The new year has brought with it not just bone-chilling temperatures, but a cool new refresh to the Nerf blaster line. Since the Mediator is being released in three separate pieces, we’ll do the same for our review.

Mediator Core Blaster Review
Mediator Barrel Review

The stock is large and extremely comfortable, especially for adults. It also includes a Double Strike-type blaster that sits within the stock. A comfy stock and hidden secondary? That might be your thing.

A Matter of Size

When looking at the Mediator stock, the first thing you notice is how large it is. Compared to other attachments, it’s humongous in length and girth. As a result, it fits adult-sized arms very well. All that space is used to hold a small, two shot, hammer-primed pistol. As an added bonus, the unpainted side of the stock features a clip for your belt, allowing use as a holster.

If you care about that sort of thing, there are two dart storage holes at the bottom of the stock. They’re useless if you use it as a holster, however, since the darts will simply fall down.

On the Mediator especially, the stock spaces everything out perfectly. With the blaster set that far forward, there isn’t any cramping in your dominant arm, The rubberized coverings at the rear of the stock comfortably cradle the shoulder. And the extra pistol sits within the stock with a decently tight fit. Jerking the stock backwards will dislodge the pistol. However, if you’re doing that, chances are you’re doing something horrible wrong.

There is an extra sling point at the bottom of the stock.

The Included Pistol

The stock/holster serves as home to a Double Strike clone. It works exactly as you’d expect, with the hammer prime and two shots. It’s fairly strong as-is; my blaster was averaging high 60s fps with both shots. You could modify it further, in the same manner as a Double Strike (or Hammershot, since the priming mechanism is the same). Annoyingly, like the rest of the current blaster offerings, it has a paint scheme on only one side. At least it matches the rest of the Mediator group.

Final Thoughts

The stock is large, comfortable, and especially nice for adult frames. It also holds a decent secondary inside it, for those who like having a secondary. For $15, I would consider it worthwhile, even if you don’t want to buy the base Mediator blaster. Don’t want a secondary? I’m sure you could make the stock hold other things, like socks for HvZ or mount mag holders on the side. It has plenty of room, after all.