Slydev now shipping to the U.S

Last post, I mentioned Slydev making small parts for Nerf, including the Jolt rail connector that I featured, but unfortunately for my American readers, shipping to the U.S was not available at that time.

Well, now Slydev is. I have also noted that soon to come are Quadshot barrel spacers and after that, Nerf rail iron sights and something for the iphone/ipod (possibly a blaster mount???).

Most parts are avilable in multiple colours so those of you that live in the U.S will probably want to head over to the Slydev Store and check out the parts available.

Slydev: Rail adapter for Nerf Jolt

Slydev is run by Oznerf forum member Joey and has recently started developing small parts for foam dart blasters, from rail accessories to additional glue-on rails. The other day, I saw that he had posted about some Jolt related products, and a Jolt to Nerf rail adapter exactly what I needed so I ordered one through the online store.

It cost me a tiny $3 including postage and I must say, it is pretty sturdy.  The 2 part mechanism attaches to any Nerf rail via a small screw which pulls the 2 parts together to clamp on the the rail and your Jolt just clips in to the holder. I used mine to add my Jolt as an under barrel foregrip blaster for my Gear Up Recon. Unfortunately, shipping is only available Australia-wide at the moment, however international shipping may be available in the future. If you have a buddy in Australia but you live overseas, it's probably worth asking them if they can have it sent to them and then ship it to you.

I'm hoping to see a ton more parts from the Slydev Store, as I feel like the quality will improve even further as time goes on. So if you're Australian, head to Slydev store and have a look.

Review: Nerf Jolt

It's been quite a while since I've done a review so I thought I might take another crack at it, this time with the Nerf Jolt. This thing is packs a pretty decent punch in a tiny package and by far outclasses Nerf's previous mini blaster, the Secret Strike.

Check out that stylish font...

In the package which you can pick up for a tiny AU$4, you get the bright orange blaster and two whistler darts. It is a simplistic design resembling something like the repair tool from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or the noisy cricket Will Smith brandished in the movie Men In Black. Thankfully, Nerf seems to have ditched the tacky yellow colour scheme and gone with a flashy orange, grey and black colours for the Jolt. The quality of the build is also fantastic, especially when these are retailing for pocket change. Unfortunately, but not unlike other mini blasters, it features no attachment rails, not dart storage and no loops for straps or hooks. So far, it's a very nice looking mini blaster, that is built really well, but very minimilistic.

 Interestingly, this is not a mini air blaster, but rather a direct plunger springer. The plunger is actually inside the handle with a pull down priming rod at the base. The trigger and trigger catch are the same piece and act on the plunger directly to hold it in the primed position and the outlet of the plunger system feeds directly to the air restrictor and barrel with very little dead space. Powering the system is a relatively strong spring, so I was expecting some decent ranges from this blaster which is so tiny. It's only a little larger than the Secret Strike, but still fits in my hands pretty well.

How does it perform? Extremely well! Ranges of 40+ feet were an unexpected surprise, and it has a nice little kick to it as well. Even though it has only a small direct plunger, it's still much more efficient than any reverse plunger system due to the minimizing of dead space and aligning the barrel and air restrictor so close to the plunger outlet. I must say, however, the great accuracy of this blaster is a little bit of a waste. Being such a small blaster, it is difficult to aim and that opens up a window for human error, even though the blaster itself is wonderfully on the mark. I can't help but feel that a rear sight would solve this problem to some extent. 

Modding potential for performance is limited, but also a bit redundant anyway. It is possible to remove the air restrictor, and a spring replacement would be a quick and easy way to get a slight improvement on power, but I would only expect a range increase of about 10 feet anyway. Cosmetically, this holds a little more potential. it could easily be integrated in to another blaster, or be used as a platform for great sci-fi or steampunk mods.

In summary, this is a fantastic little blaster, and while not everyone needs a mini blaster, I would recommend the Jolt over the Secret Strike any day. It outclasses any other mini blaster I have seen in performance, ease of use AND looks, despite it being one of the most simple and minimalistic blasters available. Couple that with a tiny price and you get a mini blaster worth a 9.5 out of 10 from this humble blogger.

NERFCORE Melbourne

I am back! Recently this blog has been on an unannounced hiatus due to a whole plethora of things going on in my life, including working overnight shifts at one of my jobs. And my word, there are some seriously interesting things that happen on overnight shifts when you're working in a quick service restaurant. Not really a story for this blog, but let's just say that one night I was witness to freakin' drug bust on the road next to where a work.

