NerfRival Curve Shot - Flex XXI-100 Blaster - Fire Rounds to Curve Left, Right, Downward or Fire Straight - 5 Rival Rounds

“Best single shot Rival!” says my son.When we play with one shot pistols this is the one he’s picks every time (we have Knockouts, and Fates). He loves the curving “gimmick” and it’s ability to hold more balls than our other single shot rival pistols.

Pros-another winner from the best line that Hasbro makes within the Nerf Family-built like a Benz-original pkg-turbo shipping to SF,Goofy but effective gimmick and lotta n finally on board storage for a single shot!🙌Cons-Hard to prime, colors r odd, otherwise a must buy!👍Btw- for $11.50?! Dudes I paid $6.19 a gallon for regular in San Jose last night! Gas is needed ya but so is Nerf!!💥

My ProChrono Digital chronograph measured the speed of the Rival Rounds fired by this stock Nerf Rival Curve Shot Flex XXI-100 blaster at an average of 88 feet per second (FPS) using Rival balls (it is not compatible with shooting darts), Nerf Rival Accu-Rounds: 91 FPS, X-Shot ammo: 89 FPS, and HeadShot ammo: 86 FPS, respectively). The standard average velocity of a Nerf Rival blaster is 100 FPS so the velocity of the Flex’s shots are somewhat less than the standard. However, it is marketed as a curve or arching shot sidearm and with this feature it seems to work as advertised. The secret of their improved accuracy claim seems to rely on the rotatable barrel indent on the inner side surface of the barrel, making the rival rounds that pass through the barrel hop up, down, to the right, or left…. Whichever way you wish it to curve toward when fired. There are four settings when turning the barrel in order to make the balls spin in those directions. It may be easier to operate than the Rival Knockout, but still takes some intuition in order to operate. Apparently you need to pull down on the T-bar handle, awkwardly, since it is not as simple as pulling back it due to the downward angle the priming handle is facing, which is at the bottom of the handle. Pulling on the priming handle activates the breech to open up and also makes the front barrel extend forward, revealing the breech to allow the insertion of a round, or two. Even three at a time, but it will be cumulatively weaker in force when firing multiple rounds; The blaster was designed for one at a time, but it is comical that it allows more than one if you so choose. The draw weight is considerably difficult as it is, but to pull downward poses a unique challenge that causes weaker nerf operators to turn the blaster sideways just to prime it, that is, if they are even capable of reaching the priming threshold. The Flex is aesthetically appealing in design but suffers in performance aspects due to the Jolt-esque design underpinnings. The dominant orange coloration seems to make a mockery of the standard white, black, and orange Rival trim colors. There are 8 curved indentions (4 on each side) on it’s elongated hand guard which allows the user to store Rival Rounds with a friction-fit that one would expect to fall out while moving around, but somehow they always stay put. It is easy to overlook the tiny locking switch “safety” mechanism located in front of the trigger. Thankfully there is a sling-mount located at the top of the pistol grip, which is a welcomed addition on a sidearm that cannot be holstered due to, say, having an elongated hand-guard that eliminates the prospect of holstering and drawing it traditionally. I find the pistol grip beefy, comfortable, and ergonomically pleasing. Unusually enough, there is no internal locking mechanism preventing the blaster from being fired before closing the breech. As a result, the round will not seat into the breech until the front barrel is pushed inward. What is particularly alarming is that the T-bar at the bottom may pinch the user of the trigger is accidentally activated when the user is not ready. I personally have experienced an uncomfortable “slip and nip” while doing my testing, and I do worry it may hurt others. Nerf typically goes out of their way to insure the blaster does not work until it is properly loaded, but in this case they did not feel like it was a concern (and maybe they were right as far as the projectile not being able to misfire, but just not preventing the T-bar from accidentally crushing down on an ill-placed finger). In conclusion, like the Knockout, I do feel that having to seat the round into the breech by pushing in the front barrel is still an extra step to have to perform in order to operate the blaster, but I suppose Nerf wanted a safer single shot blaster that exclusively shoots balls only. This glorified Rival Jolt is still more function over form, but it’s existence helps to fill in the missing void of the single-shot budget back-up blaster that people can plink around with at home or at work (or wherever permitted). Curving your shot around a corner or behind cover is a creative idea that simply needed to be entertained. Competitive “Nerfers” will probably not be using this Flex blaster much, but it does indeed accomplish what it was designed to do. I just cannot see Nerfers practicing with curving their shots enough to utilize this feature in an actual Nerf War, although I do admit that I could just as easily be wrong about that; we will see.

Purchased for use in physical therapy to help regain fine motor skills required to operate a real steel firearm. Yes I know there is a huge difference between a toy and real firearms. That being said I recently suffered an injury to my hand and until my strength recovers I am unable to manipulate the slide on my real pistols. This item helps relieve the stress on recovery and allows me to safely practice proper grip placement without fear of dropping a real and very expensive firearm.

Fun and accurate. Faster than the nerf darts and the curve is noticeable at longer distance. Might be hard to pull for 6-7 year old wimpy boys, but they can use their feel to pull it. Might need more balls as they seem to get easily lost.

I bought this on clearance for a friendly nerf game we had going on at our office. Definitely a lot bigger than expected and shoots quick and far. Not exactly appropriate for a friendly game, but if you're looking to do some damage at short range, look no further.

I don't know exactly who is supposed to enjoy this blaster. The curve shot gimmick is amusing, but it's not pronounced enough to be useful in gameplay.The spring release has a strange kick that throws off your aim, so it's not very functional for target shooting.It's ergonomically weird, and the reload/fire flow is kind of janky. I LOVE the Rival Knockout (the previous one-shot rival gun). That gun, in spite of having a five-step loading process (compared to the flex's 3 step process), feels more smooth and tactical. It really flows. This gun is just not very fun. But they're discounted 50% at the time I'm writing this, so I wouldn't think you're dumb for picking one up at that price. Just don't expect much satisfaction.

Great new addition to my collection! It will be helpful in my nerf rival wars! Although it does not curve as much as it advertised. It is also huge! Look in the picture. This will be the important information there is nothing else to say. By the way I’m not big. So my hand is like 4 or 5 inches long.