Nerf N-Strike Stampede ECS

I got a Stampede yesterday. And it's awesome! Why? Because it is. And I'll get into specifics later. But in the mean time, think- full auto, 3 darts per second blasting. That's what makes this one of the best blasters ever.

Let's start off with this blasters claim to fame- rate of fire. This is one of the coolest aspects of the blaster. If 3 darts per second sound like a lot, that's probably because it is. When you can unleash a fully automatic foam onslaught, you tend to find yourself doing things you wouldn't normally do- eg. dumping a clip on an unlucky family member and then scrambling for cover as they shout at you and more than likely try to dissect you with whatever they can find. And I don't do that with my Recon.

Despite what can only be described as 'impressive' rate of fire, another stand out part of this blaster is it's range. This now means you can unleash your fully automatic foam onslaught at a distance out of range of most projectiles that will be inevitably lobbed at you by your victim. But seriously, 30-40 feet full auto is perfect. As a rushing weapon, I literally couldn't think of anything better. Sure the Raider has more ammo capacity, but it is easy enough to transplant your Raider drum straight into the Stampede.

Speaking of ammo, the Stampede comes with 3 18 round clips and one 6 round clip. I have no idea why they bothered with the 6 rounder, but hey, I'm not complaining. The 18 round clips themselves are great too. 18 rounds is 3 times the ammo capacity of a standard 6 rounder, and it is evident in the firing operation of any blaster. You can also use one of the great 35 or 18 round drums of the Raider and Alpha Trooper, respectively. The rate of fire of the Stampede really mandates a higher ammo capacity, and Nerf really delivered on this one.

Also included in the box are 60 darts, which are a good top up for your ammo box. But another interesting inclusion was the Bi-Pod and Shield, both of which will clip on to any of the 5 tactical rails of the Stampede. Let's start with the fore-grip/bi-pod. Let me put it this way- great fore-grip, useless bi-pod. While the idea of having a cool bi-pod that you can use in wars to pop up an unleash your previously mentioned fully  automatic foam onslaught is cool in theory, in practice, it is absolutely useless. The trouble with it is, that when you pop out your pop out bi-pod, it is too short to actually support it while using the 18 round clip. Which is stupid. But it does make a nifty fore-grip. The shield is also much of the same. Ambitious, but rubbish, as the guys from Top Gear would say. It looks great on the box, but in use it is goofy and awkward. In my opinion, it needs to be sold to a n00b.

Now, sadly, there are some bad sides. I cannot vouch for the crowd that say the Stampede has good battery life, but I must say that while the batteries where exhausted in my first week of testing, I have realised that in that time, I actually wrote down how many clips I fire, so I could quote it in my review. The exact number of darts I have fired is 1560. So, the battery life wasn't bad, per-say, just the blaster addictive.

Another thing is that although I have said above that the rate of fire is perfect, for just the playful type, this blaster's rate of fire might be a bit of a downer. When I first fired it, I though: "excellent, a cool new rushing weapon", but some kids may go: "Oh, no the fun is over already?". Just my opinion, but anyway. But on a final note, I have experienced what can only be described as big-ass chunks of Nerf foam falling out the barrel. This is just an observation, and maybe something to watch out for.

In conclusion, I must say that pumping as many rounds as I have through this blaster, I feel as thought this review has been as accurate and honest as possible. I hope I have influenced your decision to buy this blaster. It's definitely fun, and a worthwhile bit of kit. This rounds out another review here on TNB I hope you enjoyed it.

Dylan

Rating
9.8/10
AWESOME EVERYTHING

The blaster itself- without any accessories 

Size Comparison

Fully decked out- too bad it doesn't stand up without the container of PVC glue!

Raider drum- yes please!