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Nerf announced back in April that it would be collaborating with Roblox in order to create Roblox-inspired blasters. While these blasters aren’t hitting stores until the fall, GameSpot got their hands on most of the set.
At the time of this writing, I’m 39 years old. I haven’t had my fingers on the pulse of what’s hip in at least 15 years, and even back then, my taste in what’s “cool” was questionable. So when Hasbro sent over a set of Roblox Nerf blasters, I tried to find someone closer in age to Roblox’s target demographic. I landed on my three-year-old son, whose favorite things are a YouTube channel featuring two kids in Dubai playing with toys and watching all the Toy Story movies so often that he has the script memorized. While he’s unfamiliar with Roblox as well, he’s at least closer to the age of someone who would play it on a regular basis more than I am.
So armed with a three-year-old with a 10-minute attention span and a set of Nerf blasters inspired by the game Roblox, we dove into blasting darts across the house over the course of a week. Which blaster did my son love the most? Which blaster did I love the most? The answers you seek are below.
Jail Break Armory ($20)
This blaster two-pack was a fan favorite for my three-year-old son, but only using one at a time, as the other blaster was destined to be handed off to me, as holding two of these blasters is too much for tiny hands. Upon looking at the package, all these products are aimed at children 8-years-old and up. Obviously, as a father, I have misjudged whether this was appropriate for my child to take part in. Anyway, this is a blaster two-pack, which comes with 10 elite darts.
I have been told that these “pews”–what my son calls Nerf blasters–are great for “getting bad guys.” According to him, the orange blaster is better out of the two for unknown reasons. Upon pressing him about it, he simply replied, “I like this one.”
The Nerf Blasters have a hammer you pull back in order to prime it to be fired. And unlike the blasters from my youth–primarily the Nerf Bow and Arrow–you don’t really want to be hit with one of the darts because they sting a tad.
MM2 Shark Seeker ($25)
Fans of the song “Deepest Bluest (Shark’s Fin)” by LL Cool J from the movie Deep Blue Sea will surely love this shark-inspired Nerf blaster. It has a shark’s fin on the top, which you pull back to arm the blaster. What sets this one apart from the others in the line is that it uses Mega darts, which are a lot thicker than the others. The blaster holds three at a time, which is how many come with it.
While my son wasn’t a fan of “pewing” the “bad guys” with this blaster, he found me using it one of the most enjoyable things imaginable. My son quickly learned about leading a squad and delegation–two things that will undoubtedly come in handy in his adult years.
The thicker darts are where this blaster shines. They whistle when fired, which resulted in my son demanding the bad guys get pewed over and over again. This became my go-to blaster during the day, but only because my son demanded it.
Adopt Me! Bees! ($30)
This is the most-bizarre name for a Nerf blaster I’ve ever seen. Are we adopting bees or is someone being adopted then bees are appearing? It’s quite obvious that I do not play Roblox and have very little understanding of what is going on in that game. Regardless, this is one of the most interesting ones in the Roblox series, as it’s a lever action blaster featuring a drum that holds eight darts, and yes, it comes with eight darts as well.
Although the colorful design and unique set-up were something I found wonderful for this particular blaster, my son could not have cared less. After I fired it a few times, he insisted I go back to the MM2 Shark Seeker. This was a little bit of a bummer, considering the fun design and how satisfying the lever action is to use. The fact my son blew this blaster off so quickly was a big disappointment to me.
Arsenal Pulse Laser ($40)
This one is a hefty beast. It’s big. It’s motorized. The Arsenal Pulse Laser blaster comes with a clip that holds 10 darts, and of course, it needs four AA batteries in order to work at all. The blaster won’t work without power, which is a mild drawback–mainly because you need a screwdriver in order to get those pesky batteries in.
As for what my son thought about this blaster, he was not a fan. First of all, it was too big for him. While he enjoyed a few moments walking through the house, holding this blaster–which made him look like a Marvel Comics character circa 1994–it was simply too big for him. This is when I came to the rescue, powered it up, and fired away at the supposed “bad guys” that had been hiding in front of our door. In turn, this scared my son, and he requested I stop using it because it was too loud for his liking.
While my son was away, I got some time in with the Arsenal Pulse Laser, practicing my shot on the area in front of my door where the “bad guys live.” It’s a lot of fun, but it would be great if you could pick up a second clip in order to be able to reload more quickly.
With most traditional reviews, you’d probably expect a score to pop up; however, when I asked my son to give a score for these blasters, he twisted the conversation to be about wanting a Shinsuke Nakamura action figure. He has all these Nerf blasters, pre-launch to play with, and all he can talk about is wanting more toys, preferably one of the King of Strong Style?
Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until this fall for these blasters to hit stores.
