False Alarm

Hi guys,

I'm sorry about what I posted before about the blog moving, but due to limited success, I'm back. It should be smooth sailing from here on in. I apologize for any of the readers who checked here regularly and doesn't anymore, and I hope that I can regain readership. 

But I have got some great new posts coming up that I think you would like. First of all, Vortex has been released in Australia, and has been for the past five days. Some sightings have been reported even earlier than that. So, I have got my hands on a few, so watch out for those. I am also going to be posting a few cool things as well as focusing a hell of a lot more on news. I have also been really busy with heaps of assignments for school, but as they are almost done for the term, I should be able to get the post count up.

Cheers,

Dylan

My Nerf Sale Haul

Almost a week ago, now I went to the KMart toy sales. I spent $109, and I thought it would be good idea to tell you what I got. Keep in mind that all of this will also be updated on my arsenal page.

-1 Maverick Double Pack
-1 Furyfire 2 pack
-1 Magstrike
-1 Barricade w/ Bonus Yellow Raider Stock

That makes 6 blasters. All in all, I got a good deal and I am very happy with all that I bought.

Cheers,
Dylan

Whiteout Series

 You probably already know, but the Nerf Whiteout Series is out in some countries, even without proper release info. We can only speculate as to when these blasters are coming out, but they look awesome! Actually, they look awesome- but if the blasters they are repaints of are anything to go by (which they obviously are) they will probably be the same blasters we all know and many hate (I personally like them). Pictures courtesy of SGNerf.

Longstrike Box :)

Longstrike- sweet!

Maverick- In box

The Maverick- out of box

Rant: Nerf Series

If you are much of a fan of Nerf, you would probably know that there are far too many series around. Sonic series, Clear Series, Gear Up and now Whiteout- the list goes on and on. There are generally the same blasters in each collection, too. This has left some Nerf fans outraged and feeling ripped off, while others just keep drooling for more. Me? Well, I’m somewhere in the middle.

To start with, there were the Clear series blasters.  These signified a bit of turning point for Nerf. The era of many series had begun. I don’t think anyone could foresee the huge amount of money this would rake in for Nerf. To me, from when my local Target got in Clear Mavericks and Kmart got Clear Raiders, I was in awe. And I only managed to pick the aforementioned two, but I’m still after the Deploy, Recon and Nitefinder. They’re just awesome.

By the time the Sonic Series came around everyone had got over the “oh my god- it’s clear” bit and started to get a bit annoyed that Nerf were still capitalizing on old designs  in clear and tinted shells to  bring in the cash, but some still bought them. But the real annoyance was the fact that the Deploy was released in 3 different color schemes in one year.

Now we are starting to see the Whiteout series appear in certain regions (eg. Singapore). To me, these look AWESOME! Now they are not just a single tone clear or tinted shell, but a well painted sharp and effective color scheme that looks nice. Good on Nerf for this one!

Looking into the future, the Gear Up series is coming out soon, which looks cool and even includes a Vortex ammo disk. I’m not sure I’m in this one though- it’s back to two tone paintjobs and they are the same type of lineup- not much to write home about.

Finally, in my opinion, the Nerf series are a bit of fun, but if I was to get a full collection of each, I just would be out of money for everything else. Choose the ones you like, buy a few or a whole set and enjoy them. Just mix purchases of them with some others and don’t become one sided. That’s my opinion, but how about yours? Post a comment below on your opinion, or anything you like, really.

Dylan

MY Supershot

So, as you may or may not already know, I am currently doing extensive work on my Longshot. I saw Uin13s video here a while back, and I have wanted to do something special with my Longshot since I got it. Although it was cool and all, I knew it had great potential, and I'm now going to finally unlock as much as I can! I will go through the mods below:

Already Done
Firstly, I have already removed the air restricters, added a Nitefinder spring (as recommended by some members of OzNerf- but the spring combo sucks- don't do it!) and have done some work on the air seal. Externally, I have removed the top rail- quite cleanly- I just need to fill the gaps with epoxy putty. I have also integrated the front gun- which turned out not so great- I'll say what I'm going to do with that soon. As well as all of that, I have done some other small mods- like putting some PVC in the stock to stop it collapsing and sanding off the warning labels. All in all, it works ok- but isn't very good.

What to do with the front gun
I have decided that, for the front gun portion of the blaster, which is integrated, as mentioned above, I'm going to be gutting the internals and using epoxy putty to make a nice grip. But that's not all. What's to do with that gaping hole. Why not make good use of it by installing a flash light into it. It would really give you an edge in low-light conditions. This will be switched on via a small slider switch in the back angled portion of the LSFG. I am then going to install a targeting laser in the same general vicinity as the flash-light, but it will then be activated by a push-button SPST tactile switch, right on the grip portion, for ease of operation.

Extra Performance
The internal mods that still need to be done, besides a new breach are few and far between. I want to get rid of the annoying rattling of the dodgy NF+LS spring combo, by replacing it with a single Black Tactical LS V2 spring found here. It looks great, and will get rid of the makeshift spring combos once and for all. I will then order a second o-ring for the plunger head, to increase the seal. I will also lube the seal. If I have enough money, I'll also get the metal internals found here. If only they made a bolt-sled.

