Blasterhub Special: Nerf Rival Knockout Review!
September 6, 2019We’re reaching the tail end of the year, with lots of items to still appear on shelves. We have, of course, big ticket items like the Perses that were introduced at Toy Fair. However, there are other items filling in the remaining shelf space. Come October, one of those items will be the Rival Knockout XX-100. Hasbro was kind enough to send me a blaster as part of the public reveal – and after having the blaster for a week, I’m impressed with how much power can come out of a $10 package!
The Nerf Rival Knockout XX-100 will be available Oct. 1 at most major toy retailers.
Nerf Rival Edge Jupiter Review
September 4, 2019Disclaimer: this was a free sample sent by Hasbro for review. Kinda.
To make a long story short, I bought one, wrote a review, forgot about it and sold the blaster. THEN, Hasbro sent me one out of the blue, and I once again had a blaster sitting in review backlog until that one got given away, and I found the draft of this review and revised it. Such is life.
The Rival Edge line (a Walmart exclusive) is focused on marksmanship, as opposed to team gameplay. The Mercury was a Kronos with a bolt handle prime, and came with a plastic reactive target. The Jupiter, meanwhile, takes that concept up a botch, with a long body, ten round internal magazine, and true bolt action; it also includes a somewhat more satisfying target. It’s not the most practical blaster for wars, but for its intended purpose it works perfectly.
Come to Ragnarocktoberfest!
August 30, 2019Please excuse my willing advertisement for an event I’ll be attending! For those who don’t know, Ragnarocktoberfest is one of the largest Nerf events on the west coast, with a day of Human v Human v Zombie gameplay (as well as Nerf personality meet-and-greet), followed by a day of superstock games and a 5v5 King of the Hill Tournament.
It’s in Oakland, CA, on the weekend of October 12-13. If you’d like to see more details (and get $5 tickets for the events), see the website here. Ticket prices will go up as Ragnarocktoberfest gets closer, so if you’re interested, grab them! Not to mention accurate numbers makes planning the game easier on the moderators 🙂
Xshot Chaos Meteor Review
August 29, 2019After many month of waiting, the Xshot Rival competitors from Toy Fair are reaching shelves. First up in the Chaos line is the Meteor. It’s a fun pistol, with a bit of extra ammo capacity and comparable velocities. But there’s one element – ball hop-up – that’s a bit off; it holds back the Meteor from being all it can be.
I found the Meteor at Rural King; it is also currently available at Family Dollar (in blue and white) as well as some regional chains – Amazon availability is expected for October.
Next Wave of Fortnite Blasters
August 27, 2019As is typical, we have the press release sent to Blasterhub about the new Nerf blasters coming out this fall. Most of these are blasters already available; they’re just in new colors and styles. You know, just like how the game they’re based on is full of different collectible skins, etc. Apparently it’s a video game thing. 😉
New Bright R/C Mech Blaster Review
August 26, 2019One surprise this year I didn’t see coming was another Rival-firing drone from New Bright. I reviewed last year’s MECH Robocannon, which was surprisingly fun, even if it wasn’t quite as useful for wars as I would have liked. This year brings a smaller, less expensive version that does away with some of the nicer features of the former. It’s still fun to use (if horribly impractical), and all the kids that have been near me the past two weeks have loved using it. Just know that if you’re looking for a unique spin for your next Nerf war, that this isn’t it.
Purchase here (affiliate link that supports the site)
Buzz Bee Air Warriors Tracker Review
August 23, 2019I don’t often review the same blaster twice, unless there’s a significant update. This is one of those times. Originally, Buzz Bee (at least in the US) sold the Tracker under Walmart’s Adventure Force line, complete with a heat-sensitive scope. I reviewed that blaster and found it to be adequate, although it’s slow as to be expected for a bolt-action blaster. This time, however, the blaster is being sold with a new 30-round drum, and that itself is a significant development. And it’s better than expected – albeit with slight tweaking. Sometimes things from Toy Fair show up in unexpected places!
