Buzz Bee Toys Air Max Tyrant Review

After waiting for Walmart to finally move things from their distribution center, I finally got my hands on the Buzz Bee Air Max Tyrant. It's a large blaster, meant for firing Buzz Bee's XL Distance darts, a suction cup tipped counterpart to Nerf's Mega darts. With this blaster, Buzz Bee has done what Nerf couldn't with the Centurion - make a reliable clip-fed Mega dart blaster.

Out of the box, we can see that in terms of diameter and length, both Nerf Megas and Buzz Bee XL Distance darts are the same. In fact, they are perfectly interchangeable. As for the clips, see for yourself. Just as the Ultra Tek clip is compatible with Nstrike, the XL Distance dart clip is compatible with Mega Centurion clip systems.

There are plenty of screws to remove, but no solvent-welded plastic pieces to worry about breaking.

The layout is essentially the same as the Ultra Tek Champion, just sized for larger darts. The plunger tube is slightly tapered, going from 1.17" ID to 1.125" ID. The plunger draw is just shy of four inches, though, and the strong spring (3/4" OD, 5/8" ID) gives the Tyrant the power needed to fire large darts.

In addition to operating the bolt, the charging handle moves this plastic ring back and forth over the plunger tube, in what turns out to be part of the Tyrant's trigger safety; you can't pull the trigger the entire way until that ring is all the way forward, pushing a slide on the safety mechanism out of the way.

Here you can see the internal ridges in the plastic mold, showing that cross compatibility was designed into the blaster.

Indeed, the Nerf and Buzz Bee clips have the slots for the clip release in the exact same size.

This black box is the trigger safety mechanism.

While I didn't have my chronograph handy, I did have my camera. Here's the range testing, for those of you into that sort of thing.

Finally, for those of you interested in a basic mod, take a 5/8" long piece of 3/4" CPVC or similarly sized spacer and place it in front of the spring mount. With the extra compression, the XL Distance darts were averaging 92' firing at an angle, while Nerf Megas were averaging a whopping 109'!

The Air Max Tyrant is, in my opinion, a triumph for Buzz Bee Toys. For only $20, you have a sturdy (if lacking in detail) blaster capable of firing Mega-sized darts with decent power. You not only get a 12-dart clip, but also cross-compatibility with existing Mega clips. And the XL Distance darts, while not going as far as Nerf Megas, are far more accurate in flight. BUY ONE.