Tag Archives: rifle

The Blaster In Question #0027: Zeus MXV-1200

Posted by Tim Marron in Nerf Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ZEUS MXV-1200

RIVAL

You know what this page needs?  It needs more balls.  Like, just a little pile over there, like 2 cubic tons.  Ok, maybe not that many, more like just a few ounces.  And obviously, I’m talking about the Nerf Rival High-Impact Rounds.  What else could it be, you weirdo.  Yes, it’s another Rival review, and this time we’re looking at part 2 of the line’s debut release, named for the king of the gods himself, the Zeus MXV-1200.  Let’s check it out.

THE BLASTER ITSELF

Here’s a fun fact, the names of the Rival blasters are actually quite informative.  Let me break it down for you.  So far they all are named for a deity from the ancient Greek pantheon and that’s just to sound cool.  After that, if the first letter is an M, that stands for “motorized.”  If there’s no M, you can assume it’s spring powered.  The next letters are the Roman numerals for the last 2 digits of the blaster’s release year.  XV is 15, hence, the Zeus and Apollo came out in 2015.  Lastly, the number after the hyphen is the blaster’s initial magazine capacity multiplied by 100.  All clear?  Good, let’s move on.  As the name suggests, the Zeus is a semi-automatic flywheel powered blaster with a 12 round capacity using the included magazine.  The flywheel mechanism itself is nothing new, though it has been substantially beefed up to deliver the expected Rival performance.  The shell of the Zeus is completely original and features a unique in-line side loaded orientation for the magazine, using the magazine spring itself to feed rounds into the flywheels rather than some other pusher mechanism.  Exchanging magazines is a little tricky at first because of how unconventional the layout is, but with a little time you get used to it.  Something worth noting is that the Rival 12 round magazines are the only ones that will work with the Zeus.  The Zeus’s handling is pretty good, though I do have some minor gripes.  The blaster feels solid and rather hefty in the hand, but the housing for the motors sticks out kind of abruptly from the left side and can dig into your palm if you’re not holding it just right.  Also, the pistol grip feels a little slim and I might have preferred just a bit more there to hold onto.  There is a lever safety above the trigger that prevents the rev switch from being pressed when it’s engaged, but it’s got a lot of play before it actually clicks into place and feels like it was probably a last minute addition.  The Zeus sports 3 Rival attachment rails (not the standard Nerf rail, these are specific to Rival), one on each side and a longer one along the top of the blaster.  It also has flip-up sights to help with aiming but they sit a little low compared to the back end of the blaster so you have to really mash your face into the cheek rest to get a decent sight picture.  Functionally, the only complaint I have is that I wish inserting a magazine didn’t automatically make it push a round into the blaster.  Again, these are minor issues that I have and don’t affect my overall opinion of the blaster that much.  That’s because actually shooting the Zeus is a joy.  Unlike other flywheel dart blasters, the Zeus revs up with a sound I’ve often described as a bag of angry hornets, and that sound is very much understandable once you pull the trigger a few times.  It launches rounds on more or less a straight line trajectory for a good 50 feet before they exhibit any noticeable drop.  Rounds also hit hard, making indoor shooting kind of a bad idea if you don’t want to risk breaking anything.  The plus side of this is that usually, you don’t even need to shoot anything to freak out your sibling when you bust into their room.  Just rev the darn thing like a mother-something chainsaw (what?) and that’ll get your point across. The Zeus MXV-1200 requires 6 C batteries and comes packaged with 12 High-Impact Rounds and a 12 round magazine.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Zeus isn’t perfect.  Almost no blasters out there are, but it’s easily in the top 10% and very much a force to be reckoned with.  It sounds like thunder when it revs up, buzzy, high pitched thunder.  It hits like lightning.  There might be some hyperbole in there but you get the point.  It seems “Zeus” is an appropriate name for this blaster.  It’s not much of a womanizer though, so I guess that’s probably a point in it’s favor.

The Blaster In Question #0025: AlphaHawk

Posted by Tim Marron in Nerf Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ALPHAHAWK

ACCUSTRIKE

Sometimes bigger isn’t always better, but if you’re going big anyway, make sure you look good doing it.  That pretty much sums up what I must imagine was the design mentality behind this week’s blaster.  I am talking, of course, about the Accustrike AlphaHawk.  We’ve already checked out the target pistol-esque FalconFire, so let’s see what the full sized rifle has going on.

