Product:

Nerf Fortnite RL-Rippley

Manufacturer:

Hasbro

Avg. Price:

$30 Best Buy

Range:

65' average angled range

Rate of Fire:

One missile per five seconds

Summary:

Useless in a war? Perhaps. Fun? Definitely!

Nerf Fortnite RL-Rippley Review

Author’s note: while I bought the normal RL, the Rippley version was sent to me free for review. Thanks, Hasbro! #freestuff

Foam missile launchers are hard to review; such opinions are far more subjective than those of other blasters. You’re never going to have the rate of fire and range of a regular blaster. As such, it’s just not that useful. However, in the grand tradition of foam play, they hold a special place – firing giant ammo is just plain fun. And when one of them is in a pretty, special edition color scheme, it’s hard to not pick one up.

Cartoon Blue

The RL-Rippley, like the previous versions, comes in two pieces for shipping; the stock snaps into place upon insertion. There is no trigger to speak of on the blaster. Instead, firing is done by pulling back on the blaster. Yep, it’s a manually pumped plunger! As such, accuracy will suffer without lots of practice.

The big appeal, of course, is in the exclusive color scheme – light blue paint sprayed over a translucent blue plastic shell. It’s absolutely beautiful, and (being a limited item) also won’t be around in stores for very long. The missiles, however, are the same as with the regular RL. Not that that’s a deal breaker.

The handles are undersized – one of the unfortunate aspects of cartoon proportions. Meanwhile, the flip-up sights are oversized and hard to use. So even if you try to use this blaster “seriously”, it’s not the best platform. Even so, firing giant ammo is its own reward, and even more so when the shot connects.

Performance

The RL is slow in rate of fire, for obvious reasons. At best, I could get one shot off every five seconds. The ranges are nothing to sneeze at, but also hard to accurately quantify, due to the nature of the platform. Even so, I averaged 65′ in range, albeit with little accuracy at range. After the initial period of flight, the missiles just have a tendency to go wherever they want.

Can You Mod?

Being a manually pumped blaster, there’s not much to be done to improve it. The plunger seal, however, is somewhat loose; the blaster relies on large amounts of air, as opposed to a buildup of pressure. Since the plunger tube is roughly 1.48″ ID, you can get away with using a 1.5″ o-ring, as long as it’s thin and lubed up. In doing so, however, you’ll have such a good seal that you have to expand the blaster BEFORE loading the missile. Which, in the heat of battle, is an easy place to trip up. Adding a bit more range may not be worth it.

Final Thoughts

The Fortnite RL, in any form, is a silly but fun blaster to use. It’s not practical, but it’s fun. Opinions will vary on how much you value practicality. But if you’re going to grab one, get one of these at Best Buy in May, while they last!

Product Rating

Range

7/5

Rate of Fire

5/5

Build Quality

10/5

User Friendly

7/5

Price / Value

7/5

Total

7.2/10