Build
and blast.
Regular
visitors to the site will know that we're big fans of both LEGO and
Nerf. So imagine our excitement when, back in January at the London Toy Fair, we discovered there was a product that combined the
building fun of LEGO with the crazy foam dart blasting action of
Nerf. After an agonising wait we've finally got out hands on the
K'NEX K-Force Flash Fire Blaster. Yay!
For
those who aren't familiar with the system, K'NEX is an American brand
of building toy which uses rods and multi-angle clips to allow kids
to build pretty impressive (and large) structures. You might have
seen their Ferris wheel or roller coaster sets before, but the
K-Force line of blasters is something very different.
A
Nerf blaster (the motorised fly-wheel versions, anyway) is
essentially just a battery pack linked to something that chucks dart,
right? So all the extra stuff like the body and the stock and sights
have all been added to make it look different. So imagine if you
could decide how your blaster looked; what shape it was, how many
darts it could fire, what colour it was... that is what the K-Force
range is all about.
We
were sent the K'NEX K-Force Flash Fire Blaster to try, although the
line also includes air-powered blasters that work under a similar
principle. Essentially the kit contains the chunky fly-wheel section
(into which you install three AA batteries), a hand grip, a clip, ten
foam darts, and more than 280 normal K'NEX parts. If you follow the
instructions you will build the Flash Fire Blaster, a two-handed
weapon that, even for an adult, is pretty big and weighty. But, and
the box and instructions offer plenty of inspiration here, kids can
go off-grid and build whatever the hell they want, building around
the motorised section and adding the grip and other parts wherever
they choose. Which is pretty awesome.
This
was our first ever K'NEX set, but we found the system to be a breeze
to master. There aren't many different kinds of parts, and each has a
different colour, meaning putting this thing together, even for wee
ones, won't take much more than an hour – less if they decide to
make a smaller blaster. The pieces themselves are very tough and
hard-wearing, and we're quite sure they could survive hundreds of
building sessions.
So,
the blaster itself... K'NEX brag that once assembled it can shoot the
darts (which are the same size and shape as a Nerf dart, although
with a slightly different rubber point) up to 75 feet, which is
basically a way of saying 'the furthest we ever got was 75 feet, so
good luck, yo!' In our indoors test we managed to get an average of
about 65 feet, which is still pretty excellent and definitely puts
the blaster up there to rival something by Nerf. It isn't automatic,
which means you have to pull the trigger for every dart you shoot,
but that means the fly-wheels get a chance to recover after every
dart, which in turn makes each shot just as powerful as the last. Oh,
and there is a switch on top which activates the fly-wheels, and an
auto-off function when you pull out the clip. This means the motors
are only churning away when you're ready to fire, saving the
batteries.
Speaking
of the trigger; you have to build it! The included grip is just that;
a lump of ergonomically designed plastic for you to hold onto. The
trigger mechanism uses an elastic piece to draw it back after every
shot, and lots of smaller joints and clips. Still, it was pretty easy
to assemble, and the whole construction could be preserved and used
in another blaster build. We also really like the included ten-dart
clip. It slides in easy to the receiving port on the motor section,
and also features a textured grip for you to hold while blasting.
K'NEX were also kind enough to send us an extra one, the Ten Dart
Clip Blister Pack, which features a transparent red magazine and more
darts – definitely worth the purchase if you want to shoot for
longer!
We're
really excited about this new range from K'NEX, and also quite
surprised that one of the other building toy companies hasn't thought
of this before. Getting just one of these sets (be it this one, or
one of the air-powered blasters) is enough to keep the kids
entertained for ages, as they create different blasters, and also
anything else they want with the K'NEX parts. We're looking forward
to reviewing more from these guys in the future.
£39.99
