Category: toy blaster

Dart Zone Pro – It’s Coming

Dart Zone Pro Reveal in Slow Reveal

Dart Zone has been hinting the last few days about a new line coming out this July.
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Dart Zone Pro. With the hashtag #only1pro and some mysterious angles, they’ve got the attention of the community. The most recent video and more like it are posted at – http://bit.ly/dartzonepro – you have to provide an email for updates but then you will get clued in on the latest info on the Dart Zone Pro line.

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The Story So far:

  • Full announcement coming July 15.
  • FPS: 150 out of the box
  • Sales will be through the Dart Zone website
  • Pretty sure it was pump-action
  • Limited Edition release, limited quantities

Interesting stuff! Stay tuned as more information comes out and we start to get more details.

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The Nerf Doomlands Judge! New Nerf Blaster that Needs a Bigger Gear Bag

Test Firing the Nerf “The Judge” for the Doomlands line… a huge blaster in its own right. Sample provided by Nerf, but thoughts and opinions remain my own!

NERF DOOMLANDS THE JUDGE Blaster
(Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $59.99/Available: Fall 2017)
Bring justice to a doomed land with the DOOMLANDS THE JUDGE blaster. With an impressive 30 dart capacity, THE JUDGE blaster can fire three darts at once! This massive blaster is ready for anything the post-apocalyptic wasteland can send its way. Includes 30 DOOMLANDS Elite darts. Available at most major retailers nationwide and HasbroToyshop.com.


Basic Statistics:

MSRP: $59.99
Available: Now
Capacity: 30 shots (3 shot bursts, shotgun style. No shells. Front-loading in 3 dart groupings)
Includes: Judge, 30 elite streamline darts, HUGE BOX

Test fired the Nerf Doomlands Judge in the above video. Watch the assembly below!

https://flipagram.com/f/1AAhv6F8ep0/embed

The blaster itself is incredibly…. ridiculous. It’s HUGE. The box itself has an “actual size” photo to shock and awe parents and kids alike in the toy aisle. And with good reason, as an adult the blaster is about the diameter of my torso and definitely eclipses my head when I place it in front of me. On pure aesthetics, this blaster is already quite an imposing image, or maybe a cartoon, depending on your point of view.

Gargantuan in dimension, the blaster is ungainly to wield. Pump-action makes dual-wielding nigh impossible, and and the surface area of the muzzle ensures that going around corners and finding good hiding spots in stealth are not a real consideration. Not when your blaster is the size of a small shrub. Does that make it a scrub, oh no, it makes it visible, and aggrolicious (I find big blasters tend to attract fire and attention from opposing teams and players in a casual game; this can be exploited in the hands of a knowledgeable player.) That being said, the blaster comes off initially as intimidating and with a three round burst is pretty effective in close quarters once it can be brought around to bear.

Performance wise, the blaster can be said to have more bark than bite. The ranges don’t seem much different from the initial product I saw at New York Toy Fair, and that was around 30′-50′. Angled or not, that was the most definite range. Not terribly different from the Sledgefire, but at least it had A WAY LARGER PAYLOAD (30 darts vs. 3+shell) and could be used as a shield (within certain gametypes). The spread wasn’t anything particularly astounding considering the 3 dart burst, and there was some loss of range on at least one dart in those bursts. The loss is usually where the 30′ mark came from. The key point is to consider this a truly close quarters blaster, and use it as such. If rules allow, use it as a shield. If they don’t, then be smart about aiming and when you try to run and gun with this blaster. The pump action is smooth, but the lack of a slamfire feature and again, the size for a short range blaster gives a player some extra tactical considerations.

Ultimately, if you’re let down by the range, then make sure to keep your focus in the Nerf Elite, Nerf Mega, and Nerf Rival areas of consideration. Unless otherwise stated, the thematic lines focus more on roleplay and fantasy/imagination play with blasters than outright performance. And The Judge, as a member of the Doomlands 2169, is highly indicative of that. You’re getting a relatively high capacity “shotgunned” blaster for close quarters and a lot of people as casual Nerf blaster users would love that. Who wouldn’t want to bust this out for some mischief on coworkers, classmates, and possibly unsuspecting family members? The Nerf Doomlands Judge makes an over the top statement about what it does as a blaster, and works the immersive angle of being some wasteland superhero with a large inventory of weapons of even larger construction. That’s the focus, and not squeezing out an extra 10′ on minimizing dead space or barrel fit. Doomlands is how some people play, and it gives them just the fantasy weapon to express themselves with.

