Water Warriors Argon - Thoughts

[Shadowstrike Prime]

Well, seeing as how it was such a nice day, I walked to Walmart to see if they had their summer assortment out yet. Sure enough, they had a the Water Warriors 2005 line out for sale. I picked up the Argon.

Right out of the package I could tell this sucker was sturdy; beefier feeling than most Super Soakers of that size that I can recall. Colours aren't half bad either; I'm not normally big on purple, but the Argon is just screaming to have a Decepticon logo painted on it. :p As with other Water Warriors blasters I own and have seen in stores, the paint applications seem to be alittle sloppy around the edges; this is a really minor point though. I also like the pressure gauge, I'm not big on the electronic ones the larger models offer, I'm seriously hoping Buzz Bee will consider phasing those out in exchange for more conventional ones.

I went out back and fired the Argon off a few times, and was pretty impressed. Range is as advertised, and the Pre-Charge system is interesting if not different. I wasn't sure what to expect, but after precharging, pumping three times at a blast to keep a full charge is rather handy. It's weird though, and since the shot time per blast is short, I wouldn't go around trying to continuously hose someone with the Argon. Plus, I like the fact that the blaster won't lose it's precharged pressure; and "powering down" the Argon by depressurizing it after use just seems neat to me, somehow.

My only quibble with this blaster is that the handle is slightly too small. The grip isn't blocked in though, so my pinky finger can just sit below the grip. That, and the shape seems alittle odd to my hand, that could just be me though.

Overall, I like the Argon. It's a solid blaster all around, and I'd recommend it to anyone as an addition to their arsenal.

Link to Water Warriors AquaMaster PreCharger Argon discussion thread

[isoaker]

hehe.. Decepticon logo.

Yeah, Argon works quite well. I also completely agree with it having a slightly short handle, but I guess they were trying to reduce the box height (maybe?). However, in terms of Pre-Chargers, I think it works as Pre-Chargers should in terms of pump resistance due to increased pressure as well as general stream performance for its relative size. Too bad the Krypton currently has a rock-hard pump when fully prepressurized.

Short shot times means you need to aim better, but also means you can't waste all your payload either if you missed.

[Adrian]

The main problem (to me) of all Precharge guns excepting the large rifle is the small grip. I'm not very big, and my hand hangs off the grip of the medium sized model.

Adrian

[Shadowstrike Prime]

One thing I did notice was that the paint applications seem to be hand painted; I can make out brush strokes in the silver paint.

[isoaker]

Not sure that the soakers are handpainted. I think they just handpaint the touch-ups.

[Shadowstrike Prime]

^Makes sense. Looks like there's a spraypainted undercoat.

[cooldood31]

I don't really like the grip either, but that's nothing a hacksaw, some pvc and epoxy wouldn't fix. And Shadowstrike, once I get more sandpaper, I'm painting mine flat black and then putting an autobot symbol (or two) on mine.