Super Soaker Monster (2001)

The Super Soaker Monster was released in 2001 as a smaller, more practical version of their Monster series- the previous being the X and XL. Sure it’s smaller and more practical compared to its bigger brothers, but it’s like saying a baby elephant is pint sized; it’s just not! It’s still quite a sizable unit that can still dominate any water fight; alas these blasters aren’t available any more and they’re pretty hard to come by, unless you’re lucky- which we were:) We had a rare opportunity to pick up a never been used Monster for our test unit given it was 10 years old but still in original packaging; it was to say the least.. impressive..

 The Super Soaker Monster is striking looking unit in a black purple and translucent yellow/green. The first thing you have to say about it is it’s pretty big as with many of the CPS blasters of the day, even compared to the current day Hydro Cannon. It comes with a shoulder strap, and rightfully so- this blaster has a 2.2 litre water capacity tank and is definitely one to be wielded with both hands. The Monster as a guided rail/tracked pump that slides back and forth like a shot gun to pump the air tank up. Given the size, it does require a considerable amount of pumps (around 20ish?) which is a bit of a pain, but when you finally squeeze the trigger, it’s VERY satisfying. 

The Monster uses the Constant Pressure System (CPS) mechanism to fire and that means it’s very powerful;  it also comes with four interchangeable nozzles that you can rotate between depending on the type of play.

Three of the nozzles are just aperture sizes differences, but there’s also the fourth fan style nozzle for larger spread coverage. When you talk about water fight dominance, this is it; it’s just absolutely drenches anyone in your path- this is not the hand held squirt pistol you hide in your school bag during lunch hours; this one is not meant to be concealed (good luck to ya if you could).

 Of course, being as powerful as it is means the water drains pretty quickly, so the Monster also comes with a “quick fill device” that you can attach to a garden hose and allows you to refill the blaster much faster through a front attachment. It’s pretty clever stuff, even though most of the time you’ll probably just use the traditional screw top lid on the tank to refill.

Interestingly enough, the Monster in a way outclasses it’s larger, bigger brothers; as far as performances and functionality, it’s a more powerful blaster than the X and XL. It’s considered “mid sized” against similar units and squares off against CPS blasters like the 1500 or 1700, although by today’s standards they’re quite large. Although solidly built, being so big and heavy does mean the blaster does feel a bit awkward when pumping and running about with light squeaks and parts of the blaster (especially the pump and hand grip).

Collectors always go on about the likes of the Super Soaker CPS 2000’s, but in most battle conditions you’re just not going to notice the real difference with a blaster like the Monster against it. If you want a decent all round blaster with a tilt to intimidating size, I’d have to say this blaster does it. Four different nozzles, a large tank with CPS performances and looking sweet to boot? We love it:)

When the weather warms up a lil, I'll look to do some performance test vids:)