Buzz Bee versus Nerf, Tek 10.. a-aaand Action!

"The power of the sun... in the palm of my hand."-- Dr. Octavius in Spider-Man 2.

To a kid, the Tek 10 (2005) will look fusion-powered, with a built in nuclear accelerator, if he or she has any concept of those words. To older kids the Tek 10 is less gloopy than its previous incarnation. Gone is the funky bee look (which made no sense other than to reinforce the Buzz "Bee" trademark. The Tek 10 is more aerodynamic looking as if it were shaped in a wind tunnel.

Sporting a 10-shot capacity, the Tek Ten is part of the "Air Zone" line of foam dart-firing blasters produced by Buzz Bee Toys Inc. It is quite possibly the most serious contender to the Nerf domination of superior single-handed blasters.

Advantages: lots of ammo. And the ammo goeth far. Farther than the Maverick, it bested the Maverick's range by about 3-5 feet. Again, as usual, I'm talking about effective distance indoors, angled at about 30-35 degrees, fired down the hallway in the house here. It's not an apples to apples comparison to the Maverick Rev-6 (6-shot capacity) and is about $1.99 more expensive. But you're talking about $1.99 for four extra rounds of capacity. That's 50 cents per extra shot. You do the math.

Disadvantages: still cannot fire Hasbro darts without forcing them in and crushing the foam. While the Tek 6 (2005) suffers from a short grip, the Tek 10's grip is longer -- an absolute requirement to handle plastic of this bulking size -- but it still fails to be long enough for my medium-sized grown-up hands. Also, ammo availability so far appears to be limited to you writing Buzz Bee and ordering it by mail. Futher, while it's trigger is wider than the Tek 6's, it's "T" shaped in cross-section, so its edges may cause some discomfort to the fingers even though the "T" effectively makes the trigger pressing surface wider.


Another word about the grip: while it feels less awkward than the Tek 6, it's trigger area is so wide that you can put two fingers on there if you're a kid. But the remaining two fingers will have a hard time weilding the front-heavy without support of their other hand. As an older kid (yes, adults are considered "older kids" here on NiF!) I found that I can only keep the fingertips of two fingers on the trigger -- any more than that my fingers would feel squashed. Yet with only an index finger on the trigger, the space on the grip outside of the trigger guard is barely enough for the rest of my hand.

A more appropriate comparison would be the original Hasbro Dart Tag (2005) 10-shot. Here, the Dart Tag has superior range, but again this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. The Dart Tag "Tagger" ammo is quite possibly more aerodynamic than the suction cup darts that Buzz Bee provides; the more aerodynamic the ammo is, the less it will be affected by air resistance and therefore travel farther. A lot farther. Sonic darts with the Dart Tag can achieve indoor distances of roughly 35-45 feet. The Dart Tag has the advantage of having a vertical foregrip. With the Tek 10 you'd have to palm the front of your gun as if had a horizontal foregrip.

To prime it, you pull the gray colored slider back, which cocks it and rotates the next round into firing position.

In terms of looks, it's not as handsome as the Nerf Maverick (N-Stike line). However, it's best apples-to-apples comparison is the Dart Tag, and as you may recall, the Dart Tag isn't part of the N-Strike line and thus does not benefit from its sci-fi look. In other words, the appearance of the Dart Tag is acceptable but nothing to write home about. I feel that aesthetically they're tied. The plastic on this one I've reviewed is primarily yellow with gray parts, and some areas of the yellow are painted dark blue. The paint doesn't feel like paint, which is what you want. The previous iteration was "gloopy" becuase it not only looked gloopy, it felt gloopy.

Where could it improve? I would recommend a vertical foregrip because the blaster is front-heavy. That would have put it head-to-head with the Dart Tag. I'd urge Buzz Bee to use a warmer (redder) shade of yellow, as this particular shade here looks cheap. I'd also lengthen the grip by 0.75 inches so big kids' hands can grasp it comfortably.

These are minor suggestions in comparison to the potential of this "sleeper". To overcome its inherent incompatability with Hasbro's Nerf darts, after-market modifications will have to be made, and there are various mods that you can search for online. It is said that the Buzz Bee toys are easier to modify than the Nerf toys. You decide what works for you.

Hasbro should be paying attention to this one. Why? Because for roughly $10 they have the equivalent firepower of the Dart Tag 10-shot, whereas the only way right now to purchase a Dart Tag is to buy the "Nerf Dart Tag 2-Player System" -- a boxed set of two, which costs about $39.99 (the price may have dropped to about $35). To be fair, Hasbro bundles this boxed set with two felt vests and two visors. The downside is that the visors are useless for large kids or adults, and the Dart Tag "Tagger" ammo is dangerous to the eyes without visors. I usually advise people to find a friend and to share the cost, then either rip off the velcro from the darts or use safer Sonic darts instead (which make a fun whistling sound and are the best of all of Nerf ammo in terms of aerodynamics).

The thing for Hasbro to consider is that someone who has roughly $10-12 who wants instant gratification, who has no brand loyalty to Nerf, and doesn't care if his/her ammo won't be compatable with that of Nerf-brand blasters will find their purchasing option a no-brainer.

In terms of price, the Tek 10 is difficult to beat. In terms of range and usability, the Dart Tag 10-shot capacity blaster is better only by a margin. If Hasbro is paying attention to this, I think the ultimate Buzz Bee killer would be a 12-shot capacity N-Strike version of the 10-dart Dart Tag -- but with the N-Strike style of looks, with a vertical foregrip. Will Hasbro make one soon, or will we have to wait till next year?