It’s time to round out the week, and our trilogy of warm weather reviews.  I know it’s sad, but don’t worry, warm weather will be here soon, but if you just can’t wait to scratch your Super Soaker itch you can fill this blaster up with warm water and go melt some snow!  I bring to you, the Nerf Super Soaker THUNDERSTORM.

The THUNDERSTORM is the most unique water blaster I’ve had the pleasure of owning.  It is the first such blaster to offer quick reloading via the new water clip.  Yes, that’s right, I said it has a clip.  No longer will we have to spend the majority of our time huddled around a spigot fighting over who gets to refill first.  The clip holds about 11 ounces(300lm) of liquid and fits very snugly in the blaster forming an excellent seal.  A full clip adds a bit of weight to the blaster, which is rather light without the water, but the extra weight doesn’t hinder use of the THUNDERSTORM(even for a 4 year old).  Another nifty feature of the clip is the addition of a build in belt clip, giving you the ability to hold multiple clips on your person during a battle, a feature not currently offered on any of the clip system dart blasters. (more…)

Spring, an almost mythical time when the snow melts and people(in the north) are actually happy to get out of the house for a while.  I hear this happy season is almost upon us, and with that hopes and dreams of summer when the sun’s so hot we can’t wait to douse ourselves in any water we can find.  Yup, summer means Super Soakers, and here’s another review from Nerf’s new line, the Scatter Blast.

The second offering I’ve been able to sample from Nerf’s ever growing chest-o-Super Soakers is the Scatter Blast.  This small water blaster resembles a sawed off shotgun in design, and sports more of the trademark orange plastic than the Point Break and honestly this doesn’t bother me save for the pump action which I wish was designed similarly to the pump on other Super Soakers like the Point Break.  This is the second of Nerf’s Super Soakers that I’ve had the opportunity to try out that doesn’t use a trigger to fire the water, which I found odd at first.  “What’s that you say, just pump it and it fires?  You’re crazy.” I’d say, then I’d think back to when I was a child using my old school water blasters and all the time I spent running away from my friends getting drenched pumping away after using up the charge in my blaster when I could have just been pump firing the whole time.  Then I thought how ingenious it was not having a trigger, which can possibly get in the way during high intensity water battles. (more…)

Spring is almost upon us, and it’s time to remind ourselves of the fun we’ll have once the sun’s warm rays rids us of the snow and we can finally start playing outside.  We’ll kick off the spring warm up by reviewing the Nerf Super Soaker Point Break.

I haven’t followed the complete history of the Super Soaker, I haven’t owened one since Larami held the license and back in the day they were something to look up to.  Let’s just say I have a new found interest in the line now that it belongs to Nerf.  The Point Break is the first offering I have been able to sample since Nerf changed the color scheme of the Super Soaker line from a Dart Tag-esque red and grey/blue and grey team battle inspired design to the new white and blue-grey design.  The new colors give the blaster an almost arctic feel and looks very sharp all around.  The handle is well shaped, and is large enough to for comfortably in an adult hand.  I’m not the biggest fan of the trigger’s shape, but I feel this is a minor complaint considering this is a product made for kids. (more…)

Now that the holiday season is finished it’s time to catch our breath and reflect on the whirlwind year of Nerf awesomeness that has been laid to rest.  The final offering to the N-Strike Arsenal for 2010 was the Barricade REV-10.  Let’s take a closer look in this review.

The Barricade is the 4th N-Strike blaster to utilize a revolving cylinder, and is the largest capacity to date.  What separates the Barricade from the rest of the lot is its battery powered flywheel firing mechanism.  When powered on the Barricade sounds like a small vacuum cleaner, making this blaster anything but stealthy.  Taking that point into consideration I find the Barricade to be of adequate power and range(20-25 ft.), with the 3 AA battery powered flywheel mechanism an interesting and creative method for firing darts, one unseen in previous Nerf blasters.  I was quite impressed with the rate of fire, you can pop out darts as quickly as you can pull the trigger with little to no loss of power.  Extensive testing shows the Barricade works best with sonic darts, but will work with all dart types.  Tagger darts are not recommended due to potential damage to the Velcro strips. (more…)