The Judge is $60 roughly, available now. Is it worth it? If you can spring it and don’t mind the difference in range to most other blasters, then yes. Heck yes. It’s ridiculous, and that’s enough for me. If you want your accuracy and range a little higher, then it’s better to pass on this for a Rival (like the newly available Hera) or Nerf Elite (the Regulator is a good fun blaster out now as well.)

Hope this review helps, feel free to sound off in the comments! ‘Til next time.

The Walking Dead Abraham’s M16 Zombie Blaster

The Walking Dead Abraham’s M16 Zombie Blaster Clip-fed dart blaster

Basics:
  • Includes: Blaster x 1, 12 Long Distance darts, 8 round magazine
  • Blasts Darts up to 72′
  • Carrying handle and extended stock
  • MSRP: $32.00 – Ages 6+ 

Abraham! A character from “The Walking Dead” but not quite the character you might be thinking of. There’s the Survivor played by Michael Cudlitz on the hugely popular TV show, and then the character on the hugely popular longrunning “The Walking Dead” comic. This blaster references the latter. Here’s a look at them both (images used from The Walking Dead wiki:    

As played by Michael Cudlitz

The Buzz Bee blasters in general really stepped up in the last year. Revealed at New York Toy Fair last year, the new “The Walking Dead” was a real surprise to me in terms of licensed blasters to any degree. Up to this point, the only licensed weaponry was from Thinkgeek (non-projectile, non-foam) or a pretty poor performing Daryl crossbow that shot large foam darts.

BUT WAIT NO MORE.

These “Walking Dead” blasters are not only in a $30 and less price range, but they also are marketed at hitting 72′. Given the rising price of blasters, this adds some much needed relief for comic fans, collectors, and blaster enthusiasts.

Let’s talk colors.

Once again, the blasters draw inspiration from “The Walking Dead” comic book universe, in packaging and font, so if you’re a fan of just the AMC show the aesthetics might seem different to you. Also, Daryl wasn’t originally a character in the comic book, so no crossbow (yet…?)

The colors are a vibrant yellow/red/white, which is common to keeping cosplay enthusiasts and players from being identified as using anything dangerous. It’s not exactly some of the first colors you think of with a black and white comic or the zombie apocalypse but I like them and think they work in the space of making easily identifiable toys. (Yes, Toys! Remember, these are toys.)

The blasters are also a bit on the larger side, some folks may say this has a lot of empty space in the shells. Personally, I like the dimensions of the Abraham blaster, as it feels the most comfortable of the bunch to me, even without the adjustable stock. The mag release button is in an intuitive location, and resistant enough that I won’t accidentally hit the release at some point and dump my ammo. The priming slide/carry handle is a familiar motion for me from past blasters, so it’s not a pain to use, and the handle actually helps keep my hand from sliding off for some reason, such as dirt, sweat, or rain. I haven’t had a horrible jamming problem at all, whether that’s to the design or the fact I use fresh darts regularly is anyone’s guess. But finding a comfortable hand position on the blaster is definitely not an issue, the only real problem for me is carrying enough magazines to keep myself blasting 🙂

The carrying handle did come in handy to use while running, oddly enough. It’s one of those neat touches to a blaster that while it doesn’t affect performance, it adds to the feel and look of it to a huge degree. Otherwise, the blaster’s length isn’t super problematic in close quarters either, and aiming at targets wasn’t obstructed (as you can see in the video). The Buzz Bee darts need some further testing, but I like where they’re going so far.

In all, I feel it’s a really solidly built toy. The cost is right, and the biggest boon for parents is the magazines and darts will work with Nerf branded toys. Through some alchemic reaction the Buzz Bee and Nerf mags and darts are cross-compatible from what I’ve seen so far, so having to reinvest in a new ammo type or mag type (while preferred) is not a necessity. Keep in mind that stock blasters are built for their own proprietary accessories, and while they work together it may not provide full range and may lead to jamming some of the time.

Whew! So is this on your to-buy list? Will you use it for a costume? I have more reviews on the way, if you have any questions make sure to comment below! The blaster is available now, at a suggested retail price of $32. Fight the dead, but fear the living!

Edit: Sample provided by Buzz Bee toys, opinions remain my own.

SPOILER:

RIP Abraham, in both comic and tv show universes.

Dart Zone LegendFire Powershot Blaster: Review!

Dart Zone LegendFire: Triggerless blaster, but I like it!

Basic Stats:
MSRP: $14.99
Includes–
Legendfire x 1
Dart Chambers x 2 (9 shots each)

I want to update this post with some actual gameplay testimonial, that will have to wait! In the meantime, here are some quick first impressions.

