Nerf News, Reviews, Related Blaster Products
Not likely. The Super soaker rocket is on the right, and the hole is much smaller than the hole on the titan rocket on the bottom of the picture. Not to mention the rocket is hollowed out like the generic pool toy on the left, necessitating a modifcation to block up the hole. Still, if you want to implement throwing items in your games this is one route to go but I will admit the uberdart flies way better for that purpose even if it is a bit pricier.
A pic of what some of the rockets and larger ammo I have seen in my days look like against each other.
Spotted these at Toys R Us for $5.99, and had word passed onto me from the Facebook page. Essentially a hollowed out pool noodle with fins, you can use it to shoot water while in a pool (by pushing the rocket into the water) or throwing it around. There were some other items like a Soaker Shot, Soaker Bolt, Soaker Glasses, and even a bunker. Different colors denote different teams, so hopefully I will get to a pool soon to try these out! Definitely something new from Super Soaker.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12789161 – Soaker Burst
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12789160 – Soaker Shot
I’ll put up some comparison photos against a dollar store type rocket I found, an Uberdart, and these rockets shortly. Remember, these rockets are HOLLOWED out.
And, looks like I’ll be out at NYC a little before the main release of the Nerf N-Strike Elite line! As they did in the past with the Nerf Stampede Release Party and Nerf Vortex Release Party, myself and a few other Nerf blogs are being invited out to the release party to test drive new blasters with other news sites. This’ll be in June, so make sure to watch here and on my twitter feed – @vasthestampede when the time comes! (Of course, I’ll make sure to post a reminder.) Knowing how the past events have gone the main attractions like the N-strike Elite Retaliator, the N-Strike Elite, Rampage, N-Strike Elite Hailfire. Will the other blasters like the N-Strike Barricade redux, Nitefinder, Eliminator, etc. show up? We’ll have to wait and see! On top of that, expect me to take a thorough look at the new darts as well. At least I have plenty of time to come up with some questions!
https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
Helped the Tacticool Tag and Gaming Society of Chicagoland (TTAGS) run some capture the flag minigames at the Justplay! Sports and Rec Festival in Carol Stream, IL! We had giveaways, awards, and a great number of people, hopefully getting them interested in the hobby and showing a new way to play. Also, that you don’t have to be 8 years or under to enjoy toy blasters. Nerf and other foam shooters were represented of course, but we also put our Vapor Atlas 250s and the Vapor Delta 500 to good use.
Thanks to all who showed up! And with any luck, we’ll be in Carol Stream doing meetups on a more regular basis 🙂
Big thank you to the Carol Stream Park District for setting us up, and letting us use your fair grounds! Hope to be back next year, bigger and better!
How about that? The Tacticool Tag and Gaming Society of Chicagoland (http://ttagschicago.blogspot.com) is going to be hosting a slew of minigames during the JustPlay! Sports and Recreational Festival. Word has it they’re planning on doing stock blasters, mandatory eye protection (provided) and demos of some of their favorite toys. If you’re in Illinois and near Carol Stream, feel free to check it out! There’s a ton of other activities, and here’s a promo video from 2011 –
Zip line, Basketball, karate, kid’s nerf wars and so much more over two days, May 19th and 20th! Hours: 10 AM – 6 PM.
FULL SCHEDULE AND WEBSITE HERE: http://www.csparks.org/justplay/ – 7 years long, 7 years strong!
Protip: If you’re the first person to find them and say, “mekka lekka high mekka hiney ho”, you’ll get a prize 🙂
Watch “Nerf N-Strike Elite Hail-Fire Blaster Teaser Video” on YouTube
Back from Anime Central, what do I see? A new video from Nerf regarding the Hailfire!
So Elite ranges, 144 max capacity? Rotating ammo rack, flywheels, etc.
Interesting concept, but the real test is seeing how this plays in the field. The Vulcan suffered crap ranges, low reliability, and a decrease in mobility for the user. If the Hailfire addresses these issues in a huge blaster… See you in September!
Fine job, spartan.
Nerf just put up a video a blaster from their upcoming Elite line, debuting Fall 2012! Say hello to the Nerf N-Strike Elite Retaliator.
Key points:
– 75 ft.
– New dart style (supposedly)
– Removable/interchangeable stock, barrel; tactical rails, and 12 round mag
– Kinda reminiscent of a Recon, honestly
And there you have it! One reveal down, a couple more to go.
RANDOM FUN EVENTS MILWAUKEE held a one-day, three-round Humans Vs. Zombies game based off the rule set for Humans Vs Zombies. It was fan-tastic. Even better, Razor’s Vapor Blaster folks were nice enough to let us take some giveaways with us! Yes, we usually have Nerf with us but we needed to test these out under heavy fire conditions. And man, it was good. The Vapor line lends itself well at quick reloading, great capacity(50-100 shots per reload), and good ranges out of the box. Naturally a number of the attendees were from WI or university students, but including myself there was a good showing of people from MANO and TTAGS.