Specifications:

• N-Strike Alpha Trooper Blaster
• 18 clip system darts
• 18 round barrel clip

I was thinking to myself when I heard news about the Alpha Trooper, “why on Earth do they need an 18 round barrel clip when there is already a 35 round clip?”  I thought 18 was an odd number to go with for a clip as well.  I’m happy to say that the Alpha Trooper answers my question elegantly.  Once I got my hands on one and got a chance to use the 18 round clip I realized that 6 rounds just isn’t enough anymore, and the 35 round barrel clip from the Raider is incredibly bulky on the Alpha Trooper’s compact frame.

The Alpha Trooper is a unique clip system blaster, utilizing some of the best features from the Recon and the Raider.  The pump action is smooth, and it has the Slam Fire feature that I really liked from the Raider.  The jam clearing mechanism is on the top of the blaster similarly to the Recon which makes clearing jams fairly easy.  As far as butt stock attachments go, the Alpha Trooper is compatible with all of them, some fit more tightly than others, but they all work.

I only really have two complaints about the Alpha Trooper, but they are minor at best.  The placement of the shoulder strap ring on the pump action is a little inconvenient, but I can’t think of a better place to put it.  As much as it seems like overkill I would have liked to use barrel extensions on the Alpha Trooper, but not every blaster needs to be fully customizable.

The Alpha Trooper is a stylish blaster with solid range and firing power.  It’s light weight and compact while being easy to carry in adult hands.  All in all the N-Strike Alpha Trooper is a great blaster, I would recommend it to all Nerf fans.  At the very least it’d be something to hold you over until the release of the Stampede.

Final Score:

N-Strike Alpha Trooper – 4 out of 5

Accessories – 5 out of 5

Total Rating: 9 out of 10

The N-Strike Clear Series Blasters are on their way, and thanks to our partners at Nerf we have the opportunity to give you an adultfansofnerf.com exclusive first look at four of these attractive blasters.

We greatly appreciate our partnership with the fine people at Nerf, without their cooperation and generosity much of the awesome stuff we put on AFoN wouldn’t be possible. You can only imagine our surprise when an unexpected package appeared riddled with N-Srtike logos and a big sticker on top exclaiming “Clear the way for 9-1-10!” I gotta give it to our partners at Nerf, they’re creative at everything they do, even packaging. Not only was the shipping box ornately decorated, but the bundle inside was held together by two bandoliers and instead of packaging peanuts the “precious cargo” was secured by Clip System darts(how cool is that)!

I’m going to get some generalities out of the way before I get to the reviews. These blasters look great; the clear plastic used for this series of blasters is very attractive, and doesn’t change the overall weight and feel of the blasters. Being able to see the inner workings of the blasters is a great feature, especially for some of the more complex pieces. Some of the core components of each blaster remain their usual orange plastic, which is ok since these are meant to be functional blasters and not simply display pieces.

N-Strike Nite Finder EX-3 – The Nite Finder is a cool little blaster. It has good power and range in a compact package. The red Light Beam site on the Nite Finder functions well as a tactical light for night play and if you can calibrate it properly it can be fairly accurate a closer range. All these things are true for the Clear Series blaster as well. This doesn’t surprise me at all considering the fact that the Nite Finder has the most simplistic innards of the blasters added to the Clear Series. The Nite Finder comes with three sucker darts, which is just enough to compliment the two storage slots under the Light Beam, while keeping one dart in the chamber.

N-Strike Maverick REV-6 – The Maverick is has become the most recognized Nerf blaster of the N-Strike series. Even people that wouldn’t consider themselves Nerf fans own Mavericks(though they might not know what it’s called other than a Nerf “gun”). This well weighted sturdy six shooter fires with good range and power for its size. This is not the first time we’ve seen a clear Maverick if you were lucky enough to find one of the Gamestop exclusives or from their short stint at Walmart. I will say I’ve had more frequent issues with misfires and power problems with the Clear Series blaster compaired to the regular Maverick, but not all special edition products can be perfect.

