August 27, 2013

Mod in Progress!

Just thought I'd post a teaser for you guys. College keeps me busy, but I'm slowly making progress.

August 23, 2013

Air Zone Quickfire Eaglet Impact X - First Look!

I grabbed one of these blasters on the way home from college yesterday, expecting a stylish Buzz Bee Hawk re-shell. When I took everything out of the box, however, it became clear that my assumption was false.

First, the shell has "Prime Time Toys" molded into the shell, so a completely different company is making this blaster for TRU. The shells are a much different design than Buzz Bee's typical shells. And, as you can tell by looking into the magazine well, there isn't any kind of tubing going from the front of the blaster to the air outlet. So it's not using the Buzz Bee setup I expected, either.

The blaster shoots decently, although I have yet to do real range tests. I did, however, open it up. The internals are...workable.

That is, in fact, a reverse plunger similar in fashion to the Nerf Recon and other Nstrike blasters. If anything, this setup at least leaves the entire bottom of the shell open for internal replacements, should I decide to convert to a normal plunger.

While I'm at it, let's share the rest of the new Air Zone crop - which is pretty rotten, to be honest.

All three are existing Lanard designs, and for the average Nerfer are products from which you should steer clear. The Over Under is a slamfire-only blaster, without a trigger and with bad ranges. The ball blaster works, but isn't worth anything other than for messing around. The disc shooter is rapid-fire (possibly good as a gift for younger kids), but is abysmal in performance.

August 22, 2013

New Xploderz Blasters!

Just thought I'd highlight a few of the 3rd generation Xploderz blasters that I've seen. Firstly, ToysRUs has two exclusives - basic blasters with boy and girl themes. They're named the Punisher and Huntress, respectively. They retail for $19.99

Next, we have what appears to be the top blaster of this generation - the Sneak Attack.
For those of you interested, it's the exact same concept as the Nerf Sneak Shot - you use a plastic mirror to aim the blaster around a corner when you have it at a 90 degree angle. There isn't really a way to lock the position, aside from the plastic clip for locking into the normal, straight firing position.

In any case, seeing that this has the highest range claim of any Xploderz product, I bet someone with good modding skills could add a trigger and make this a beast of a blaster. It retails for $34.99

August 20, 2013

Buzz Bee Sidewinder Review and Thoughts

While the main focus of Buzz Bee's current lineup is on the EXTREME air blaster line, there are other blasters popping up. One example is the Sidewinder, which at first glance appears to be a Raider/Rampage clone with a turret instead of a drum clip. However, it works quite differently. Read on for more internal pictures and range testing!

August 19, 2013

Buzz Bee EXTREME Air Max 10 Review

While Hasbro has made great blasters both with plungers and flywheels as of late, the one thing missing is air power. With the exception of the Unity Power System at ToysRUS, there are no Nerf air blasters on shelves, and certainly none like the classics (Air Tech series, Splitfire, Supermaxx, etc) that are still used in the Nerf community.

Buzz Bee, meanwhile, has done the opposite and made the EXTREME air blaster series the flagship of the new fleet. After the respectable Panther and Range Master from last year, the Air Max 1 (Panther reshell), 6, and 10 on store shelves. Are these blasters good enough to replace the blasters of old in our collections? Read on!

August 18, 2013

JT Splatmaster z90 Pistol Review

The z90 is the newest addition to the Splatmaster line of .50 cal paintball markers. This series is marketed as a gateway into the world of paintball, with smaller paintballs and lower (though respectable) performance due to the manual nature of launching the balls. No CO2 here.

While there is already a pistol in the series (the z100, with its removable magazine), JT had a different idea with this blaster - paintballs load from the top, and can be pushed into the ammo slot one at a time.

Being .50 caliber and spring-powered, these markers are a natural choice for conversion into Nerf-type blasters. More pics and thoughts after the jump!

August 17, 2013

Blazin Bow Review, Thoughts, and Modifications!

The other Nerf bow out this fall, along with the Heartbreaker Bow, is the Blazin Bow. Packaged as simply an Nstrike blaster (not Elite), it fires foam arrows instead of darts. The box claims up to 40 feet, which can be done at an angle. But there's potential underneath the shell, if you're willing to overcome a few obstacles.

August 16, 2013

Nerf Rebelle Heartbreaker Bow - Review and Thoughts

A few days ago at my local Walmart, Rebelle blasters began appearing on shelves. Seeing as I didn't feel like reviewing a Hammershot clone or Firestrike reshell, I chose the Heartbreaker Bow. After all, I have quite a few bows myself (Marshmallow bows being my favorite) and wanted to see how this one held up. Sadly...it's a real heart breaker. :-/

Read more on basic mods and performance after the jump.

August 15, 2013

Lanard Swiftstrike Crossbow Review!

I expected to find this unusual crossbow at some point under the "Huntsman" branding, but while wandering the toy section at Walmart, I found it with other "The Corps!" toys. For $10. Why not buy it for science?
See more pics after the jump, folks!

Toys R Us - X-Shot Vigilante repaint and Buzz Bee Hawk update!

I have a large number of posts to make - had less work this week, and found/modded SO MANY THINGS. But I'll start with a little update, as seen on TRU's website.
The Air Zone Quickfire Eaglet Impact X (a mouthful, isn't it?) appears to be a remodeled Buzz Bee Hawk, with a more milisim-style shell. I actually like this better than the Hawk, but I doubt there will be any kind of performance increase.

Meanwhile, the Air Zone Vigilante is also up, but without an image. Based on the price, however, it would be safe to assume it's a repaint of the X-Shot Vigilante, which hasn't really been seen stateside.

August 12, 2013

Lanard Huntsman 50 Review!

While it wasn't supposed to be out this early, Kmart (who already jumped the gun on the Tek Recon release) has placed the Huntsman 50 on shelves, making this the first new Lanard blaster in quite a while (Air Zone versions have appeared at Toys R Us, but those were all repaints of existing blasters). Naturally, seeing how no one else seems to have it, I bought it and took it home for review. Read on!

August 7, 2013

Huntsman 50 Spotted Online at Kmart

I've been keeping an eye out for this Lanard series of blasters - many popped up on Meijer's website, but have since disappeared. Now, however, the blaster line is on Kmart's website, including a complete sniper rifle with 50 ft. ranges.

It appears the only difference between this and the Commando is the barrel extension. In any case, the design is excellent, and we'll see if the internals are worth it at some point this fall :)

August 4, 2013

Weddings and Weapons!

Hey guys! I'm back from a weekend in Michigan at a friend's wedding. During the long drives, however, I stopped to check the local Nerf supplies, and was nicely surprised! Target mistakes for the win!
See more after the jump!