Nerf Zombiestrike Nailbiter Review (8/10)

Hammers are overrated.

Nerf has been consistently cranking out some pretty interesting blasters lately and while I'll give them crap for skimping out on paint, many of the new blasters are still pretty eye catching. On the other hand, spring powered semi-autos are still a rarity in Nerf's lineups to this date. There was the nifty but arguably terrible feeling Snapfire 8 and the surprisingly good but rather impractical Voidcaster. There was a lot left to be desired with these blasters despite their good ideas, but Nerf seems to have hit the nail right on the head with this entry, literally. This is the Nailbiter, probably one of the coolest looking and most fun blasters I've used to date.

Size compared to the Voidcaster.

The Nailbiter really takes the cake for being one of the more clever blaster designs I've seen in a long time. It's very clearly styled after a nailgun and based on how this blaster operates, they couldn't have made a better choice in that regard. In a way it kind of reminds me of the old Triple Torch in that they're both based off tools. The blaster is fairly large for a one hand operable pistol, but it's significantly less awkward to wield than the Voidcaster despite both sporting full hand triggers.

It looks ridiculous but it sure feels pretty good.

The more conventional design also has number of added bonuses. There's a stock mount which really makes a difference in the blaster's handling. It's surprisingly very comfortable with a stock attached and remarkably more stable when firing rapidly. There's also a bottom rail and a barrel extension mount but I don't really see much of a purpose for these.

The clip is non removable although you could probably cut off the tabs keeping it in place.

By far the biggest edge this blaster has over it's predecessors though is it's eight round indexing clip, similar to the Battlescout. Although it's non removable, the ammo capacity is doubled from the Voidcaster and it doesn't suffer from loose fitting darts being ejected by the smart-AR. It'd be nice if Nerf offered some means of detachable clip and sell extras or even better; make it accept standard magazines although I can't really complain too much since this blaster firmly sits in the realm of backups, especially with it's performance.

The Nailbiter gets relatively solid performance; about 35 to 50 feet with better accuracy characteristics than the Voidcaster thanks to it's more conventional design. The trigger pull is long, but not too heavy, allowing you to quickly dump the clip at your target if need be. However, the blaster may skip shots if you fire it too fast. Either way, I found the Voidcaster to be more consistently powerful than the Nailbiter and it could probably be due to the seal to the clip not being that great but honestly, I'd rather have this shell and the four extra shots than settle for the Voidcaster.

There was an awful lot of screws to get this thing open.

Internally the Nailbiter is similar to the Voidcaster with a direct draw from the trigger to the plunger though there is the obvious addition of the indexing mechanism. The plunger tube does seem a little smaller though so that likely explains the slight drop in power from the Voidcaster. Modifications are definitely more possible with this blaster than the latter since it lacks a smart-AR although major spring upgrades could make the Nailbiter pretty uncomfortable to use. This is one I'll just have to experiment on and see what works best but nonetheless, this blaster isn't without potential.

So the Nailbiter is just about everything I would want  from a spring powered semi-auto. It's pretty easy to use, far less awkward to handle than it's predecessors, and best of all it performs pretty solidly. Not to mention the thing is just plain fun to shoot and look at. It's biggest faults stem from the lack of a detachable clip and the slightly inconsistent power but the advantages the Nailbiter has over the likes of the Snapfire 8 and Voidcaster make up for it. For that, the Nailbiter deserves a solid 8 out of 10 for being one of the most creative backups Nerf has ever put out. They totally nailed it.

The Verdict

Class- Semi-Automatic Pistol

Range- A little inconsistent but good, around 35 to 50 feet.

Size- Similar to the Voidcaster but much more conventional.

Reliability- Sometimes skips shots if fired too quickly.

Ammo- 8 Elite Darts.

Modding- Spring upgrades and re-barreling could do the trick here, if you don't mind a little extra effort to shoot it of course.
Value- At $20 it's a little pricey but it's a fun, solid performer.

Is It Better Than?

Snapfire 8- Yes, the Snapfire looks great on paper and in person but when you shoot one you realize these just aren't that great. It uses this goofy extension spring based firing mechanism that can be tuned to certain power settings. This ranges from easy to use but gutless, to more powerful shots but an absolutely painful trigger pull. The compact form factor is nice but in order to shoot it with any semblance of power, you really have to sacrifice comfort.

Blastfire DX500- Yes, the Blastfire is very good, and I love it to death but the Nailbiter is just a far more practical blaster than running around with this air pressure blaster that you have to viciously pump up before every round of five darts. Honestly having eight darts and a no-nonsense firing system almost makes the Blastfire obsolete compared to the Nailbiter unless you're trying to churn more extreme ranges out of it.

Voidcaster- Depends, this blaster is weird as hell to handle but it packs a pretty solid punch. While it has half the ammo capacity than the Nailbiter, those who value having a bit more consistent power might be able to get over the Voidcaster's ridiculous looks. Good luck finding one at it's $20 MSRP in the States though as I'm not really sure who else sells them now that Toys R Us is gone.