Diary of a Network Geek

I’m just a big kid.

No, not at heart.  I’m just a big kid.  Period.
I buy Nerf guns for myself.  *Fully automatic* Nerf guns.  And, yes, sometimes, I buy LEGO sets for myself.
I admire the guys who make super-cool original LEGO spaceships and post them on Flickr, but, for those of us with less skill, there are still some great sets we can get for, um, “dioramas”.  Yeah, yeah, that’s it.  As displays.  Definitely not toys which are certainly not played with while making “zoom zoom” sounds.  Nope.  Not at all….

Right, so, anyway, if you’re into that kind of thing, Gizmodo has some of the best new LEGO sets coming out this year.
And, if you’re just keeping your inner child a prisoner this Friday, go look anyway.  They’ll love you for it!

A Nerf “Tommy gun”?

Okay, this isn’t quite as cool as the Vulcan EBF-25, which was fully automatic, but the Nerf N-Strike Raider CS-35 is a close second. It’s a pump-action gun with a 35 dart drum magazine. Not fully automatic, but, then again, it doesn’t need batteries, either. If you follow the link you’ll get to a page with plenty of pictures and a short video of the Raider in action.

What’s cool is that drum magazine. I’m not sure how they’d do it, based on the mechanisms but rumor has it that the drum magazine from the N-Strike Raider will fit the N-Strike Vulcan. Now that would be cool! Just imagine, not only would you have ten more shots, but no hassle loading up a belt, just snapping in a magazine.

Well, we have a bit of a wait on this. It’s just been announce at a toy convention and I haven’t heard a word on when it will hit the streets.

You knew someone was going to do this, right?

Okay, given my obsession with the ultimate Nerf weapon, the Vulcan EBF-25, I’m sure many of my readers thought I would be the first person to make super modifications to it. I’m proud to say that I am not. I may be a geek, but I’m not that big of a geek! Those guys are here: Nerf Chaingun Modifications.

Basically, these guys made the EBF-25 four times more awesome by adding a better battery pack and a cooler paint job. The paint job is, I think, self-explanatory. The battery pack, however, is what makes it a chaingun. The bigger, better batteries give the motor which drives the belt more power, which means this already incredible weapon can fire up to four times faster.
I think I may start counting the days until it’s warm enough to paint in my garage again…

VulcanEBF25-06-Setup

Originally uploaded by Network Geek

The Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25 is ten kinds of awesome!

Okay, so my N-Strike Vulcans arrived today. They rock! Well, okay, I only unboxed one, but this one rocks so hard you can feel it a county away. Truly.
So, when I first got it and tore into the package there was a wire, or three, on everything that I quickly got tired of untwisting. When I got the kitchen shears and started just cutting them off, things went much better. It took a little bit of playing to get all the parts to snap into place, especially the ammunition box that holds the belt. The other thing that was a little tricky was the battery compartment. When I first got the batteries in, and tried to fire, I got nothing. So, afraid that I’d gotten a defective one, I tested the batteries in a lantern. Once I had tested all six of the D-cells that this monster needs to be fully automatic, I got the battery tray set and locked down, then, joy of joys, very quickly shot an entire belt of ammo across my living room. Then, I did it again, just to make sure the mechanism was working correctly. Only after all that did I clip on the tripod and start taking pictures.

You’ll notice in the picture that there’s also a spare belt and a carry strap. Also, the package of eight batteries is in the picture. Or, rather, the last two of the eight, because, you know, the other six are in Vulcan. The tripod has two push-button releases that let it snap on and off. One weird thing about it, though, is that it makes a funny grinding noise when you move it and the legs fold up when you pick it up.
A commenter mentioned that his “sukz” and didn’t shoot well. Sadly, he must have gotten a defective one because mine shoots fine. Actually, mine shoots well. Never jammed, belt fed all the way through, and the darts all flew more than his all-too-short three feet. They also flew straight and true and fired off at a decent rate. Oh, and it’s noisy, too. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it does have a definite, meaty, mechanical, macho sound when it hurls little Nerf darts of joy at your opponent.

Seriously, this is totally cool and worth every penny I spent on it. Every. Last. Penny. I mean, c’mon, it’s a fully-automatic, belt-fed Nerf MACHINE GUN! If you loved Nerf guns as a kid, you owe it to yourself to get a Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25. Totally worth it!

VulcanIsGO

Originally uploaded by Network Geek

I ordered two Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25’s yesterday.

Why, you ask? Because I can.
Seriously, I’ve been watching this since I heard the announcement about it on Gizmodo.com. These were supposed to have been in stock, but sold out. So far, I haven’t heard about anyone actually buying them, though. Naturally, when I saw that the Hasbro website was claiming they were in stock, I had to order one. And, just in case, I thought I should go ahead and order two.

Oh, one thing to know, too, is that for the same price as the regular EBF-25, at the Hasbro website, you can get the Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25 value pack, which includes a carry strap and a spare belt for your FULLY AUTOMATIC BELT-FED NERF MACHINE GUN!

Sorry. I guess my inner child is looking forward to getting this.
Who knew?

Oh, my stars and garters!

Well, somehow, I missed the release date of the Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25. It was released on July 1and available via a number of online retailers, including Amazon. But, sadly, it’s already sold out! Yes, just nine days after becoming available the most awesome Nerf belt-fed machine gun ever dreamed of by geeks and, one supposes, children, everywhere has sold out.

Naturally, I added it to my wishlist.

Okay, look, I normally only post one fun/funny thing a week, and usually on Friday, but this was just too good…

So, my regular readers will all know about my obsession with the Nerf Vulcan, a fully automatic belt-fed machine gun, and you new readers may have just been clued in. Now, I still don’t have a release date on this bad-boy yet, but, I do have a link to video.
Yes, thanks to Gizmodo, I bring you a link to the Great NERF Office War video, featuring the Nerf Vulcan EBF-25!

Good times!