A little background…
In late winter of 2020, two new Dart Zone branded blasters exclusively landed on the shelf at Dollar General stores across the country. Availablity was either limited, spotty, or non-existent making it difficult to acquire. The Storm Squad dart blaster had a bit better luck finding and staying power on the shelves but the more interesting of the pair – the Apex, seemed to only appear in select stores for a single wave. This led to it being ignored by anyone who wasn’t either a DZ collector, an HIR fancier, a cylinder pistol fanatic, or part of the journalism wing of the hobby. We lucked out and were able to find one just before the world shut down – I was the only one in the store not looking for Toilet Paper – but neglected to get a write-up done. A year later, the blaster showed up in Dollar General again in seeming greater numbers and completing holes in many of the above collections. I picked one of these up as well, hoping there had been an unmentioned improvement as we saw in the Adventure Force Sentry X2 but found there to be no difference in performance.
Recently Dart Zone and Target put up an Apex two-pack featuring what looks to be a new design and new HIR rounds. Naturally, we had to see if anything had changed.
Basic Stats
The Dart Zone BallistixOps Apex 2-Pack Ball Blaster is available at Target for 19.99. This includes two Apex X-2 blasters and 16 Power Strike rounds. This product is an online-only Target exclusive arriving in the now-familiar Dart Zone online-exclusive brown box packaging. This arrived inside another shipper, should this cause concern. Interior packaging is minimal but more than adequate to protect the product inside. A single strip of cardboard separating the blasters and the box holding the rounds is it – no ties, no plastic bags.
Blaster Comparison
We were unable to find anything distinct in the externals of the blaster beyond very different serial numbers on the upper front right of the blaster.
Internally they are slightly less identical, though only in three noticeable areas.
The first obvious difference is the spring. The new spring is noticeably stiffer. The lock has been thickened and shaped a little differently.
Lastly, the gasket has been replaced with one that looks to be a smidge thicker.
The new rounds
The new Power Strike rounds are a bright safety yellow and slightly denser in feel. The surface pattern has changed from triangle dimples to a lined pattern.
Look and Feel
It is clear, looking at this blaster, it is a Dart Zone HIR blaster. It features the same slightly but not over the top SciFi aesthetic as the rest of the line, decorated with stippling, mocked cutouts, and replaceable panels. The grip is at the small end of adult-sized though still comfortable. The main complaint will be the blaster’s use of the safety trigger that Dart Zone uses with their springers – though we find it a workable solution. The prime slide is on the stiff side, matching a Kronos or an updated Sentry X2. The prime auto-return is nice but the design leaves the locked plunger exposed – something that might be bothersome for some. The turret does not rotate if the trigger is pulled, preventing any effective form of slam-fire. The plastics used are the same robust plastics we have come to expect with Dart Zone HIR springers.
Performance
The original Apex’s performance was in the same, below-expected range that the Sentry X2 and Liberator were released in. While well above Elite dart standards, the mid-80s were simply disappointing for what is expected of a baseline HIR springer. The X2’s improvements bring the Apex up into the range we expect, providing a solid 96 average. This doesn’t seem to be an effect of the new rounds, swapping rounds between the two models yielded results in the same ranges as before.
Conclusion
All in all, this is a decent blaster at a good price for the pair. There are caveats. If you aren’t a fan of revolvers, you’ll probably be happier with a Kronos, Sentry X2, or Chaos Meteor. If you are a fan or are looking for something fun and different for a pistols round, this might just be the blaster for you.
Don’t Take My Word for it…
Other reviews as found.