N-Strike Recon CS-6 – I’ve always found the Recon interesting. I like the idea of customizing the blaster for different conditions. I credit the Recon for the idea of removable butt stocks, but it may not have started there(I don’t know for sure). The Recon’s inner mechanism has been so well made that it has led to many new and awesome Clip System blasters. The Clear Series Recon is just as impressive. They made everything clear, even the rail attachments! Functionality hasn’t really changed from the regular blaster to the Clear Series, range and power remain the same.

N-Strike Deploy CS-6 – The Clear Series Deploy gave a couple problems, the clip wouldn’t fit into the blaster easily and the cocking mechanism doesn’t always lock after loading. That being said I do like the clear Deploy. As I said in my full review, I have a weakness for things that transform and the Deploy definitely delivers. When everything works, this clear blaster works almost as well as the normal version. Power is decreased a little, and as a result so is range. I can live with this as I’ve always seen the Deploy as a short to mid range blaster. I did learn one thing from the Clear Series Deploy; from seeing how the spring in the butt of the gun which controls the “deploy” feature functions, I have decided that in order to keep the spring from losing it’s.. springiness(?) I’m going to store my blaster in its fully deployed form. If it’ll work the way I think I’m not sure, but it’s a decision based on observation, and I like that.

All in all I’m satisfied with the Clear Series Blasters, they are well made, feel almost exactly like their colored counterparts, and come with all the accessories you’d expect. When they launch in August I’d recommend getting them, if for no other reason than to say to your friends “dude! Check out my clear Nerf stuff!”

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 1 Deploy CS-6 Blaster
  
• 6 Clip System Darts
• 1 Clip System clip
  
• 1 Shoulder Strap

I’m just going to go out there and say it, the Deploy CS-6 is fun. This blaster tickles that little part of the kid inside me that loves all things that transform. The push-button spring loaded expanding feature on the Deploy is exciting and the transition from flashlight mode to tactical blaster is smooth, however I wouldn’t exactly call it silent. My second favorite feature on the Deploy is its compatibility with barrel extensions, gotta love the barrel extensions. The pump action feels natural and works as well as you’d expect for this blaster using similar innards to the Raider, and I like the spare dart storage inside the grip. Range and power is average on the Deploy, but to me that’s to be expected as this blaster is really all about the transformation feature.

All these fun features don’t come without a few shortcomings. The expand-o-blaster feature is awesome, but when the Deploy is expanded the butt stock feels a little weak, as if I were to press the blaster firmly against my shoulder the lock would give way and the blaster would collapse. Also, when in expanded mode the handle seems to be a little close to the butt stock, not leaving much comfort room for adult hands. While the Deploy supports and in most cases comes with a shoulder strap, it only has one spot to clip it. I know, it functions fine with just the one spot, but with all the other larger style blasters having two I feel that the Deploy is missing out on something.

Our final opinion of the N-Strike Longstrike CS-6:

The Deploy is a solid blaster with average performance.  My biggest gripe with it is the weakness in the butt stock, but I wouldn’t call that a deal breaker.  It may be a little niche, but if you’re as much of a kid at heart as I am you’ll like it.

Rating scores

N-Strike Deploy CS-6 Blaster: 3 out of 5

Accessories: 5 out of 5

Overall rating: 8 out of 10

Specifications:

• 1 Fast-Load Sleeve
• 10 Orange Dart Tag Darts
• 10 Green Dart Tag Darts
  

I’ve had the opportunity to play around with the Fast-Load Sleeve and put it through the proverbial ringer. I spent hours jogging around my living room like a spaz watching as every dart I stuck to the Fast-Load Sleeve fell to the floor. “If dart tag is supposed to be a fast paced game” I thought to myself, “shouldn’t a device meant to speed up the re-loading process at least hold on to the ammo long enough for you to use it?” I have to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to this product, there was a strong chance I was going to be disappointed. Though my prediction was correct, and the product performed as I expected, the product isn’t a total waste of money.