I really wasn’t sure if I was going to like this blaster. Triggerless offerings in the past were often disappointing, uncomfortable, or made firing more complicated than it had to be, simply because there was no trigger. Other times, because the blaster required you to constantly shift it through motion your aim sights were constantly moving and you were always shifting… that’s one reason I always want a slamfire enabled blaster to have a stock, for just that slight bit of stability while you have to keep priming the blaster.

The LegendFire is basically in a constant state of slamfire. You pump the blaster and that primes it/fires it. Dart Zone admitted this was because the blaster would have been made out of the price point they set and in order to keep costs down they had to sacrifice a traditional trigger. While unfortunate, the blaster is a pump-action, which already gives it a different feel from other triggerless blasters. Like I said, the blaster is in a constant state of slamfire so you could easily throw your aim off a bit shifting the pump handle, but with a little practice you could steady it a bit more. The length of the blaster also helps in that regard. You might find yourself spraying ammo more than surgical pot shots, as it starts to almost feel like more of a shotgun, regardless of the barrel length. I was getting pretty decent range out of the blaster too, the 80′ claim (angled) isn’t too far from the truth. From the looks of the video, it hit even farther than that. Now, accuracy wise? That’s a whole different tune. The video shows the spread was pretty wide on the shots I took, and given the foam medium that’s nothing terribly new to see. But how much of that might have been solved with a stock to brace against or a trigger, maybe some day we’ll get a different version. It’s my continued belief that a stock is a necessity if your blaster has slam fire, unless it’s a pistol like the Strongarm.

Second cylinder included! Extra ammo reload for a unique magazine type! Thanks Dart Zone!

The thing that really got me about the LegendFire is that it reminds me of any number of Borderlands sniper rifles that use revolver style chambers – (I can’t seem to remember any at the moment…) and breaking the blaster in half to get to the revolver cylinder to swap it out is a neat feature. Even better because Dart Zone includes a SECOND CYLINDER to store on the integrated ammo holder and swap out, in incredibly satisfying (for me) fashion.

And…. it’s $14.99. For that price, given all the high-end blasters coming out this year, this can give you a much needed break on the wallet. For parents, here is a very interesting low-cost option for your kid’s upcoming holiday gifts. It’s an engaging design with the reload mechanism and just the look of it, has a slim profile (for easy storage!) is compatible with Nerf darts, and pretty good range for under $20. If you haven’t looked at Dart Zone blasters before, this is definitely something you should consider!

Product provided for review: opinions still remain my own.

Dart Zone LegendFire Range Test/Demo video/overview

Testing the Dart Zone LegendFire blaster – ranges and reloading

Quick Stats:
 MSRP: $14.99
Range: 80′
Available: Now (I just saw these at Target)
 Includes:
2 x swappable ammo cartridges
1 x LegendFire
18 x darts

 More to come on what I think about this blaster after I get some game time in with it in Wisconsin this weekend. See you then!

F2A Friday Five: 5 Toy Fair 2016 Blaster Favorites

Five Takeaways from Toy Fair 2016
VasTheStampede

note: there was so much great stuff at Toy Fair! The Five involved with this list are by no means representative of the whole experience.

Edit: previous version of the article incorrectly listed the company for RBS as Super Impact, that has been corrected as of 2/29.

1. Nerf – I’m cheating a bit here. (See the full gallery of images here) The Nerf booth had a ton of things that I felt will be huge in 2016. Heck, the Nerf brand in general is going HUGE in 2016 and beyond, from what I could tell. Even the Platinum Bow from Rebelle is a huge offering and regardless of it being Rebelle I intend to own one. Other blasters, like the BattleScout and the HyperFire, offer new twists on previous features, like the stripper clip (seen on the Magstrike and Powerclip, mainly) and a new camera, while the HyperFire has an increased Rate of Fire. The Nerf Rival Khaos is a ridiculous beast, and while the magazine compatibility is lacking, that is a seriously hilariously large blaster and magazine.

The Nerf blasters this year are incredibly eye catching, but with that comes a level of functionality in some blasters that may change the blaster landscape over the next year. Not just because the Tri-Strike makes most available ammo types usable in a single game play, or that the Hyperfire may arguably be the fastest Rate of Fire for a stock blaster to date, but because Nerf is showing confidence in its brand to try some crazy, oversized ideas. The Brainsaw is evidence the Zombie Strike line continues to produce some fun toys (yes, TOYS) while the Double-Dealer is another massive eye catching piece with its double mag setup. (The Double-Dealer was a non-functioning prototype when I was at the booth, so sadly no firing video. But the stock is in fact a magazine holder, if you haven’t see it yet.) My main concern though is the main blasters are going anywhere between $30 to $80, and to a family that can add up, even to an enthusiast collector. But the fans have wanted bigger and better, and this year, Nerf served that up in spades.

