, the Star Wars blaster is fairly inaccurate.

Also, it costed around $17, with a Reflex being $7. This makes thie Star Wars blaster quite low value. I recommend a Reflex over this, especially after my encounter with a weirdly powerful stock Reflex (13m ranges).

Power: 3.5/5
Accuracy: 3/5
Value for Money: 1.5/5
Usefulness: 2.5/5
Rate of fire: 1.5/5
Capacity: 1.5/5
Overall: 2.25/5

Good looking, bad performance.

Lanard Scatter Blast Grenade Usage Tips

2011-04-14T17:31:00.002+10:00

Some tips for getting the best out of this unusual toy.

1) Load it with 6 darts. For whatever reason, it performs and pumps up best this way.
2) Activate the safety before you pump it. You don't want to accidentally set it off in your face, and for some reason it pumps up better.
3) Do note that if you throw it with enough force, the safety button will disengage and it will go off. However, I think doing that damages the safety, so best not to experiment.
4) It's a GRENADE. It's not a blaster. As such, always bring something like a Longshot, Alpha Trooper etc along so you're not stuck when you detonate the grenade.
5) No-one said you can't use it like a blaster. The tip detonates the grenade, and the darts come out the opposite end. As such, you could use it as a last stand shotgun, or for blasting 6 darts into a corridor/hallway where a Magstrike/RF20/etc will not suffice. Just don't rely on it because a fully working Hornet works better in this area.
6) Extend the tail pump. For whatever reason, it flies better, it's more stable in flight and it curves in such a way that the tip will be pointing at the ground, increasing your chances of a successful detonation.
7) Don't leave it pumped up. No-brainer.
8) If it is pumped up, leave the safety on. Another no-brainer.
9) It's not particularly suited to environments with valuables and fragile objects as the grenade itself is quite bulky and large (for a grenade). It's covered in soft foam however.

Lanard Scatter Blast Grenade Review

2011-04-10T14:18:00.005+10:00

The Lanard Scatter Blast Grenade is a truly unique toy. It's made by one of Nerf's major competitors, Lanard, who also makes the renowned Tripleshot/Shotgun, the very awesome looking Punisher Gatling Blaster and the Big Salvo rocket launcher The thing when you're against several opponents, or you're in a cramped, indoors space with a dangerous enemy is that you want to take them down fast. You could use Magstrikes/Powerclips/etc, but the risk is that someone will get a shot off before you mow them down. With this, you could lob it, then duck into cover and listen to them cry out.

The Scatter Blast comes with 10 darts, and uses 6 at a time. This is a nice addition as it is really easy to lose darts with this thing. The darts are suction darts, and while they don't stick as well as Nerf suctions, they fly further. I've tested them in my Reflex and LSFG and they fly as far as Whistlers and Streamline darts, respectively.

The Scatter Blast, while it may seem difficult to use, is actually quite simple and very useful. Couple of notes for using it:
1) Performs best when fully loaded with 6 darts
2) Pumps up best when fully loaded
3) Safety button may not function if thrown with decent force
4) Throwing technique is essential for proper detonation and use
5) Will not pump up properly if safety is off
Otherwise, it's pretty simple. :P

The Scatter Blast performs best with (it says) around 15 pumps, but I pump it around 10-12 times as it's faster and yields similar results.

Now onto the range. There are two key factors: throwing range and blast radius. Throwing range depends on the user, and those who have played AFL/Rugby/other egg-like ball games will probably throw this with ease, as I believe it is a similar size and shape. Also, it's weighted at the front so that the detonation tip has a greater chance of being set off when thrown correctly.

The actual range of the darts is not great. Because the pump is kind of short, and it's shooting 6 darts, range is around 5m per dart, if held horizontally. However, the spray is immense. Watching the darts, the can move outwards nearly 4m when the Scatter Blast hits the ground. This vastly increases your chance of hitting people who are around corners. Also, the darts can fly 3m vertically when the Scatter Blast is dropped vertically.

Overall, the Scatter Blast is unique and brilliant. It fills one of the gaps that Nerf doesn't, and now cannot fill (copyright reasons), and performs its job brilliantly. I highly recommend this, and at $15 from Target, it's very affordable.

Do note that it fits perfectly in the holster of the Tactical Vest. Almost as if Lanard had the Vest and said "Let's make it fit this vest." Probably just a coincidence, though.

I can't rate this like a blaster, so I won't. Either way, I rate it 4.5/5 - I feel it'd do better with a higher capacity.

UPDATE: I've experimented with dropping it, and extending the tail pump to full length before dropping/throwing appears to assist in keeping the tip pointing down so that it detonates. Anyone who can explain why, please post below.

Buzz Bee Tek 3 Review

2011-04-09T19:01:00.003+10:00

I'm not even going to add a pic because I hate this so much. It's a 3 shot revolver, and it's tiny. When I took this out of the box, I expected decent things. However, it shot 4m with Buzz Bee darts, and 5m with Camo Whistlers. However, the barrels in it aren't even full barrels, and as such the darts often spiral out of control. The barrels aren't even auto-advancing - you have to manually turn them. It cost me $4. An absolute waste of a perfectly good $4. DO NOT BUY.
Power: 0.5/5
Accuracy: 1/5
Value for Money: 0/5
Usefulness: 0/5
Rate of fire: 0.5/5
Capacity: 1/5
Overall: 0.5/5

Absolutely terrible. Go buy a $3 'Kool Zumz' blaster from Kmart and a 1m piece of 13mm poly pipe (.80c) from a hardware store, and you now have a 14m shooting single shot which cost you less than $4.

Nerf Camo Ammo Bag Usage Tips

2011-04-06T14:28:00.001+10:00

Some usage tips for making the most of a seemingly simple accessory.

1) Clip it onto a belt. On a Bandolier, it'll slip downwards and possibly drop darts.
2) If you have CS blasters, fill the bag with 8*6 clips. If you have non CS blasters, fill the bag with 100+ darts of your choice. If you have CS blasters AND non CS blasters, then have 4*6 clips and 50+ darts.
3) Don't forget the divider. If you want to have 2 different types of ammo, use the divider. It also helps when holding clips and darts at the same time.
4) The bag is quite large. I recommend wearing it for a few hours to get used to the weight and bulk.
5) If you don't want to wear the bag, you could use it as a small ammo cache and hide it. It is camouflaged, after all.
6) The cover flap and divider are secured by velcro, so they're easy to attach and detach. Also because it's velcro, don't be afraid to pull hard on it.

Nerf Longshot CS-6 Usage Tips

2011-04-05T21:43:00.004+10:00

Some usage tips for my new blaster.
1) Use the rear clip storage. Why not?
2) Ditch the LSFG. Unless you have little use for the increased range, and/or you need a secondary, and/or you need improved accuracy, ditch it. Indoors, it's just doorway fodder (in the words of Urban Taggers) and a Nitefinder is a much better secondary.
3) Use the bipod. It'll allow an increased ROF, yet improved accuracy because it's a lot more stable.
4) If you have a Longshot, in a large team game you would be the sniper. You don't really have a whole lot of choice, as I can't think of better choices for snipers. Without mods, that is.
5) Learn to use the scope. It may not work like a real scope, but it still helps aiming.
6) Have plenty of clips handy. Just because it doesn't fire fast doesn't mean you don't need much ammo. Snipers can spray just as much as Stampeders, but Stampedes are easier to spray.
7) Have a good secondary. Longshots are generally incapable of firing very fast, so last-stand spamming isn't an option. Maybe a Magstrike?

There you go. I may or may not update this when I field-test this.

Nerf Longshot CS-6 Review

2011-04-04T11:34:00.007+10:00

~~After all my hate posts of the Longshot, I have a new favourite.~~ No more. Too bad Longshot. I've reverted to my good old Alpha Trooper. The Longshot was originally released in a blue/yellow paint scheme, then the current yellow/orange paintscheme. For a short time, it was also released in a rather exclusive red/orange paint scheme, dubbed the 'Crimson Series'. The latter paint scheme is extremely rare, and extremely valuable. The current Longshot comes with the Longshot Front Gun (LSFG), the bolt (in 2 pieces), a very large scope, a 6-clip and darts, and the Longshot itself.

First of all, the Longshot looks EPIC. With the LSFG and scope attached, it looks like a futuristic laser/plasma sniper rifle. Without the LSFG and scope, it looks like a laser/plasma assault rifle.

The LSFG is a pump-action, single-shot pistol which feels rather like a last-minute addition, rather than a dedicated blaster. Nevertheless, attaching it on several blasters makes them look pretty cool. Range wise, it's roughly on par with some of my friends' Mavericks (7m). Unfortunately, the LSFG works best with streamlines, having other darts going less than 5m. Size wise, it's larger than the Spectre, Maverick and Recon, which is annoying because it is not as good as any of the aforementioned.

The scope is simply a large plastic tube with a reticle at the end. Not that good for pinpoint sniping, but gives a good idea of where the dart will hit. It's too large for the smaller blasters, but in my opinion in only suits the Longshot, Longstrike and Stampede.

Older packs of the Longshot came with 2 clips, while special value packs of the older version even came with the Recon's barrel, a tactical light and more clips/darts.

Now on to the Longshot itself. It is bolt-action, and has a built-in fold-out bipod. This makes it feel very much like a sniper rifle. The stock holds a clip or drum. It can hold 6-clips and 18-drums comfortably. ~~I'm not sure about 18-clips and 35-drums - I haven't tried them yet.~~ The 18 clips are too long to be used effectively in the stock, and the 35 drum is far too fat. The jam door is underneath the tactical rail, which is sort of like a carry handle. As I keep saying, the Deploy's carry handle is the best, but any carry handle is welcome. The bolt is very easy to use, and makes you feel like you're actually a sniper. Unfortunately, due to this set up, it is difficult to rapid-fire it accurately. The LS can reach around 2 darts per second with some accuracy.

Now time for the power. Due to a 'direct plunger' system, the Longshot is extremely powerful. I've found it to outrange my Alpha Trooper very slightly. It reaches 12m relatively consistently, depending on darts.

Even with power, however, you've got to hit your target. Most CS blasters are inaccurate, but the AT is fairly accurate. The LS is generally about as accurate as an AT.

Modders love the Longshot, because it has more potential. With an AR removal and spring replacement, Nerf Mods & Reviews has made their red Longshot reach 80-90ft, which is around 25-30m. With more extensive mods, such as a 'brass breech', most modders can get 100-110ft. This is 30-35m. Reverse plunger blasters, such as the Recon can get a maximum of around 20m with the internals provided.

Overall, the Longshot is a good buy. I got it for 45 AUD, while it's RRP is 60 AUD. Also, I've heard rumours of it being discontinued, although here in Aus, as Urban Taggers put it, "You can't move here in Australia without tripping over one of the damn things." It's a pretty good blaster, and I recommend this over most other blasters.

