System Opinions, Part 1

So I've decided that for the next couple of days I'm going to be writing daily entries concerning my opinion of current laser tagging systems out there that I've been able to use.  Some of these are systems that I own and use quite often.  Others are merely impressions I've had of exposure to a system for a short time or that I know enough about to formulate an opinion of.

First up is gear that I wish I had the opportunity to use again.  Myself and a few other laser tagging buddies of mine were exposed to this through a guy who ran a Mobile Laser Tag business here in town.  His company was called "Laser Recon" and he has since moved to the West Coast and set up shop there with this equipment.  The gear was purchased from "Adventure Sports".  The equipment is much like military-grade equipment (like MILES) and is about the most durable and reliable stuff I've ever had the pleasure of using.

Why?  Because it's got enough basic operation to it to be used by anyone easily (not laden with gimmicks) but advanced enough to have the system customized to do whatever you want.  Sound effects, lighting effects, range, Rate of Fire, reload time, partial damage points, the options are through the roof.  This equipment setup, specifically, is also quite nice to use.  The durability of these things is unparalleled, with most of the models having metal casings.  Sensor coverage is about as realistic as you can get with head sensors that are domed and give 360 degree coverage.  Some of the blasters even have a gun-mounted sensor.

With all the praise I've given them, I bet you're wondering why I don't have an arsenal of these myself.  Truth be told, the way I run things, I could never afford a system like this to do what our group currently does.  If this were a "everyone owns their own set" thing, that'd be different, but the pricetag on these is still up there.  I can easily outfit a group of 20 players with a store-bought laser tag system for the price of one or two of these guys.  I had the pleasure of being able to use this gear when Laser Recon's founder was here in town.  It still tops my list as one of the best that I've managed to get my hands on.

Ready to "Gear Up!"

Nerf's "Gear Up!" series N-Strike Blasters are hitting shelves here in the Midwest.  I spotted Raiders and Barricades at a local Wal-Mart.  I haven't been able to find Vortex blasters, like a few others have.  This is likely just a distributing error on the retailers part, so it would just be dumb luck if I were to find some of those around here.

Can't say I'm super psyched for a two tone Halloween Nerf blaster series of recolors, so I doubt I'll pick some of these up.  If I ever see a Whiteout series blaster though, I'll be nabbing that pretty quickly!  If you ask me, the Whiteout series should've been the colorscheme for "Gear Up!", not the construction worker blasters.



Pricing so far has been identical to the normal blasters.  I suppose if you were bummed that the Barricade doesn't come with the Raider Stock, at least it's in the same colors as the Raider now!  I have yet to spot the Maverick or Recon in these colors yet, but I'm sure they'll show up soon enough.  Nerf Mods & Reviews also has online ordering information for "Gear Up!", Whiteout, and Vortex from Wal-Mart's website.  Details here.

Season 6's last 3 Games

We're on approach to the last 3 weeks of the OLCA's 6th Summer Season.  August 1st, 8th, and 15th are the final weekly games that are scheduled.  From the looks of the weather, August 1st is on the brink of being cancelled at the hands of a Heat Index of 101.  The OLCA has already cancelled one game a few weeks ago due to dangerously hot temperatures, and I get the feeling we might be in for a second.

That being said, this season has been a hot one in general, with the Omaha area seeing record pushing temperatures for 4 weeks straight now.  As a result, we've been getting LOTS more use out of our LTTO and LTX blasters for the simple fact that A:  they work better in sunlight and B:  you don't have to wear a vest with them.  As a result, we have neglected our LC gear and some of our vets have really been missing them.

Anyways, I wanted to share a few pictures of our recent games.  Click on the picture below to view the album.

New Products Stateside

A trip to one of the Target stores near me revealed the first I've seen of Max Force on local shelves.  They had the Blowgun, Shadow Hawk, Crossbow, and Maximizer, as well as extra ammo, all in stock.  From what I could tell, they had literally just been put there, as it looked like someone was restocking shelves.  Prices for Max Force that I observed were the following:

• Blowgun: 9.99 USD
• Ammo:  9.99 USD
• Maximizer: 19.99 USD
• Crossbow: 24.99 USD
• Shadow Hawk:  34.99 USD

These are pretty pricey for plastic spitwad guns if you ask me, but when I went to pick up the box containing the Shadow Hawk, it at least had some noticeable heft to it.  There are dozens of good reviews out there for these, so if you want to form your own opinion on whether the pricetag is worth it, check them out.  In my opinion, Urban Taggers has the most complete reviews I've seen around of these.  

From what I can tell, the Crossbow is just an aesthetically altered Maximizer.  It has the same blaster design as it if you ignore the crossbow parts.  There's even a little hook on the end of the Maximizer handle that looks like it accepts the red rubber band that would make it a Crossbow.  The Crossbow is also, mind you, a Target Exclusive.  It does claim to get 5 more feet of range over the Maximizer though, so perhaps the performance increase of that rubber band is actually worth something.  

I did not spot a Terrornator in my searches.  I was tempted to check out the Shadow Hawk had it not been for the pricetag.  The jury is still out on these for me, personally.

Light Strike Pricing so far

Light Strike has made it to shelves here in the US at Toys R Us locations so far (only store that carries them to date).  Folks have been asking about pricing information so I took some pictures of the products I've spotted thus far and recorded their prices here.  Since my intial spotting, I have also found additional accessories for this system.

• Refractor Launch System:  14.99 USD
• Strike Target: 11.99 USD
• Target Vest:  29.99
• Strikers:  34.99 USD
• Assault Strikers:  44.99 USD

These are the only products I've been able to find so far and pricing is obviously subject to change.  Toys R Us is generally the most expensive retailer (Nerf Blasters alone are usually marked up 5 bucks or so), so these might go down when they hit other store shelves.

Unleashed Kits

Awhile back, when Nerf Mods for the N-Strike line were becoming more popular, I noticed that the ModWorks of SG Nerf had made aluminum replacement parts for some of their internals.  From a bolt sled for a Longshot to a Plunger tube on a recon, their results looked pretty legit and led to stronger and better internals for these blasters.  I started seeing those in 2009/2010.

Fast forward to '11 and now there's a site called Orange Mod Works that is developing upgrade kits for N-Strike Blasters.  These kits replace key parts with custom-fabricated aluminium parts for a better seal, stronger parts, and overall better performance.  They started out with the tried-and-true Nerf Recon CS-6 and have announced other N-Strike Blasters as well. They've begun to release these online at their website and reviews of their products I've seen thus far have been favorable.  I've been thinking of upgrading one of my own blasters, but I'll have to wait until they've released the kit for it:  the Longstrike.

Still, it's a neat site that offers products I've yet to see sold like this.  I suppose the only downside is that the prices are about that of a brand new Nerf Blaster.  The Alpha Trooper "Stage One" kit sells for 18.99.  I think my Target has Alpha Troopers on sale for 19.99/17.99 depending on the sales.  Basic modifications for AR Removal will get you a notable performance boost already, but the more I look at OMD, the more I think it's worth the investment for a great blaster.

The only trouble is that I tend to switch primary blasters pretty frequently... and I would have a hard time deciding which of my blasters to purchase this kit upgrade for!

The Eagle has Landed

Looks like Light Strike is officially State-side.  Found at the Toys R Us at 76th & Dodge in Omaha, NE.

They had one type of each of the Strikers and Assault Strikers as well as sensor vests.  No add-on hardware there yet.

As usual, I'm expecting Toys R Us' prices to be the highest, so if I DO pick this up for testing, it'll be whenever it hits Wal-Mart or Target shelves.