For more photos, check here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
In any event, thanks to Random Fun Events for putting it on and opening up the campus to play like this once more, and to the university population for not batting an eyelash as we rolled around. Life is full of serious business, a day like this helps break up the routine. Choose survivors or zombies, so long as you choose Play.
Mind you, these are just photos! I got lots of video, so expect to see that relatively soon.
After another Toy Fair, it got me thinking. I’ve listened/read to many a pitch about this or that product, and it always boils down to a few target markets in the toy business, parents and kids. Either the advertising/initiatives/campaigns are geared to the fantasy roleplay of a child’s imagination that gets them to bug their parents for a toy, or the parent thinks their child might be interested in said toy.
Well, what about us? For years I’ve heard that the NIC and other communities just do not make up enough of a population to necessitate any marketing.
I wonder just how true that is. Worldwide, I’d like to say that interest in blaster-based games has increased exponentially. Sure, there are mainstays like airsoft and paintball (where applicable) but the fact that Nerf/related product blogs has grown exponentially in years says a lot. There’s interest, there’s people paying attention, and I think it’s time some of the quoted talking heads I’ve seen doing news pieces or whatever on toy blasters need to be on notice.
Like some cartoons, not all toys are “Just For Kids.”
I saw this piece a months ago (thanks to the Aussie Canberra crew for linking this on their FB) – http://www.timetoplaymag.com/toys/2814/the-maya-group/xploderz-xranger-2000/ – and while I respect the Time to Play team (seen them, never had a chance to actually speak with them) for their work, this little quote regarding Xploderz made my eyebrow raise a little,
 |
| Xground Pounder |
“Who It’s For
The Xploderz XRanger 2000 is for ages 8 and up. We think that this will have a special appeal to older boys, even college-age kids.”
I’m sorry, what? College age? I tried the Xranger (and the Xploderz stuff in general), and… well, if I got this in school chances are it would have been donated to some needy family or theater kid for costuming. In fact, the blasters look like space ships more than anything designed with ergonomics in mind so it could probably fill in for a student sci-fi film. Between the 4 hour wait-time (Sea Monkeys, anyone) for extra ammo and the overall unreliability of the blaster (it shoots when it wants to, even moreso with the Xground Pounder) and the lack of accuracy (due to the pull-release mechanism) to simple issues like BLOCKING YOUR SIGHTS WITH A HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINE (again, Xground Pounder)… I wasn’t a fan. My mother taught me, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” but in a case like this, it’s buyer misinformation.
And I don’t think this was in bad form. For almost $40 the Xranger and Xground Pounder are not worth the experience, and on a college kid’s non-budget there’s a lot better stuff out there. The Time to Play team (or many other bloggers out there) play with blasters like I do, such as with the Tacticool Tag and Gaming Society of Chicagoland (http://ttagschicago.blogspot.com).
I exchanged some emails with a company about samples they sent, and told them that the blaster they sent me was not functioning well, and the company wanted to go over what was happening. One thing they mentioned was feedback like mine was good because they get an idea of how users actually deal with their blasters outside of shooting targets in their room
So… what do they imagine kids are even doing once they take these out? Sure, shooting targets is fun but we all know the first thing we did when we got the new toy home was aim it at a sibling or our buddy (NOT RECOMMENDED winkwinknudgenudge).
Which brings me to the point. Between all these communities like Mall Wars, HvZ, and the already existent aftermarket community, it’s not worth a company’s time to market to us a little bit? Nerf’s done a pretty decent job of outreach to bloggers, Zing Toys, and Vapor, but they’re the only ones. At places like Toy Fair, people ask about my readership. When I mention all the places that show up on my analytics (and that one hit from Uzbekistan) their eyes grow huge. We’re out there. We want to spend money. LET US BUY YOUR BLASTERS. TELL US ABOUT THEM. MAKE THEM AWESOME. If there’s one thing I’ve learned these past few months is that the Internet becomes a fantastic bargaining chip. Think of all the recent internet events where with one keystroke, items go viral, facebook and twitter blow up, and then a company either admits fault or disappears. Oh, hey Ocean Marketing and Papa John’s. Rush Limbaugh, how’s that apology for the Fluke going? Miss your sponsors, right?
Our words have power. Our web presence has power. We want to have toys for all ages, that play awesomely, and keep us coming back for more. We’re not just a niche market anymore. We are a viable share of the market.
And I’m currently working on a way to prove it quantitatively. Stay tuned.
Foam From Above 