EDIT: From Hasbro Australia: "the Nerf Longshot has been discontinued from the range for 2012."
link

Pros:
Slightly above average ranges and accuracy for a CS blaster, very high range when properly modded, can hold clip in stock, stock is quite sturdy, LSFG can be attached to any blaster with a barrel nub, scope is a separate attachment, generic CS blaster cons
Cons:
ROF is not best due to use of bolt handle instead of shotgun grip or foregrip, firing noise is quite springy (irritates me), LSFG is practically useless, quite large and bulky

Power: 4.5/5
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of fire: 3/5
Capacity: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.92/5

Big gun, big bang, great looks.

Longshot + 18-drum = Epic Win

Nerf Tactical Vest Usage Tips

2011-04-02T16:06:00.002+11:00

Some usage tips for using the Tactical Vest.
1) Establish a good system for reloading the clips. It'll save time when it counts.
2) Learn to switch between your primary and your secondary (in your holster). Likewise, it'll save time when it counts.
3) Get used to the vest. Wear it for a few hours to get used to it, if you need to. It'll help you focus on the battle.
4) Have a sword. You have the sheath, so you might as well use it. Unless of course it's not allowed in the war. In which case don't use it (duh).
5) Adjust the straps until it's comfortable. It'll help you with point 3).
6) Have a Clip System blaster. You might as well use the clip holders.
7) Use the dart holders for your secondary. 5/6 shots isn't much, you know.
8) Use the zip pouch to hold all sorts of stuff. Such as a Jolt for last-stand, some darts for the Jolt/secondary and a torch if you play at night time/indoors with lights off.
9) If everyone playing has Tac Vests, you can denote teams with a velcro patch on your left shoulder, where the velcro (loop) is.
10) If you want to go super hardcore, give everyone taggers and aim for the strips and patches of velcro on the vest. It's not much, but it's good for target practice.

Nerf Camo Ammo (Whistlers) Review

2011-04-02T16:00:00.001+11:00

The Nerf Camo Ammo is a rather unusual addition to the N-Strike collection. It has 3 variants: Streamlines (grey urban camo), Suctions (green/brown woodland camo) and Whistlers (arctic camo). I have the Whistlers, as pictured. The kit comes with 50 camo darts, and a bag in a similar camo look. It's awesome.

The darts are nothing special (NOT). They just look very different. And, of course, you will probably agree that the above darts look EPIC. You'll probably lose them outside in snow, but indoors, they're fine. In fact, I think they're easier to find indoors than standard orange/pink darts. Each dart has 'Nerf' painted/printed on the side in the proper logo. For some reason, these Whistlers fly better and get better ranges than most of my other Whistlers. I think it's because they're slightly thicker, and get a better air seal.

The bag is a useful accessory. It can hold up to 100 darts, or 8*6-clips. Here's some pics from SG Nerf to demonstrate. Do note that he is using the urban camo Streamlines. They're the only variant available in Singapore ATM, which is weird because here in Aus, we get Whistlers and Suctions, but no Streamlines! Odd.

As you can see, the bag can actually hold a substantial amount of ammo. There is a small divider in the middle, which allows you to have two sets of 50 darts, or have 4 clips and 50+ darts. It's also removable.
The bag is made of a thin material, but being flexible, it's hard to damage unless you use sharp tools. Because it's thin, it's light and portable.

Personally, I think these are worth the 30 AUD you pay for them. Sure, you could probably get more darts for that price, but in this you get a useful and awesome looking bag, and EPIC darts. Pick up the darts that you use the most. You won't be disappointed. Buy them, even if just for impressing your friends.

Usefulness: 4/5 - loses a point for being camo - you'll lose them in the snow
Value for money: 4/5 - could have done with a few more darts, or maybe a clip (for the streamlines)
Cumbersomeness: 5/5 - very light and portable
Coolness Factor: OVER 9000/5 - it's really that awesome
Overall: 4.5/5 (taking the OVER 9000 as a 5)

Pic credit to SG Nerf

Nerf Tactical Vest Review

2011-04-02T13:25:00.004+11:00

The Tactical Vest is a pretty good Nerf accessory, if you can spare enough money for it. It holds 4 clips (6-clips, 18-clips and 18-drums are all fine), allowing for a minimum of 24 darts, and a maximum of 72+ darts. I haven't tried 35-drums - I don't have any. It also holds 12 darts just above the clips, which you can use to reload your non CS-blasters, or refill your clips if you have no other blasters. It has a holster in the lower right which you can use to holster a Spectre, Maverick and Barrel Break (and probably more), which is useful when your primary (usually a CS blaster because of the clip holders) runs out. There's also a zip pocket opposite the holster which fits a Reflex (and similar sized pistols), darts and a small torch. On the back, there's a small sword sheath which is good if you have any foam swords. Really, though, it's like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Nearly literally. (knife ~ foam sword, gun ~ blaster).

First of all, there's 4 clip holders. As stated before, this allows 24-72+ darts just in clips/drums. Not as impressive as the Bandolier, but the clips/drums are in a more convenient place. This makes reloading a CS blaster easy.

Then there's the 12 dart holders. They're just as tight as the Bandolier's, but like the clips, they're in a more convenient position.

The holster is always helpful. Because neither a Maverick nor a Spectre are very heavy, they don't really get in the way. If you secure your sidearm properly (ie use the straps) then your sidearm should be extremely secure, and easy to switch to a fro with your primary.

The zip pocket is small, but fairly wide, so it can hold a variety of objects. Usually I put a ~~Reflex~~ Jolt, some darts and a small torch just in case. The zip pocket isn't a whole lot, but it's a welcome addition.

The sword sheath is just a piece of plastic/fabric which holds my $5 el-cheapo sword from Kmart. It's nice, but like I said before, it's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Now on to how it fits. I'm ~ 165cm tall, and it is small enough that there's just enough space for the bag that comes with Camo Ammo. It's quite ideal. It's fitting ability can be adjusted by 4 velcro adhering straps. This makes it's customer base a lot larger.

At first, it feels like you're wearing a lot, but after a while it feels like a normal vest. It just requires time.

The Tac Vest has a small velcro patch (loop) in the left shoulder area. It is ideal for denoting teams.

However, none of this matters if it isn't worth the price. In the US, it retails for around 30 USD. I managed to get one off Amazon.com for 35 AUD INCLUDING postage. Absolute bargain considering postage to and fro the US is really expensive. Therefore, mine had very good value for money, as an AT here is 30 AUD. (In US, AT retails for 20 USD)

I recommend this if you have several blasters, some of which are decent CS blasters. Focus on blasters before you get this.

Usefulness: 5/5
Value for money: 4.5/5 - If it were retail price, I'd give it 3.5/5, but mine was cheap.
Coolness Factor: 6/5
Cumbersomeness: 4/5 - It can feel like a heavy burden if you're not used to it.
Overall: 4.625/5

Birthday Pressies

2011-03-18T08:42:00.011+11:00

Title says it all.

Tactical Vest Kit
Camo Whistlers + Bag
Longshot CS-6 - Discontinued? Yeah, right.
8086 Lego Star Wars Tri-Fighter
Star Wars Captain Rex Blaster
8098 Lego Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank
Lanard Scatter Blast Grenade
3367 Lego City Space Shuttle (30th Anniversary edition)

New Page

2011-03-16T11:18:00.002+11:00

Another new page to the blog: here
It details Nerf Games I know of and roles that people could have in a squad.

Nerf Spectre REV-5 Usage Tips

2011-03-16T08:56:00.003+11:00

The Nerf Spectre is like a Maverick, yet so different. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of it.
1) Ditch the attachments. The Spectre is a pistol. No more. Besides, any other attachments will just make it harder to holster.
2) Have a holster of some sort. It helps you quick-draw the Spectre in a case when your primary runs out of darts. Alternatively, you can use a strap of some sort, like the bandolier strap. There are people who custom make holsters for Nerf blasters.
3) Stick with whistler darts. They seem to get the best power and accuracy in the Spectre. ~~I'm not sure about tagger darts - i've never used one.~~ DTs get great accuracy and good range, but Whistlers are slightly better.
4) When you push the barrel in after reloading the barrels, spin in for 1/5 of a turn. This will lock the barrel into the rotating mech and prevent rotation issues.
5) Remember that there is no slide lock - you can pull it back and forth as much as you want, even if the barrel is flipped out.
6) Practice quick-drawing the Spectre. They're a sidearm, and a sidearm ONLY. DO NOT go into battle without a good primary blaster such as an AT. Unless of course it's a pistol round, or everything else has similar capacity and range.
7) Learn to quick draw. This could save your life (or at least one of them).

The Spectre is more foolproof than the Maverick. It improves on most aspects, and is easier to use. I therefore recommend this over a Maverick.

Nerf Pinpoint Sight Mini-Review

2011-03-11T13:03:00.006+11:00

The Nerf Pinpoint Sight is Nerf's attempt to make a red-dot sight that attaches to Nerf blasters. It was sold in a Mission Kit pack, which included 10 suction darts. I'll proceed to say why I think this is the most awesome attachment EVER.

First of all, the Pinpoint Sight looks AWESOME. It looks rather similar to an actual red-dot sight.
Secondly, it emits a red light, which shows up on the lens as a red dot. This dot is accurate at certain ranges, especially with an AT.
Thirdly, it was cheap. It costed me around $20-25 to get it shipped here from the US. This is decent as I've heard rumours of it being $18 here when it was available.

The key feature of this sight is, of course, it's red dot. Not turning on the red dot is like buying an airline ticket and taking a boat to your destination. As you tilt the Pinpoint Sight, the red dot moves about on the lens. Don't ask me why, I don't know.

According to LaserGnomes (on Nerf fb page), the light emitter is in fact a laser which shines at an upward angle, therefore preventing it from shining through the lens. It's a pretty cool yet very simple system, which according to LaserGnomes is also utilised in military red dot sights and scopes.

As such, it is far easier to adjust your aim for targets. With just iron sights, you have to remember angles and all that, while with the Pinpoint Sight you simply tilt the blaster to adjust the position of the red dot, which is far less stressful and far easier.

Sadly, the Pinpoint sight has been discontinued, and is becoming more and more rare, and more and more valuable. I highly suggest getting one (or some) if you see some on sale/special.

