Rebelle Guardian Crossbow - Review

After recently purchasing a Rebelle Guardian Crossbow, I found it a difficult blaster to review. Don't get me wrong, I like it, I just cant find the words to describe the way it makes me feel.

What I needed was a representative of the lines target demographic. What I needed was a girl. Then I remembered that my wife is such a creature. She seemed genuinely excited by the blaster so without further ado, I hand you over to Mrs. UKNerfWar for a woman's perspective on the Nerf Rebelle Guardian Crossbow.

"I’m really not so much of Nerf enthusiast, more of a Nerf widow, but given that the demographic for this new offering from Hasbro is aimed at us girls, my husband has asked (repeatedly and insistently) that I write this review.

When he first told me about the new range being released for girls I immediately pictured a Strongarm painted pink and orange - which is fair enough but it wasn’t really enough to wet my appetite. Then I heard the words ‘Heartbreaker Bow’ and ‘Guardian Crossbow’ and Hasbro had me. I may no longer be a teenager (*ahem*) but I can still clearly recall wishing I was Susan from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (the TV series not the film) when Father Christmas presented her with a beautiful bow and arrows – so my expectations with these new products are understandably high.

Susan's bow from 1988 BBC production of 'Chronicles of Narnia'

 

So starting at the beginning let’s discuss with the packaging – the stereotypical pink aside it’s pretty enticing with its touchy feely embossed labelling, moody hot pinks moving into purples and subtle but edgy swirly design work guaranteeing that at the very least I would pick up off the shelf for a good look.

Once I finally managed to liberate it from its cardboard and sellotape prison (no scissors required in my eagerness to regress to my childhood fantasies). I was still coasting the hopeful wave endued by the packaging. The ‘Crossbow’ itself feels pretty sturdy. It has perfect proportions and is made up of clean smooth lines with some fairly attractive design work, although for some reason I cant help but feel as though this was either an afterthought or without as much enthusiasm as the other packaging.

Putting the ‘Crossbow’ together is simple but requires firm hand and satisfying click. The stock braces nicely against your shoulder and the trigger sits comfortably in your grip (win win), unless you are a man and then maybe not so much. The grip is definitely moulded for a smaller hand.

The reason I feel the need to put crossbow in quotes is because I am using the term very loosely. It seems to be where the girls differ from the boys. To me, there is some confusion as to whether this is in fact a crossbow or just a glorified blaster. My husband certainly feels that it would be better with the bow arms and string removed. However, I am slightly disappointed that bow is little more than an accessory and not really essential for firing.

The collectible darts leave me a little undecided too. While the variety means they have all the bases covered and I certainly have my favourites. I’m hopeful that you will be able to buy packs of your favourite design as opposed to just a mixed selection. I particularly favoured the black and pink dart and if they sold just packs of those I would be a happy girl.

 

Firing the blaster for the first time was... not what I expected. It sounded a little ‘clunky’ but felt robust in my hand. My first shot was not as powerful as I would have liked but after firing the rest of the darts, it would seem that the first was more human error than the ‘Crossbow’. Given the right conditions and correct aim I have every faith it will more than meet my expectations.

So on the whole I’m impressed with it and secretly looking forward to exploring Narnia (or my back garden as its more commonly known) equipped with my new favourite firearm. (That it until I can get my hands on the Heartbreaker Bow). If it was Hasbro’s aim to expand their fan base with a new demographic then they are right on targets with the Rebelle line.