Rebelle Guardian Crossbow: Diamond in the Rough

It really looks quite nice without the arms.

The Nerf Rebelle Guardian Crossbow, one of the newest and most anticipated blasters in the Rebelle line; mainly because the blaster is basically a new design, and not a re-shell of something we’ve seen before.  I was actually not super excited about this blaster initially, and when I saw it on the shelves I debated picking it up to review at all. However, once I got this gal home and opened it up I was rather surprised. I really like the design of this thing!

As you can see once it snaps in...

First off, the bow arms: still not a fan. The blaster itself looks much sleeker and more streamlined (obviously) without them. Once they click into place they’re a pain to get back off, but it’s doable with a flat bladed screw driver. Maybe if these were more easily removable once attached it’d be something I wouldn’t gripe about as much. Also, because the bow is there we have a small nub on the top of the blaster. Now apparently it’s supposed to be a rear sight, whilst the bow arms have a front sight to line it up with. This rear sight is directly connected to the priming mechanism of the blaster, and the bow string goes through it. So if this is supposed to be a sight, it moves when you fire the blaster. Not a great idea, but hey, it does actually pull the bow arms back when you prime. I haven’t opened this blaster up yet to see if it’s removable without cutting.

The rear sight and string puller.

The ergonomics on the blaster are nice! My hand easily fits on the grip with some room to spare, and my fingers fit in the grooves nicely. It’s like my Rough Cut and my Strongarm had a baby. The size is just right to be bigger than a pistol and the under barrel shotgun style prime is smooth.  I didn't have any problems with this under barrel grip or priming. I know some people have taken issue with the Alpha Trooper primer, and the small bar beneath it making it hard to hold with those with larger hands. This is very reminiscent of the Rough Cut, easy to grip and prime both for single shot and slam fire.

The shotgun style priming grip

The stock does leave much to be desired, however. It’s not quite long enough for us big kids and the butt of the stock is tiny… Even for me! I can’t really shoulder this blaster, it’s much too small of a surface to plant in my shoulder comfortably, and if I try, the length is too short. I really wish that Nerf had made this a removable stock! Since the priming is all internal, they could have used a small stock attachment like they did on the Spectre, no need for a long tube like many blasters have. It would have minimized size for those who would like to use it without a stock. This would give this blaster so much versatility!

Each dart is different, gotta catch 'em all!

Other than that the priming is solid, ranges are stock elite and on par with the Strongarm. A few tweaks could have really made this one of my favorite blasters to hit shelves recently. Still it is solid, but with a price of $24.99 it’s tough for me to recommend this blaster. Even at $19.99 it’d at least be on par with the Stryfe and the Rough Cut when it first came out. Hopefully like the Rough Cut it will drop in price soon and really make it worth picking up. Not exactly sure what’s pushing up the price point on this blaster, the Heartbreaker Bow is only $19.99. Maybe because this is larger and holds more darts than most of the other blasters in the Rebelle line it was the natural next price up.  Or it’s just those “collectible darts,” maybe there’s a rare one you can only get with this blaster. :P All in all, it’s fun solid blaster that’s a little over priced at the moment. Borrow a friend’s to try out if you can before making the plunge.

~Josh

More pictures after the break.

The unopened box

It's actually packaged upside down.

The back of the packaging "accessories sold separately."

Fully assembled.