Pic credit to SG Nerf

Nerf Deploy CS-6 Usage Tips

2011-03-11T08:45:00.003+11:00

The Deploy isn't as hard, yet harder to maintain than a Recon. Here's a few tips to help you.
1. ALWAYS have your clips pre-loaded. Having them loaded for up to an hour won’t apply a lot of stress to the darts, which is often longer than most Nerf wars/games. You don’t want to be caught without a pre-loaded clip. This, of course, applies to any CS gun.
2. The scope. Although Nerf blasters aren’t powerful or reliable enough to hit the exact point of a scope or sight, they can still be used to aim. The trick is to aim ABOVE the target to allow the dart to lob. Just make sure nothing is in the way (such as tree branches, chandeliers etc).
3. The carry handle. This is an uncommon feature for Nerf blasters, but the one on the Deploy is possibly the best. This is because it has been designed specifically as a carry handle, while the other two (Longshot and Stampede) are there simply to have a place for the jam door. When you know you are not near enemies, use the well-balanced position of the handle to reduce the stress on your arms.
4. If you are keeping the Deploy in ‘Patrol’ mode (as Nerf calls it), don’t forget you can still cock the Deploy. This is a useful feature for keeping the Deploy’s spring uncompressed as much as possible, increasing the life of your Deploy.
5. From the side, you can see if the Deploy is cocked or not. This is a helpful feature that is similar to a number of the other CS gun’s ‘fire ready indicator’ that can help you prolong the life of your Deploy.

I've copy/pasted this from here because technically, I wrote it. You can shout plagiarism if you want, but that's my writing that you think I'm plagiarising. You can even go to Facebook to try and prove me wrong, and you'll be proven wrong. The site which I wrote this article for was ended, because the person running it couldn't maintain it. This is a shame, as it was a pretty good blog.

Nerf Nitefinder/Switchshot EX-3 Usage Tips

2011-03-10T17:24:00.005+11:00

Because the NF and Switchshot are really similar, I'll do usage tips for both of them at the same time.
1) Be accurate. Although you have 2 extra darts, it takes a few seconds to get it readied for firing. Besides, 3 darts isn't much.
2) Use the built in sights. On the NF, you can use the tactical rail as an iron sight, while the SSh has a small front sight and a rear sight which is lined up.
3) Don't use the tactical rails unless you need to attach lights. The tactical rail on the NF is your iron sight, and attaching something doesn't help your aim. The SSh's is on the bottom, but the only thing that works properly is a tac light. *EXCEPTION* The Barrel Break's dart holder. (Derp)
4) (NF only) Don't use the light. Using a light just shows people where you are and where you're aiming. Unless of course it's a night/dark indoor game.
5) The NF/SSh is a sidearm or sniper ONLY. Do not necessarily rely on your skill to survive with it if others has blasters such as AT's. Alternatively, if it vastly outranges everything else, don't too afraid because your enemies will likely cower before your superior range.

Being single-shots, there's not much you can do wrong.

Nerf Stampede ECS Usage Tips

2011-03-09T10:51:00.003+11:00

My usage tips for using the Stampede.
1) Don't get too trigger-happy - the Stampede eats up ammo really quick, and with only 18 darts per clip, you'll need to reload approx every 7 seconds in full auto (18/3 dps = 6 seconds). Use burst fire (short trigger pulls) to conserve ammo.
2) Have a light trigger finger. A short pull of the trigger will give you a burst of 1-3 darts. This is ideal for most situations. With practice, you'll be able to quick-draw the Stampede.
3) Anticipate enemies. The Stampede has a short delay between the trigger pull and shooting the dart. This is because of the way the Stampede functions. Pulling the trigger a fraction of a second before an enemy comes into range can be the difference between victory or defeat.
4) Adapt the Stampede to your role. If you're agile and fast moving, ditch the attachments for maximum mobility. If you're defending, use the bipod and shield to reduce strain on your arms and to provide easy protection.
5) Have a good sidearm. With the Stampede's spamming skills, you could easily run out of ammo, so you need to have a good backup weapon to survive until you can reload.
6) Don't forget the full auto. With all my ranting on being too trigger-happy, don't be afraid to spray. Spraying is the whole point of the Stampede. When you've got several enemies in range, pull down the trigger, point the Stampede at your enemies, and have fun.
7) If possible, use clips instead of drums. Drums have a greater chance of jamming, although if they're loaded properly, there'll be no problems.
8) Use new or good quality darts. Using bad darts increases the rate/chance of jamming and reduces range.

Nerf Deploy CS-6 Review

2011-03-07T16:25:00.005+11:00

The Deploy is a relatively unique blaster, being the first (and probably only) blaster known to transform, as of early 2011. It's roughly the same as a Recon, although without the extra bits and pieces, a different shell, the 'Deploy' feature, pump action and a modified 'breech' (where the clip is loaded into). It's a very unusual piece of hardware, and I suggest everyone try this.

Internally, because it's pretty much the same as the Recon, it reaches similar ranges modified AND unmodified of around 10m, stock. It also has similar accuracy issues, due to the Streamlines. However, the Deploy is easier to use because of the pump action, instead of a slide on the top. This helps you in firing fast.

Although the shotgun grip is comfortable, the handle and stock are really annoying. Neither feels 100% sturdy, due to the 'deploy' feature, which I will explain later.

The Deploy has a carry handle, which in my opinion is the best carry handle ever put on an N-strike blaster. It is fat and comfortable, and even sports a scope. There's no magnification. In fact, there's not even a lens. Just a little bit of plastic jutting out of the end, like an iron sight. This helps in left/right aiming and in my opinion is better than using tactical rails as an iron sight.

The Deploy has a barrel attachment point, which allows the attachment of the Spectre, Longstrike, Recon and Longshot barrel extensions. These do nothing much except ruin the range and add tactical rails. And overall awesomeness.

The Deploy's tactical rail is on the carry handle, making it hard to carry properly when something is attached. In my opinion, there's no point of using the tac rail because the carry handle already has a scope inside it. Well, when I say scope, I mean little tupe of plastic with a bit jutting out at the end.

The built in light is pathetic. It is too dim to really help you see anything. Nevertheless, it IS pretty cool. I recommend getting a really bright LED and sticking it in the place of the stupid red LED. Wallah! Your Deploy's light is now useful!

The Deploy can fire both when the clip dock is up or to the left.

Now onto the key feature of the Deploy: it's deploy feature.
In this picture from SG Nerf, you can see the size and shape difference between the Deploy in both modes.

The undeployed mode isn't very useful, but it sure is fun. You could make special rules for the undeployed mode to benefit the Deploy somehow.

The Deploy comes with a 6-clip, 6 Streamlines and a very short carry strap. The strap is useful for pistols, but is too short for large blasters.

All in all, this is slightly better than a Recon, and is the same price. I recommend this for a bit of originality compared to your friends.

Pros:
Higher ROF than Recon (other wise performs about the same), resembles a Magpul FMG-9 (for extra coolness), light is slightly useful at night, scope built into handle, carry handle is comfortable, shotgun grip is more comfortable than Recon, generic CS blaster pros
Cons:
Less accessories than Recon, stock is a little flimsy and short, handle is a little uncomfortable, generic CS blaster cons

Power: 3.5/5
Accuracy: 2.5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usefulness: 4/5
Rate of fire: 3/5
Capacity: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.3/5

High novelty, much fun. Beats Recon (just).

Pic credit to SG Nerf.

Nerf Spectre REV-5 Review

2011-03-04T17:10:00.005+11:00

The Spectre REV-5 is Nerf's attempt to make a stealth orientated blaster. It comes with a silencer, folding stock and 5 darts. The silencer has a short, refled barrel, not unlike the one in the Recon's barrel. It looks seriously awesome but serves no real purpose. Now here's the stupid part. The Spectre comes with 5 whistler darts. Because the silencer doesn't actually silence darts, this is really quite an oxymoron.

The folding stock is a new and welcome addition to Nerf's attachment list. It provides a stock that is kind of sturdy, and can fold out of the way when you want to go crazy with, for example, slam fire. It is also useful for storage when it is attached to a blaster.

The Spectre has a barrel attachment nub and a stock attachment point for the silencer and folding stock. This also means that you customise the Spectre almost as much as a Recon. However, I don't like the Spectre with attachments - they make it look kinda stupid.

The handle on the Spectre is very comfortable, though is quite short. I'm not that large, but the grip would be too small for those with large hands.

The Spectre has a 5 dart rotating barrel, like the Maverick. Unlike the Maverick, the barrels flip out all the way so you don't need to do the 'Russian Roulette Mod' which involves sanding/cutting. The Spectre's barrel rotates whenever you pull the slide, instead of each trigger pull like the Maverick. I find this a good and bad thing as I like spinning the barrel really quick with the trigger, but trigger rotating barrels often reduce the air seal between the barrel and plunger, and is more likely to cause jams.

The Spectre is quite thin; a lot thinner than a Maverick. It's tactical rail is only slightly thinner than the Spectre itself. It only holds 5 darts as opposed to the Mav's 6, and it has a very thin sheet of plastic around the dart, unlike the Maverick's fat barrel. This helps in holstering and storage. The Spectre is slightly longer than a Maverick, so holstering it can be slightly more annoying.

Now to the most important part of the blaster: How does it perform?
Initially, quite well. It can consistently hit my front door from around 8-9m away using whistlers. It hits the door maybe 40cm above the ground on average. Suctions perform slightly worse - they barely touch the door, and some don't reach the door. Still, it's as good as my friend's modded Maverick, which is pretty decent.

The accuracy on the Spectre is excellent. I don't know what Nerf did to their new blasters, but they are all quite accurate (except the Stampede) and also quite powerful. Even with whistlers, the Spectre can easily hit a target from 8-9m away.

The Spectre can be rapid-fired rather easily. Instead of holding the Spectre like a pistol, use your spare hand to hold the slide. That way, as soon as you pull the trigger, you can pull back on the slide. Just be careful not to engage the rotation mech 'slip clutch', which allows manual rotation of the barrel. To avoid this problem, simply avoid pulling too hard on the slide. You can achieve 2-3 darts per second like this.

One niggle I have about the Spectre is that the trigger is sometimes a little sticky. This was easiloy cured by adding a spring behind the trigger. Now, with my slightly modded Spectre, I cannot find anything I would change. The Spectre makes an excellent sidearm.

At $24 AUD at Target, it's also very affordable. It's only $10 off the Maverick ($15). I highly recommend this if you want to be different from your friends. I even go so far as to say that I prefer this over the Maverick. Just make sure you have a primary like an Alpha Trooper, Raider or Longshot.

Pros:
Power and accuracy, easier to use (IMO) than the Maverick, quieter than Mav, easier to holster due to it being thinner, has barrel attachment nub and stock attachment point for customisation fun, comes with cool looking silencer and folding stock, other generic revolver pros
Cons:
Less capacity than Maverick, more expensive than Maverick, less available than Maverick, generic revolver cons

Power: 3.5/5
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Usefulness: 4/5
Rate of fire: 3.5/5
Capacity: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.75/5

Quiet, good blasting, much fun.