Anyway, I am back, still busy so there won't be super frequent posts, but I am here lurking. First thing I'll post about is something my attention was pointed in the direction of thanks to an anonymous comment, and that is NERFCORE Melbourne. They are leading Nerf parties based in Melbourne, aimed at adult Nerf fans over 18. The events sound pretty damn awesome, their "rumble in the jungle" event was held at Revolt Melbourne Art Space with a fully licensed bar, lights, dance floor and music as well as various prizes. I think the video pretty much explains it all. (Profanity warning, song in the video includes profanity, if you don't like profanity, turn the volume down I guess?)

I haven't seen anything like this before, so it's totally worth posting. It looks like one kickass fun time. Follow NERFCORE Melbourne on the website, Facebook page or Twitter. Times like this I wish I lived in Melbourne...

N-strike Elite Rampage internals

In my previous post I had speculated some things about the N-strike Elite range, in particular what the internals were. I know a ton of Nerf fans were hoping for a direct plunger system, and the good news is it indeed will be a direct plunger system inside the Rampage, and therefore one can assume the same for the Retaliator.

Check out Mod Works for full internal pictures. This is an interesting turn of events, since I was actually expecting a reverse plunger with a beefier spring. But this new system seems to have more modding potential, bigger air volume and space for a bigger spring or extra spring could potentially push the ranges of these blasters beyond 100 feet. Time will have to tell I guess.

N-strike Elite update

Procrastination always gets the better of me. A few days ago, some pictures were leaked of the upcoming Nerf N-strike Elite Retaliator and Rampage, which has revealed some very interesting information. Urban Taggers, back in fine form scored the leaked pictures from a reader and has the full lot of photos of the ACTUAL blasters on the blog, posted here.

Add caption

There's a bunch of things that I've found interesting about these leaked photos which you will need to go to Urban Taggers to view so that you know what I'm on about (I'm not going to take all the photos and take readership away from UT.)

First, I saw that both the inner barrel of the barrel extension on the Retaliator and the inner barrel of the Rampage are rifled. I can't really see this having much effect on the darts, but maybe it will give them a slight spin keeping them from going out of control. Next, the plungers. they look smaller at the back when compared to a normal recon. Perhaps a kind of direct plunger? Maybe a smaller plunger to allow for a spring that's thicker and therefore has a smaller I.D? Who knows, but the plunger system is definitely different. Now look at the clip for the Retaliator, 12 darts max, as suspected. Unfortunately, the Rampage looks to have no stock or shield as previous concept art had hinted at, but it does feature a 25 dart drum which looks great. The "elite" darts look like they are thicker and longer, but still use the same clips so it may just be the angle of the photo.

Finally, the one thing that got my attention big time, was that in one of the box art images, there is what looks like an elite Nitefinder, with the annotation next to it that says "look for FIRESTRIKE blaster in 2013 subject to availability". 2013? Subject to availability? C'mon! it's a re-done Nitefinder, get your act together Nerf! Do I also have to mention the fact that they also still have a blaster called the Strikefire? That said, it looks like the shell has actually been redesigned on this one, it looks like the light beam targeting has been done away with, with something else (dart storage??) in it's place.

Interesting. in other news, Urban Taggers ACTUALLY RECEIVED their promised pinpoint sights, after all that drama. +1 to Hasbro Australia, I guess. Let's hope things can all start getting back to normal among the blogging circles now!

inf0rm3r foam funding!

For some time now, Oznerf forum member has been supplying the community with a cheaper, higher performance alternative to stock Nerf streamline darts, available with lightweight tips, heavy tips for higher power blasters, and custom weighted snap caps for extreme performance. I have not used this form of dart commonly called inf0rm3r's blue foam yet, however I am told by many that they are far more accurate and better performing than Nerf streamline darts, work with both modified and stock blasters and are well worth getting your hands on. In fact, I actually haven't read a single bad review of these products.

For lack of another picture, this is
the one straight from the indiegogo

However, these products may disappear for good soon, as some decent funding is now needed to move forward with production. The first indiegogo.com (kind of the same as kickstarter) project for pre-cut lengths of the blue foam is now under way, and pledges start from just $10. $20 will get you some samples and beyond that are packs of pre-cut foam at $48 for 80M of pre-cut blue foam lengths, up to $1000 for 2000M of glow foam (yep, glow in the dark foam available, and more colours are a future possibility!)

inf0rm3r blue foam is what is used at most public Nerf wars in Australia. So, if you want an alternative to Nerf darts in the future, get behind this project! at the time of posting, there is $1921 raised out of $8500 with 34 days to go. I don't want to see this awesome product disappear before I even get to try it out, so I certainly will be pledging! Click here to head to the project's home page.