17/32 Brass Breach
Although the stock breach provides ok performance, if I'm after the ultimate Longshot, or Supershot,  I need nothing but the best. This brass breach is going to be an modified version of of the 'Angel Breach' found on  Nerf Haven, made by ForsakenAngel24. It's a great design, but with the ease of the 17/32 design, used by Coop, and made by someone who I'm not sure of their name, I think that it will be ideal.

LEDs:
If I really want something special out of this Longshot, I'm going to have to put in some real effort. So, with the stylised hole in the shell, I'm going to add LEDs. This will completely awesomeize? this blaster. It will just top off the shell really nicely. I'm going to use green ultra-brights, hooked up to a 4.5 volt, 3 AA circuit.

Shell Mods:
As stated earlier, I have already integrated the front gun, although I am going to add a few extra things. Firstly, the top rail is already removed, so I'm also going to be removing the logos and safety warnings with some sand paper. Also, all the annoying nubbly bits at the front are going to be sawn off, as I have already don with one side. I will also need to fill all the gaps with epoxy putty.

Paint Job:
Well, this is technically a shell mod, although I believe it is significant enough to be done separately. The colour is going to be a white vinyl dye, with florescent green highlights and all the orange internals left orange. It should look great , and with a bit of luck, I can sand the scratched down, so the vinyl dye doesn't show them up.

All in all, this mod may take up to three months to complete, so stay tuned for the end result. I won't actually post all my new progress, as  believe the finished product will have more effect than a half finished prototype. That's pretty much it for now. Just make sure you follow us on Networked Blogs, and keep Nerfing.

Networked Blogs Account

So, I recently found out (from my mum, nonetheless) that there was a great app on Facebook, allowing for an easier way to follow blogs. In fact, it is so good, that it will tell you via you Facebook updates when I have posted something new. I have a widget for it in the sidebar, so if you want the easiest way to stay in touch with all the new content here on TNB, all you have to do is make sure your signed into Facebook, and then just click the follow button. It's heaps easier than Google friend connect, so I hope you guys like it.

That's about all for now, just remember to follow the blog and keep Nerfing!

Sorry Guys

Hey guys. This post is just to say sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've had a lot of assignments for school, and have bee really busy in general lately. I have done a few new mods, that I will be sure to post. I also have some new ideas to post about, including a new review criteria system, where all my reviews are going to be made a whole lot better.

This post was mainly just to say sorry for not posting enough content recently, as well as letting you know that the blog isn't dead, it just had a bit of down time. For any of my followers, thanks for your support. And if your not already, become a follower!

That's about all for now. New content to come soon. In the mean time, keep Nerfing!

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!

A Shout-out

This a shout-out to a fellow Australian Nerfers blog. It's called Australian Nerf, and although it hasn't got much content on it yet,  it should be great. I'm currently helping with it, and I really want it to be successful for him. So check it out, here. Follow it and feel free to comment.

Thanks for helping him out guys!
Dylan

Nerf Longstrike CS-6 Review

The Nerf Longstrike. What can I say... 1. I looks great 2.Well... That pretty much sums up the Nerf N-Strike Longstrike CS-6. While it has the looks covered it completely lacks that WOW! factor in the performance, and the actually use of it really lacks the realism of the Dragonouv sniper rifle look it really seems to be going for.

Firstly, the blaster itself looks superb. The lines may be sharp and angular, but they are extremely clean and crisp. The way the blaster looks and feels evokes thoughts of a sniper, a lone warrior hiding in the shadows. An assassin, preparing to take the shot of their life. An that's exactly what I do, but it does look quite funny when I'm discovered and when I fire, the darts seems to dribble out. This makes me looks like an utter idiot, and for that I don't use it in public any more. Full stop. And that neatly brings me on to the next topic.

As I said above, the ranges are a little weak, but you can get around that by just carrying it and not bothering to fire. But that sort of ruins the charm. The acual figures of range really put it into perspective: 15-20 feet. I'll just let the figures speak for themselves.

As you probably already know, the Loangstrike is a clip system blaster, which basically mean fast reload and minimal fuss. But that also limits the blaster to using streamline darts only, which ruins acuracy. They don't have enough power to fishtail, but that will annoy you no end with their little hole that makes them arc in any direction. One other awesome thing is that you can also carry up to 2 spare clips in the stock, which make for some extra ammo. Dispite this, there is only one six shot clip included with the blaster.

I honestly don't know how to sum up this blaster. All show, no go? I don't reckon that's it, as this blaser really is a ton of fun. I'd say the motto would be epic looks, epic fun. See- I didn't even metion the range. So that means I can comfortably say that woth this blaster, the range doesn't matter. There, I said it. On that bombshell, it's thime to end yet another review on TNB, so for my fans and followers, later. And for any newbys out there, comment and follow.

Rating:
8.5- Epic fun, Epic looks