BATTLE OF THE DART GUNS 2011: Nerf vs. Buzz Bee

There's multiple rivalries in the dart gun making industries. One of the tightest competitions is between Hasbro's NERF franchise, known for its N-Strike, Dart Tag, and Vortex lines, and Buzz Bee Toys' Air Warriors.  Most people on the Interwebs prefer NERF for its charisma, but we're still going to see if Buzz Bee proves to be a better manufacturer!

Teams get 1 point for pros, and lose 1 point for cons.

Round I: "Pop Darts": The most popular dart guns of each line.

From Team NERF: Maverick REV-6
From Team Buzz Bee: Rogue


Maverick's pros:

• Fires easily and quickly
• Tremendous accuracy
• Compatible with most NERF darts
• Easy to cock

Maverick's cons:

• Jams sometimes

OVERALL SCORE: 3

Rogue's pros:

• Fires easily
• Seldom jams
• Good range
• Good accuracy
• Looks like a ray gun. :)

Rogue's cons:

• Not visually appealing (clashing color scheme/drab)
• Barrel has to be hand-revolved
• Cocking mechanism isn't easy to use

OVERALL SCORE: 2

Nerf's in the lead with 3, and Buzz Bee falls behind with 2.

Round 2: "Auto Darts": Automatic dart guns.

From Team NERF: Barricade RV-10

From Team Buzz Bee: Automatic Tommy 20

Barricade's pros:

• Great overall design
• Lightweight for an auto
• Fires quickly with a little sting; can sting even more if modded
• Revolves easily
• Doesn't require too many batteries.

Barricade's cons:

• A little noisy.

OVERALL SCORE: 4

Tommy 20's pros:

• Has continuous blast if you hold the trigger.
• Great color scheme
• Flywheel mech operates pretty well.

Tommy 20's cons:

• Unwieldy
• Slightly inaccurate

OVERALL SCORE: 1

Buzz Bee really needs to catch up!

Round 3: "The Big Guns" The biggest and baddest dart guns/missile launchers.

From Team NERF: Titan AS-V1

From Team Buzz Bee: Maniac

Titan's pros:

• It's an uber gun! How can anyone DISLIKE it?
• Packs a punch
• Extremely great range; up to 80 feet if angled upwards
• Intimidating

Titan's cons:

• Only 1 shot
• No replacement missiles: you'll have to either contact Nerf or buy another Titan
• Requires a lot of pumping

OVERALL SCORE: 1

Maniac's pros:

• The name fits: it is a maniacal gun! It has a missile AND 20 darts.
• Intimidating
• Fires quite well
• The missiles LIGHT UP!
• The two triggers are easy to operate.
• Packs a BIG punch

Maniac's cons:

• Kind of a duplicate of the Ultimate Berserker
• Two triggers are hard to remember which is which.

OVERALL SCORE: 4

Now, it's time to tally up the points.

Team NERF: 3+4+1=8

Team Buzz Bee: 4+1+2=7

It's a close one, but the gold medal has to go to NERF, winning by only 1 point! Even though Buzz Bee lost this year's battle, we at Dart Tag Havoc strongly recommend buying other brands, such as Buzz Bee, Prime Time, and Air Strike. Always great to try something new!

Well, that concludes the battle! Stay tuned for more reviews!

Nerf N-Strike review: Maverick REV-6

The Nerf Maverick REV-6 has become a fan favorite as the icon of Nerf's dart gun lines. It was even the basis for the Transformers Classics Megatron's transformed mode. It's gone through many iterations and colorations from its release in 2004 to the present, such as:

The original blue, which is extremely hard to find because of its discontinuation, (2004)

the yellow version, which is the current iteration,

the "Clear The Way" version made in preparation for the Stampede ECS (2008-present),

the "Sonic" version, exclusive to Toys R Us (2010),

the WhiteOut version, exclusive to Wal Mart (2011),

and the Gear Up version, made in preparation for the Vortex line (2011).

Well, enough talk about the various iterations of the Maverick! Let's just talk about the real gun, regardless of paint job!

Cocking mech: Similar to the Buzz Bee Rogue, it has a slide-action cock, located on the top of the gun. This cocking mechanism is very easy to operate.

Barrel/reloading: The barrel is in a rotating chamber. It holds six darts, and the barrel can slide out for reloading. The barrel rotates in a counter-clockwise motion.

This gun is a Nerf classic and a must-have, so I am quite biased in favor of it.

Range: Approximately 25-30 ft.  It's a good firing range. (9/10)
Accuracy: Pretty accurate. Even a layman can fire this without a scope. (10/10)
Reliability: It accepts any darts made by Nerf except Whistler darts and Dart Tag darts. If fired quickly, range decreases. (9/10)
Rate: Average. Max speed is about 3 darts/second if your hand is on the slide. (9/10)
Capacity: Six darts. Kind of the median capacity. (8/10)
General: The gun is very appealing and is quite the fan favorite, but I would recommend it as a side arm, despite its reliability. (8/10)

FINAL GRADE: B+


Even though I am biased in favor of it, I recommend it!

~XTN