THE BLASTER ITSELF

The AlphaHawk was released in 2017 as the then-flagship blaster for the new Accustrike line.  It uses a 5-round rotating cylinder like the Hammershot or Spectre REV-5.  It uses a bolt handle to prime the plunger as opposed to the more common slide or hammer mechanisms and features the ability to swing the cylinder out to the left side to facilitate loading.  Very little if any part of this blaster is new, mechanically speaking, but the tooling on the outer shell is all original.  This is perhaps the best feature of the blaster.  It’s clear a lot of care went into the design because it just looks fantastic.  Additionally, it feels great too.  The grip is very ergonomic and even has rubberized side panels for extra traction.  The bolt handles are all plastic unlike those found on the Longshot or Tri-Strike and are much lower profile plus have a spring return instead of having to be manually pushed forward again.  The AlphaHawk also has somewhat functional sights along the top with a big ring around the front post.  There aren’t any accessories included with the blaster but it does sport a rail on the top of the body and another just under the muzzle if you feel like adding any.  I personally think it looks rather smart with the scope from the Zombie Strike Clear Shot.  The performance for the AlphaHawk is pretty standard for a mainline Nerf blaster, shooting pretty far and hitting reasonably hard.  The darts are perhaps the biggest improvement, offering significantly more consistent flight paths for every shot.  Using regular Elite darts effectively makes the blaster just like any other 5 shot revolver except in a package the size of a rifle.  This then begs the question, “why would you choose a rifle with only 5 shots when there are pistols with higher capacity and equal or superior performance?”  The answer is simply “style.”  Looking at the pure numerical statistics of the AlphaHawk, it’s not that great of a blaster.  It doesn’t provide any real benefit of use for all that extra plastic, but that’s not the point.  Yes, it’s styled to resemble a sniper or marksman’s rifle, but you’re never going to get that kind of performance from a toy for kids 8+.  In this case it’s all about the feel of the blaster, and the AlphaHawk feels phenomenal.  The size does make it a little unwieldy for the traditional busting-into-your-sibling’s-room kind of attack, but it’s a ton of fun to play indoor sniper and take pot shots at them from down the hallway.  The AlphaHawk comes packaged with 10 Accustrike darts.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

There are a handful of blasters out there that I feel get an undeserved amount of hate from Nerf fans.  Most of the time it’s very straightforward, but I feel like the AlphaHawk is the target of a much more subtle brand of contempt.  I’ve never heard anyone flat-out say they hate the AlphaHawk, but I’ve seen more than a handful of videos of people cutting off the barrel and stock, making it into just a revolver pistol.  If you want a revolver pistol, Nerf has a wide assortment to choose from, but I really don’t understand the point of ruining arguably the best feature of the blaster in order to get there.

The Blaster In Question #0024: Captain Cassian Andor Deluxe Blaster

Posted by Tim Marron in Nerf Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

CAPTAIN CASSIAN ANDOR DELUXE BLASTER

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

Everything looks better in blue.  Ok, maybe not everything, but a lot of things do, and that goes for Nerf blasters.  Today, I’ll be taking a look at yet another Star Wars blaster.  This time it is the Target exclusive Captain Cassian Andor Deluxe Blaster.  Well, sort of exclusive.  I’ll explain later.  Let’s get into the review

THE BLASTER ITSELF

The Captain Cassian Andor Deluxe Quite A Mouthful Blaster was released in 2016 as a tie-in product for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  This specific blaster is the Target exclusive blue recolor of the Jyn Erso Blaster from the same line.  Plus, this one’s got a bunch of accessories that Jin’s blaster doesn’t.  It’s built on the classic magazine-fed flywheel system we’ve seen on the Stryfe and other blasters.  Holding down the rev trigger spins up the flywheels and pulling the main trigger pushes a single dart into the wheels, sending it flying.  The big difference between the CCADB and the Stryfe is the inclusion of lights and sounds which activate on the trigger pull, regardless of the rev trigger being pressed.  I was actually pretty impressed with the lights on this blaster.  Every time the trigger is pulled, a series of green LEDs in the barrel light up in rapid succession giving the illusion of a laser blast traveling down the barrel.  Accompanied by the sound effects, it really does make just pulling the trigger quite satisfying.  It’s also worth noting that holding down the rev trigger turns on the blue LED in the chamber as part of the blaster’s Glowstrike feature.  The included magazine holds 12 darts and, unlike most standard N-Strike Elite magazines, is completely transparent orange on both sides.  The outer shell of the base blaster is completely new work though shared with the Jyn Erso blaster, and looks a good bit like the blaster in the film which, if anyone cares, was made with an AR-15 as the base of the prop.  Like with the Poe Dameron blaster, the use of real-world firearms parts makes holding the blaster fairly comfortable, though there is some noticeable down-scaling from the real thing, making it a little cramped in the grip.  All the included accessories with the CCADB are recolored attachments from various other blasters.  The stock comes from the N-Strike Raider CS-35, the scope comes from the Modulus Long Range Upgrade Kit, the barrel extension/suppressor comes from the N-Strike/Elite Specter REV-5, and the bumps along the sides of the magazine indicate it comes from the Modulus Flip-Clip Upgrade Kit.  In addition to the grip being a hair small, some sections of the blaster feel a little flimsier than I’m used to from Nerf.  It’s not a lot, but the grey panels on the sides of the grip and the battery tray cover do flex a good bit if you have a firm grasp on the blaster.  This CCADB is not a heavy hitter in terms of performance.  The power of the flywheels is rather limited, either by design or because the batteries also have to power the lights, sounds, and Glowstrike feature when firing.  This is an indoor blaster, no question.  It does fire reliably but shots arc more severely than most other blasters and don’t land with as much force, making it ideal for busting into your sibling’s room and emptying the mag without fear of getting in as much trouble.  The CCADB comes packaged with 12 Glowstrike Star Wars darts, a 12 round magazine, a scope, a stock, a barrel extension, and 4 AA batteries already installed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This blaster is largely what convinced me that the addition of lights and sounds to the Star Wars Nerf lineup wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  While the Death Trooper blaster is fine, the effects on this blaster are pretty top notch and, having seen this year’s offerings, set the standard for effects for “deluxe” blasters to follow.