Nerf Switchshot EX-3 Review

2011-03-01T08:43:00.004+11:00

This blaster is a single-shot blaster, like the Nitefinder. It shares similar power, although has better range because this includes 3 Whistler darts. Unlike the Nitefinder, this does not have a built-in-light. There are 2 dart holders in the bottom, just above the upside-down tactical rail.

The Switchshot functions well as a single-shot, being rather accurate when used correctly. However, it's key feature is this:

The plunger assembly can be removed and replaced with a Wii Remote, hence it being called a 'Switch Shot'. This blaster was designed to be used with the Nerf N-strike Wii game.

I find the grip less comfortable than that of an AT, for some reason.

There's really not much else to say about this blaster. It is about the same as your average Nitefinder, but harder to find because you can either get it from:
a) Nerf N-strike Wii Game bundle
b) in its own box (not really worth it)

As a single-shot, it's good, but as for availability, i'd recommend an NF.

Pros:
As with Nitefinder excluding the light, blaster unit can be removed for easy integration to other blasters, remainder of body can house a WiiMote for a more realistic feel in Wii shooting games
Cons:
Generic single shot cons, is quite heavy, rectangular profile can be a little annoying to holster

Power: 3.5/5
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 3/5
Usefulness: 4/5
Rate of fire: 1.5/5
Capacity: 1.5/5
Overall: 3/5

High novelty, less value.

Nerf Nitefinder EX-3 Review

2011-02-27T20:41:00.007+11:00

Today, I'm going to go back to a relatively old, but good blaster: the Nitefinder EX-3. It's a single shot blaster with immense potential thanks to a direct plunger system. It's usual packaging comes with 3 suction darts and a target stand, while Target NFs have been found with 6 suctions, and some with no stand. Mine didn't come with a stand, m'fraid, so I can't review that. What I can say, though, is that the NF is excellent.

The NF is very easy to use. It's simply a matter of pushing a dart into the barrel, pulling back the orange cocking ring thingy all the way, then pulling the trigger. After that, you simply get another dart from your dart storage to reload and fire again. It's jam-proof and even a 2 year old could use it.

The NF's handle is comfortable, but I don't like the way Nerf has designed the rear part of the handle, which is disappointing because the front part is very comfortable. The pull-ring is very comfortable to use.

The NF is fairly powerful and very accurate. It can shoot 10m with the included suction darts. Also, because it uses suction darts, it is very accurate. The NF cannot use Streamline darts due to the length of the peg.

NOTE: More recent purchases have shown that some stock NF's can reach 14m flat with suctions. The sort of power you get only from mods.

The NF is a very popular blaster for modders, as it can reach excellent ranges through simply an AR removal and spring replacement. It is also more reliable than any CS or AS blaster as it cannot jam and is spring-powered.

The reason why the Nitefinder is named the 'Nitefinder' is because of a built in light. It is powered by 2 AA (i think) batteries and is really dim. It is only accurate to around 5m, and really just adds weight to the blaster. I took it out of mine and used the battery slots to hold darts.

The target holders are very basic. They're merely small pieces of plastic which hold small cardboard targets. However, they are useful if there isn't anything else to shoot, as the fall over easily (denoting a hit), don't break easily and are easy to fix.

Because the NF is a single-shot, you must reload a dart every shot. This eliminates any chance of a rapid-fire ability.

Overall, the NF is a good single-shot sidearm, and is affordable at only $10, but don't use it as a primary. Unless you're sniping with it. That's a different story.

Pros:
Power, accuracy, price and availability, modding potential, size, dart holders, dart holders can be removed and hot glued onto any other blaster (if desired), light is fun to use and useful in dark conditions
Cons:
Generic single shot blaster cons, light can give away position and target, dart holders and light make holstering quite annoying

Power: 5/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 3.5/5
Rate of fire: 1.5/5
Capacity: 1.5/5
Overall: 3.583/5

Great value, great fun, great power.

New Page

2011-02-23T17:58:00.000+11:00

My latest page: here.
It lists all the available Nerf Blasters in Aus that I know of. It will list N-Strike blasters ONLY, until the 2011 Dart Tag is released.

Nerf Stampede ECS Review

2011-02-21T18:01:00.012+11:00

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. This blaster holds the record of being the fastest arriving blaster in Australia. ie It arrived very quickly after the release in the US. It's speculation is well deserved - 3*18 dart extended clips, a 6 dart clip, a tac-rail blast shield, a foregrip/bipod and a full-auto clip fed system.

The Stampede looks AWESOME. With its massive clip, 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 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 are an extremely welcome addition to anyone's arsenal. Previously, you had to either stick with 6-dart clips (or make a 12 dart 'superclip'), 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, you get a nice round number of 60 dart capacity, and 60 streamline darts. Of course, these 18-dart clips 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 and 6 dart clip very quickly. This shows what a good idea it was for the inclusion of 3 of them. This rate of fire isn't as high as an Alpha Trooper or Raider, but it takes so much less effort.

The use of D cell batteries adds MASSIVE weight to the rear, as if it were a bullpup style gun (and I mean GUN not blaster). I highly recommend the use of AA-D battery converters. This lets you use AA batteries, which reduces the weight, and also allows the use of Trustfire 3.7v batteries, allowing an increased ROF.

The handle on the Stampede is almost as comfortable as the AT's, but a small bit of plastic stuck out and cut my hand. I've subsequently sanded that part off. I still find that the battery weight in the rear is slightly uncomfortable. Something I find annoying is that there's no real spot in the front to hold on to. It's not realy a complaint, just a niggle.

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 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, which isn't unusual for a good-quality direct-plunger blaster.

Overall, the Stampede's reputation is well deserved. In my opinion, it doesn't deserve a 5, but is pretty close. 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.

Pros:
Comes with many useful accessories, cheap given what you get with it, comes with 3 18 clips, 18 clips 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: 3/5
Accuracy: 2/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of fire: 4/5
Capacity: 5/5
Overall: 4/5

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+?)

Nerf Tactical Vest - I got one!

2011-02-20T14:34:00.004+11:00

Edit (4th Mar 2011): It arrived today. YAY! I have to wait till my b'day to use it, but from I can tell, the dart holders are nice and tight, but not too tight. They are ideal for your sidearm. The clear clips look AWESOME. Review coming when it's my b'day (in around a month).
This took 12 days to arrive, which is in the lower end of the delivery estimation spectrum. For something from the US, 12 days is pretty quick.

I just got myself a Tactical Vest! Well, actually, it'll come in 10-18 days, approx. Thanks to Amazon and an awesome AUD - USD exchange rate, I got a Tac Vest (including shipping) for $35 AUD. That's just enough for an Alpha Trooper and maybe a Reflex. Basically, this comes with 2 6-dart clips and 12 Streamlines, can hold 4 clips and 12 darts, a pistol sized blaster in the holster, and small stuff like a Reflex and more darts in a zip pocket. Very useful if you use Clip System blasters.

:D

New pages

2011-02-17T17:49:00.001+11:00

I've recently added two new pages, Various Ideal Nerf Combos, and Various Nerf Customisations.
Various Ideal Nerf Loadouts
Various Nerf Customisations

Enjoy!

Raider Stock Mini-Review

2011-02-17T17:10:00.006+11:00

I am going to review the stock of the Raider CS-35. As you may know (if you read my 'my collection' page), I bought this seperately because I don't really need a Raider. As you can see by the pic, it is extendable. It has 4 different lengths at which the stock can lock at.

Aesthetically, the Raider Stock is slightly similar to the stock of an M4A1. It's not particularly striking, but the sturdiest so far.

The Raider stock can slide backwards without pushing the button, making it easy to overshoot your length choice (unless you're using the last setting). However, it will not move forward without extreme force, or holding down the button.

The release button is the small orange part on the bottom of the front of the blue part of the stock.

As you can see, the Raider and its stock are blue, as opposed to the yellow of most N-strike blasters. This makes it clash slightly with any of the other blasters. Personally, this clashing is insignificant as you can't really see the stock when using it.

Personally, I really like the Raider stock. It is simple, sturdy and works on all blasters with a stock attachment point. I recommend this stock over any other Nerf stock in terms of sturdiness and comfort.

Pic credit to SG Nerf

Nerf Bandolier Kit Mini Review

2011-02-15T17:05:00.003+11:00

I am going to do a mini review on the Bandolier Kit and why I think it is worth your $20.

First of all, it comes with 2 6 dart clips and 24 Streamline darts. The majority of Nerf blaster currently available use clip system, so this kit complements those blasters well. It can hold 6 clips/drums, making it great for use with any CS blaster. It also holds 12 seperate darts, which are useful reloading clips, and also a sidearm.

The Bandolier has 2 hooks which can be used for holding just about any blaster. You could also choose not to clip it to anything and just have it hanging on your body. When around your body, the Bandolier does not really get in the way, unless it's loose.

The elastic it uses to clips can also be used for holding small blasters.

In theory, then, the Bandolier can hold up to 210 darts in 35 dart drums, and 12 more. You could also hold 6 sidearms and 12 darts for them.

6-dart clips are worth around $7, so you have $14 of $20 justified. It comes with 24 darts, which is worth about $7, making $21 of $20 justifed. Lastly, it comes with a strap-type-thingy (the Bandolier itself), which is worth around $5. This makes the Bandolier Kit worth $26, and is available for $20. This makes it an incredibly good deal (though not quite as good as an AT) and means it is an ideal gift for CS-blaster using friends/relatives/etc.

Usefulness: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5
Coolness: 3/5 -Compared to the Tac Vest, this doesn't look nearly as awesome.
Cumbersomeness: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Secret Strike AS-1 Review + Recon Light Integration

2011-02-08T17:40:00.008+11:00

The Secret Strike AS-1 is a tiny air-powered blaster. It is the smallest blaster available (and probably ever made), yet it boasts rather potent ranges. It comes with 2 Suction darts and a cut-out target. The Secret Strike also has a hook thingy that can clip to...anything small.

In terms of aesthetics, the SS is kind of weird. This isn't surprising given it's tiny size.

The Secret Strike has a small circular push-down trigger on the top, and a small-ish pump underneath the barrel. The package recommends a maximum of 7 pumps, but it can withstand 20+ pumps, for incredible power. I haven't dared to try it yet. This makes it ideal for sniping (sort of) when only stock blasters are allowed. Because the SS uses suction darts, it is quite accurate.

The Secret Strike is slightly awkward to hold, being in an odd shaped shell. This isn't surprising, given its small size.

In Aus, you can get Secret Strikes for $3.75, which is less than the official Nerf RRP in the US ($4). The US price, for products listed on their site is normally twice the amount, and more. The SS has ranges of around 9m at 7 pumps, which is decent for the size and price of the blaster.

At this price, I highly recommend this blaster as a last-stand/stealth attack blaster. Think of it like the hidden blade in Assassin's Creed. I recommend you get yourself something more suitable as a primary such as an AT, but get this as a final-stand blaster.

