Urban Taggers.: Lanard Total X-Stream Air Rotator X-8

The "Total X-Stream Air" Rotator X-8 is a revolver style blaster from Lanard Toys; it has been available for several months in the US, but it's the first time I've seen them available in Australia, let alone in a new "Clear-X" finish. Lanard don't have the biggest presence in Australia-they normally get rebranded under the Toys R Us exclusive Air Zone banner or occasionally show up at Toyworld's so it was quite the surprise to find them at our biggest department store chain Myer. Looking for a Maverick alternative? Well it's hard to not make comparisons between the Rotator X-8 and the Nerf classic, but is it a genuine rival?

As it stands out of the box, I never thought the original stock colour scheme was the prettiest; that being said I'm not convinced the translucent "Clear-X" scheme I picked up was that much of an improvement. Still, the design of the blaster has a natural steampunk look about it and I've seen it repainted with some pretty impressive results in exactly that style of paint scheme.

The Rotator X-8 is an 8 shot blaster with a unique cocking mechanism that sticks out of the hilt of the blaster-pull it all the way out and push back in and the dart is primed and ready to go. I don't really know how I feel about this- sure it's unique and novel but it's awkward to use and you just feel like you're waiting for it to break every time you pull it.

Unlike the Nerf Maverick, the barrel doesn't pop out; there's a groove on the left side of the blaster that you load your darts through and just manually rotate the barrel till your 8 rounds are filled.

Lanard darts are shorter than standard Nerf darts; the original Rotator X-8 came with yellow darts with black tips but this clear series scheme comes with white darts with green tips. They sort of resemble streamlines, only they have holes in the front; I'm sure there's some reason for this:) The Rotator X-8 can only take these Lanard darts and you'd need to chop your Nerf ones down if you were going to use them at all.

Quality of the blaster isn't bad; as always it's no Nerf but the Rotator X-8 is still pretty decent. Being a Clear X series version of the blaster does mean it is pretty much paint free but it kind of works; just a few stickers and some green and orange accents finish it off. I'd probably be happy about ditching the green, but everything else is kinda cool.

The Rotator X-8 has a cool hammer at the back of the blaster that moves when you fire the trigger. It kind of does nothing but it's just a lil detail that I thought was adding to the novelty of this gun.

Performance-wise.. I kinda thought it was pretty ordinary to be honest. I found jams were pretty common, and darts would irregularly dribble out of the blaster, fire with gusto to the desired 30ft, or spiral out of control. I've given it several attempts and while I think it's not anywhere near rubbish, it's still not that fabulous either.

It IS unique and novel which is what would make you want to buy one of these, AND it was only $12.95 which I thought is pretty cheap and worth getting. I'd recommend it for the novelty factor, but for actual foam battles, I'd probably stick with the Maverick.