Review: Nerf N-Strike Alpha Trooper CS-18 - It's As Good As It Gets. :P

Hello fellow Squad members, sorry for the delay in posting reviews. Anyway, today, we're having a look at the  N-Strike Alpha Trooper CS-18. :) I have had one for myself for a while, but I've never decided to analyze it deeply... Until now. :) Let's get started.

Alpha Trooper. These two words are highly prized in the Nerfing community, due to a very good reason: It's great. Not 'great' great, but 'excellent' great. Have I lost you? :P Time for a bit of background. The Alpha Trooper was released in Australia way back in late 2010, alongside the Barrel Break and Spectre. I like to refer to these three blasters as 'The 2010 Trio'. A mix of the Recon and Raider, with a fancy new eighteen-dart drum.

Angle crazy, I am :P

The first impressions of the Trooper :P is that it's very compact and lightweight, when you pick it up and start feeling it. It's about the same size as a Raider (minus the stock) but a lot more streamlined and thinner. The clip is fed at the bottom rather than the side, which was a great decision in my opinion (more on that later) and it does have a bit of oomph behind it, like all the new N-Strike blasters have.

In the box, you get the mightly Alpha, one eighteen-dart drum, eighteen clip-system darts and instructions. The box is up in the attic, along with the other N-Strike boxes :(

First up, I'll describe how the Alpha works. It's one of the most-highly coveted blasters in the current N-Strike range, due to it's highly praised firing ranges and method. The Alpha features TWO firing modes: Single-Fire, and Slam-Fire, where the most fun is to be had with this blaster. To single fire, slide the priming handle to the back position (the gray slider located on the barrel) load in your clip with ammo and insert it into the bottom until it clicks, slide the handle to the most forward postion, then press down on the trigger to fire a single dart. To Slam-Fire, all that is required is to constantly press down on the trigger, and quickly slide the handle back and forth to fire a constant stream of foam fury.

The clip release button is located just near the trigger, and you have to pull down on the clip/drum as well to release it.

If a jam occurs, there is slide-back hatch located on the top, accessed when the priming handle is slid back as far as it can go. In my experiences with the Alpha, it only jams when the operator doesn't slide the handle back and forth as far as it can go. Just a friendly tip :P

Where all the magic happens :P

I LOVE how solid it feels when slam-firing, it's very easy and quick to lay down the fire. Also, it does have some VERY good kick behind it, the darts can reach the other side of my lounge room in a matter of seconds :D You can also hear the darts whistle, and I never knew they whistled :D Very accurate too.

Tiny, but DANGEROUS :D

If I have to have one minor gripe, it's about the priming handle. Maybe because of the size of my hands, I can grip it okay without it slipping off while Slam-Firing, it's just a bit small for my liking. Also, I have trouble finding where to put my thumb, in a comfortable postion :P

Okay, now onto the awesome drum. One word can describe it: Cute :P It's very tiny and compared to the Raider drum. The most important aspect, for me of the drum is the size. The Raider drum is a bit too big for my liked, so I instantly liked this little ripper. You don't want a fat, bulky drum getting in the way of your arms :P If I had one complaint, it runs out of ammo too easily. but, this complaint is soon forgotten. Remember, this is a clip-fed blaster, so it can be easily replaced. It's also been observed by many that straight clips work better than drums. (Excellent consumer advice, we give :P)

The Alpha, has one main Tactical Rail located on the top-back area of the blaster, and it features a stock attachment butt-thing. :P Any N-Strike/Vortex stock can fit onto this with ease. May I suggest the yellow Raider stock that came in a special value Barricade pack? Sturdy, and colour matching to boot :P Alpha is compatible with ALL N-Strike clips.

We've decided to use Mavericks as our standard unit of measurement :P

If I had to come to a conclusion, the Alpha Trooper is a must-buy, for any newcomers to the Squadron and the world of Nerf. It's a lightweight, easy to use Slam-Firing beast and an excellent assault blaster. Only niggle is the limtied capacity, but it's easily solved. Alpha's are going around Target Australia as a exclusive for $20 - $30, so go out, pick one up, and LOVE it.

S.O.F.T.'s Official Rating: 10 darts/10 darts (WOW!!!)

Next up, it's a practical, unique blaster that even surprised me by just how fun it is, the Barrel Break IX-2. Thanks for reading! :D

Preview: 'The 2010 Trio' Reviews

Next up on our review list is the 2010 trio, the Alpha Trooper, Barrel Break and Spectre. These are some of my favourites in my collection, so you can expect some great reviews. :) Which one are you looking forward to?

Review: Nerf N-Strike Rayven CS-18 – Let’s Light Up The Night, Baby. :P

This is a historic moment for S.O.F.T., our first-ever review on a foam dart blaster. We’re swelling up with pride… Anyway, let’s get on with it. :)

The Nerf N-Strike Rayven CS-18 was a hotly anticipated blaster amongst many a fan, with it being released here in Australia Early 2012. A clip-fed flywheel blaster, a combination of a Barricade, Stampede and Firefly capabilities in the style of a bull-pup rifle. The Rayven is certainly an exciting piece of Nerf kit, and is arguably awesome, by first impressions looking at it. We’re excited to give you our thoughts about it, and they begin now :P

One of my new favourite blasters. :)

In the box, you get your basic blaster, the Firefly Tech Clip, eighteen glow darts, and instructions. I kinda opened the box without taking a picture, sorry :P

Something's about to go DOWN... In the dark! :P

The first aspect of the Rayven that I  noticed is the whole new colour scheme, a hint of light green. It’s certainly a nice change from the traditional yellow, and we welcome it with open arms. Here’s hoping Nerf decide to use it again.

Dun-Dun-Dun!!!

The second is that the Rayven looks like no other Nerf blaster thus far. The clip is fed from the rear, rather than the middle of the blaster. It certainly looks different, and that is what makes the Rayven looks so… awesome and unique. It takes visual cues from the Stampede as well, as seen on the top Tactical Rail, the rail on the right-hand side of the blaster, and the handle. This blaster might the most ‘original’ made by in a while, alongside the Jolt. 

The Rayven is electrically activated (powered by 4x AA batteries), by holding down the little bottom trigger to power up the flywheels, then it is a matter of pressing down on the main top trigger to fire a dart. How fast it fires, depends on your trigger finger. In other words, Semi Auto, not Full Auto. (The powering up method is exactly like the Nitron, I love it when the flywheels rev up, and start whirring dangerously. When that happens, you know something's about to go DOWN... :D)

4x AA for the blaster, 3x AA for the Firefly Clip

The clip eject button is located at the back of the blaster, near the slot where you insert the clip. I like that you have hold down the button, and then pull the clip downwards to remove it. This method prevents the Firefly clip from being damaged. The clip also has padding on the bottom, due the chances of it being knocked around a fair bit during use.

In case of a jam, the Rayven features a jam door (similar to the Nerf Recon) located on top of the clip insert. However, the Rayven cannot activate it’s flywheels until the Clip is properly inserted, and the jam door closed. I would imagine this is inserted as a safety precaution, as it is the same safety features as the Barricade.

The firing bay, lit up :P

The blaster itself has a nice weight to it, but I found it was a bit back-heavy with the clip inserted. I don’t mind this; I prefer blasters having weight rather than none. The Rayven can be dual-wielded, if you wish. :P Right-handers won’t have any problems, but if Left-handers wish to utilize a drum, you might face problems. (We pride ourselves on consumer advice. :D)

Wielding left-handed... It's my preferred choice.

From our rigorous testing trials, we can calculate with fresh batteries, the Rayven can fire up to 3.5 darts per second, and the max distance can be 15-20 metres. If you fire off multiple rounds at once, these tend to be shorter, due to time need to get the flywheels up to full speed again. It can be also quite accurate, but the darts can fly off in random directions sometimes, due the randomness of flywheel firing. :P

Onto the Rayven’s main selling point, the fancy all-new Firefly Tech clip. This clip can be seen as the downfall of the Firefly (of which I’ll probably never get my hands on to test) or, representing the hope that the Firefly hasn’t quite disappeared yet, and might see a re-release, of which I hope.

The clip itself is a great, new piece of gear. The clip contain two little LED lights, located at the top of the clip, or dart slot, (powered by 3x AA batteries) ‘charges’ the 18 glow darts full of light, actually flash when released, and create a ‘ring of light’ when the glow dart wizzes through the air. It’s quite an amazing effect, of which you need to see in person. It doesn’t capture as well on camera, as demonstrated in S.O.F.T.’s first video feature but I’ll make another video, this time with the proper equipment.

An awesome sight to behold. :D

I LOVE this logo. :D

Battle of The Clips: 18-dart VS Firefly Tech VS 6-dart

The glow darts themselves work excellent, they shoot well, and really glow brilliantly. I haven’t had many experiences with glowing thingies in my childhood, so I found them really thrilling.

Who will win? Plain Streamline VS Camo VS Glow :P

Just... Awesome. :D

The Rayven, being a Clip System blaster, is compatible with all clips and drums from the N-Strike line. Also, most accessories will fit onto the blaster. Stampede shield might be a bit difficult though :P

Rayven with 6-dart clip... Looks great. If ONLY it could hold more :P

Rayven with 18-dart clip

Rayven with 18-dart drum... Epic win. :D

Rayven with 35-dart drum... A bit impractical...

We here at S.O.F.T. LIKE/LOVE the Rayven. We love the styling, the fact that it’s a clip fed Barricade, and the Firefly Tech clip of which we highly approve. The only downside is the price, currently at $35 AUD. A bit expensive for young fans, if you want both Light It Up blasters, BUT as I always say, sacrifices must be made for awesomeness. We would recommend the Rayven to anyone looking for some night-time thrills, and a fabulous primary or side-arm. It’s a great addition to any collection.

S.O.F.T.’s Official Rating: 9.5 darts/10 darts

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to dual-wield my Barricade and Rayven like a bad-ass :P