Pros:
Potential power is extremely high, accuracy is excellent, is extremely small
Cons:
Extremely uncomfortable to hold, pump is very small and awkward to use, has many reliability issues, requires many pumps to reach good ranges

Power: 5/5
Accuracy: 4/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 3/5
Rate of fire: 0.5/5
Capacity: 0.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Epic potential power, super cheap.

The Recon Dual Mode Light, as I have stated before, is about 99% useless. It also takes the rough shape, when attached to a Recon or Longstrike barrel, of an M203 underslung grenade launcher. It is on this basis that I decided to stick an SS inside a Recon Light.

The Secret Strike still functions the same. The pieces of paper are dart holders. I've actually now shortened it so it fits on my Stampede properly when a clip is loaded. This makes the SS intergration modular, as you can stick it to any tactical rail with enough clearance.

How to make it:
You need:
Secret Strike (duh)
Recon Dual Mode Light (duh again)
Screwdriver
Saw/Dremel/etc
Drill
Some space-filling adhesive (e.g. hot glue)

How to do it:
1) Remove the Secret Strike from its shell by unscrewing the 4 metal screws. That's all you need to do with the SS, although you can do whatever mods if you want.
2) Unscrew the Recon Light and completely gut it.
3) Cut/sand/etc the guiding bits that let the Recon light slide back and forth to change the mode. These prevent the SS from fitting properly.
4) Make a large hole for the SS trigger to fit. Push the SS trigger through this hole.
5) Cut out a portion of the shell on the other side so the SS pump will fit.
6) Use your adhesive (I used hot glue) and glue the SS down. You can also fill in some gaps to make it look better (like I did).
7) Screw the shell back together
8) Attach it to a Tactical rail and test the SS to make sure no damage has been done.
Extra Step 9) Cut off the back grey part so it will fit underneath a Stampede properly while a clip is loaded. Be warned: this ruins its look when attached to a Recon/Longstrike Barrel.

Alternatives: You could try using a Longshot/Tactical scope or the Tactical Light as the shell, and maybe use a Reflex as the blaster to put inside the attachment.

Nerf Barricade & Reflex usage tips

2011-02-06T14:54:00.007+11:00

Barricade:
1) Pull the trigger hard, and all the way. Jamming in this blaster is hard to fix and damages your darts.
2) Don't forget that the jam door turns off the motors. Make sure it is closed when you try to fire it.
3) Have a stock - this will improve your accuracy slightly, and helps you cope with the slight recoil. If you're dual wielding, don't bother.
4) Don't use Streamline darts - they don't fire very far.
5) Don't forget that Whistler/Sonic Micro darts can curve, and more so at higher voltages.
6) To reload easily, open the jam door, and pull the trigger to advance the barrel. This compensates for the inability to flip-out the barrel or remove the barrel. Alternatively, mod your Barricade in such a way that you can swap barrels when you need to reload (not easy, but possible. NMR has done one)

Voltage/Ranges:
3.6v: 10m
4.5v: 13m
6.1v: 15-20m
8.6v: 22m+

Reflex:
1) Push the darts in all the way, to the point when the tip is squished in the orange barrel tip. This ensures the AR is open as much as possible, providing maximum power and air seal.
2) Stick with Whistler darts - they perform the best in the Reflex.
3) Don't be afraid to use the Reflex. Just because it's a single-shot last-stand type blaster doesn't mean you have to run out of ammo first to be able to use it.
4) Don't go crazy with the Reflex. It's a single shot and you'll get completely owned by just about everything else.

The Reflex is quite fool-proof, being a single-shot, but the Barricade can have jamming issues.

Nerf Alpha Trooper CS-18 Review & Usage Tips (not many)

2011-02-02T11:10:00.010+11:00

The Alpha Trooper is one of Nerf's 2010 new blasters, along with the Spectre REV-5, Barrel Break IX-2, Barricade RV-10 and the Stampede ECS. In my opinion, it is also the most awesome. It is often said that the Alpha Trooper combines the Recon CS-6 and Raider CS-35 into something better. It features the Raider's slam-fire function, exclusive drum magazine (in a smaller package) and lack of barrel attachment capability, while it sports the Recon's looks, weight, vertical clip dock system, stock attachment system, tactical rail and yellow colouring. ie This combines the Recon and Raider into something more awesome. This also holds the title of being my favourite blaster, no matter the situation.

The Alpha Trooper comes with a small 18 (although it holds 20) dart drum and 18 streamlines. Sadly, it doesn't come with its own stock, which is why it might be worthwhile investing in a Recon. The Alpha Trooper functions from a pump-action grip (the big grey bit on the front of the AT), which, despite having a sling hole, is surprisingly comfortable. This makes it very easy to use, no matter what age you are. (well, being 6+ is a good start, but that's it)

In terms of aesthetics, the AT isn't revolutionary, butit makes up for this in its functionality.

In combining the Recon with the Raider, Nerf has also given the AT the ability to 'slam-fire'. What this essentially means is that you can hold the trigger down, and slide the pump back and forth very fast, increasing the rate-of-fire drastically. In some cases, people can fire faster than Stampedes and Vulcans, firing at up to nearly 5 darts per second. This ROF is generally only heard of in voltage increases for full-auto blasters, semi-auto blasters and Magstrikes/RF20 etc.

The grip handle of the Alpha Trooper is extremely comfortable. The curves are perfectly carved and fit my hand almost exactly. It's almost as if they carved the handle just for me (which they didn't). The pump handle is also very comfortable, although I find it a bit short. Even though there is a sling point at the back of the pump handle, I still find it comfortable.

However, many people complain about the AT that the pump keeps locking up. This is often due to the person not using enough force when sliding the pump back and forth. Some others complain that, when single-firing, it doesn't shoot all the time. Often the problem is that the pump is not all the way forward. Because of the slam-fire, the AT only fires when the pump is pushed and held forward. Jamming shouldn't occur either if you follow the above tips.

The AT sports surprising power, being able to out-range all the blasters I have previously reviewed (except perhaps the Reflex on a good shot). The AT does use a 'reverse plunger', like the Recon and Maverick, but the Air Restrictor is different, alowing more air and therefore more power into the chamber. This gives it drastically more range, despite having a long barrel. It is possible that this also affects the accuracy, with the AT being surprisingly accurate, despite using Streamlines. This means that the various sights that Nerf offers can actually be useful.

The AT gets 11-13m (flat, remember), which is generally unheard of from of reverse plunger blaster of the N-Strike range. This range also means that it can compete against Longshots and NF's. At the price of $30, which is as much as a Magstrike, Recon or Barricade, the Alpha Trooper is also excellent value for money, with the drum being worth around $20 itself (possibly more).

I highly recommend this blaster, no matter what you've already gotten. Any Nerf enthusiast in this era MUST use this at some point in their life.

Pros:
General performance is excellent for a CS blaster - range, accuracy and ROF are all above average, cheap, 18 drum is useful in all (E)CS blasters, 18 drum is much smaller than 35 drum making it far less clumsy and bulky, AT can be upgraded with a stock and a sight/scope
Cons:
AT does not include it's own stock or sight/scope, accuracy is still bad compared to most other blasters due to use of Streamlines

Power: 4.5/5
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of fire: 4.5/5
Capacity: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.7/5

Completely epic. Best blaster ever. MUST BUY.

Usage Tips:
1) Pull the handle all the way back, hard, and push it forward, hard to make sure it doesn't jam. Use even more force when slam-firing.
2) Hold the handle forward when single firing to ensure that it fires. This is because of the slam fire mech.
3) Have many more clips and a sidearm - the slam fire can eat up your darts really quick, making your AT dart impotent and requiring either a switch of weapon or a reload.
4) Have a stock of some sort. It'll help aiming, and in the case of the Recon stock, hold an extra clip for you.
5) Make sure to use good quality Streamlines, and make sure to load clips/drums carefully. You don't want it jamming on you.
That's about it. the AT is pretty fool-proof.

Buzz Bee Big Blast Review

2011-01-31T14:44:00.016+11:00

Another non-Nerf blaster, the Buzz Bee Big Blast (or 4B) is one of the most popular Buzz Bee blasters, mainly because modders can make it into a lethal dart sniper with very basic mods (ie giving it a dart firing barrel...and that's it). However, in stock condition, depending on whether you get gen. 1 or 2, it fires rockets 9-12m. The gen.1 blaster took around 8 pumps to fill the tank, but was able to shoot rockets around 12m. The gen 2 (the one I have) only takes 3-4 pumps, but only shoots around 10m. Give it it's due, though, because 10m range with a ROCKET is rather impressive at only 3-4 pumps.

Like the Belt Blaster, the 4B looks rather kiddish. That is, until you see one with a massively long barrel. This is because any blaster that shoots rockets effectively can shoot darts even better. So if you see one with a massive barrel, run. Very far.

The 4B comes with 2 yellow foam rockets which are larger than darts, but smaller than the Titan AS.V 1's rocket. They are also quite tough and capable of surviving rough play without breaking. Being made of foam, it doesn't hurt a whole lot to be hit by one of these rockets, but it is quite annoying. Due to the rockets being made entirely of foam, and having no holes except the hole which fits over the barrel, it is extremely accurate.

The 4B's handle is surprisingly comfortable. It is curved and smooth, so your hand is less likely to get blisters from holding it too tightly. The front grip is also comfortable, though I find it a bit too close the the handle.

The 4B is quite light and easy to run around with. This makes it easier to run up to someone and rocket them at point-blank range (just not in the face). The reason why the 4B doesn't have great power unmodified is because it has an orange cap preventing most of the air escaping and pushing the rocket out. The air tank in the 2nd gen blaster is also a lot smaller than the original, so it has less potential power.

The 4B is not a practical blaster in any way (unless modified), but is soooo fun to play around with. It also requires an open space without fragile things - the rockets could easily knock vases, small globes and photos (etc), so it's best not to shoot anywhere near them.

My friends and I have a special rule when using rockets: in limited lives, getting hit by a rocket causes an instant kill and you lose ALL your lives. In unlimited lives, getting hit causes an instant kill and an increased respawn time. Either way, you benefit from killing with a rocket as opposed to a dart.

I got the 4B for $20, while some places have apparently had them for $30 +. Regardless, they are rare, already being discontinued, so you may want to keep one as a collecter's item (or to resell for a large profit).I've seen them on forums sell for $70 AUD MISB (Mint In Sealed Box). Or, if you like random internet references:
1) Buy 4B
2) Wait several years
3) ?????
4) PROFIT!

Unless you're into modding, want a fun blaster, or need a rocket launcher, I don't really recommend this as an actual weapon. Where I got it from, it was cheap, though, so there was a high novelty factor.

