Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper Deluxe Blaster Review (7/10)

Famous for not being able to hit anything since 1977.

A ton of new Star Wars stuff has been hitting the shelves lately in anticipation of the much anticipated Episode VII The Force Awakens. I managed to get my hands on all of Nerf's Star Wars gear and we'll start off with my favorite of the bunch, the Stormtrooper rifle. It's a pretty cool piece of kit just by it's looks, but the real question is: does it work? Let's find out.

Your Gun is Overrated

This thread on reddit got my attention and it brought up some good points, along with the usual million long winded posts that I didn't even consider taking the time to read(Get to the point people). The main thing I see here is that some blasters actually have better alternatives, yet they still hold a strong following. Anyways, after a bit of thought, these are what I believe are to be some of the most overrated dart guns out there.

A Perfect Guide to Apple's "new" iPhone(And other crap) Reveal

Somewhat typical of the yearly Apple reveal.

Apple unveiled their new iPhone's today! Yeah... don't expect me to give them any congratulations. I had a look through what they were offering up and apart from more stuff on the frankly terrible Apple Watch, none of it was really all that impressive. In fact a lot of it was stuff we already have on Android or even Windows platforms but much of it we never use because there isn't a good reason to, like I almost never use the S-Pen on my Note 4 and they go out of their way to charge $100 for a stylus to go along with the ginormous iPad Pro which seems to be about as useful as a Surface RT, being that it runs iOS and not OS X which you would expect on something marketed as a high end productivity device. Apple TV now gets apps as well as games, and if you remember the Ouya, smartphone gaming on big ass TVs "really" took off. Oh and we can't forget the iPhone, it's barely different. It's a bit more powerful and the camera finally moved out of 8 megapixel range, which it should have a couple years ago but remember, this is Apple, but other than that, your paying around $600 to $700 bucks on something barely different from your "old" 6. Sure it's got some new features but will you ever seriously use them? Honestly? Your 6 and even your 5S is still good to go, yet people still find the need to upgrade. I doubt I'll ever understand why. I could write a whole post on this and I was so tempted to, but I got some Forza Motorsport 6 to attend to. Anyways, here's the Deadspin post for people who want a (hopefully)unbiased, and fairly humorous albeit vulgar blow by blow of what aluminum clad brainwash devices Apple is putting out this year. Good day.

The Longshot is back... again

Did you miss me?

Yep, shes back, and in full form too. No more missing front gun, bipod, or 12 round mags, its the Longshot you've always known and loved complete with Elite garb. Which is also a shame because my complete original blue one probably isn't going to be worth anything significant for a couple more years. This has so far only been found on the UK Toys R Us site and I would not be surprised if it hits stateside, it would sell like hotcakes to the people who know what potential these have. No word on US pricing but for you Brits, it's about £50 pounds so I have a feeling it's not going to be cheap when it hits stateside. I have enough sniper type blasters in the house but I still really want one. Keep your eyes peeled.

Reviews Explained

UPDATED AS OF 2018

For blaster reviews the overall format of the reviews is going to stay the same but the rating system is going to be changed from a 1-5 scale to a 1-10 scale. I'm hoping this will eliminate some confusion with the decimals in the old scaling and broaden the amount of things the scale covers. This is a rough generalization because other factors can cause a rating to change and not all blasters perfectly fit these categories. For example, a Hornet AS-6 has the good performance of a 7 but the god awful reliability and ease of use issues of a 2. An oddity like this averages out to a 5 as a result. The Verdict section offers a generalization of the blaster's specifications.

1. Absolutely the lowest form of garbage anyone can produce. Either does not work at all or performs at extremely poor levels at less than 10 feet. Build quality is terrible, comfort is negligible. (i.e. Atomizer Slingshot, Expand-a-Blast)
2. Slightly above a 1 in terms of performance at 10 to 20 feet but still considered terrible. Build quality and reliability may be poor. Generally not be well suited for most users. (i.e. Venom Shot, Warthog)
3. Weak performance at 10 to 30 feet. Build quality and reliability may be decent but generally poor. May or may not be well suited for most users. (i.e. Deploy CS-6, Sawtooth)
4. Below average performance at 20 to 30 feet. Build quality and reliability varies between decent or poor. May or may not be well suited for most users. (i.e. Mad Hornet, Electric Eel)
5. Average performance of 20 to 40 feet. Build quality and reliability varies between average or poor. Comfort and ease of use also may vary between decent and poor. (i.e. Burstwave, Sharpfire)
6. Average performance of  30 to 40 feet. Build quality and reliability varies between decent or poor. Comfort and ease of use also may vary between good and poor. (i.e. Maverick REV-6, Recon CS-6)
7. Performs at a decent level of 30 to 50 feet, most good older blasters can fall under this category. Build quality is decent and may or may not be reliable. Decently suited for most users. (i.e. Lock n' Load, Blastfire DX-500)
8. Performs at a good level of around 40 to 50 feet. Build quality is good and holds up to use fairly well. Generally well suited for most users. (i.e. Longshot CS-6, Stryfe)
9. Performs at a very good level of around 50 to 60 feet with good accuracy. Build quality is notably good and holds up to to use well. Generally well suited for most users. (i.e. Pyragon, Apollo XV-700)
10. Performs at an excellent level of around 50 to 70+ feet with great accuracy. Build quality is strong and holds up very reliably. Is comfortable and easy to operate for all users. (i.e. Rapidstrike CS-18, Zeus MXV-1200)

Electronics and other miscellaneous reviews won't operate on a 1 to 10 scale and will instead be generalized on a "pros and cons" bullet list since there are too many factors to consider in many of these cases so it's far more easy on myself rather than trying to condense general item reviews on a 1 to 10 scale that I don't feel will work as well. The iPad for example:

• Support for one of the best styluses in the game.
• Cheaper than any iPad in Apple's whole lineup, and even some competitors.
• Signature Apple build quality.
• iOS is as butter smooth and simple to use as it's always been.
• The camera is decent, but falls short in low light.
• Higher spec'd models, including the Pencil can drive the price up.
• Feels like a very, very minor update, especially without the Pencil.
• If you already own an older model and don't plan on using the Pencil, it's not worth it.

Most reviews will receive an Is It Better Than? section that briefly compares the product with up to three similar contenders with a "Yes", "No", or "Depends" statement followed by an explanation.

Nerf Rival Zeus MXV-1200 Review (10/10)

This kind of thunder breaks walls and window panes.

My last post covered my trip to Toys R Us to look for these things and while I found the Apollo, I couldn't find the Zeus but as it turned out, they were tucked away on the bottom shelf behind me where all the Air Zone stuff was. This is the bigger of the two Rival blasters and much like the Apollo, it's performance is pretty outstanding.

Nerf Rival Apollo XV-700 Review (9/10)

Gods are among us... sorta...

My arrival at Toys R Us today was initially disappointing as there was seemingly nothing new on the shelves. I was moments from heading out until I noticed a package full of yellow objects hanging off one of the endcaps and instantly turned back to dig a little deeper. Hidden behind a Rotofury I finally came across the first actual Rival blasters I've seen in person. This is the Apollo, the smaller one of the two and as for a completely new direction for Nerf, I am highly impressed.