Nerf Weapons of Mass Destruction

[LTBasker]

Amazon has the Raider with bonus drum for $31.40 with free shipping right now. ToysRus.com has the Barrel Break on sale for $15 with a free bag of darts.

Ooh, tantalizing...

Edit: Oh, I think that Raider deal only comes with 35 extra darts. Even though it has a spare drum mag in the promo picture, the packaged pic doesn't have it. The only ones on Amazon that show the extra drum mag in the packaging are around $100. Wish HTS would get in more of them.

- The Stampede stops firing when a clip is empty, but not when the drum is empty.

Have you tried a normal 6 shot magazine? There might be a part on the long magazines that comes into play once the last dart is fired, kinda like real magazines have the bit that interacts with slide lock/release levers.

- The Stampede's range and accuracy are pretty mediocre.

Spray & pray, buddy.

[JediTricks]

Ooh, tantalizing...

Edit: Oh, I think that Raider deal only comes with 35 extra darts. Even though it has a spare drum mag in the promo picture, the packaged pic doesn't have it. The only ones on Amazon that show the extra drum mag in the packaging are around $100. Wish HTS would get in more of them.

You are correct, they show a second drum in the loose pic. I will write to Amazon, that's not right what they have there. I suggest all amazon customers do the same, there's a link to report problems with images right on the page, or click here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/gfix/image...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Have you tried a normal 6 shot magazine? There might be a part on the long magazines that comes into play once the last dart is fired, kinda like real magazines have the bit that interacts with slide lock/release levers.

Yes I have. The Stampede comes with a 6-shot mag, it stopped firing halfway through the shot after the last dart, which causes the access door to dislodge (thus shutting off the green "ready to go" panel). My guess is the plate which pushes the darts up is what's different, since that's the big difference in design between the drum and clip mags. It takes 3 to 5 dry shots with the drum for the Stampede to realize it's out.

Spray & pray, buddy.

It's a shock & awe weapon, which wears off quickly when you A) run out of darts fairly soon; and B) collect said darts from all over the 15 feet range ahead of you as your enemy is still shooting you from 30 feet away.

[LTBasker]

Sorry, I should have said: charge @ prey & spray & pray!

[Ando]

[FONT=Courier New]For the price I paid, I like the Longstrike. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]When you add the bipod from the Stampede to the Longstrike along with the scope from the TRU exclusive blaster set (the blaster's lame but the scope and the red light with rail attachment is cool), it looks like a proper sniper rifle.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]Distance is average (eventually I am going to try modding the range with the instructions I keep finding online). Accuracy depends on the condition of the dart (which I am finding is the case the more I play with these).[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]Bummer about the fake bonus drum Raider set on Amazon.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]I hope Hasbro/Nerf decides to release the 35 round drum magazine in some sort of cool accessory pack someday. Even the 18 round drum instead. It'd be nice to pick up some extras since it truly is a boring chore to have to pick up all your darts when you're out and people are STILL shooting at you.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]The 2 Nerf fights I've had since getting the Stampedes have been around an hour to an hour and a half, mostly because 75% of the time is spent picking up darts and reloading.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]But they are still a blast and my little 5 year old nephew is coming over Friday to spend the night, so I am going to venture a guess that we will be building couch forts and shooting Nerf darts at each other![/FONT]

[JediTricks]

Have you had much trouble with explaining how to load and **** and unjam these to your friends and loved ones? I am concerned about that aspect.

[Ando]

Have you had much trouble with explaining how to load and **** and unjam these to your friends and loved ones? I am concerned about that aspect.

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[FONT=Courier New]My mother in law had a little trouble with the Raider when she first picked it up, but she soon got the hang of it.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]Hey, quick question... Do you (JT) know if Hasbro does Q+A's with the Nerf team?[/FONT]

[JediTricks]

[FONT=Courier New]My mother in law had a little trouble with the Raider when she first picked it up, but she soon got the hang of it.[/FONT]

Ok, good to know, thanks.

Hey, quick question... Do you (JT) know if Hasbro does Q+A's with the Nerf team?

They don't. Perhaps I will ask Hasbro about doing one though, I guess with ActionFigs.com since there's no reason to do one with a Star Wars site. I'll have to discuss it with Steve first though.


Anyway, I picked up the Alpha Trooper last night at Target. It's a bit small out of the box, and the mini-drum mag is "cute" at first blush, if it were $15 it'd be perfect but at $20 it at first looks a bit light (though its value isn't found in its size, more on that later). My hands are a medium male size according to glove manufacturing, the Alpha grip feels a little small but not obnoxiously so, the forward slide though feels pretty darn small, luckily that lip it has makes it more grippable. That said, as a righty, I find my left hand eventually falls into a position that hits the drum magazine against my forearm, and in rapid fire causes a little skin irritation.

The mini-drum mag works a bit differently from the original drum on the inside, but externally it operates just as well - actually, a little better, it's more responsive on the spring, since I think this spring is called from the top rather than pushed from the bottom. The drum itself holds 18 darts officially, but has room for an extra 1.5 , I plan on putting an extra dart in there which will still leave that 0.5 dart space at the end like I do with the big drum (the big drum mag has space for 2.5 extras). The blaster itself holds an extra dart in the grip, and unlike the Recon's grip which does that, this one is designed for the shorter darts so there's no getting them trapped inside. I generally leave the clips in the blasters which requires firing the first shot, so I leave that fired dart in the grip to stay with the clip.

The darts I got with this are sloppier than the recent Stampede ones, a few with glue issues and a few that are angled funny at the tip. The letter on the heads are "T" if anybody cares about which tooling these were molded in (I think they're blow-molded). They're still the shorter darts, I guess the longer darts are out now. I am thinking about carving down these clip darts to have fins on the back instead of a tube, but it'll need a good portion of the tube remaining for integrity, so the fins may not pan out at all.

