Friday, October 19, 2012

Nerf PowerClip Review (8/10)

Shoots so fast it may as well be a shotgun.
Having bought this blaster before I had a thorough knowledge of vintage Nerf, I was quite skeptical about this blaster at first. I loved my Magstrike despite its slightly leaky air system and I really couldn't believe that there was a old retro Magstrike, let alone one that's better than its modern Dart Tag counterpart.

Size compared to a Magstrike.
Enter the PowerClip, which was released on the good ol' new millennium. I noticed two things about my particular blaster, it was clip modded to render the clip removable and the ARs were cut out of the clip, which was fine with me as it helped with ease of use. The design is either love or hate as it's in a much more compact shell but its slightly top heavy, not really a big deal to me. I will note the pump shaft is much more flexible than on modern blasters and it can bend around erratically at times, a bit worrying but nothing problematic. The Magstrike does fare better ergonomically since it's more paintball gun-like and actually has a stock.

So I loaded the thing up with 10 streamlines and pumped it up. It took far less pumps and absolutely no leakage! This was a shocker considering how old this thing was and how well it held air compared to my Magstrike. Hopefully nothing to do with the fact that I found the the thing in a ripped up box at Ross for $8 but whatever. I took aim at my door and pulled the trigger and watched as it dumped it's entire clip in a mere second, pulling ranges of around 50 feet. To this date, no stock blaster has matched the PowerClip in rate of fire which is funny considering it's piston is nearly identical to the Magstrike's. The problem is though on stock PowerClips the clip is not removable, so you have this batshit insane rate of fire with a meager ten rounds. You either need to have this thing modded for removable clip and find more clips if possible or find a new blaster that's more war useful. Either way, you're guaranteed to demolish someone at close to mid range with this blaster.


Overall the PowerClip is an insane blaster. It packs great power and a rate of fire that's still unmatched to date. It's only downfall is it's very sluggish reload speed basically making the clip modification and spare clips mandatory must haves since they dramatically cut down reload time. Without them, it's difficult to use the PowerClip in a war without having to load, pump, and douse you targets in raining foam fury, especially with no cover and/or on the fly. That aside, the PowerClip's downright savage performance makes it worthy of an 8 out of 10. If you find one out in the wild, it's worth it.

The Verdict 
Class: Full Auto Air Powered Assault Rifle
Range: Excellent, around 50 Ft
Size: More compact than a Magstrike but can be top heavy for some.
Reliability: Possible leaks or dead pistons.
Ammo: 10 Micro Darts
Modding: Removable clips are a must have, bladder mods are optional.
Value: At $25, this is was the ultimate rushing weapon and it still holds its own today.

Is It Better Than?

Magstrike- Depends, the PowerClip is more powerful and shoots a bit faster than the Magstrike, however it's newer sibling is more user friendly ergonomically and in terms of reloading since it's clip is not built into the blaster like the PowerClip. Either one properly modded is very nasty indeed but a PowerClip still has that extra punch in bit smaller of a package.


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