I was thrilled to hear that Prime Time Toys, the company behind Dart Zone, was expanding its Rival-type product range. Although the Powerball had only been available for half a year, it was already proving to be a great value at a reasonable price. Officially released today was not only a revamped springer, but a Zeus/Hera competitor known as the Accelerator. Although it is not the best blaster, there are still many good things.
Whats Inside
The Accelerator is an electric, semi-auto blaster powered by six D batteries. In one of many nods to cross-compatibility, Prime Time Toys used a similar battery tray to current Rival offerings. This allows the Nerf Rival Rechargeable Battery to be used.
The 25-ball hopper feeds the Accelerator, which is loaded via a flap on the top. The hopper is removable, and can be replaced with the 8-ball hopper from the spring-powered blasters.In addition, Rival magazines can be used.
The Accelerator’s shell hides Rival-type flywheels or motors. Safety switches are also connected to a loadedhopper and a jam door. The simple lever-pusher mechanism pushes the balls into the cage. Yes, it is literally a Rival Stryfe.
Instead of a rubber flap, a plastic ridge is used to provide hop up.
The shell itself is solid with plenty of textures, and the build quality is on par with Nerf. The side plates can be switched with included red and blue plates, for your preferred team colors. This is a nice idea.
In-Game Performance
The Accelerator was available in-store on Sunday just before an indoor war in Cincinnati. I was able to complete the task with a half-drained Rival rechargeable battery.
Among the things I noticed:
- Shots tend to fire downwards.
You will have more shots than you think when youre used the extra hop-up of modified Rival blasters. Aim up five degrees from level.
The Accelerator performed well, especially when you consider the war’s superstock nature. It works great with a dump pouch full of balls for feeding between skirmishes. Cross-compatibility is not perfect, as shown by the mag issue. However, the battery tray, and the ability to usevirtuallyany Rival type ammo, are great additions.
Balls had an average velocity of 93 fps, using a fully charged Rival rechargeable battery.
Thoughts On Modification
Separately from the actual blaster quality (good) is what we can do with it. There are no boards that need to be soldered from the motors and the circuit is simple.
In addition, the simple trigger mechanism lends itself to the possibility of a motorized adaptation. I would expect to see full-auto kits for this blaster. Whether the motors can keep up with full-auto fire is, of course, another matter.
If you want to use Rival mags, you NEED a stronger return spring on the pusher.
Finally, the hopper at the top could be expanded to hold more ammo.
Conversely, it would be extremely easy to make some sort of adapter for a continuous feed mechanism, a la the HIRricane modded Zeus.
POST-REVIEW MODDING EDIT 01/18/18
After rewiring an Accelerator and adding a connector for a 3S battery, my Accelerator averages 120fps, with the motors revving up extremely quickly after each shot. I also replaced the extension spring that was attached to the pusher’s white lever arm. With a stronger spring, Rival magazines are now usable; the pusher can retract againstthe force applied by the magazine spring. Finally, the noise is less than that from Nerf Rival blasters similarly modified. Time will tell how well the motors hold up to the extra power.
