Here's the 'scale' that I will be rating blasters with:
Name of blaster: Simple 'blurb' describing what it is (TL;DR)
Price: Expected price range (depends on stores)
Mod-ability: How much improvement does modification grant you?
Difficulty: How hard is it to mod it?
Rate of Fire (RoF): How much foam can you fling? (Here at FoamFrenzy, this is always a priority!)
Range: How far can the blaster fire?
Recommended Mods: No explanation necessary :)
Note: All stats (ie Range, RoF, etc. are based on performance after recommended basic mods are completed)
Note: The scale for 'Difficulty' will be: Beginner-Intermediate-Hard-Crazy Hard
Note: The scale for 'RoF', 'Range', and 'Mod-ability' will be: Crap-Okay-Good-Crazy Good-Insanely Good
First, I'll list and categorize the recommended blasters followed by a list of all the current blasters in the market (both good and bad):
Recommended Blasters:
Single Shot Blasters (simple & easy to mod but feature low RoF)-NiteFinder EX-3 ($8)
-Jolt EX-1 ($5)
Clip System Blasters (more complex but feature fast reloads and good RoF)
-Alpha Trooper CS-18 ($20)
-Raider CS-35 ($30)
Electric/ Battery Powered Blasters (High RoF and good capacity)
-Rayven CS-18 ($30)
-Stampede EBF ($30-50)
-Swarmfire ($15-30)
Note: If you stumble upon some older/ vintage blasters such as the Airtech 2000, Longshot, etc., by all means take advantage of the opportunity (granted you're not being ripped off on Ebay).
Complete List:
Nerf Blasters
N-Strike Line
Price: Expect $6-10
Mod-ability: Crazy good
Difficulty: Beginner
RoF: Crap (single fire)
Range: Good
Recommended Mods: CPVC couper, Spring addition (Ace #49 or Home Depot 'Handyman' spring), barrel replacement, AR removal
Maverick Rev-6: A spiffy 6 shooter (revolver) (Don't buy it if you want to mod things)
Price: Expect $6-10
Mod-ability: Crap (do not attempt unless doing the "Russian Roulette mod")
Difficulty: Intermediate
RoF: Good
Range: Crap
Recommended Mods: None (unless you're doing the RR mod, honestly I have killed off several perfectly good Mavericks doing a bunch of barrel mods that have either made no difference at all or have made it worse- main idea: Keep it stock)
Spectre Rev-5: An even spiffier 5 shooter (revolver) (At the least, get a Recon or clip blaster instead)
Price: $20 (Walmart exclusive, and the price is a big downside when you could buy say an AlphaTrooper)
Mod-ability: Okay
Difficulty: Intermediate
RoF: Good
Range: Okay-Good
Recommended Mods: AR removal perhaps
Recon CS-6: A clip accepting pistol/ rifle (depends on attachments) (Skip for a Raider/ Alpha Trooper)
Price: $20
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard (if you're not just taking out Air Restrictors)
RoF: Good
Range: Okay-Good
Recommended Mods: AR removal, Powerstock, purchasing an aftermarket kit (ie Orange Mod Works, Xplorer, etc. if you have the money)
Raider CS-35: A bada*s pump action shotty with slam fire with a 35 round drum (Great when modded)
Price: $30-35
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard
RoF: Crazy Good (if slam-firing)
Range: Okay-Good
Recommended Mods: AR removal, Powerstock, aftermarket kits
Alpha Trooper CS-18: An improved Raider with an 18 round drum (Great when modded)
Price: $20 (Target exclusive)
Everything else: Same as Raider but it has slightly improved performance, reliability, and handling characteristics but lacks the stock and the massive drum
Longstrike CS-6: A spiffy Dragunov-esque sniper rifle that gets Recon ranges (Skip for a Raider/ Alpha Trooper)
Price: $30-35
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard
RoF: Okay
Range: Okay-Good
Recommended Mods: AR removal, aftermarket kits
Jolt Ex-1: Compact single shot pistol that packs a "Jolt" of power (sorry bad pun) (Great in stock form)
Price: $5
Mod-ability: Okay-Good (AR removal doesn't increase power much, just dart variety)
Difficulty: Beginner
RoF: Crap (single shot)
Range: Good
Recommended mods: Spring replacement
Stampede ECS: A clip accepting, battery operated monster (Potent when voltage modded)
Price: $30-50 (I got mine on sale for $30 at Toys 'R Us)
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard
RoF: Good when stock, much improvement with voltage mods
Range: Good
Recommended mods: Spring replacement, AR removal, voltage increase (via aftermarket batteries)
Rayven CS-18: Glow in the dark flywheel blaster with a bullpup design (A great first electric blaster)
Price: $25-30
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate
RoF: Good-Crazy Good (depends on batteries)
Range: Good
Recommended mods: External voltage increase (you don't even need to open the blaster)
Barricade RV-10: Revolving flywheel blaster (A great first electric blaster)
Price: $10-20
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate
RoF: Good-Crazy Good (depends on batteries), reloading is a hassle with a turret
Range: Good
Recommended mods: Voltage increase (if you're trying to make it clip compatible, just go out and buy a Rayven instead)
Rapid Fire 20: The ultimate bullet hose (Great in stock form)
Price: $20 (Toys 'R Us exclusive)
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Hard
RoF: Insanely Good (until you need to pump it up)
Range: Okay-Good
Recommended mods: None, it's awesome as is, possible barrel replacement, (if you've got multiples, swap-able turrets are handy)
Big Bad Bow: Reliable single shot springer (A really good choice for a springer)
Price: $20 (also available as an 'Avengers' purple edition right now)
Mod-ability: Crazy good (well you're going from arrows to darts...)
