The Stryfe is a classic blaster in modern Nerf. The Stryfe has been repainted many times, as have other blasters like Fortnite SMG and Revoltinator. It’s a classic for modders all over the world. It and its various iterations have also slowly gone up in price over the years. The Alpha Strike line is a budget blaster that aims to be competitive with blasters made by other companies. The second wave sees the Flyte become the Stryfe blaster line. But is it worth the price tag?
It’s Not Quite A Skeleton
The Flyte, as a budget battery-powered blaster, does cut corners. Generally speaking, its in places that make sense. The stock is skeletonized for easy molding; its short, but good for kids. The grip doubles as a battery tray, which itself is skeletonized on the inside and opens via a clip-in door. The plastic will crack if you keep it open and closed for too long. It is sufficient for most consumers who only need to change the batteries once or twice a year. It is not a great gripit, but it does the job.
The internal parts of the machine have been reduced to the minimum, and any metal has been eliminated. Youll see that at the end of the review.
Although the handle is not as large as previous Alpha Strike blasters, it is still comfortable. Although it’s not the best, it is sufficient. The trigger pull is nice, though not as smooth as a Stryfe. The rev trigger, however, isnt nearly as comfortable, as you need to press it all the way in to hit the switch. As a result, it digs into your finger.
The jam door is still present, but its thin and flexible, and doesnt have a safety switch associated with it.
The hole is far enough away from the motors so that children shouldn’t be able stick their fingers in dangerous places.
The magazine does match the right dimensions and work, though it feels thinner than before (and is also a one-piece design that folds up and snaps together). Putting the magazine in the blaster, however, requires depressing the (small) mag release button; due to the design of the tab in this blaster, it cannot retract by itself when a mag is inserted. Its another small thing that detracts from the the experience, in the name of saving money.
Ultimately, the blaster itself feels solid to use for a complex blaster, you can only remove so much, and the areas you normally grip it in feel right. Its a much better balance between cost and user experience, even if its not perfect.
Performance
The Flyte performs quite well, averaging 71fps on fresh AA batteries. Of course, that means waiting between shots for the motors to spin up. It is possible to fire three darts per second if you are looking for rate of fire rather than range.
Internals
The Flyte comes apart with some careful application of leverage. There are two screws to remove at the front, and then nine clips spread around underneath the outside of the blaster shell.
You can see that many things were changed or eliminated in the name cost. Theres only one switch in the entire blaster, and only the necessary safeties: the rev trigger lock, and the magazine lock. Only half of a flywheel cage is needed, as the other side is molded into the shell. Except for the compression spring for pusher, all spring tension is provided by the flexing plastic arms.
You can see the magazine retention tab better here. It is a huge hooked lever that prevents it moving out of place by simply inserting a magazine. The tab is a separate part of most blasters similar to this.
As of yet, there are no aftermarket cages that can clip into place. However, several Nerfers have already been able to replace the motors and install larger aftermarket flywheels with light plastic removal.
