Halo Toy Review: Mattel Halo BoomCo Assault Rifle

Technical Specifications:
Accessories: x2 dart magazines, X16 plastic darts
Additional Contents: Instruction Manual
Cost: $50 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail I got mine from Toys R Us (for $25 due to them going out of business.)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The Assault Rifle, magazines and darts are all visible in the box. There is no window holding you back from touching it. (On this note, I do suggest you wash the toy off after you’ve removed it from the packaging as you don’t know who was handling it before you.) The front gives you the detail that it shoots up to 60 feet distant. That’s pretty decent!

On the back there are some additional details. I’ve clipped those out and blew them up bigger to highlight them here. A mini-history lesson on the MA5 (on the left). To the right, you see how the gun is loaded, armed and ready to shoot.

This is everything you get in the package. The instruction manual is between cardboard layers in the box. So take care not to miss that, should you through away the packaging of the toy.

You get 2 magazines which each hold up to 8 darts. The darts themselves are plastic tubes with a slightly sticky topper. Note that the darts themselves are not hard plastic, but rather thin, which I reckon to stay on the safer side of things. When you load the magazine, be sure to push all of the darts down as far as I have shown in the pic below.

To load the gun you simply slide one of the magazines into the side of the “body” of the gun. As you fire the trigger, the magazine will move to the right, allowing for another dart to be fired. You can shoot the gun single shot by pumping the gun (pulling back the black grip area on the underside of the body of the gun) OR you can make it go full auto by pumping it a few times, THEN firing the weapon.

You can store the additional magazine in the butt end of the gun. There’s a handy slot to slide it into. It will lock into place. To release it for use, push in on the red button (as highlighted by the green in the graphic below).

The darts do not fire through the barrel itself. Rather, they fire through a hole just below it. So adjust your aim accordingly!

And finally, for a cool little graphic, there is a blue readout. It’s non functional and only a sticker. But still, it looks pretty cool!

Evaluation
• The Assault Rifle is a decent size for adults and will feel large for small children.
• The packaging calls for this to be used by 8 years of age and older. I definitely agree with that.
• I do wish that instead of a gaping hole on the side of the weapon, there was a trap door of sorts that would either swing out or slide back so you could insert the magazine. ON that note though, if you’re buying this to be used as a prop for cosplay, you will have to make some modifications. It’s best used for it’s intended purpose as a dart gun.
I wish the color of it matched the game. Specifically the Halo 5 version. I get why it wasn’t as it might be mistaken for a real gun, hence making it red. I may paint mine to be more in-game accurate. (Though truthfully, I want several of these so I can paint some of the cool “skins” on them as seen in the game.
• I’m happy that this comes with 2 magazines and 16 darts. That’s plenty to fire and if you lose a couple of darts, you’ve got back up!
• At the normal retail price of $50, I think it’s a little overpriced. But then, I’m not usually in the market for dart guns, so this could be the norm. I think it’s worth $35, so I’m glad I was able to get it on sale for $25!

Do I recommend this product? YES! There are several different BoomCo Halo dart guns. If you could only pick one to own, THIS would be my suggestion! 

I will be using this and all the other BoomCo Halo dart guns at my annual LAN this year. Look for a video of that some time in August (2019). Hopefully I can get some fun footage showing the distance it can shoot!

If you have any questions about this figure that I didn’t cover in the review, please do not hesitate to ask me. Either reply below or e-mail me at [email protected]

If this review gives you an informed decision on whether to purchase the toy or not, please consider a small donation (50 cents) to the blog.You can donate via PayPal to [email protected]. Or just click the paypal link at the right on the main page of the site.  It’s much appreciated and helps ensure that HFFL stays registered/active on the internet. Thank You.

-Sal

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About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal