Packing for Ragnarocktoberfest – The Loadout
October 7, 2019
Nerf Ultra One Review
October 4, 2019AUTHOR’S NOTE: One blaster was sent for free for reviewing (I bought another to purposefully tear apart). Thanks for the free sample, Hasbro!
This was a hard review to write. On the one hand, Ultra One is a brand new blaster that, combined with its new, proprietary ammo, outperforms other Nerf dart blasters. On the other, Ultra One is a brand new blaster that, even with its new, proprietary ammo, just isn’t quite as useful or inexpensive as other dart blasters. It’s a fun blaster to use, even with some issues that can impair normal use if you’re not careful. If you’re looking for casual use, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you anticipate needing extra ammo or need more consistency, however, you may end up looking elsewhere.
In any case, hang on, because this is going to be long.
Nerf Ultra Launch Party Report!
October 3, 2019I’m home after a long drive (and a few detours), and I have plenty of footage and commentary from the Nerf Ultra launch party! I went with a friend, tried all the challenges, socialized…a little. I may be horrible in that particular area. But the rest of it was fun!
I’m saving my full thoughts on the blaster for the review, after I use and abuse a fresh sample; even so, there will be plenty of thoughts below!
Nerf Ultra Release Party!
October 1, 2019
I’m here in New York City, with a friend, at the release party for Nerf Ultra. Aside from being quite the snazzy setup, it’s clear that Hasbro wants to push Ultra as the next big thing (doesnt every company? ).
The blaster itself isn’t bad. It’s fun, like any other blaster. I still have concerns, but I’ll be holding off the full review until (most likely) the beginning of next week after I’ve had time for more extensive use of the blaster.
In the meantime, I’ll have footage up soon, once I get home from New York City, along with possibly some thoughts from a friend!
Site Updates, and Force Friday Star Wars Blasters!
September 30, 2019Due to scheduling issues (i.e. not being in town when things arrive), I’ll have to hold off on a few anticipated reviews. My Dart Zone Pro is sitting at the UPS Store, and will do so for a few days while I’m traveling – it doesn’t make much sense to take it with me, and I’ll be disappointed to wait until the store opens, just to drop it back off at my apartment. Plus other Nerf-related things will arrive anyway,
In addition, there are a few site related things to address:
- If you haven’t already noticed, I’ve been redoing review ratings to do “User Friendly” instead of “Accuracy”. Reason being that, unless something is seriously off with the blaster, the accuracy is mainly going to be a function of the darts being used. A few older reviews will be tweaked to address this, and just cover it as a part of being user friendly. Of course, if it’s something like the upcoming Nerf Ultra that advertises based on the dart type, that’s just unavoidable.
- This month will actually be expecting lots of Nerf related travel. This trip, Ragnarocktoberfest, the list goes on. The number of reviews I still need to do is, thankfully, starting to dwindle. But don’t be surprised if there are lots of smaller updates, and then big ones here and there.
Force Friday Updates
$40
$25Nothing actually new was announced for this fall’s Nerfy Star Wars lineup. We just have a reissue of the Poe Dameron blaster, and a recolored Captain Phasma blaster. Expect the normal, higher prices for being licensed toys.
Zuru Chaos Orbit Review
September 28, 2019Xshot has made a solid effort to enter the ball blaster space with the Chaos line, even if the blasters aren’t quite as useful as their counterparts. Internal magazines with on-the-fly reloading, as well as ease of use and low cost, make blasters like the Orbit solid options for close range blasting. If you’re looking for consistency at range, however, you may need a different blaster – or a little extra effort to modify this one.
Upcoming Game: Mall Mutation Madness Hardcore II
September 26, 2019Due to me simply being busy with work and other activities, I thought I’d spare a post highlighting a game next month. I went to the event last year, and it was a blast!
Mall Mutation Madness Hardcore is an all-night HvZ game played on the first level of Mid Rivers Mall near St Louis, Missouri. Humans (last year, it started with two factions) have their tasks to complete, zombies pursue them. Tagged humans are wounded and unable to defend themselves, needing a medic to heal them before getting tagged again. All killed players drop tokens that can be collected (while in play, so be careful) and turned in for upgrades – new abilities like medics, access to better blasters, or (conversely) more perks to slay the humans with.
It turns into an hours-long battle of attrition, with breaks in between for ammo cleanup and hydration. And it’s a ton of fun – I simply used a Boomco blaster and 40-dart clips to keep zombies at bay and get tokens while the humans around me upgraded as needed. Sadly, I never got around to posting the rest of my footage. I should work on that!
See the Facebook event page, and be sure to grab a ticket at the Eventbrite page – space is limited! Tickets simply help to pay for the venue.
