Nerf Ultra series has had a difficult first year. The Ultra One had the capacitybut not quite the pinpoint accuracy advertised. The Two had a fun mechanism, but still accuracy issues. The Four and Five were decent springer pistols, and the Three (review pending) is long and awkward.
Now, we have the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh abandons the naming convention but it also gives us a removable magazine, and an Ultra blaster that is more fun. After using it in a war, I can say its the best Ultra blaster to date. Whether thats good enough for performance-minded blaster fans, though, is up for debate.
Tell Me Im Pretty!
The Ultra Pharaoh is, hands down, one of the best looking entries in the line. There are the usual annoyances (extra paint only on one side, etc), of course. But the blaster looks really good, and perfectly balances the sniper rifle setup with the cartoonish proportions aesthetic.
The main news is, of course the removable Ultra magazine. The magazine can hold ten darts and has a clear front and yellow back. To match the gold blaster motif, the darts are also available in yellow. A separate point: The yellow darts are much easier to retrieve than the standard black darts. Why didn’t they embrace the premium aesthetic?
Ultra handle. We have concluded that the handles of this series don’t have the best features. The thumbhole stock at least isnt cramped, and you can reach out your index finger to operate the magazine release with ease.
The gold scope is fixed permanently; attachments can be used at two points below the barrel for bipods and other items.
It is very easy to prime the blaster thanks to its long, gear-assisted bolt action. If anything, Hasbro got the play aspect correct here.
Finally, the large stock actually has storage for another magazine. Assuming that you already have one. No word on whether those will be sold separately.
Performance
My testing revealed that the Ultra Pharaoh averaged 108fps (quite the punch). Given the nature of the beast, dont expect to stray far above one dart per second; rate of fire is not the strong suit of bolt-action blasters.
Accuracy isagain, what you expect from Ultra. Close range groupings are decent, but dont expect a nice parabolic arc when aiming far in the distance. The packaging and marketing have changed from Pinpoint Accuracy, to Improved Accuracy (compared with Nstrike Elite darts).
Even so, at the war I brought this blaster to, it was a ton of fun, and the blaster was satisfying to use.
Internals
I didnt see anything out of the ordinary when opening up this blaster. Admittedly, I have less time these days to physically tinker with blasters, but given the strength of the spring, Id be surprised if replacing it gives a significant enough benefit to matter. I fully expect someone to adapt this blaster for half-length darts and magazines, however. It all depends on whether someone is willing and able to model both the adapter as well as the replacement breech parts.
