Review: Dart Zone Venom Pro

I saw an Aussie importer with Venom Pros in stock and on discount, and I couldn't resist the temptation. A flywheeler pistol that has competitive performance out-of-box and is fed by magazines through the handle? I was intrigued.

I'm something like a year late to this, but given it doesn't normally retail in Australia anyway, I didn't think I'd ever get one in the first place.

Review: X-Shot Longshot (Aus version)

Longtime readers of this blog will know that I'm an absolute sucker for bullpups, so even in my absence from the hobby, the release of the X-Shot Longshot was very interesting for me. It got to the point where I was contemplating importing one, but thankfully Kmart came through and saved me that trouble.

All is not sunshine and rainbows though. Australia is subject to some extremely strict toy laws, which has resulted in us receiving weakened blasters, and in many cases, not being able to access entire blaster lines at all (e.g. Rival). The X-Shot Longshot has not escaped this scrutiny...

Note: For convenience but also to avoid confusion with other Longshots, I will be referring to this blaster as the XLongshot.

Review: Nerf Rival Pilot XXIII-100

The Nerf Rival line isn't available in Australia, presumably because it exceeds the kinetic energy limits on toys here. I recently had an overseas holiday to a country which had Rival stuff available (among many others - check my FB page), so decided to grab one of the single-shot blasters. I opted for the Pilot, and while I have no intention of investing any more into Rival, it is a lot of fun and definitely worth the purchase.

Review: Nerf Elite 2.0 Motoblitz CS-10

The Nerf Elite 2.0 Motoblitz fulfils a long-standing desire of mine (and I'm sure many others), that being a mag-fed blaster with an underslung shotgun blaster. While I initially passed on the Motoblitz at its retail price (partly due to lack of interest in Nerf overall), Aussie Targets recently marked them down to 20AUD for clearance, which was a deal far too good to pass up.

Review: Adventure Force Aeon Pro

The Adventure Force Aeon Pro is part of Dart Zone's line aimed more towards hobbyists, packing much higher power and half-length dart usage/compatibility. Naturally, it still seems to be only available in North America, however Blastertech imports and sells them locally. I bought one from them during their Australia Day (Jan 26) sale.

Funnily enough, this is actually my first real foray into half-length darts.

Review: Nerf Elite Shellstrike DS-6 (grey trigger)

It's been several years since I've bought a new blaster, as the majority of them have simply not appealed to me. I've always had a soft spot for shell-fed shotgun blasters though, so I was quite excited for the Shellstrike to finally arrive. When I finally found it in-store, it turned out to be cheaper than I'd expected, so I picked it up immediately.

Those of you excited to see another post from me, don't get your hopes up. I'm still pretty out of the Nerf scene and will probably continue to do so until my life settles down a little.

Review: Nerf Modulus Mediator (Aus grey trigger)

The Mediator is one of the more practical 2018 blasters, combining the compact form factor of the Recon/Retaliator with the pump action and side magwell of the Raider/Rampage. I was intending to grab one, but then held off when I saw the retail price. I managed to snag this one for a reasonable price second hand.

Quick Review: Lightake/NFstrike AccuMegas

At this month's HvZ, we had a pool of new Lightake/NFstrike Accufake Megas to try out. I borrowed some for a quick review.

Quick Review: Containment Crew Cyclone Flywheels

As it turns out, I completely forgot to post a review of the CC Cyclone wheels I'd acquired a couple of months ago. I initially held off awaiting combat testing, but that's already happened and I completely forgot to make this post.
As a quick aside, I ordered these from Out of Darts' Etsy store, which I'd highly recommend if you need parts that he stocks. Shipping cost was as reasonable as can be expected for US to Aus, and shipping time was quite fast.

Quick Review: Men-Gun Stacked Waffle/Honeycomb Darts

Men-Gun Stacked Waffle/Honeycomb darts are actually an older dart design, originating from K-nex's Kforce blaster line. I figured that given I was slowly collecting most of the currently popular darts, I might as well give these a shot as well.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent these darts by Lightake for review, however all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Buzz Bee Thermal Hunter (15m)

The Thermal Hunter was one of the most anticipated of Buzz Bee's new releases, with the promise of the Sentinel's raw power and mod potential, in a more practical pump action rifle form. It also includes a unique attachment, a sight with basic thermal detection capabilities. Needless to say, I was very excited at the prospect of toying around with the blaster and its fancy scope.

Disclaimer: This blaster was sent to me for review by Buzz Bee Toys. Despite their contribution, I will do my best to ensure that this review remains as objective and unbiased as possible.

Review: Nerf Mega Hotshock

The Hotshock is one of the smallest and simplest additions to the Mega line, being of the classic pull-back single shot format that sees an incarnation in almost every Nerf line. As someone not very interested in the Mega line or single shot blasters, I gave it a pass until MHvZ introduced Mega zombies. As they are a rare, special unit, I only needed a basic Mega blaster to combat them, so I picked up a Hotshock from BigW.

Review: Buzz Bee Eradicator (15m) [Tactical Storm]

The Buzz Bee Eradicator is a recolouring of the new and primarily blue Tactical Storm, a modular mag fed blaster very similar to the Champion/Ultra Tek 8. As part of Buzz Bee's new releases, it includes some of Buzz Bee's new darts, in this case some Long Distance darts. Given how good so many of Buzz Bee's recent mag fed blasters have been, I was rather excited to try this one out.

Disclaimer: This blaster was sent to me for review by Buzz Bee Toys. Despite their contribution, I will do my best to ensure that this review remains as objective and unbiased as possible.

Review: Buzz Bee Stryker Force (15m) [Zenith]

The Stryker Force is the smallest new blaster in Buzz Bee's latest wave of releases. It is a manual action revolver somewhat reminiscent of the older Air Max 6, though of course being a conventional springer rather than an air blaster. In particular, this wave of releases also contains Buzz Bee's brand new darts. I will be reviewing Buzz Bee's new darts in a separate post. The Stryker Force includes 6 PrecisePro (PP) darts and 2 Long Distance (LD) darts.
Note that while the Stryker Force is not identical to the Zenith, they are very similar, both physically and functionally.
Disclaimer: This blaster was sent to me for review by Buzz Bee Toys. Despite their contribution, I will do my best to ensure that this review remains as objective and unbiased as possible.

Review: Star Wars Jyn Erso Deluxe Blaster

The release of Rogue One brought with it, among other merchandise, a new set of Star Wars Nerf blasters. The Jyn Erso blaster is the most expensive general release one, and the only one of the three that offered any practical potential use. Due to its insanely high retail price, I put off buying it until they were discounted to half price at my local BigW. Is it worth it, even at half price?

Review: Nerf Doomlands Desolator (US orange trigger)

The Desolator is a blaster belonging to a sub-theme of Doomlands, Impact Zone. This subtheme features a vastly different colour scheme to regular Doomlands blasters, being primarily white instead of primarily yellow/orange. Regardless, they maintain many distinctive Doomlands-style features, such as the translucent window on the sides of blasters. While the Desolator is essentially "just" a Stryfe, being a Stryfoid is by no means a bad thing, as the Stryfe is a great blaster in itself. What the Desolator offers then, besides being a Stryfoid, is its unique and awesome design, and I was rather excited to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, the Desolator never arrived in Aussie stores, so after months of waiting I eventually purchased one off a fellow Aussie who had imported several.

Review: Nerf Modulus Tri-Strike (Aus grey trigger)

The Tri-Strike is the first Modulus blaster to be sporting some properly new accessories, boasting the ability to fire three different ammo types from all its components. This is exactly the sort of thing that I was hoping the Modulus line would bring, accessories that wouldn't be seen in the Elite line. I waited for the price to drop a little before picking one up.

Review: Smooth Artifact Flywheels and Straight (Red) Flywheel Cage

Aftermarket flywheel parts are somewhat of a rarity compared to the plethora of springer mod parts that are out there. While there are all kinds of springs, breeches and other internal parts available, flywheels and flywheel cages are pretty rare. These Artifact parts are only the 3rd aftermarket cage and flywheels I know of, and the first non-canted cage and first non-proprietary smooth concave flywheels I'm aware of. Given my love of flywheelers, I was naturally very excited to get my hands on them.
EDIT 8/10/16: Chrono numbers have been added.
EDIT 9/10/16: Some alterations have been made to the cage + flywheels segment.

Worker Parts: Stryfe Mag Release, Thumbscrews, RS Pusher

I received a package from China containing a variety of Worker and Artifact parts. I'll be talking about the Artifact parts in a future post, but I thought I might as well do a quick post on all the other parts I bought.

Review: Buzz Bee Cyclonic (22m/72ft EU)

Everyone loves spinning barrels, so it's always exciting when a promising blaster is released with them. The Cyclonic is a full auto flywheeler, which Buzz Bee proved they can do decently with the Brute. I wanted to acquire one for myself to see how it would stack up as a budget full auto flywheeler.