Disclaimer: This was a sample that Hasbro sent to me for review. Kinda.
To make a long story short, I bought one, wrote a review, forgot about it and sold the blaster. Then, Hasbro sent me one. I had another blaster in my review backlog, until this one was given away. I then found the draft of my review and revised it. Such is life.
Rival Edge, a Walmart exclusive, is focused on marksmanship and not team gameplay. TheMercury was a Kronos with a bolt handle prime, and came with a plastic reactive target. The Jupiter, meanwhile, takes that concept up a botch, with a long body, ten round internal magazine, and true bolt action; it also includes a somewhat more satisfying target. Its not the most practical blaster for wars, but for its intended purpose it works perfectly.
What Exactly Is A Biathlon?
The Jupiter is a toy-like weapon that you would see at a shooting competition. For the best angle, the blaster features a long body that has both a rail-mounted monopod and a bipod. The blaster has a long rail on its top, but the iron sights are sufficient. The blaster has a neon yellow motif running the length of it, with orange splashes for good measure.
The bolt-action on this blaster does mean that its geared toward right handed individuals. Sorry, lefties, thats one of those things about being a smaller segment of the population.
The blaster is extremely comfortable. It has a sturdy handle that’s easy to hold and a rubber cheek rest for those who use it for target practice. Its not so long as to be unwieldy for a Nerf war; you can still maneuver relatively well with it. The magazine being at the front of the blaster does make reloading take slightly longer. However, thats just a necessity of the design if youre using this for rapid firing, youre probably doing it wrong anyway. Not that Id stop you from trying.
The bolt-prime was not uncomfortable. It is just the right length to prime the blaster and rests against your shoulder.
The Blaster
Functionally, the Jupiter is a Kronos, with an extended priming mechanism and an internal magazine facing rearward. Theres nothing surprisingly out of the ordinary in this regard.
Blaster Performance And Use
My expectations were exceeded by the Jupiter. For fired balls, the blaster claims speeds of 90fps. Both blasters I used (at different points) averaged 98fps. This is closer to the Rival line.
Because of the mechanism, however, the rate at which fire occurs is slightly slower. For quickly priming your blaster and firing at the target, one ball per two seconds is a good idea. However, with ten balls, you have a decent amount of time before needing to reload. The magazine appears to be flexible enough to allow you to add one or two more balls without any jamming.
Wait, Isnt There A Target?
Right you are! The Jupiter also comes with a large plastic, reactive target, one thats better than that which comes with the Mercury. In this case, instead of just a large weight at the bottom to balance, the target has exposed metal! Joking aside: The target base is made of a small, metal plate that vibrates when it hits the reactive target’s lower half. You can think of the small, metallic xylophone-like instruments that you played in elementary music school and imagine the high pitch tone you hear when you hit the target.
Somewhere out there, a music teacher just melted down over my incorrect combinations of musical terminology.
In any case, its a lot more pleasing having the auditory cue from hitting the target than just seeing it move, Its also fun hearing it go off continuously after extended fire from a Nemesis or Perses!
