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.
Nerf Elite Alpha Trooper
Why People Love It: A cheap and compact slam fire pump action blaster that performs respectably, and unlike the Rampage, it doesn't have that weird side mounted magazine well.
Why It's Overrated: The argument between the Alpha Trooper and Raider(Now Rampage) was a lot more valid back then than it is now. The Raider was a jamming mess and the massive size of the 35 round drum didn't exactly help things. The Alpha Trooper was a lot more smooth operating and compact, making it the preferred blaster over the Raider. But now, both blasters have got the Elite treatment with direct plunger systems. The newly christened Rampage has got a less cumbersome 25 round drum, and the jamming issues have been mostly alleviated. However, the Elite Alpha Trooper, despite it's upgrades doesn't perform up to spec with other Elite plunger powered blasters and with mods, the gun is subject to priming issues and the internals could break. As as it always has been, the ergonomics of the Alpha Trooper are terrible, the tiny pump grip being the worst part, which can be overlooked if this was 2010 and the Raider was a bad alternative despite it's better feel but now it's completely flipped. The EAT is a worse performer and is less comfortable than it's side loading cousin.
Your Other Option: Nerf Rampage Back when this was known as the Raider, it was jamming mess with not exactly stellar performance. Now it's more powerful and more reliable. The Rampage holds up better under the added stress of mods and yeah, many still complain about the mag well being on the side but it really isn't that bad provided you're using mags that won't impede your movement. If you're a lefty, you're kind of in the dark. The pump grip on the Rampage is light years better than the one on the Elite Alpha Trooper and will feel better with long term use. If only Rampages fed from the bottom, the world would be a better place.
ERTL Rapid Fire Shotgun
Why People Love It: Ok, once you work around the fact that the RFSG is an absolute shit stick in stock form, it's a highly powerful rushing weapon capable of over 100 foot ranges and being paired with a revolving mechanism, it can handle groups of targets with ease.
Why It's Overrated: That stellar performance takes a pretty massive amount of work to achieve. If not done properly, the gun will either perform unreliably or the internals will go bust under the pressure from the springs you may add to achieve that said 100 feet. This means you have to reinforce the crap out of anything related to the plunger system and pray it will hold. While modders with ample experience can probably tackle this job without a hiccup, what good will it be when the Doomsayer is one of the most commonly banned modded blasters in the NIC? That sheer firepower became infamous enough that wars began to ban the RFSG just to make things fair. Not to mention this blaster is becoming harder find since it's discontinuation. It's a great blaster by all means provided you can build one without it deciding to conk out, but you may never get the chance to shoot someone with it.
Your Other Option: ERTL Pump Action Shotgun Provided you must have an ERTL blaster in your collection, the revered PAS, although actually harder to find than the RFSG, is much more simple to work with and more reliable. It still packs a massive amount of plunger volume and while it too requires reinforcement under higher spring loads, the job won't give you a headache. If you add a hopper or an equally able clip system of your choice, a well modded PAS can trade punches with a Doomsayer any day.
Nerf Lock 'n Load
Why People Love It: Revered for many years as the greatest pistol Nerf has ever made, this heavy pistol hurled mega darts at an astounding 50 feet. For 1998, that was incredible.
Why It's Overrated: For many of the same reasons that plague the Crossbow, the Lock 'n Load is a pistol still valued by many, when it's cheaper and more modern alternatives can get the same stuff done. Unlike the Crossbow, there isn't much to gripe about here, the shell is very comfortable, and the internals are simple and very upgradeable; the results of modding a Lock 'n Load are usually pleasing. However Lock 'n Loads have a hefty premium for them and fall around the $60 mark pretty often on eBay. This is a bit difficult to get around especially considering it's modern counterpart the Nite Finder, and even the newer and smaller Firestrike can tackle the same job as the Lock 'n Load without killing your wallet. It is more of a show off type blaster now, there's nothing wrong with it but there really isn't any need to get one anymore.
Your Other Option: Nerf Nite Finder The Firestrike shoots better than the Nite Finder out of the box but many complain of it's small grip and plus the Nite Finder shares more similarities with the Lock 'n Load. Both blasters have similarly sized direct plungers and while the Lock 'n Load manages to shoot it's megas farther than the Nite Finder's micros out of the box, the mod potential in a Nite Finder is roughly the same, if not more than the Lock 'n Load. For what ever reason, Nerf is still making this thing with a new orange paint job even though the Firestrike has technically replaced it. Weird, I know, but it's a staple for sidearms and it's worth owning at least one.
Nerf Crossbow
Why People Love It: A simply designed blaster with a massive amount of potential under that ergonomic dream of a shell. A well modded Crossbow can be tuned to most people's needs and can shoot over 100 feet easily.
