My husband and I are both wary when it comes to projectile toys. Our 7 year old son so very much wanted a Nerf gun after playing with them at his friends' houses. We decided he was responsible and mature enough to own a Nerf N-Strike BARRICADE RV-10 Blaster
, which is recommended for ages 6 and up, as long as he agreed to follow the rules we set for using it.
This blaster is battery-operated and runs on 3 "AA" batteries. I did not know what to expect when I saw that it was motorized. It turns out that the barrel only revolves once with each pull of the trigger, which is much better than a stream of continuous shooting from this parent's point of view. The gun comes with 10 "Whistler" darts. You can purchase additional darts, but you will need to make sure you buy the exact ones that are compatible with this model. There are also other attachments and accessories that can be purchased separately.
(Click any image to enlarge)
There are some safety features that I like very much about this gun. First of all the darts are foam with cushioned rubber tips. The second thing I like is that there is a "Jam Clearing Door" that slides open and shut at the top of the gun. When this door is not clicked shut, the motor will not turn on even if the switch is in the "On" position. The trigger cannot be depressed and the gun will not fire without the motor being on.
The rules we have set for our 7 year old to use this Nerf gun are as follows . . .
- He is not allowed to use it when his 4 year old brother and sister are around. We tried it and they are just not disciplined enough to remember to not move too close to the targets.
- He is not allowed to shoot at anything except pre-approved targets. There is no aiming at people, pets, the television, walls, or anything.
- Turn the gun off when he is not actively shooting it. This will help prevent him from absent-mindedly pointing the gun at something else while talking and accidentally shooting off a dart.
So far, I think this is a fun toy for our 7 year old son. He is able to manually load the darts into the revolving barrel, which he thinks is pretty darn cool. I have found that the only time the gun seems to jam is when he does not push the darts all the way into the barrel. Our 4 year old twins are definitely not mature enough for this toy. Even with close adult supervision, they would constantly be distracted and be pointing the powered-on gun in all different directions.
To learn more about the Nerf N-Strike BARRICADE Dart Blaster
, visit Hasbro.com. This toy retails for approximately $16.99 by itself, but you may be able to find it specially packaged with extra darts or accessories for a different price. You can look for it most places where Nerf products are sold, including HasbroToyShop.com, Toys "R" Us, Amazon.com, Target, and more.Thank you to Nerf for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.
