[Alex] Surprise! :) I’ll be your reviewing host today as I not only write my first S.O.F.T. review, but also complete
the “2010 Trio” blaster reviews with my favourite side-arm: the Nerf N-Strike
Spectre REV-5! Why is the Spectre my favourite side-arm you may ask? Well, read
on and you’ll not only find out why I
like it, but maybe discover that you’ll want to pick one up for yourself if
it’s not in your arsenal yet :D
Like the Alpha Trooper and Barrel Break, the Spectre was released
in 2010 and is a Target exclusive in Australia. It comes with five Sonic foam
darts, a barrel attachment, a shoulder stock, and of course the complimentary
instructions on how to drive this slick blaster.
When you first look at it, you may think “…it’s just like a
Maverick!” which you would mostly be correct (…mostly o.o), however
there are a few key differences between the two which I will cover shortly. But
first, let’s take a look at the Spectre on its own.
The Spectre is a spring and plunger powered blaster that uses a
rotating ammo cylinder in a ‘revolver’ design. It comes in the traditional
N-Strike yellow, grey and orange colours. Holding it is comfortable; a tiny bit
front heavy due to the ammo cylinder, but if anything it adds to its character.
To me the Spectre has a certain charm to its design and how it handles; like a
futuristic cowboy’s revolver, or a secret agent’s stealthy sidearm. I often
find myself practicing gun-spinning and holstering; it just feels natural for
it. For me there are few things cooler than pulling it out for a quick-draw,
firing from the hip at an enemy mid-battle and hitting them in one shot!
*Ahem*… back to the analysis! The ammo cylinder can load up to
five Whistlers at once. Akin to the Maverick, it uses a button on the side to
unlock the cylinder which swings out to reload. Once filled up simply push the
cylinder back into position and the Spectre is now loaded.
Again, like the Mav, the Spectre uses a grey priming handle on
top. Pulling it back until it clicks will cock the blaster, and then releasing
the priming handle will snap back to its resting position. Pull the trigger and
let the fun times roll >:D
From here on I thought it may be prudent to provide a brief
comparison between the Spectre and the Maverick, so let’s have a look at their
design.
While the Maverick seems to be a bit curvier in areas such as the
ammo cylinder, the trigger area, the grip, and the underside of the shell, the
Spectre looks more rigid with straight edges and minimal curves – even the dart
cylinder is less bulbous and more pentagonal.
The Spectre is longer by a few
centimetres, but this is due to the added barrel attachment connector. The
Spectre also boasts the shoulder stock capability, whereas the Maverick has
neither. The Spectre trigger grip also has a sneaky little gap at the bottom
where you can clip on items such as the Bandolier to help carry it around.
One drawback of the Spectre compared to the Maverick is it only
holds five darts instead of six. I feel it’s not a HUGE problem considering the
advantage that the ammo cylinder is smaller in size. In fact when you compare
the Spectre and the Maverick side-by-side, the Mav is… well, rather tubby. I’ve
got holsters that the Spectre fits into very nicely, but the Maverick is either
a tight squeeze or just won’t agree. The width difference is a little over a
centimetre, but it is noticeable.
A key difference in operation is the Maverick turns the cylinder
over to the next dart to fire upon pulling the trigger, whereas the Spectre
does NOT. Instead, when you pull back on the priming bar THAT is when the
cylinder rotates. The Spectre seems to have a better plunger-to-cylinder seal,
resulting in more efficient air flow, and I find it tends to have less misfires
than the Maverick.
Another advantage the Spectre has is the tactical rail is now no
longer on top of the priming bar handle, but instead placed in front of it.
This means you can finally put a rail
attachment onto this pistol-sized blaster and NOT have to detach it or avoid
tearing it off in the middle of cocking it. (Trivia: the Recon also has this
problem; but partially solved this by its barrel attachment having dual
tactical rails on top and bottom.)
Back to the attachments that come with the Spectre. The barrel extension
is designed *like* a Silencer giving off a very stealthy 007 or Hitman vibe. I
highlight *like* because it is not a REAL silencer; it will not make your
blaster fire quietly :( however it
still looks absolutely slick and seems to be a popular barrel extension for
many other compatible blasters (in particular the Rayven :P) …but there is ONE useful
function that this barrel offers that none of the other ones do, and that is it
does not reduce range as much, if not at all!
The short story is all other N-Strike barrel attachments are
designed for streamline darts meaning narrower barrels. Darts have a tendency
to bounce against the walls of the barrel, causing friction, causing loss of
range. The upside of this is it generally helps accuracy.
The Spectre barrel however is a much wider diameter (to
accommodate Sonic / Whistler darts), plus it is shorter than the Recon or Longstrike
barrel extensions so the chances of a dart hitting the inner walls are much
less if not nil. This all means that less dart bouncing (if any) = less loss of
range, or in most cases I find there is NO loss of range at all! It is very
handy for blasters like the Rayven for these reasons.
Next up; the Folding shoulder stock. As the name implies, it can
fold up to keep your blaster nice and portable while carrying it, then unfold
it when ready to steady your aim!
The way it works is when deployed / extended you pull it back away
from the hinge and it will unlock. You swing it around and then push it back
towards the hinge to lock it again. I must say the functionality and practicality
IS neat and works well, as it also doubles as a carry handle!
It is a fairly long shoulder stock, but the ‘padding’ part that
goes into the shoulder is not very large like other shoulder stocks. It seems
more appropriate for kid-sized physique (obviously) or people with small
shoulders / armpits. I’m not a large fella, but I do seem to find this one a
bit tricky to keep still in a comfortable spot. I understand this is to help keep the stock small... but it's personal taste I guess :3 In addition, this one does tend
to wobble from side to side a little bit – but rather than being due to thin /
flexible plastic spokes like the Recon / Praxis stocks, it’s more the hinge
design that causes some movement.
It is great buying a blaster that not only can take extra tactical
accessories for customisation, but comes with its own (bonus points when they
are unique to that blaster).
I much prefer that rather than having the whole ‘each sold separately’ trauma
or when it comes with the same accessory stolen from another blaster. (Example:
the Barricade has a shoulder stock adaptor but originally came with no shoulder
stock. It was only until much later it was especially released with the coveted
yellow coloured Raider stock). On the flip side because of the extra
pieces, the cost is much higher than a Maverick. I still feel the performance
and handling improvements of the Spectre alone justifies the higher price
though.
I give it a 9 out of 10 Whistler dart score. The only negative half-scores
being the higher price plus being a store exclusive making it harder to
track down. Then the Folding stock – as versatile and intriguing as it may be –
it’s a tad wobbly and uncomfortable for my taste.
Overall, the Spectre is a worthy ‘upgrade’ to the Maverick; a very
well rounded revolver blaster worthy of any avid collector and foam fighter’s
arsenal. The Maverick will never truly be replaced due to its iconic place in
the world of Nerf, however the Spectre is designed with extra performance and
customisation in mind; the smarter tactical rail placement, the more efficient
cylinder rotation and priming systems and even small details like the slimmer
design and bandolier clip ring are all valued additions. The attachments I found
the Silencer barrel to be an excellent aesthetic touch without inhibiting
performance, whereas the Folding shoulder stock is great if you do need the compact
portability.
At the end of the day, the Spectre is a fantastic side-arm to
compliment your load out, and I highly recommend you give it a spin and see for
yourself!
Just a little extra pic to finish with; another ‘tacticool’ setup
I like the look of :P
Please comment below on your thoughts or suggestions for the Spectre or this review :D we hope you enjoyed reading this!