2. Buzz Bee gets “The Walking Dead” license

 In addition to continuing to offer a low cost alternative to Nerf, Buzz Bee has the license for “The Walking Dead”, which I can see a lot of people getting excited about. Especially the rifle at the bottom, which does not seem to use an ammo belt like the last rifle of this style I saw (not from Buzz Bee, I believe). It looks like the license is more for the comics than the TV show, but at this point it’s  still “Hey! The Walking Dead!” There were some other prototypes at the booth (a blaster reminiscent of the Magstrike/Powerclip, air powered and still very cool) but this is what really caught my eye and has gotta be one of the most telling things for me that Buzz Bee has some serious plans for the future and bears watching even more than before.

3. The Precision RBS system (from Super Impulse) –

This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been taken with a new type of blaster and ammo, but there was something so elegant about the Precision RBS system it deserves a callout here. These are rubber band shooters. And not some specialty rubber band ammo, but every day standard rubber bands (three different sizes) which makes getting the ammo easy in a pinch. The larger models have integrated ammo holders, an integrated second blaster, multiple round firing (and the RoF is semiauto, in case you’re curious). The guys who invented this really did their homework about rubber band shooters, and what players look for (even a separate firing mode) in general from a user standpoint, they really thought of a lot of things for this line. I look forward to seeing more from this blaster, that’s for sure.

4. Paper Shooters

Finally! After years of communication, I finally met the owners behind Paper Shooters, and they look ready to hit the American market. Now, these aren’t your typical blasters- it’s a model kit first (so there is some build time to invest) and a functional blaster second. These are some pretty pieces of kit when you’re done, judging by what I saw at their booth, and when you finally get the blaster built it’s very satisfying shooting them. The shell ejection, the pullback lever, it all feels very cool (for lack of a better term) when shooting them. Even moreso cause this is a blaster you build from the ground up with the kit, so it’s a very different offering from when you have a blaster and modify it, now it is your own you built from basically scratch.

5. K’Nex

K’Nex continues the K-Force line – now we have magazines, motors, and turrets to add into the mix. The beast pictured above is a custom build, but it’s three linked triggers to fire three darts at once. I used the initial kits and found the build times a little long, but I attribute that to my unfamiliarity with using K’Nex pieces. All the same, I am glad this line is still kicking because of the customizability it offers, and really want to sink my teeth into some custom builds this year.

Questions? Comments? Did you want to add anything? More galleries and more in-depth writeups to come, thanks for tuning in!

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Razor steps into the ring – their new toy blaster, the Vapor Atlas 250!

Vapor Atlas 250 – approx. $15
Available – Fall 2011 online via the Vapor website- coming soon!

“Like” them on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/VaporBlaster

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/VaporBlaster

Includes:

* Instruction manual
* Atlas blaster and 250 rounds of Vapor Gel Ammo (ready-made, no waiting!)

Measurements:

* Length: approx. 12” from tip of muzzle back of blaster

Overview:

Say hello to a new entry in the blaster category, the Vapor Atlas 250. A pistol, vibrant red colors, and very good ergonomics. Brought to you by Razor (http://www.razor.com), better known for scooters and other vehicles, the Vapor line is their attempt at bringing a new way to play when launching projectiles at your friends. And no, it doesn’t mean you get to mount a blaster onto your scooter or motorcycle.

Function:

The blaster is a single shot pistol, but with a twist. It has a hopper on top with a small door and holds about 50 “Vapor Gel” rounds (more on the ammo in a bit). The priming action of the blaster is a slide on the back of the handle pulls back and primes the blaster, opening the breech in the hopper that loads a sphere into the barrel. The slide must be pushed forward back into place to seal the breech and allow the trigger pull. The action is as follows: pull the slide back, push it forward to original position, and then pull the trigger to fire the round. Experience suggests giving the blaster a little shake to ensure proper loading of ammo.

Don’t worry about ammo falling out of the barrel, either. A little trap door opens at the front of the barrel when you pull the TRIGGER, allowing the gel ammo to fire but keeping it in place while running around.

