This is not the way. – me

By Iain Delaney: In the Star Wars universe, the Amban Phase-Pulse Rifle is a modified sniper rifle capable of disintegrating its targets with a single shot. The bounty hunter Din Djarin (the titular Mandalorian) carries one to impressive effect during the first two seasons of the Disney+ series.

In our universe, though, the Amban Phase-Pulse Rifle is a disappointing, over-priced, inaccurate toy replica of the TV series prop. It starts off promisingly, with dark packaging ornately decorated and lettered in gold. Opening the box reveals a large plastic tray holding the blaster. Hasbro obviously made this product before they switched to plastic-free packaging.

The blaster is 50 inches long, making it probably the biggest Nerf toy ever made, but the designers did not take advantage of the added length. The first thing you’ll notice is that the colors are wrong with a lot of white broken up by splashes of orange. And, unlike the Aliens Pulse Rifle Nerf Blaster, it’s not a coherent color scheme. Unlike other blasters in the LTMD line, this is a disappointing look.

The disappointments continue in the features: there are almost no special features in the toy. The “sniper scope” which has an electronic display in the show, is useless on the Nerf toy. It’s opaque and its one function is a small, red LED in one corner. It’s a bit of a joke, really.

The loading and cocking mechanism is unique but cumbersome. You pull back on the cocking handle which opens the breech. Insert one Nerf dart into the breech (the toy comes with ten), close the breech, and push the cocking handle back to its starting position. The rifle is now ready to fire. Pulling the trigger launches the dart and then you have to repeat the process. So the blaster is one of the least efficient, most expensive Nerf guns on the market.

Unlike the Aliens M-41A Pulse Rifle, there are no electronic displays or sound effects. And at $150 US, 50% more than the M-41A’s $99.95, the Amban Phase-Pulse Rifle is a terrible deal. The market has realized this, and there are new copies of this ’Limited Edition’ still for sale, and heavily marked down. Even at discount prices, I can’t recommend this toy to anyone, hardcore Mandalorian fans or otherwise.

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Iain Delaney was born in the UK but moved to Canada at an early age. The UK heritage explains his fascination with British TV SciFi, including Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO, and, of course, Dr. Who. After fumbling through high school, he fumbled through university, emerging with a degree in physics. With no desire to pursue graduate studies he discovered that a bachelor’s degree had little to no job prospects, so he took up a career in computer programming. In his off time he reads, watches TV and movies, collects toys, and makes attempts at writing. To that end he has a small number of articles published in role-playing game magazines and won two honorable mentions in the Writers of the Future contest. He is working on an urban fantasy YA trilogy and entertains delusions of selling it to movies or TV.