Why It's Overrated: In the time I've had actually owning one of these, it's not that hard for me to describe how underwhelming it actually is. My first impressions were more out of just the sheer excitement for having such a rare piece in the collection but flash forward to today and I see it as no more than a hunk of 20 year old purple plastic with a big plunger tube. In my opinion, it really isn't as comfortable as it's hyped up to be. It feels too light, the grip doesn't exactly feel right in my hands and the trigger is atrocious. Crossbow's aren't exactly known for their reliability either despite the Nite Finder type simplicity of it's design, I've seen many with busted plunger rods and almost every result out of this is that the gun is gutted and homemade internals are dropped in which kind of makes zero sense considering you can just build a Snap for a faction of the price. Oh yeah, the price. Crossbow's have an insane premium going for them, almost always over the $100 dollar mark even for a broken one. If you end up getting lucky and find one for dirt cheap, you may as well sell it and profit a good amount. I just fail to see what exactly about this blaster made up of slowly deteriorating 90's plastic is actually worth $100 bucks or more.
Your Other Option: Nerf Longshot CS-6 This one is practically a no brainer. It's a widely available, magazine fed rifle complete with a big direct plunger. The Longshot is capable of achieving similar ranges to a Crossbow but has the added benefit being able to shell out punishment much more quickly and to some people the shell of the Longshot might feel more comfortable than the Crossbow. It's inner workings may be more complex on paper but it's probably one of the more simple of the clip system blasters to work on. You can pick up a brand new CS-12 at Target for $35 bucks and have plenty of room left over to let your imagination run wild. Everyone should own one.
+Bow
Why People Love It: Essentially a Crossbow you can build at home and optionally customize it any way you want to. Did I mention it packs a big punch?
Why It's Overrated: The problem with the +Bow has nothing to do with it's performance, it's actually a very solid platform and that's expected. The problem here is that the +Bow is like the Rolex of homemades. You require a scroll saw to construct it(A Dremel can work but the end result will probably look hokey), and if you don't have one already, it's around $100 bucks for one that can get the job done. Parts from McMaster-Carr will run you about $80 plus shipping, and if you're smart with your materials, you can probably make around three of these things with just that order, but that's for those who have the experience. Those who don't want to buy a saw or have to deal with the process of building the gun themselves can commission someone who is able to, yet this can cost $100 too, and that's just for one. And while the gun performs remarkably, it isn't terribly comfortable and customizing it to suit you would require more work on the side and probably more cash if you commission it. If you know what you're doing, you can get more value out of this as opposed to buying an actual Crossbow, but lets face it, most of us don't, and at that rate it's about the same.
Your Other Option: Any Snap Variation The base concept of a Snap is a homemade built almost entirely out of PVC, which is cheaper than Polycarbonate and you can buy practically everything you need at your local hardware store. The three most common versions are the Snap Pistol, the Snap Bow, and the PumpSnap. These are highly versatile and can perform just as well as a +bow for a lot less money, plus you don't need a scroll saw to build one, just a Dremel.
Any Variant of the Nerf Stryfe
Why People Love Them: Semi automatic blasters with solid performance in all aspects and a fair amount versatility. What's not to like?
Why They're Overrated: They are all the same, no really. The Modulus, Demolisher, Cam ECS are all the same exact blaster at heart, which is the Stryfe, a far smaller and much cheaper blaster. Let's not forget the gimmicks, that's the only way they can sell these things. The Demolisher has a grenade launcher, which is push pull and only gets in your way. The Cam ECS 12 has a gun mounted camera that's bad for 2005 and it lacks much versatility. Finally the Modulus's many attachments serve next to no purpose, and those that do like the stock are absolute shit. These are the reasons why Nerf can justify the price increase on these and they all range from $40 to $75 bucks, for the exact same gun. It's even worse on the Modulus with it's $15 "upgrade" kits. The only valid reason you would buy any of these is for shell preference, and that's pushing it.
Your Other Option: Nerf Stryfe The heart of all these blaster's is actually much better valued than any of these, The Stryfe only costs $20, performs similarly to it's larger rifle type offspring and it's one of the most versatile platforms out there, it's stupid easy to mod too. It's no wonder the NIC creams themselves over this blaster. You can't call something overrated if people like it for a good reason. It's reshelled siblings however, may be packed with all sorts of bells and whistles alongside the tried and true Stryfe internals, but you won't truly ever need them.
Nerf Vulcan EBF-25
Why People Love Them: It's a big ass machine gun with an intimidation factor bar none. What more need to be said?
Why They're Overrated: This one is more for the general audience than just modders in general. The Vulcan sucks, like royally sucks. It's range is lackluster especially for it's size and it jams up constantly. Not to mention it's uncomfortable and it's giant size instantly makes it less practical compared to any rifle type blaster on the market. Reloading is pain and the belt gets in the way all the time. In fact, the same goes for any heavy machine gun designed to be fired from the hip. For modders, it can be decent with some work, but the Vulcan's platform isn't particularly reliable. It may be big and intimidating, sure. That's a given, but it sure is disappointing.
Your Other Option: Nerf Stampede I would have put the Rhino Fire for it's superior firepower, but it's still a cumbersome beast and it costs a bloody fortune, so the Stampede is the second runner up thanks to it's somewhat similar firing system. It's more powerful, although not Elite but whatever, more practical being mag fed and more compact, and for the modders out there it can be quite powerful if modded right. The Stampede may be discontinued but you can find one on eBay with mags included for a nice price. Check one out.
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