New Nerf Forerunner: Do Kids Actually HATE the Blaster?
Probably not... But do they love it? Ehh

The Nerf Forerunner is the latest and greatest blaster from Hasbro Laboratories. It is a short barrel pump- action blaster with a pistol grip and a 12 round internal magazine. If you want a more in-depth look at the Forerunner and you missed my original review, you can check it out here: The New Nerf Rival Forerunner…

While the Nerf Forerunner is technically a new blaster, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The Nerf Rival Takedown was one of the first Rival series blaster that resembled a shotgun. It’s a short sawed-off looking shotgun style blaster with a traditional sloped grip. The Takedown also has the same internal magazine as the Forerunner, albeit at a lesser max capacity. There’s also the Nerf Rival Saturn, an exquisite full length shotgun blaster with a 10+ round internal magazine. Unlike the Nerf Rival Forerunner, it has a nice rifle style fixed buttstock and the ability to Slam-Fire rival rounds at a rapid rate-of-fire! I love this thing so much…

Also, while this article (and the accompanying video) go over the Nerf Rival Forerunner and other comparable shotgun styled blasters, they all got their internal magazine tech from the Nerf Rival Kronos. The Kronos was the first Rival series blaster to utilize the internal tube magazine and besides the capacity, not much has changed under the hood. The Nerf Rival Kronos was definitely a blast and remains one of my favorite Rival blasters to this day.

So I guess the real question is: With options like these still floating around, is the Nerf Forerunner really cutting it? Anyway, that’s enough from me. Let’s go straight to the target demographic with this one and see what my 9 year old kid thinks!

My Kid versus the Nerf Forerunner

This is my son, Donnie Knights. He’s into Fortnite, Call of Duty, Minecraft, Roblox, and even more video games than I can name. He’s the prince of “Touch grass? What’s grass.” But he does like Nerf blasters. In my hopes to actually get him outside and teach him what grass is, I will let him test out all of my new Nerf blasters and occasionally let him hop in a YouTube video with me. The endgame is to get him to go to an organized Nerf War and get him hooked!

This is the Nerf Forerunner. You met it earlier. My son had no problem pulling back the pump-action grip and loading the blaster. He noted that priming the blaster required only moderate effort. Operating the blaster was also seemingly simple for him and he was able to do it smoothly and without pause — although when inspecting his performance in the video, his firing test with the Forerunner does seem a bit shaky and could most likely benefit greatly from a stock attachment of some kind. This is a problem, though, because the Nerf Forerunner does not have a shoulder stock or even a stock attachment point.

I don’t think I asked him to rate them, but he did it anyway and so we’re going to be using ratings. The Forerunner gets a solid 7 out of 10.

Donnie Knights Compares Blasters

Next up, my son Donnie Knights will test out some other shotgun style Rival blasters and compare them to the new Nerf Forerunner.

First, we go over the oldest of the bunch: the Nerf Rival Takedown. The Takedown was, once again, loaded very easily. My son has some experience loading my limited edition Nerf Rival Deadpool Kronos blasters, so loading these blasters was familiar to him. Firing the Takedown was even easier than the Forerunner. Its compact, “sawed-off” body design made it easier for him to control and his shots were more steady and accurate. Donnie gives the Nerf Rival Takedown a solid 9 out of 10.

Next was my personal favorite, the Nerf Rival Saturn. Once again, and even with the larger size of the Saturn, loading the blaster was no problem. The size of the blaster did unfortunately cause problems elsewhere in this firing test — the actual firing. This blaster was the hardest for him to prime and shoot. The longer size of the blaster, coupled with the smoother grip with no hand-stop led to a difficult time for the young lad. Surprisingly, though, his shot was still reasonably steady. The stock, even when just braced against the side of his body led to a steadier shot than with the Forerunner.

My son repeatedly complained about the size and weight of the Saturn. He even demonstrates how the blaster is quite literally half his size. Despite these complaints, Donnie still gives the Nerf Rival Saturn a solid 8 out of 10. His reasoning behind the rating? Slam-Fire is just too fun. The fact that the Saturn has Slam-Fire “carried it a lot.”

The Nerf Forerunner vs The Competition

Alrighty then! There you have it. My son, Donnie Knights, compared 3 different Nerf Rival shotgun style blasters. And which one came out on top? The Nerf Rival Takedown, of course. When compared with the Nerf Forerunner, he likes that the Takedown is more compact and has a less aggressive pump grip. He also prefers the sloped shotgun grip to the pistol grip on the Forerunner. He even likes the paintjob better on the Takedown. Sheesh.

If he were substantially older, I believe he might lean towards the Saturn. He really enjoyed the Saturn’s Slam-Fire, even though he struggled with wielding the mighty shotgun blaster. I don’t know if he’s picking up on my lack of enthusiasm towards the Forerunner or what, but it definitely seemed to be his least favorite of the three blasters.

Ultimately, the Nerf Forerunner might still clutch the victory in the long run. The Forerunner is a brand new blaster, fresh out of the “Hasbrotories” for 2023. The Nerf Rival Takedown was released three years ago, back in early 2020. Likewise, the Nerf Rival Edge Series Saturn XX-1000 was released in Fall of 2020. So the biggest thing going for the Forerunner is time… The Takedown and the Saturn are already starting to become difficult to find.

So how can the Nerf Forerunner lose if the other blasters simply are not there? Each of these shotgun blasters offers something different and, depending on who you are, one of those older blasters could offer something better for you, than the Forerunner. But when the availability of the other similar style blasters dwindles down to zero, the Forerunner will win by default. Or maybe Hasbro will release something even better by the time that happens. Who knows?

Nerf Forerunner Conclusions

So do kids hate the new Nerf Forerunner blaster? I can’t answer for all children, but my son definitely doesn’t hate the Forerunner. He doesn’t hate it, but he doesn’t exactly love it, either. If the Takedown is there, that’s his go-to blaster. Every time. He loves the compact size and it also reminds him of Reaper’s Hellfire shotguns from the video game Overwatch. (I know there are actual Hellfire shotgun Nerf blasters, but I never managed to get a pair and now they’re somewhat hard to find.)

Should I Buy The Nerf Forerunner?

If you’re buying the Forerunner for a kid that likes Nerf and is old enough to prime most Nerf Rival blasters, then sure. The Nerf Forerunner is a pretty good blaster. It’s really only when comparing the blaster to similar blasters from the past that any issue comes up. So if your son or daughter already has a Nerf Rival Takedown or one of those other shotgun blasters, then they may not be thrilled with the Forerunner. If they don’t have any of those older blasters, they will probably love the Forerunner.

Final Thoughts and Opinions

That’s all for this one, Nerfers and gentlemen. Let me know your thoughts on the Nerf Forerunner and any experience you might have with your kids (or your nieces and nephews or whatever) using this blaster. I personally prefer the Nerf Rival Saturn for myself and my son prefers the Nerf Rival Takedown. But everyone is different — the Nerf Rival Forerunner has a slight increase in the ammo capacity over the other blasters and it’s also the only one with a pistol grip. You have to weigh all of these options and determine what works best for you. Thanks for reading.

If you want more ideas on new Nerf blasters to try out, browse my site some more or head on over to Nerfgunattachments.com to browse their Nerf ideas and recommendations. As always, take care of yourselves and each other. RIP Jerry Springer.

Last update on 2025-06-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API