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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
For those of you who missed the live broadcast, Episode 40 of Nerfcast is here for your viewing pleasure! We talk about all sorts of new blasters for the 2014 line, as well as our recent war and some amazing third party accessories. Special guest Michel goes over some of his Rapidstrike modifications, and the group gives some surprising reviews and experience with the new blasters. 
I've been meaning to get these up for quite some time, but with so much other news and planning games I just couldn't seem to find the time to open this gal up and nab some pictures. Here they are now, and as most people have noted the internals seem to be similar to a Strongarm, but I didn't have one on hand to compare it to. I left things all stock, I'll leave the modding to more talented people.