The Alpha is a big surprise in person. Despite being a bit petite, it's a damn good blaster. Single shot is fairly accurate (gonna have to add the ladder sight to this one though, its sights are the tac rail and a VERY small nub at the front) and has quite nice power behind it. It's got a muffled sound to it, surprisingly quiet and almost stealthy in both cocking and firing. The amount of muffling it has on the shot suggests that the retarding in the plunger system is extreme, and customizing that retarding off of it will create an exceptionally effective blaster, limited only by the dart itself. The slide is generally fine, I had a couple issues where it just didn't want to finish up its travel in single shot, but overall it behaved.

Slam fire is where this thing shines, if the Raider is as good as this, then I definitely have been missing out with my defective Raider! Slam fire on the Alpha is perfect so far, no misfires, no jams, and it takes whatever speed you can give it. Its slam-fire range and firing speed are superior to the 150% more expensive Stampede. The slide seems awkward, but being all around the barrel, it actually is smoother and more controlled than expected.

In terms of styling, it's not so bad, the "vents" above the permanent barrel definitely add some charm to this sucker, and it has decent sculpted details. Paint is standard, I kinda want to see them mix it up a little but this is ok on this unit. There's some silver and they put black lettering on the title which looks good. There is 1 tac rail behind the access door above the grip, it works fine, and it's the only place it could use one, so it's this or nothing. The ladder sight works ok there, it's pretty far back but better than nothing. I think maybe the red-dot would have worked better here, but I don't have it. The Stampede's shield fits here, but goes EXACTLY over the trigger so your fingers are going to bump into the inside edge of the shield often (there's about 1 cm of clearance around my hand with it there). The rear of the gun has the N-Strike stock attachment area, and as described, it doesn't work so well with the Recon stock - the Alpha's square box is more tapered than the Recon can handle (it's tapered, just not as much) - but the Recon's stock is too skeletal for this gun anyway I think, it has more lateral movement from the design. Luckily, the Raider's stock works fine with the Alpha, and it sorta needs it really, the Alpha's small size coupled with slam-fire calls for shoulder bracing. The front of the gun is fairly plain, and the barrel tip looks like it was designed for the N-Strike modular barrel extension system (hence the flat, detail-free face around the barrel) but was scuttled at the last moment.

Overall, the Alpha Trooper is better than expected. Although somewhat simple and small, with less modularity than I've come to enjoy from N-Strike blasters, it handles well and shoots nicely. The small drum is just what the doctor ordered for quick slam-fire fun, and it handles that slam-fire action with ease. Hasbro should probably release this to mass retail, it'd be as much a hit as the Maverick has been despite being a higher pricepoint and coming from different design philosophies.

[Ando]

[FONT=Courier New]Sounds like you like it! [/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]I was definitely surprised by home much I like the Alpha Trooper. So much so that besides not having a shoulder stock, my only other complaint is that I don't need to buy another one.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]We have *however* been buying these up as gifts for people and I have given them to 6 people (including 2 that will be Christmas presents for my nephew and a family friend).[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]We will be picking up another one in the next week or two for another birthday (the wife of a friend who got one from us already).[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]Part of me wants to load up on these just to have them for future gifts because it really is a great starter blaster that has it all (or close to it); High capacity magazine + slam fire mode.[/FONT]

[JediTricks]

[FONT=Courier New]Sounds like you like it! [/FONT]

Yes, definitely a good surprise. I haven't tried it with the big drum mag, but I am curious how that'll be. I suspect that will have to be fired left-handed though.

Oh, and it's inspired me to ask Hasbro to replace my Raider, I just emailed them a few minutes ago.

I was definitely surprised by home much I like the Alpha Trooper. So much so that besides not having a shoulder stock, my only other complaint is that I don't need to buy another one.

[FONT=Courier New]We have *however* been buying these up as gifts for people and I have given them to 6 people (including 2 that will be Christmas presents for my nephew and a family friend).[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]We will be picking up another one in the next week or two for another birthday (the wife of a friend who got one from us already).[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]Part of me wants to load up on these just to have them for future gifts because it really is a great starter blaster that has it all (or close to it); High capacity magazine + slam fire mode.[/FONT]

Yeah, totally a good thought. I suspect if my sister or niece digs it enough, I'll give them one, but I don't think my mom or grandparents will be into it, and I don't know anybody else who might be. I do think Hasbro could offer it with a stock and a tac-rail sight or red-dot and sell it mass-market at $25 and it'd own the market.

So funny, there were 3 exclusive blasters this season, and 2 of them are various levels of meh while the other worked out great.

In a small way it bums me out though, because the Alpha really does spell the end of single-shot designs like the Recon.

[Ando]

I do think Hasbro could offer it with a stock and a tac-rail sight or red-dot and sell it mass-market at $25 and it'd own the market.

So funny, there were 3 exclusive blasters this season, and 2 of them are various levels of meh while the other worked out great.

In a small way it bums me out though, because the Alpha really does spell the end of single-shot designs like the Recon.

[FONT=Courier New]I knew in July when I saw the 3 exclusive blasters that the only one I'd bother with would be the AT at Target.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]I totally agree. I would rebuy if they repacked the Alpha Trooper with a stock and some other accessories.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]I know you and I differ on the Recon. It looks cool, and the modularity is cool, but the Alpha Trooper in terms of capacity and rate of fire is everything I would want in the Recon.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Courier New]It would be nice to see more blasters in the future the high points from both types of blasters, modularity+high capacity/high rate of fire.[/FONT]