Nerf Clear Series

Is it un-PC to love toy guns? I dunno. I got my boys a couple of Nerf Clear Series dart pistols (a Maverick and an EX-3). They're very cool. A great look to them, seeing the inner workings, and they are surprisingly powerful and accurate, well-designed. They shoot either suction cup-tipped Nerf foam darts, or Velcro-tipped Nerf foam darts. The suction cups are my favorites, because they stick in a perpendicular fashion on the target, if it allows for suction cups to adhere to them. The action of the Maverick (which is a six-shooter, looking like a clear version of something Robocop or Agent Smith would use, or possibly one of the Men In Black), anyway, it's very smooth, with the slide cocking it, allowing for rapid fire if you "fan" it like you would a single-action revolver, cowboy-style. The only fault I saw with it is if you don't load the cylinder perfectly (which itself is easy to do, generally), you can get a jam. But if it's loaded properly, it'll fire very rapidly, and accurately.

The EX-3 resembles a machine pistol, and fires a single shot (you draw back the bolt and fire), and it had room for two additional darts in storage in the front. What's more, it has an LED light on the front acting as a laser gunsight, which is powered by 2 AA batteries that load in the handle. The EX-3 is smaller than the mighty Maverick, but is no less powerful or accurate (and, despite it being a single shot, you can load it more quickly than the Maverick, which can be a consideration for kids playing Nerf Wars or whatever). One drawback of the EX-3 that I found is that the contact that triggers the LED is very delicate, and can be jarred loose with rough play (and it's next to impossible to fix, just because the piece is so tiny). But given the low price of the gun, it is otherwise very well-made and feels right, has the right amount of heft.

There are larger Clear Series rifles and what-not, but I haven't played with those (yet). The pistols, however, are a real blast.

These are, I gather, limited edition Nerf toy guns, so get'em while you can, I guess. They are very cool, fun to play with, and have a great feel to them and a futuristic style. They handle nicely and are durable, and the range is impressive.

But definitely watch out about shooting in the face, because despite the easy action of these toy guns, they are surprisingly powerful, and you can fire them accurately clear across a room and hit what you're aiming at.