Beware of Defective AT-ACT NERF Blasters

Today, my son and I eagerly opened the giant package on our front door… I just couldn’t make us wait for Christmas.  We had just seen Rogue One togeher over the weekend and this was just icing on the cake (though rather expensive icing).

While my son frantically set up a group of Rogue One rebel figures, I assembled Hasbro’s latest “big thing.”  I plopped in the batteries, and turned it on.  Watching it walk across the kitchen floor was cooler than I expected.   My son’s eyes gazed in wonder… my daughter clapped her hands… “Make it shoot!” she screamed with joy!

So I pressed the “fire” button… the hatch opened… and a sound was made… but that was all.  So I opened the hatch, expecting a simple NERF dart jam.  But alas, this AT-ACT is dysfunctional.  It will not shoot, and the hatch will not close.

For those that are against Hasbro adding NERF features to the Star Wars line, this risk is another reason to be against this sort of feature.  Who knows how many of these vehicles will begin to have this problem over time… or even when kids get it for Christmas and can’t even enjoy it for a full minute and end up crying like mine did this evening.

Hopefully this is an isolated incident, but I would be surprised if the one family that has this issue happens with is my family.  Please share your thoughts or experiences with this new toy in our forums.