Nerf Switchfire (1994 Edition) Review

Performance stats

Figures are TeamNC's original bench measurements from 1994–2001 testing; see how we tested.

How it works

1. Load: Insert four ballistic balls into the Switchfire's orange ball launching attachment, and one missile into the orange missile launching attachment. Extra missiles may also be inserted into the missile launching attachment's holders, but these missiles will not fire. Place the attachment you would like to use on the base unit's blue attachment post, and twist until the attachment locks in place.
2. Prime: The Switchfire's ball launching attachment needs to be fully filled with four balls, or you will have a difficult time getting this attachment to fire.
3. Fire: This blaster does not need to be primed.
4. Step: Pull back the Switchfire's black firing handle and push it forward. The ammo contained with whatever attachment you are using will fire. All four balls in the ball launching attachment can be fired in succession, but the missile launching attachment needs to be reloaded after each shot.
5. Step: The attachments of the Switchfire are prone to launch off the blaster unexpectedly. Be careful not to hurt someone when you are using this product.

TeamNC reviews (1994 era)

Review by Andy Grau

The Nerf Switchfire takes two very bad ideas of the Nerf product line - Missile ammunition and interchangeable parts, and combines them into one product. In addition, this blaster also uses the mediocre Ballistic Ball ammunition, thus making the Switchfire a very poor launcher overall. To make matters worse, the interchangeable parts of the Switchfire never seem to stay in place. Indeed, although the missile and ball barrels are designed to lock onto the base unit, they always seem to unlatch themselves at the very worst moment, often propelling the barrel farther than the ammo.

Tonka pulled the Switchfire from production very quickly because of the aforementioned problems, thus making the blaster a collectors item. If you're not a collector, though, stay away form this launcher - it's of very little value otherwise.

Review by Matt Michal

The Nerf Switchfire fires balls and missiles. Enough said? Well, because the launcher uses the two worst types of ammo it is logical that the blaster is terrible. Both the balls and missiles have horrible range and accuracy. However, this is stereotypical of all ball and missile blasters.

What makes this blaster worse than all the others is that Hasbro decide to use both types of ammo. The Switchfire features two different barrels that detach from the blaster. However, both the ball barrel and missile barrel secure loosely to the blaster. This means that a lot of air pressure it lost when the launcher is fired. Therefore this blaster has particularly little range. In addition to this problem, the loose attachments often fall off. One might find themselves picking up the barrels dozens of times during a war. The Nerf Switchfire is a bad idea and is not worth having in an arsenal.

Review by Andi Hlabse

While the Nerf Switchfire is one of the more ammo versatile blasters around, it simply isn't powerful enough to hold up as a stud blaster. The major upsides to the Switchfire are the fact that is fires multiple ammo types and that it is probably the best missile launcher Nerf produced. It fires missiles with as much velocity and accuracy as any blaster. It's also very nice in a Nerf war not to have to be too particular with ammo type. The major fallout occurs when the ball-firing barrel of the Switchfire is employed. While firing, this barrel tends to work itself loose and will occasionally fly off when you fire. This launcher fires balls very weakly, with very limited distance and accuracy. There is also a fundamental problem with the Switchfire's firing mechanism. You really have to jam the push trigger to get the ammo to fire with any potency at all, causing immense error in accuracy.

The Switchfire is fairly diverse, but its faults in the ball blasting department weaken it too much to play a role in a winning Nerf war.

Pros & cons