Well it can't be because the blanks are 5.56mm because that does look like a Barbie gun to me.
Never having fired with blanks I wonder how much of a standard recoil they hit you with or not I guess.. hm. I guess all my assorted second-hand gun trivia doesn't let me pinpoint it... It doesn't jump out quite like the picture of a magazine with the rounds inserted vertically instead of horizontally.
io9 - 10 Greatest Science Fiction Detective Novels of All Time
Best Sci-Fi Books - 23 Best Science Fiction Mystery Books
A little bit of crossover on those lists, but it should provide a few thoughts.
When the random bit of silly internet news catches your eye and you read "The Craft - celebrating its 20th Anniversary, where the cast is now, and looking at the upcoming remake...."
Damn it, I don't feel old now. Really.
It's one of those interesting areas, you have to wade through a lot of crud, but there are a few gems there. Although even the gems can depend on your tastes and how willing you are to put up with the odd grammar/typo in the book. That and it's nearly always a reminder not to judge the quality of a book by the really crappy cover art.
I've found a few incredibly cheesy Mary-Sue type book series that seem to pull me into reading each book in turn even knowing how cheesy bad they are.