I know those of you who mod will say that I don't give this blaster it's credit where it's due, ~~but I don't like to completely rebarrel blasters the way you have to to get the best performance from the 4B.~~ Scratch that. Check more recent posts to see what I've done.

Power: 5/5
Accuracy: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usefulness: 2/5
Rate of fire: 1.5/5
Capacity: 0.5/5
Overall: 3/5

High novelty, extreme fun, lethal sniper.

Pic credit goes to SG Toyz

New Nerf - Star Wars Blasters

2011-01-26T18:11:00.002+11:00

Now I know I said I wouldn't post news, but I am a massive Star Wars fan, and I also love Clone Trooper weaponry.
At Nerf Mods & Reviews, theyve got a post on the new blasters:
Link
Clone Trooper Pistol

Cad Bane (bounty hunter)'s Pistol

Buzz Bee Belt Blaster Review

2011-01-26T13:28:00.009+11:00

Today, I'm peeling away from Nerf to talk about a rival company, Buzz Bee. They are one of the legitimate rival companies (ie don't just take Nerf stuff, repaint and slightly alter) and some of their designs are quite good. The blaster I am reviewing is one of those.

Anyone who's played Halo will probably say something like "It looks like an Assault Rifle/Spartan Lazor", and that's because...well...it does. Just a bright green/orange belt-fed foam-dart-shooting version that wouldn't harm the Covenant or Flood in any way. Oh, yeah, and with a pump handle.

The Belt Blaster comes with 30 belt shells which can be snapped off and re-joined by just a quick movement from the wrist. This helps you configure it to whatever game you're playing. However, the shells are also prone to breaking - I've broken 4 already. These shells also hinder performance - a lot of air escapes through the gap between the shell tha the plunger mechanism. It also comes with 30 Buzz Bee darts, which are shorter and stiffer than Nerf darts. This means less warping on the dart (look at a streamline dart when it gets jammed) and you can use it in blasters where Nerf darts will be damaged/destroyed.

I really don't like the grips on this blaster. They are angled and sharp, which makes it rather painful to extensively use.

Because the Belt Blaster is made by Buzz Bee, it is cheaper than if Nerf was to make it. It is also slightly lower quality. The Belt Blaster functions similar to a Nerf Raider, only without a jam door and the slam-fire function (will explain in AT review). It is a simple pull and push of the front handle, then pull the trigger to fire. However, because the belt is rotated from pulling the front handle, it can get stressful constantly pulling and pushing the handle. This lack of slam-fire is understandable as: a) it's a Nerf feature and this is a Buzz Bee blaster, and b) it'll be hard to make a slamfire work in a cheap blaster with shells (mine cost $25) - you'll probably break half the shells trying.

The Belt Blaster isn't particularly powerful, because of a small plunger and a bad air seal between the plunger mechanism and the shells. ~~Even with mods, my Belt Blaster can only get 6-8m. Angled, it can reach a very maximum of about 10m (with Buzz Bee darts).~~ Now it gets 9-10m flat easy. I forgot to lubricate the o-ring. It turns out I screwed up the mods. Even so, modding potential is minimal as there is no AR and the shells suck.

The Belt Blaster is an okay starter weapon - it was my first blaster. 30 shots is a good number, especially when you remember than Vulcan belts hold up to 25 darts, and the Raider's drum holds (officially) 35 darts. However, I don't really recommend it as the AT is better in almost every aspect.

Pros:
High capacity, capacity is variable, ROF of 3 dps is possible, cheap
Cons:
Shells are very easy to break, darts occasionally spiral out, handles are uncomfortable, stock is too short, non Buzz Bee darts can fall out easily (e.g. whistlers), exposed belt is extremely clumsy

Power: 3/5
Accuracy: 4/5 (because of suction darts)
Value for Money: 4/5
Usefulness: 3/5
Rate of fire: 3.5/5
Capacity: 4.5/5
Overall: 3.7/5

Looks kiddy, functions ok. Can get really annoying.

Nerf Reflex IX-1 Review

2011-01-24T10:28:00.009+11:00

The Reflex is the smallest spring-powered blaster that Nerf offers. It also happens to be surprisingly powerful. Mine can surpass Recons, Mavericks, Deploys, Stampedes, this list continues. It is roughly on-par with a stock AT. However, being reverse plunger, it is out-ranged by LS's. The Reflex is available in two forms: a 6-pack with 2 darts per blaster, and a single pack with 3 darts. The 6-pack is available for $50, and the single for $7. You can do the maths yourself.

The Reflex, in my mind, looks...too kiddish. That feeling disappears, however, whenever I fire it.

The Reflex's size make it ideal for holstering, and its power makes it an ideal last-resort weapon. It is easy to use, sporting a slide, similar to a Recon's or Maverick's. Like both aforementioned blasters, the Reflex has a tactical rail on the slide. However, anything that is attached to the Reflex makes it look stupid and makes it difficult to use. When shooting, it is a simple matter of pulling the slide until it clicks, loading it and pulling the trigger.

I find that the handle is far too small for comfortable use. Sure, there is a curve for your thumb, but it's just too small. Also, I find the trigger a little...wimpy.

The Reflex can use any dart except Streamlines. This essentially means you have more accurate and more powerful darts to use (ie suctions, whistlers and taggers). The Reflex is the second-cheapest blaster, second only to the Secret Strike ($3.75).

Because the Reflex is muzzle-loaded, the rate of fire is dependant on how fast you can push another dart into the barrel (ie slowly). The Reflex (at least mine) can shoot 8-12m, dependant on darts (whistlers).

As a tertiary weapon (ie last resort), I definetely recommend this blaster. It is cheap, powerful and easy to use.

Pros:
Tiny, colourful, very cheap, quite powerful especially for size
Cons:
Single shot, requiring a reload of every shot, completely outclassed by Jolt, accuracy is not the best, all darts except whistlers do not work particularly well

Power: 4/5
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 4/5
Rate of fire: 2/5
Capacity: 0.5/5
Overall: 3.3/5

Looks wierd, is tiny, blasts brilliantly.

Dual-Wielding Combos - What's good and what isn't

2011-01-21T20:21:00.008+11:00

After reviewing 2 automatic blasters, I thought I might make a list of what dual-wielding combos I think are good (Nerf only).

1) Dual Barricades
This gives you 20 good shots to use before reloading. These should also be accurate shots as there is very minimal recoil from the Barricade, and Whistler darts are fairly accurate.

2) Dual Magstrikes/Powerclip DX-1000's
An extremely feared combo. 20 shots in less than 2 seconds in your direction are really, really scary. Especially when you're in a corridor with no doors. Reloading is annoying for the Powerclip, but if you have extra Magstrike mags, reloading is a breeze. Until you need to re-pump (after 2 mags, stock condition).

3) Dual Rapid Fires/Wildfires
Another highly feared combo, because 40 darts flying in your direction is even scarier than 20. Even if you have good cover - you never know when a dart may curve around and hit you. Do note that reloading will be a real pain, as well as re-pumping, so it's best to shoot, ditch and switch to your other weapon (preferably something like an AT).

4) Barricade & Magstrike/Rapid Fire/Powerclip/Wildfire
This is a well balanced combo , especially if you have very steady hands. You get 10 really accurate shots (from the Barricade), and 10-20 very fast shots, preferably all at people :P. This is really good for people who don't like to buy 2 of the same blaster (for whatever reason).

5) Magstrike/Powerclip & Rapid Fire/Wildfire
This is like 2) and 3), only you don't have 2 of the same blaster. Still, 30 darts in less than 4 seconds is a force to be reckoned with. Unless you have a riot shield.

Each combo is better at at a certain role. 2), 3) and 5) are best at rushing/hit-and-run, as well as defending. This is because of the ridiculous rates of fire. Hit-and-run requires you actually hit something, and it's hard to be precise when running, hence the need for a high rate of fire. Defending requires either: a) supreme accuracy and range (such as a well modded Longshot), or b) good rate of fire and either high capacity or ease of reloading, preferably both. The dual Barricades are ideal if you are really accurate and ca easily hit most targets, stationary and mobile. 4) is good for those who need to be multi-purpose, and therefore need a variety of weapons.1) is ideal as a Secondary, especially with a Longshot/other long range blaster. This is because they're easier to pull out of holster and fire.

Pic credits go to SG Nerf for Barricade, Wildfire and Powerclip; to Nerf Mods & Reviews for Rapid Fire

NOT GOOD COMBOS: ie ones I don't recommend (but can be done)

Dual REV Blasters - Trying to cock the slide with one hand is kind of hard, and it's not really worth the effort. Also, reloading each barrel with one hand is a pain. It's possible with a sling, but Barricades are better.
Dual Recons - Same as above, except you have to reload with clips, which is just as annoying.
Dual any other CS blaster except Stampedes - same as above.
Dual IX or EX blasters - You have to refill each barrel after every shot. Too much effort for not enough shots.
Dual Barrel Breaks - Unless you can one hand reload a Barrel Break (like in CoD), then you'll only have 4 shots.
Dual Vulcans - Unless you have arms larger than a tennis racquet, you might have trouble running around with several kg's in each arm.

This is not to say you can't do the above - Dual Vulcans with AA batteries are possible (and a lot easier with slings). Also, I've personally dual wielded Mav's. It was real fun, but I struggled to hit anything.

Nerf Barricade RV-10 Review

2011-01-20T21:14:00.013+11:00

This is a first for Nerf, the Barricade being 'flywheel' powered. Basically, this means that two wheels spin very fast not very far apart, so the dart gets caught in between the two flywheels and gets thrown forward. Because the flywheels are vertical, as opposed to horizontal (as you find in Buzz Bee stuff), there is less spray, more accuracy and occasionally more range. Obviously, because it's electronically powered, the higher the voltage, the more powerful the blaster is. And the more annoying the noise is.

The Barricade looks like something out of a video game - its fat revolving barrel, its short muzzle, and its customisation ability. I think it looks good with any stock, and a Pinpoint Sight.

The Barricade is often referred to as the 'Worst Kept Secret Blaster' because pics of it were leaked out many months before its release. Several online blogs, such as Urban Taggers and SG Nerf also managed to get hold of a set before it's official release. It was also released in AUSTRALIA (of all places) first (at least recorded online). This was in October, 2 months before its official release in the US in December. The first stores to have it were, in fact, stores such as 'Mind Games' who specialise in board games, puzzles, etc. Not the sort of store you find Nerf in.

The Barricade is a very basic blaster kit - the blaster, 10 darts and some instructions. Of course, unlike most other blasters, you can't just rip it out, load it and shoot it, because they don't include batteries OR a screwdriver. Initially, the noise can be annoying (at 3.6-4.5V) because it has an average range of 9m - about the same as some Buzz Bee blasters (according to other sites). However, at 6.1V, the sound gets quite scary. Anything above that gets pretty much evil. After you listen to 6.1V, 3.6V sounds soooooo quiet. At 6.1V, the Barricade can get 12+m ranges. At 8.6V, the Barricade sounds like an aircraft engine (sort of), and can shoot 15+m. Which is very impressive.

