Buzz Bee Toys BUZZ BEE Belt Blaster with Suction Darts
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Belt Blaster is Cool Gun - Just Wish It Worked Better!
Pros
Gun looks great, ammo belt is neat, high capacity 30 darts
Cons
Jams, belt falls apart, performs poorly without pristine ammo
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Great looking dart gun with cool ammo belt, unfortunately in the "real world" the Belt Blaster isn't reliable, accurate, or fast enough to match up against other dart guns.
I’m an adult who never let go of his inner child. So when my son received a really cool dart gun as a present, I went looking for my own gun. I bought the Buzz Bee “Belt Blaster” on sale for $10 (regularly $19.95). I’ve had the gun for a few months now, and my overall feelings on this gun are mixed. The following is my review in detail:
DESIGN
The Belt Blaster is a really cool design. The most prominent aspect of this dart gun is the ammo belt used to feed darts into the gun. This gives the Belt Blaster a cool look, like it is a heavy machine gun. It also gives a superior capacity of 30 darts. The ammo belt links can be disconnected, allowing you to set them up in a continuous loop or a single line. The gun has a cool door on top that opens to allow you to set your ammo belt in place, then close it down to “lock and load”. The action is semi-auto with each shot requiring a pump from the front handle. The rest of the gun has a nice solid body with integrated carry handle and a stubby stock. As an adult, the gun is a decent size, although it is pretty big for smaller kids.
PERFORMANCE
Out of the box, the Belt Blaster fired pretty well. The gun relies upon air pressure generated by the single pump, which can send the darts about 30-35 feet. It does take a decent amount of force to cock the mechanism, which I don’t think younger kids would have an easy time with. Accuracy wasn’t too bad initially. However, as the darts started to get used, the gun became much more finicky. Pretty soon, darts would come out of the barrel slower or in random directions. Part of the problem is the barrel; it really doesn’t serve a purpose except for the rubber dart tips to catch on and lose speed and accuracy. This also leads to frequent jamming problems, as darts sometimes get stuck in the barrel or don’t fully leave the ammo belt. When I started having play battles with my kids, I’d find my Belt Blaster put me at a disadvantage because of the frequent jamming and irregular dart trajectory.
QUALITY
The overall build of the Belt Blaster is pretty robust. For a mechanical gun, I found the moving parts were plenty tough enough to put up with abuse from an adult. The case is nice and solid. However, the ammo belt is rather fragile and can come apart rather easily, especially during play. Getting the ammo links back together can be a pain, and I’m starting to see the plastic on the hinges showing fatigue.
THE GOOD
Of all the foam dart guns I’ve seen in stores, the Belt Blaster is one of the coolest looking ones out there. The ammo belt feeding mechanism is really fun to play around with and gives this dart gun a real-world look to it. The gun itself is pretty robust and holds up well in a grown man’s hand.
THE BAD
Unfortunately, as a dart gun, the Belt Blaster doesn’t perform well once the darts start getting used and the ammo belt starts falling apart. During gun battles with my kids, I’d find myself having to stop to clear jams and fix breaks in the ammo belt far too often, while my kids pelted me with darts from their more reliable “Tommy” dart guns.
FINAL VERDICT
As cool as this gun is, it doesn’t really work well in play. If you just want a cool looking dart gun for target practice, this is a fun gun to play around with. However, if you’re wanting accuracy, speed, or reliability in a heated battle with your kids, this gun will probably let you down.
CAUTION: Always wear eye protection when playing with these toys. The foam darts may seem harmless, but they are travelling fast enough to cause injury to the eyes.
DESIGN
The Belt Blaster is a really cool design. The most prominent aspect of this dart gun is the ammo belt used to feed darts into the gun. This gives the Belt Blaster a cool look, like it is a heavy machine gun. It also gives a superior capacity of 30 darts. The ammo belt links can be disconnected, allowing you to set them up in a continuous loop or a single line. The gun has a cool door on top that opens to allow you to set your ammo belt in place, then close it down to “lock and load”. The action is semi-auto with each shot requiring a pump from the front handle. The rest of the gun has a nice solid body with integrated carry handle and a stubby stock. As an adult, the gun is a decent size, although it is pretty big for smaller kids.
PERFORMANCE
Out of the box, the Belt Blaster fired pretty well. The gun relies upon air pressure generated by the single pump, which can send the darts about 30-35 feet. It does take a decent amount of force to cock the mechanism, which I don’t think younger kids would have an easy time with. Accuracy wasn’t too bad initially. However, as the darts started to get used, the gun became much more finicky. Pretty soon, darts would come out of the barrel slower or in random directions. Part of the problem is the barrel; it really doesn’t serve a purpose except for the rubber dart tips to catch on and lose speed and accuracy. This also leads to frequent jamming problems, as darts sometimes get stuck in the barrel or don’t fully leave the ammo belt. When I started having play battles with my kids, I’d find my Belt Blaster put me at a disadvantage because of the frequent jamming and irregular dart trajectory.
QUALITY
The overall build of the Belt Blaster is pretty robust. For a mechanical gun, I found the moving parts were plenty tough enough to put up with abuse from an adult. The case is nice and solid. However, the ammo belt is rather fragile and can come apart rather easily, especially during play. Getting the ammo links back together can be a pain, and I’m starting to see the plastic on the hinges showing fatigue.
THE GOOD
Of all the foam dart guns I’ve seen in stores, the Belt Blaster is one of the coolest looking ones out there. The ammo belt feeding mechanism is really fun to play around with and gives this dart gun a real-world look to it. The gun itself is pretty robust and holds up well in a grown man’s hand.
THE BAD
Unfortunately, as a dart gun, the Belt Blaster doesn’t perform well once the darts start getting used and the ammo belt starts falling apart. During gun battles with my kids, I’d find myself having to stop to clear jams and fix breaks in the ammo belt far too often, while my kids pelted me with darts from their more reliable “Tommy” dart guns.
FINAL VERDICT
As cool as this gun is, it doesn’t really work well in play. If you just want a cool looking dart gun for target practice, this is a fun gun to play around with. However, if you’re wanting accuracy, speed, or reliability in a heated battle with your kids, this gun will probably let you down.
CAUTION: Always wear eye protection when playing with these toys. The foam darts may seem harmless, but they are travelling fast enough to cause injury to the eyes.
