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.

Size compared to an Elite Alpha Trooper. It's notably smaller.

You can probably already tell that the Stormtrooper rifle is almost essentially a shrunken down Rampage which isn't a bad thing. You will definitely notice that next to the Rampage and the Alpha Trooper it's significantly smaller than the two of them. This is quite a good thing of you are concerned about the size of your loadout. The build feels solid, the action is smooth, and despite it's size, it's rather comfortable. I don't like it's feel as much as the Rampage but it is better than the Alpha Trooper, especially the pump. The tactical rail takes all regular attachments for those that care and yeah, the scope serves no purpose as usual. Go figure.

The stock may not feel right on other blasters.

The stock is a bit of another story. On the Stormtrooper rifle it feels perfectly fine, however I tossed it on a multitude of other blasters and it's not that great anymore. The issue is that the grip on the Stormtrooper rifle is further forward than on most Elite blasters so while the stock will feel nicely sized on it's main blaster, it's about as useful as a Retaliator stock on any other blaster. It's probably best to leave it where it was.

Internals are similar to a Rampage, but not quite the same.

It's performance however is a bit of a downer, direct plunger and all. I've only been getting most my shots to fall around the 30 to 45 foot mark which isn't terrible but it's not exactly consistent in keeping within these boundaries either, slam fire or not. To make matter weirder, it's internals are very similar to the Rampage although there are some changes made to make it fit in the smaller shell(This also means that Rampage kits will not work in this blaster). So why it performs worse out of the box is a little beyond me. I'd imagine mod potential is roughly the same as the Rampage so an AR removal and a spring swap wouldn't hurt things. I've also heard many complaints about this blaster jamming quite a bit. I've never had it happen but I won't rule it out.

The Stormtrooper rifle is a bit of an odd case. It looks cool and it's shell feels great although the stock isn't much use on any other blaster, but it's mutated Rampage internals just somehow fail to deliver much power. It's not a bad blaster, I can imagine it can handle close quarters pretty well but compared to it's bigger brothers, it's not as good. This blaster is worthy of a 7 out of 10 because it looks cool and feels the business, it just can't hit a thing, just like the bucketheads who use it. If you're a Star Wars fan it's worth checking out but if you're looking for a good blaster, I'd pass this one up.

The Verdict

Class- Pump Action Rifle

Range- Decent, 30 to 45 feet but notably inconsistent both range and accuracy wise.

Size- Notably smaller than a Rampage or Alpha Trooper.

Reliability- Jams are a distinct possibility.

Ammo- 12 Elite Darts

Modding- Similar to that of a Rampage.
Value- At $40, it's more expensive than it's better performing counterparts.

Is It Better Than?

Rampage- No, the Rampage is cheaper, holds more ammo out of the box and performs better. This is in my opinion the best stock pump action blaster on the market at the moment. Some may gripe at the side mounted receiver but it only takes a little getting used to.

Elite Alpha Trooper- No, while they do hold the same amount of ammo out the box, the EAT is a better performing blaster. Some may like it more than the Rampage since it's more compact but the pump grip honestly feels terrible. Also, good luck finding one.