Difficulty: Beginner
RoF: Crap (unless you add a speedloader or clip)
Range: Crazy Good
Recommended mods: CPVC coupler/ barrel replacement, spring addition (adding in 2 Maverick springs works great)
Vulcan EBF-25: Belt fed electric blaster (Great when voltage modded)
Price: $30-45 (depends on if store is trying to clear out)
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard
RoF: Good (improves a lot once voltage modded)
Range: Good
Recommended mods: Voltage mod
Barrel Break IX-2: Double barrel shotgun (Buy a Rayven or Alpha Trooper instead)
Price: $20 (Toys 'R Us exclusive)
Mod-ability: Okay
Difficulty: Intermediate
RoF: Okay (you only have 2 shots before reloading)
Range: Okay-Good
Recommended mods: Barrel replacement
Hornet AS-6: semi-auto or 'absolver' type 6 shot shotgun (Somewhat gimmicky)
Price: $40 as part of the Unity Power System or $20 by itself (both are Toys 'R Us exclusive)
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard
RoF: Good (until you have to pump)
Range: Good
Recommended mods: Pump plug, barrel replacement
Note: After using my friend's Hornet (which was awesome), I went out and got my own. However, usually by the last shot (when going semi-auto) it gives up on me (even when completely pumped) so... some units may be more reliable then others.
Titan AS-V1: The Nerf rocket launcher (Banned in wars unless its shooting balls or rockets)
Price: $40 as part of the Unity Power System
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermedate
RoF: Crap (unless you make a hopper or RSCB)
Range: Insanely Good
Recommended mods: You can honestly just slap a coupler onto the front and go have fun shooting holes in cardboard)
Scout IX-3: Sleek looking reverse plunger single shot pistol (Looks/feels great but get a NiteFinder or Sharp Shot instead unless you're already getting the UPS)
Price: $40 as part of the Unity Power System
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Beginner
RoF: Crap (single fire)
Range: Good
Recommended mods: CPVC barrel replacement works great
Dart Tag Line
Note: Make sure to buy the ones with blue triggers if you can as they have been injected with performance enhancing drugs to make them better (actually, better springs :D )
Swarmfire: A foam flinging monster when voltage modded (Great performance when voltage modded)
Price: $15-30 (some Targets seem to be clearing these out)
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Intermediate-Hard (ranges from AR removal and battery replacement to motor and gear stuff)
RoF: Crazy Good once modded, Good if you just remove ARs
Range: Good
Recommended Mods: AR removal, battery replacement (ie with Trustfires, RC batteries, etc.)
Speedswarm: 'Nerfed down' version of the Swarmfire (hahaha) (Buy a Swarmfire instead)
Price: $20
Everything else: More or less a Swarmy with 1/2 the capacity and lower RoF
Quick-16: The 'Raider' of the Dart Tag Line featuring a built in clip (Buy a Raider/Alpha Trooper instead)
Price: $15-25
Mod-ability: Okay
Difficulty: Intermediate
RoF: Good
Range: Okay
Recommended Mods: AR removal, avoid this blaster, it jams like it was designed to
Speedload-6: Compact version of the Quick-16 but with a 6 round clip (Buy a Raider/Alpha Trooper instead)
Price: $10-15
Everything else: Same as above
Sharpshot: Dart Tag version of the Scout IX-3 (Buy a NiteFinder instead)
Price: $5-10
Mod-ability: Good
Difficulty: Beginner
RoF: Crap (single fire)
Range: Good
Recommended mods: CPVC barrel replacement works great
Vortex Blasters
Praxis: The rapid fire Raider of the Vortex line
Price: $25
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