The handle on the Barricade is comfortable and curved, but for some reason I find it uncomfortable. Normally this discomfort comes from a badly designed handle, but the Barricade's is fine. You may think differently.

The Barricade has a stock attachment point and a tactical rail, making it fun to customise (but not nearly as fun as a Recon). The Barricade has slight recoil, but not enough to throw your aim off past about 30cm in the ground (even at 6.1V). Having a stock attached (or just steady hands) just about eliminates the recoil. A sight or scope is also useful as the Barricade is actually pretty accurate.

Because the Barricade is semi-auto (ie you don't have to cock it. ever.) you can dual wield them. This also makes it rather easy to shoot all ten shots - very little effort required. Be careful, though, you could waste all ten easy, and it's annoying to reload ten revolving barrels quickly. A ROF of about 5 dps is possible.

Overall, the Barricade is as good a sidearm as it is a primary (being dual-wielded). For it's price (approx $30AUD), it's decent, although blasters like AT's will outclass it.
I highly recommend this blaster, as it is easy to mod (put in more powerful batteries) for quite high ranges (20+m ranges are possible).

Pros:
Semi auto which allows for high dps, ease of use and dual wielding, is relatively small making dual wielding and holstering easier, ranges are easy to improve to respectable ranges, looks awesome
Cons:
Noisy, must be spooled up to reach maximum ranges, spooling up can take several seconds, can be a pain to reload after firing all 10 darts, occasionally jams so badly that it ruins a dart and takes over a minute to fix

Power: 3.5/5
Accuracy: 4/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of fire: 4.5/5
Capacity: 3.5/5
Overall: 4.083/5

Looks fat, sounds noisy, blasts brilliantly.

Pic Credit to SG Nerf.

Custom Scope 1: Large ACOG

2011-01-19T13:12:00.004+11:00

Fed up of the single-reticule Nerf scopes? Want to have a functional scope without buying a real scope? This is the answer: make your own! This is the first custom scope I made. It slides on and off tactical rails with ease. Also, the cost for materials is far less than it would cost for any Nerf scope or Rifle scope.

First Lens

Second Lens

How to make this sort of Scope:

Materials:
Toilet paper rolls
Clear sheet of plastic
Sticky tape
Toothpicks
Hot glue

Apparatus:
Scissors
Permanent markers
Hot glue gun
Compass (circle drawing thingy)

How to do it:
1) Draw 2 circles the size of the toilet paper roll and cut them out. These make the lenses.
2) Draw the patterns you want on the lenses. It generally only works if you have a cross, dot, etc on the first lens (closest to your eye), and a grenade launcher syle sight on the second. Anyone who has played CoD will know what I'm talking about.
3) Stick the 2 lenses on either side of the toilet paper roll with tape.
4a) You could add the parts I have, which are just bits off another toilet paper roll.
4b) To make the tactical rail clip, just get another toilet paper roll and cut 2 segments off it.

5) Stick the two segments on the roll so that the gap between the two ends are the same size as a tactical rail.
6) Stick a toothpick on both segments at the end. This will act as the rail clips.
7) Test the scope on a tactical rail, preferably NOT the one on the Magstrike - it's slightly thinner than others. Make the appropriate adjustments.
8) Go and snipe some friends with it :D

The trick to using this is to align the first lens symbol with a line on the second lens BELOW the centre. This will make the dart lob slightly to give better range.

Nerf N-Strike 2010 New Releases

2011-01-19T11:22:00.006+11:00

This post is essentially a list of all the stuff released in 2010 that I'm aware of.

First of all, the 9/9/10 blaster, the Stampede ECS.

The Stampede is the largest blaster released by Nerf, and the most expensive, retailing around $100. It is the first fully automatic Clip System blaster, being powered by 6 D batteries. The Stampede comes with 3 18 dart extended clips, and a 6 dart clip. This gives a total capacity of 60 darts. The Stampede also comes with 2 unique attachments, the Blast Shield and the Bipod/Foregrip. With a rate of fire of around 2-3 darts, but with a range of only 5-7m, the Stampede is best as a close-range full-assault or defence blaster. That is until you get some modding skills and a Black Tactical Stampede Upgrade Kit.

Next, we have my personal favourite blaster, the Alpha Trooper CS-18. It was released in the US around August, and in Aus around October. This is a Target exclusive.

It comes with an 18 dart drum, which in my opinion is the best clip-drum ever created. In Australia, the AT retails for about $30, which is a great deal when compared to the Stampede, Recon, Deploy and Raider. The AT boasts ranges of at least 10m, and sports a ROF of up to 5 darts per second. Along with it's impressive range, the AT seems to be one of the most accurate blasters in the CS range, with sights and scopes being more useful on this than most other blasters. All these stats put together, it's little wonder that the AT has become the favourite blaster of many people, both casual and new to Nerf, and extreme modders and Nerf pros.

After these blasters, we have the most unique blaster, the Barricade RV-10. This was released in October in Aus, and December in the US.

The Barricade is flywheel powered, meaning that it uses fast spinning wheels to shoot the darts. This of course means that the blaster is electronic. This also allows the blaster to be semi-automatic. The rate of fire is dependant on how fast you can pull the trigger, potentially resulting in a rate of fire of 4 darts per second, and possibly more. The Barricade's standard range with 3*1.5v batteries is around 8m, but investing in better batteries will vastly increase the power of this blaster, potentially resulting in 15m ranges. Of course, the Barricade makes a load of noise, making it horrible for stealth. For its price of around $30, the Barricade is quite a good blaster for its price.

Now, we have the Spectre REV-5, Nerf's stealth oriented sidearm. It was released in October in the US, and late December in Aus. This is a Target (so far) exclusive in Aus, and Wal-mart exclusive in the US.

The Spectre is a 5 dart revolver, taking cues from the Maverick. It includes a fake silencer and a folding stock. I will review the Spectre when I have spare time, as I recently got it.

Last of the 2nd half of 2010 releases is the Barrel Break IX-2. This was released in August in the US, and sometime in October in Aus, although I've never actually seen one. This is a TRU exclusive.

The Barrel Break costs $30 and shoots 2 darts at a time using a two-stage trigger. Half a pull fires one dart, a full pull fires the other. Pulling the trigger fast all the way has the effect of appearing to shoot 2 darts at a time. It includes one of the most useful attachments, an ammo holder. It is loaded like a real double barrel shotgun. I probably won't ever get or use this blaster.

Earlier in the year, Nerf released the Deploy CS-6. This was released in <I have no idea> in the US, and was first spotted in Aus in October.

The Deploy is internally just about the same to the Recon, except the inside 'breech' rotates with the clip dock. The key features are: a shotgun-style pump-action grip, a dim red built-in torch, and a gimmicky but really fun 'deploy' feature. I will review this at some point.

The last blaster released in 2010 was the Longstrike CS-6. This was released with the Deploy. It was first found around <I have no idea> in the US, and in July in Aus in a Target catalogue. I've never seen a Longstrike elsewhere.

The Longstrike is the most sniper-rifle looking blaster Nerf has ever made. It looks simply epic. I haven't seen or used this blaster, but it shares internals with the Recon, and has a massively long barrel, so it's range is apparently horrible. It is bolt-action loaded, like the Longshot and Vulcan, and has a highly angled handle, so it feels very much like a sniper rifle.

Now I move on to accessories. Nerf released the Tactical Vest in the US in <Don't know, again>, and as of 11/2/11 has not released it in AUS.

It comes with 2 translucent clips and 12 Streamline darts. It can hold 4 clips, 12 darts, a Sidearm of some sort (such as Spectre or Maverick), an N-Force weapon, and some stuff in a zip pouch.

I'm not sure if this is correct, but I think Nerf released the Bandolier Kit in 2010. It was released around June (?) in Aus in Kmart for $20 (BARGAIN!).

The Bandolier comes with 24 Streamline darts and 2 standard clips. The Bandolier can hold 12 darts and 6 clips. At $20, this makes it an easy way to get extra clips and darts. It also helps you hold weapons, with it's sling hooks at each end. These can hook on to various Nerf blasters. There's really not much to say about it.

Nerf released Camo Ammo in 2010. It was spotted in Aus quite late in the year, for $30 in Target.

There's not much to say about these. 50 darts, a large pouch, and camouflage printing. I am yet to see the Streamline variety anywhere. Streamlines in greyish urban camo, suctions in woodland greenish camo, and whistlers in arctic style camo.

I think that's about it released in 2010, I may update this page.

Pic credit for Barricade goes to SG Nerf

Nerf Magstrike AS-10 Review + Usage Tips

2011-01-19T10:51:00.014+11:00

The Magstrike creates one of the most intimidating noises in Nerf Wars, with it's realistic shooting-type noises. It also has the 2nd most mis-understood bladder and bladder capacity. Most people think you need to pump it 22-32 times to fully prime it (as it says on the box), but you only need to pump it 14 times to shoot 10 darts.
I'll repeat that.
14 TIMES FOR 10 DARTS.
The reason for the box saying 22-32 pumps is that the original Magstrikes (Dart Tag Versions - Red & Blue) came with 2 magazines as opposed to the one you get now.

First of all, the Magstrike looks...weird, in my opinion. Then again, if you've seen its capabilities (which I shall explain below), it looks really scary.

The Magstrike is one of the best starter weapons you can get, as, if used at the right time, you can eliminate several people from the game in about a second. That's right, ONE SECOND. This is how ridiculously fast the Magstrike fires, which makes you wonder why the now only include one mag. This makes it more of a spray-and-run blaster. It is ideal for defence as the mere sight of a Magstrike can scare many people. If they still come closer, you can let loose all ten darts in their direction.

The Magstrike has an excellent range (at least mine does), of 12-15m, and nearly 20m angled. This lets you challenge even people with Titans. You may encounter the magazine on your Magstrike not advancing upwards properly. As a not-very-keen modder, I have no idea why, but it is easily solved. You can simply hold the Magstrike sideways or upside-down, or flick the magstrike up on the first shot to advance the mag. The mag should then advance automatically.

The pump on the Magstrike is very smooth and easy to use. This helps little kids use it and scare their parents :P The large black shell thingy at the back holds the air bladder, so take care of it. It is quite tough, and the little curve allows you to rest it against your shoulder like a stock. Both the pump handle and grip handle are extremely comfortable. The pump fits nicely in your hand, and the grip is very smooth. The trigger is a dual-finger trigger, which is very comfortable and easy to use.