The Fast-Load Sleeve looks sharp, comes with plenty of darts and it’s comfortable. Now, I have smaller wrists than some grown-ups so comfort will vary depending on the age and build of the user. If you’re a dart tag player that doesn’t move around a lot, or very quickly, then this product might work better for you. There is also the possibility that the product I received was sub-par, and better iterations of the Fast-Load Sleeve are out there. If there are readers out there that own the Fast-Load Sleeve and have had success with it, please post comments.

Final opinion of the Dart Tag Fast-Load Sleeve:

As it stands right now, I wouldn’t recommend the Fast-Load Sleeve.  Aside from personal comfort, the product failed to serve its primary function: securing spare ammo for use in-game.

Rating Scores

Dart Tag Fast-Load Sleeve:             

Supplimental Darts Tag Darts:       

Overall Rating:                

I finally got my hands on a Longstrike.  Now that I’ve had some time to play around with it, it’s time for a full review.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 1 Longstrike Blaster
  
• 1 Removable barrel attachment
  
• 6 Clip System Darts
• 1 Clip System clip
  
• 1 Flip Up rail attachment
  

The Longstrike may be similar in style to the Longshot, sharing some of it’s features, however the Longstrike is a redesign that deserves merit. I almost want to appoligize for making so many references to the Longshot in this review but let’s face it, one can’t help but focus on the relationship.

The blaster sports storage for 2 spare clips in the butt stock, trumping the Longshot’s storage for 1. The newly redesigned butt stock may not expand or detach, but it gives the blaster a solid rear structure which pairs well with the redesigned handle and trigger guard solidifying a realistic rifle grip. Power and distance are adequate, not differing much from that of the Longshot. Standard clips snap into the Longstrike snugly and drop from the chamber with ease when empty. I know what you’re thinking and yes, the Longstrike looks awesome with the Raider’s barrel clip One of my favorite features of this blaster is the barrel extension, it looks sleek and stylish and fits the look of the Longstrike perfectly. I would have to say that unlike other barrel extensions, this one looks best on the blaster it comes with.

I wanted to take a moment to single out the rail site that comes with the Longstrike. I’m normally not a believer in the functionality of rail sites. I think they’re primarily an aesthetic piece with little to no actual function, which is ok to me. Honestly, we’re talking about toys here. I was a little shocked at how well the Flip Up site works. Not every shot hit the mark, which was expected, but it did a better job than most rail sites I’ve used. Kudos to Hasbro for exceeding my expectations.

Our final opinion of the N-Strike Longstrike CS-6:

It’s a standard sniper with a few very decent features that make enough difference to set the Longstrike on a different level from it’s “brother” the Longshot.  Go out and get one, you’ll be glad you did.

Rating scores

N-Strike Longstrike Blaster: 4.5 out of 5  

Accessories: 4.5 out of 5                    

Overall rating: 9 out of 10                

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 1 Flip Clip connector
  
• 2 Clip System clips
  
• 18 CLIP SYSTEM darts
  

Being a Clip System fan, I felt it was time to try out the Flip Clip pack that I always see taunting me from the store shelf.  I figure it was a better option than becoming a “black tape commando.”  I gotta say, the Flip Clip is everything I expected it to be.

Truth be told, there’s not much to say about the Flip Clip.  It does exactly what you’d expect it to do.  The Flip Clip holds any two standard Clip System clips snugly together, you really have to pull to get them apart.  It’s a simple, functional piece.  The 18 Clip System darts that come with the Flip Clip were just enough to finally fill up my ammo crate! 

My final opinion of the N-Strike Flip Clip:

There’s really not much to dislike.  It’s functional, effective, and looks really cool in use.  If you like Clip System blasters, the Flip Clip is worth every penny.

Rating:

N-Strike Flip Clip: 5 out of 5

Accessories: 5 out of 5

Overall rating: 10 out of 10