Nerf Elite 2.0 Flipshots Flip 32 Review

Nerf Gimmicks. They’re usually fun, even if they’re not always useful. However, gimmicks don’t always scale well, as shown with the operating difficulties of the Flip 16. Does the Flip 32 do any better? Yes and no. The flipping does actually work (with a gentle nudge being all that’s needed if it happens to misalign). All the actions are simply fun, from flipping to lever priming to firing two darts at once. There’s also plenty of potential for reloading on the fly in various gametypes. Nevertheless, it’s a somewhat heavy and underperforming blaster. Should you get one? It really depends on what you’re looking to find – and if you’re willing to spend $60 for it!

Elite 2.0(.1?)

Last year’s introduction of Elite 2.0 was…less than it could have been. Hasbro took the things learned from the Alpha Strike line (how to make blasters cheaply) and tried to apply that to the main blaster line. Modders hated the difficulties in opening blasters. Lots of other people hated questionable decisions, ranging from painful magazine releases to the Warden.

With the Flipshots line, in addition to restoring somewhat normal blaster construction, Hasbro added a fun flipping mechanism. In the case of the Flip 32, pressing the thumb lever and moving the pump grip flips those massive barrel assemblies. The blaster has locks built in that prevent firing if they aren’t line up; luckily, unless you’re absolutely slamming the mechanism, it consistently works. Having all that plastic out front makes the blaster a bit heavy – that might be a concern for younger kids.

The blaster still has plenty of the “layered” construction from before (overlapping plastic sections for color), but it also has fun patterns on the outside. As opposed to the faux camo pattern from the last few Elite blasters, this has various circles and arrows. Matching the theme, of course. Combining the Elite 2.0 industrial look with just a bit of bright color, paint, and shell deco was the right choice. It looks good!

There are still some odd choices…like sights on the individual barrel pods. After all, who is actually going to aim that way?

Blaster operation is fairly easy. Barrel flipping aside, you just need to operate the lever-action mechanism to prime the blaster. (It even has metal inside the lever, an improvement over the Slingfire and Scravenger!) Pulling the trigger then fires one dart from each pod. Pull back slowly, and you fire one at a time; it’s a dual stage trigger. After you finally run out of your first 16 darts, you can flip the barrel pods over and fire 16 more!

Accuracy has something to be desired, given that you’re using Elite darts. That said, firing multiple darts at once does somewhat negate that, especially if you’re using the blaster as a shotgun.

Performance

The Flip 32, sadly, is a bit disappointing when firing darts. The first barrels get around 60fps (sometimes a little higher), but that drops as you work through the EIGHT barrels on each side. That’s a lot of dead space that build up over time, leading to the weaker shots by the end. In a war, unless you somehow have lots of cover to work with, that’s a very limited area you can target.

Mentioning use at a war…

Naturally, when there are 200fps-capable blasters on the field, the Flip 32 appears very underwhelming. But if you want to see it in action, there it is! Even with the disadvantage this round, it was entertaining to use.

Internals

Given that someone I know has already done so, I’ll just link to the relevant post!

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Yeah, that’s a lot of plastic inside and out. It’s little wonder why they’re charging so much. I don’t feel like touching the inside of this!

Final Thoughts

The Elite 2.0 Flipshots line is an interesting concept. The Flip 32, however, is a strange beast all by itself. The gimmick works, and the lever action is fun to operate. Reloading during stock or HvZ rounds is a breeze. But it’s bulky, shoots slower than other blasters on shelves, and is $63! Are there people that will love this? Sure. But given the blaster’s price, I can’t fault people for saying no.

We’ll just have to see if kids think this is cool enough to have on their Christmas lists!