Nerf vortex series#

The physical “clunk” of the ammo door springing open heightens the “mil-sim” feel of it, and being able to reload without having to fill a clip or drum makes it easy to stay in the thick of the fight without becoming a target. In actual use, the Vigilon is mostly a fun ride. And as noted previously, jamming isn’t typically an issue, so long as the user remembers to put the discs in correctly, and doesn’t rush the process. This isn’t bad, especially since reloading is relatively easy, but it’s not exceptional compared to flywheel or even Slam-fire capable blasters. We averaged about one disc per second, and after 5 seconds, a reload is required. So we see our original 58 feet distances as a more accurate representation of this blaster’s utility.įiring rates are as expect for a manually-primed unit, which is to say, not particularly quick. Still, in battle, if the shots aren’t at least somewhat on-target, it doesn’t matter how far they fly. We presume this is due to discs veering off-course and hitting walls before reaching their maximum flight potential. But with a 30-degree arc, our ranges declined slightly, to an average max of 56 feet. And under these conditions, we averaged up to 58 feet firing from shoulder-height without any angle, which is solid. We test in a narrow, hallway-like space which limits how far off-center shots are allowed to veer-only shots that remain true will fly the furthest. So this isn’t necessarily a blaster that any one will be buying in 2014 based on looks alone.įortunately, the Vigilon’s performance and reliability is where it justifies its continued existence. And equally unfortunate, the white and red color scheme due in 2014 appears to have been inspired by a child scribbling with a marker on a wall. However, the original (and quite gaudy) green and red color scheme is getting somewhat long-in-the-tooth. On the aesthetics side, the Vigilon’s front-heavy, Judge Dredd “Lawgiver”-inspired look is appropriately new-tech in appearance. They buy one because it either looks cool, or they believe it will perform well. Of course, ease of reloading isn’t why anyone buys a Nerf blaster. It’s a very tactile, satisfying feeling and makes the process of reloading a little more enjoyable. It runs out of ammo fairly quickly, but tapping the thumb release and hearing (and feeling) the ammo door spring out to accept additional discs just never gets old. Aside from the discs being a bit fidgety to load (they have to be seated properly and right-side-up to avoid jams), the reloading process is actually one of the most enjoyable aspects of this blaster. Once all 5 or more discs have been unloaded, the user simply hits the thumb switch to drop the ammo door, loads one or more discs, then continues blasting. A simple pull on the priming slide on the top of the blaster readies it for use. A thumb-switch on both the right and left-hand sides of the body near the trigger releases a spring-loaded ammo door, into which the user can load up to 5 XLR discs (or up to 7 discs, if the feeding spring is pushed down for an extra disc to be inserted, and another disc is also loaded into the chamber). The Vigilon remains a go-to blaster of choice due largely to its simplicity, reliability and consistency.

In fact, we still think it’s one of the most enjoyable blasters in the range today. Otherwise, this blaster has seen no significant changes in the past couple years, nor has it needed one.

Nerf vortex series#

Having been launched as one of the original blasters in the then-new Vortex series back in 2011, the Vigilon remains a staple in the line, being released in the form of a “Sonic Series” (clear green and orange) option, as well as special value packs, and an expected re-release in 2014 with a white, dark red and gray color scheme. One such product is the Vortex Vigilon-a modern Nerf classic if ever there was one. So while we await the onslaught of new-for-2014 blasters that are sure to arrive this year, we’ll continue working our way through the back catalog of notable, but no-longer-new blasters we think are worthy of attention. One of the downsides of having recently launched Blaster Labs is the fact that there are so many terrific, but older products we haven’t been able to formally review.