The blaster is advertised to hit up to 60’ but you’ll also get anywhere from 40’ to 50’ as well. Fired level at the shoulder, the blaster was getting around 40’. The ammo did hook a little left or right but for the most part the accuracy decent from 40’ and closer. Above that made aiming a bit trickier to compensate for movement left or right reliably. Having used foam blasters for so long, I’m already used to 30’ out of the box so this was pretty normal performance for a toy, if not better.
The instructions tell you that the blaster operates best when the hopper is filled to 50% or better; and they’re right. I experienced some instances where I would fire the first 30 or so shots pretty consistently, but after that the blaster would misfire. This means that I would prime it but a round wouldn’t load. Also, it’s better to prime the blaster only when you’re ready to fire. It was even odds if the blaster experienced any dip in performance if primed while running around or primed after running and/or rolling.

All this said, you still have around 50 shots to use before having to reload at a pretty good distance. That’s not too bad and beats a few of the other same types of pistols out there, capacity-wise.

Ammo:

The ammo seems a bit bigger than the Xploderz ammo, but time is the biggest difference in this case. The manual does not include any growing instructions for the ammo. The Vapor gel rounds are to be sold ready-to-use with no waiting. The Atlas comes with 250 round ready AND the blaster for $15, and that’s a good number of reloads right there. As indicated in the instructions if the ammo is kept cool and out of direct sunlight, it should stay usable for a long time. Only if it shrinks is when a 3 hour waiting period comes up which is unlikely if you are using your Vapor a lot.

The ammo dries almost immediately when it breaks apart, and does not stain clothing. I fired the shirt onto a white shirt, and the only noticeable change to the shirt was it seemed hardened where the Vapor ammo hit. Easily washed out. It would be interesting to see if this medium would work indoors on a gym floor considering how quickly it dries. The bright yellow coloring also made it easier to spot flying out of the barrel. One thing was the ammo breaks apart sometimes on firing. This is an inherent issue with the ammo type but hopefully can be addressed in the future. Maybe being left to soak or in outdoor heat are contributing factors to the Vapor ammo integrity. If you need to store the leftover ammo or want to carry additional ammo, a simple empty bottle will do just fine. If possible, get one that won’t crush easily, to be sure your ammo stays undamaged while inside it.

There is a bit of a sting when hit from approximately 20 feet out, but no worse than anything on the market right now (spitwads, foam darts). Against instructions I put the barrel right against my skin and fired. There was a small ring on my skin but nothing terrible. Therefore, you have approximately the pain factor of a foam dart but with a higher rate of fire than most foam blasters of this size and comparable range. This will be interesting to see with higher-powered blasters that have range AND high capacity.. The real test will be visually spotting if a player hits their intended target, but some initial testing shows there is a visible splatter most of the ammo when making contact most of the time. This is still less painful than paintball or airsoft, a plus for some families and even users who can’t afford to get black and blue every weekend.

Form:

IT HAS A TRIGGER. WOW. FANTASTIC. This makes operating SO MUCH EASIER. The Xploderz blasters (which use the same ammo) were awkward to handle with the pull-handle. I found my hands would jam together, or it was tough to aim while holding the priming arm down. The trigger and traditional slide action make using the Atlas so much easier by leaps and bounds. The pistol is also very streamlined, and comfortable to hold so holstering and drawing the blaster worked just fine. It slid in and out of my grabit pack easily, if you need a comparison. A very comfortable blaster and I was very pleased with how the Atlas handled and its portability.

Pros:

* Vibrant color (this is arbitrary to me, I like brightly colored blasters and other users going for the milsim experience might not).
* Handle is comfortable
* Biodegradable ammo; no staining after getting hit
* Easy to slip into my pocket or holster
* Lots of ammo included in blaster
* Easy to carry
* Trap door on the front barrel is a nice touch to prevent losing ammo while running around with a primed blaster
* Slide action is comfortable to repeatedly perform unlike some blasters with a similar mechanism

Cons:

* Nothing included to carry extra ammo
* Ammo would break apart in-flight
* Not a noticeably refreshing water blaster for hot summer days (drenched vs hit with a small splatter of water)
* Harder to spot hits at long distances (with the ammo, the blaster itself still keeps the action up close and personal)
* Natural tendency of many might be to run around with the blaster ready to fire which might reduce performance vs. running, prime and shooting
* Some misfires and jamming, but only when really low on ammo in hopper as the instructions indicate

Stay tuned! The blaster will be available this Fall, and I’ll be coming out with videos and demos of it pretty quickly! Also, something big this way comes labor day weekend in relation to this blaster…

Definitely worth a look when these are available this fall!