Nerf Doomlands 2169 Vagabond Review (8/10)

What a lovely day.

This is Doomlands 2169's other debut blaster, the Vagabond. It's a simple looking long barreled pump action revolver with some pretty killer looks but what lurks on the other side of that half clear shell is a little disappointing. Lets take a closer look.

Size compared to a Strongarm.

This is another one of the many new pump action blasters that Nerf has been rolling out lately. Like the Lawbring it has this cyber western, Mad Max type look to it, and it looks the business. It's around the size and feel of a Roughcut but this feels chunkier and better for people with larger hands. While it's stock-less design means it's not too well suited for firing from the shoulder, it's still very comfortable.

Internals can be clearly seen in the right half of the shell.

I found the prime to be a bit short, at least compared to the heavier spring pump actions I'm normally used to using such as the PAS but it's smooth nonetheless. Slam fire is... well... difficult, it works on this blaster but not very good. Compared to the Stongarm or Rampage where you can shell out punishment extremely fast and smoothly, the Vagabond's pump likes to jam up almost every time you slam fire a shot so it's difficult to fire rapidly. Then again slam fire is virtually useless when you only got six shots in the cylinder. And like the Lawbringer, half of the shell is clear but again like the Lawbringer, it only shows that the blaster is something you might already own.

Internals are the same as a Guardian Crossbow.

As it turns out the Vagabond is nothing more than a Guardian Crossbow which is again in turn nothing more than a pump action Strongarm. Having never used a Guardian Crossbow I don't know if the slam fire jamming is an issue there too but my guess is that the added weight of the Vagabond's extended cylinder is messing with the rotation mechanism. But considering it comes from a generally well performing lineage, the Vagabond does not disappoint and hits around the 50 to 60 foot mark. It's a great blaster, but considering the Strongarm and it's more sadistic offspring, the Flipfury exist, there's not much point in owning one.

The Vagabond is a solid blaster all around, it looks cool and performs quite well. While it's only issue is that slam fire is absolutely ineffective, it can be overlooked due to it's low ammo capacity. However, its nothing more than another blaster reshell and while I could go on a full page rant about this, Nerf does it so often now that it's no longer surprising, only disappointing at the lack of innovation put into these things now. The Vagabond is worthy of a 8 out of 10 because it's a solid blaster with some minor quirks, it's just not anything truly new. We'll have to see what the rest of this Doomlands 2169 line has in store for us in the future.

The Verdict

Class- Pump Action Revolving Rifle

Range- Good, around 50 to 60 feet.

Size- About the same as a Roughcut 2x4.

Reliability- Slam fire jams up constantly.

Ammo- 6 Elite Darts

Modding- Same potential as a Guardian Crossbow or a Strongarm.
Value- At $25, it's a fun blaster but a Strongarm is still cheaper.

Is It Better Than?

Guardian Crossbow- Depends, both blasters are identical internally so performance is very similar. It depends entirely on shell preference and feel. If you go with the Guardian, a can of spray paint is optional.

Lawbringer- Depends, again both blasters perform similarly and it's a matter of shell preference but also what type of priming style and how much ammo you want. I had some shot consistency issues with the Lawbringer but both blaster are good fun.