Because the Magstrike is fully automatic (ie hold trigger and spray away), you can dual wield them. This is a very intimidating sight, as just one Magstrike is deadly. Dual wielding this with a Barricade RV-10 Is an absolutely evil combo - 10 quick shots and 10 good shots are a killer combo. You could also dual wield this with a Powerclip DX 1000, as they are pretty much the same. (Powerclip is an old Nerf blaster that is considered the predecessor to the Magstrike)

Overall, the Magstrike is an EPIC weapon. At its price of $25, it's also very affordable. This helps you get 2 for dual wielding and completely owning everyone.

Pros:
ROF, with extra mags is easy to reload, range is decent, has high intimidation factor, air tank capacity is quite high, air tank is quite tough
Cons:
Re-pumping is a pain, does not include extra mags, ROF can be difficult to control, if there is even a minor air leak, can severely affect performance, quite large and bulky

Power: 5/5
Accuracy: 4/5
Value for money: 4/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of Fire: 5/5
Capacity: 3/5
Overall: 4.3/5

Wierd looks, epic firepower.

Usage Tips:

Pumping amounts list (updated 10/6/11):
10 darts: ~15 pumps
20 darts: ~30 pumps

1) Only pump up a short time before you need to use it. Leaving the bladder filled for too long will slowly damage it. This includes storage.
2) Have a quick trigger finger - you don't want to waste air, and it enables you to shoot one or two darts as opposed to 5 darts.
3) Have a primary blaster - the Magstrike only has 10 darts, and can shoot them very quickly. Especially if you have a heavy trigger finger. Alternatively, if you've attached an air compressor to your Magstrike, have loads and loads of mags, and it'll be fun.
4) When reloading mags, cut off the air in between the mags as quickly as possible. The longer you hold the trigger, the more air will be wasted, and the more you have to pump, wasting valuable time and leaving you defenceless.
5) (no brainer) Don't damage the pump.
6) To empty the bladder, push down the little wheel inside the magwell and pull the trigger. Avoid having your finger hit by the ratchet.

The Magstrike is kind of fool-proof - there's not a lot that can go wrong.

Nerf Maverick REV-6 Usage Tips

2011-01-19T09:58:00.003+11:00

Certain tips also apply to EX and IX blasters (and all Dart Tag blasters).
Most tips apply to other REV blasters.

1) NEVER leave the darts loaded in the blaster - the 'AR's will eventually shrink the size of the darts and damge the shape. ***Applies to almost all Nerf blasters***
2) When reloading, put 2 darts in at a time. This (obviously) reduces the time you spend reloading, so you can shoot more.
3) Remember that you can use just about any type of dart. Don't hesitate to use Whistler, Streamline or Dart Tag darts just because your Maverick came with Suctions.
4) When you've reloaded the barrel and it is in position, spin the barrel to make the hexagonal hole line up with the hexagonal bit that's sticking out. This part makes the barrel rotate, and if the barrel isn't aligned, it won't spin and the dart won't fire. You could also pull the trigger several times to align the barrel.
5) Don't bother using the Tactical Rail. Anything you attach will get in the way.
6) This blaster isn't the best for dual wielding as you have to cock it every time you want to shoot. See Urban Tagger's posts (here, here, and here)
7) Keep your hand on the slide - this helps in rapid-firing.
8) Don't attempt long-range shots - someone with a (working) Hornet, Magstrike, Rapid Fire, Longshot or Alpha Trooper (list continues) will get you before you get them.

Nerf Recon CS-6 Usage Tips + CS Blaster Tips

2011-01-18T19:15:00.002+11:00

This is my first Usage Tips post.
1) ALWAYS slide the...slide back and forth ALL THE WAY. This reduces the chance of jamming. Actually, this applies to ALL blasters of any sort.
2) Ditch the sight & light - they aren't useful in a fast-pitched battle.
3) Preferably ditch the barrel as well, it ruins your range. However, if you have good tactical rail attachments, or your Recon is unusually powerful, then you can keep the barrel on.
4) If you have a spare clip, stick it in your stock. This is the key feature of the stock, and also unique in the range of interchangeable stocks.
5) Always have spare Streamline darts. There is a massive chance that your currently loaded darts will get damaged rather quickly. Although CS blasters are notorious for this, the Recon is the worst offender.
6) Beware of jams.The Recon is notorious for jamming, and when it jams, it jams hard.

CS- Blaster Notes:
6) NEVER leave your darts in your clips/drums. They will get squished over time, and increase chances of damage or jamming.
7) Do your best to use new or good condition Streamlines whenever possible - this reduces your chances of jams and improves range and accuracy.

Nerf Maverick REV-6 Review

2011-01-18T19:02:00.011+11:00

The Maverick is possibly the most iconic Nerf blaster, being the best selling blaster worldwide. At it's price of $8-20 it's hard not to see why. The Maverick was originally released around 2004.

The Maverick is one of the most recognisable Nerf blasters due to it being a big, hulking revolver. It's large, revolving barrel makes it quite fat, so blasters like the Spectre are probably better for holstering (as I shall explain in the Spectre review).

As a sidearm, the Maverick is possibly the best starter weapon you can get, as it provides 6 quick shots, which, with practice, can be shot in 2 seconds. It's a very basic blaster to use, and you could probably figure out how to use it without instructions very quickly.

The Maverick functions from having a grey slide, like the Recon, but it is spring-loaded to make rapid-fire easier. It features a flip-out barrel for loading darts. Having a spring loaded slide means you could easily pull it, take it out of your holster, aim and shoot in less than a second. Note that because of the lack of any lips or other edges on the slide, your hand will slip off quite easily.

However, like the Recon, it isn't particularly powerful. It has about 8m range, but because it comes with suction darts, it is much more accurate. Like the Recon, it has a small plunger, so it's potential isn't great. Also, because of the rotating barrel, air is almost certain to escape, reducing the power that the dart gets.

Like the Recon, the Maverick is hard to use when something is attached to the tactical rail, as, like the Recon, the tactical rail is on the slide.

At it's price, the Maverick is the sort of blaster that anyone can afford. I definetely recommend this as a sidearm for anyone who needs a good sidearm. I DO NOT recommend this if you don't have any primary blasters, and/or if your friends don't have extra primaries for you to use.

Pros:
Cheap, easy to use, 6 dart capacity is decent for size and function, accuracy is excellent, looks awesome, barrel is easily modded to flip out or come out, ROF of 3 dps is possible
Cons:
Ranges are average, wears out easily, a pain to reload in stock condition, tac rail is in useless position, very fat

Power: 2.5/5
Accuracy: 4/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usefulness: 5/5
Rate of Fire: 3.5/5
Capacity: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.75/5

Good looks, decent sidearm.

Nerf Recon CS-6 Review

2011-01-18T18:40:00.016+11:00

This is my first review.

The Nerf Recon was released around 2008, originally with an 'open' buttcap. This let you see the plunger as you 'cocked' it (get used to the terminology). Eventually, some MORONS decided to sue Nerf for (most likely) a miniscule bruise and a pinching feeling, and forced Nerf to make a full buttcap for their Recons, covering up the plunger. The latest Edition (as of Jan 2011) has a shorter buttcap, and therefore a shorter Plunger, and therefore less power. This edition is the one I own.

First of all, the Recon looks AWESOME. It looks very much like an assault rifle (like an M4, M16, AK-47, etc), and is magazine-fed like one (although Nerf calls them 'clips'). Sadly, this beauty is only skin deep, as I shall explain.

The Recon is not the best starter, as it only comes with one 6-dart clip and 6 streamlines (value packs have more). Also, for the price, you can get much better blasters. If you're looking for accessories, however, the Recon is excellent as it has a useful barrel (adds tactical rails and accuracy, but reduces range. The stock, while a little flimsy, can hold a 6-dart clip or 18-dart drum, making it useful when attached to CS blasters. The Flip-up Sight and Dual Mode Light, while fun and 'gimmicky', are relatively useless and annoying. The flip-up site takes too much adjusting to be useful, and the dual mode light is too dim to be helpful. Still, they are fun to play around with.

The handle is very comfortable, although there isn't really a way to hold the barrel when the Dual-Mode light is attached to the bottom. This is just a niggle and isn't something that should worry you.

The power of the Recon isn't great. It is relatively small, so the plunger cannot be very large. This means that it can't have great power with the stock internals, even with crazy mods. Its power is even more ruined by the barrel, which further reduces its range. Likewise, its accuracy isn't great as it uses Streamline Darts. These have a small hole in the head which often causes the dart to fishtail and curve off course.

The Recon is hard to use when something is attached to the grey slide, as the grey slide is the cocking mechanism, and that attachment usually gets in the way.

The Recon, with the barrel attached will get around 7-9m range, and with it off, about 10m range. This range is not good when compared to blasters like the AT. At its price of about $30, it's really not the ideal starter weapon.

I would NOT recommend this as a starter weapon. However, the Recon is ok as a secondary blaster if you have many clips/ a few spare drums.

Pros:
Looks cool, blaster is compatible with all clips and drums, clip is compatible with all (E)CS blasters, parts can be detached for use on other blasters, smallest spring powered CS blaster (clip fed pistol anyone?), relatively cheap, stock holds a 6 clip or 18 drum, easy to reload with extra clips
Cons:
Ranges are slightly below average, accuracy sucks (even with the barrel), iron sight is therefore rendered useless, barrel reduces range, light unit is ridiculously dim, stock is flimsy, is difficult to use with attachment on slide, ROF is surpassed by most other (E)CS blasters, capacity of only 6 darts, inferior to almost all other (E)CS blasters

Power: 3/5
Accuracy: 2.5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Usefulness: 3/5
Rate of fire: 2.5/5
Capacity: 2.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Looks good, functions not so great.

Welcome!

2011-01-18T17:53:00.002+11:00

Welcome to Nerf Reviews, Usage Tips & Custom Accessories!
This blog was inspired by good Nerf blogs such as:
Urban Taggers
SG Nerf
Nerf Mods & Reviews

In this blog, I wIll post reviews on blasters I have or have experience with, as well as accessories. This is not really a news site, as other blogs cover those segments well enough.
I'll also post up some of my custom-made stuff that I occasionally use. They are mostly scopes as Nerf's aren't functional the way mine are.

I will generally only post one pic per post, as the above sites already give excellent pics, and 2 minutes on Google Images works as well.

Do note that in my reviews, I measure range when the blaster is parallel to the ground, and the ground is relatively level, unless otherwise stated.

These reviews are generally aimed at non-modders, beginners (aka n00bs) and 'casual' players. The general aim of this blog is to help 'newbie' Nerfers decide what blaster they should get next, and what blasters they should avoid.

***GENERIC BLASTER TIP***
NEVER leave your blaster cocked. This will shrink the size of the spring (over time) and reduce the power of the blaster.

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