As is usual, a few blasters are released at the tail end of the holiday season without much fanfare. Compared to rereleases like the Modulus Longstrike and flagships like the Prometheus, the Rukkus ICS-8 isnt a blaster that will receive much fanfare. Its a large, quirky pistol that, for really doesnt do anything special, especially when blaster like the Buzz Bee Jaguar or the Dart Zone Havoc Powerclip have done more in a smaller package for less than half the cost.
Battlescout Redux
For some reason, Hasbro likes to occasionally put out blasters with unique clip systems. The Mega Thunderhawk and Battlescout are two examples of blasters that have been produced in recent years. In each case, the blasters were rather subpar in at least some fashion, whether by performance or price.
At least the Rekkus matches its capabilities better than its price. The blaster is primed via top slide, firing from an eight round, non-removable clip. You can also slamfire the blaster by holding the trigger and firing it as fast as possible.
Although the shell is solid, it is not inspiring in design. The Infinus has the same textured tiger stripe design. It is easy to grip with the large, textured and open grip. With some ribs for gripping, the priming slide works well. They are not as smooth as they appear and can be difficult to use with sweaty hands.
The integrated clip, which is semicircular in form, sits at front of blaster. Its also rather large and heavy. It moves upwards on the return motion from the priming slide and requires the same force to move it as to prime it. This slows down the rate at which darts are fired to approximately 2.5 darts per seconds. Thankfully, the blaster gets Elite performance, with darts averaging 65 fps.
The blaster isn’t disappointing on this front.
Reloading the blaster in one go takes a bit of time, since part of the clip is always obscured by the barrel. Theres nothing preventing you from manually moving the clip (with a bit of force), however, so reloading on the go can still be done. But its a very clunky implementation.
Look Inside
The Rukkus’s outside panels can be removed easily and reveal a Strongarm/Disruptor-type system. The plunger is moved backwards by a priming sled until it catches. A ratcheting mechanism prevents anything other than a complete priming motion. A white indexing arm is also pushed forward to complete the forward slide motion. This moves up the clip, retracting after a white locking lever (at the bottom of the sled) is tilted out of the way.
Last Thoughts
The Rukkus isn’t a superior blaster. The integrated clip actually slows down your rate of fire, due to the extra engineering and force needed to raise that much mass. I’m sure there are others who will come up with something more fun, such as 3D printed removable clips. But for everyday use? There are much better options available.
