My Nerf armory begins and ends with the entire DinoSquad blaster line-up. In this review, I'm going to share some objective facts about the Tricera-Blast along with my opinion on how it performs and operates with adults and my 2 young children (ages 3 and 5), then compare it to the other DinoSquad blasters in the line-up. The Tricera-Blast is a break-action style rifle with a 3-dart capacity. To load, push down on the blaster's beak revealing the 3-dart chamber, then snap the action shut. An additional 12-darts can be stored on the stock. To fire the blaster, simply pull down on the hammer to prime, then squeeze the trigger. This blaster fires 1 dart at a time in succession from top to bottom. There's a physical switch in each chamber so the blaster will automatically fling foam from only occupied chambers. Of course, as the name suggests, this blaster is shaped to resemble a triceratops. Positives: We love the aesthetics of this blaster and the triceratops horns are both stylish and reasonably functional as iron sights. As such, this is probably my most accurate blaster in the DinoSquad series. The break action loading is a fun and tactile experience. Reloading is especially fun when I grab 3-darts from the stock, load them all in a single motion, then snap the barrel shut with a flick of my wrist. The plastic feels durable and I've no complaints about the fit and finish. I do not own a chronograph, but in my side-by-side comparison, I'd say this is probably the 2nd hardest hitting blaster in my DinoSquad collection. In my EXCLUSIVE pain-o-meter testing (i.e. when I'm shot by this blaster), I'd peg it at about a 4/10 which I consider "par" for Nerf. It's a noticeable sting, but not nearly severe enough to pause or end a game of foam flinging. Negatives: My children, ages 3 and 5, struggle to prime the hammer on this blaster. The hammer is small so it's difficult for the kids' hands to get a purchase on the hammer. We've found that they can sometimes pull it off by using their palm instead of their thumbs like a teen/adult would. For an adult, the stock is relatively short, so shouldering this rifle is slightly awkward. This can be considered a positive for a bigger child or young teen. This blaster only has capacity for 3 darts, so make them count. The 12 spare darts on the stock are only held in place by friction, so they're often knocked off by my right forearm. Overall, this blaster was a pleasant surprise. Sincerely expected the Rex-Rampage to be my favorite, but the Tricera-Blast is just too fun to manipulate and a pleasure to operate. If rate of fire and dart capacity don't matter to you, then this is the DinoSquad blaster to get. Being hammer primed and relatively precise, this is the ideal primary DinoSquad blaster for sneaky load outs (e.g. no revving noises from a fly wheel). If you want to shower your opponents with foam, then I'd recommend the Rex-Rampage instead.
