BatMonday – Air Hogs Batmobile Toy Review (something completely different)

Air Hogs Batmobile Review 
VasTheStampede

Thanks to Spin Master for the sample of this product, as always my opinions remain my own.

Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice opened this weekend! And with that, comes the merchandise. This review isn’t of a blaster, but another type of action toy, the R/C car. Air Hogs, a brand under Spin Master toys, did the honors for this version of the Batmobile.

https://photos.gstatic.com/media/slideshow.swf

First, let’s talk stats:
– MSRP: $59.99
– Includes:
  Batmobile x 1
  USB Charging cable x 1
– Range: 2.4 GHz signal = 200′ of control radius
– Features: Front LED lights, rear thruster lights
– Needs 2 x AA batteries
– The Batmobile itself has an integrated battery (the Batmobile uses the USB charge cord), and the drive time may vary, it depends on the batteries used and the driving style implemented (going full blast with the car the whole time driving vs. a few times at full speed or using the lower speeds).

The Batmobile itself drives way better than I thought it would. The handling is tight, making pretty decent tight turns than I thought to expect. The LED lights on the front and the rear thruster are nice accents in low light, and add to the feel of the Batmobile. The car is super light too though, and I notice after some collisions with the curb there the bumpers are a bit scratched and some scrapes, so just be ready to know your Batmobile will show battle damage early. It’s super light and compact though, very easy to transport so taking this indoors or outdoors is a simple matter, unlike larger RC cars.

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js
(driving video from my instagram feed)

Now, I am not by any stretch an RC car hobbyist, and I do acknowledge that this is a basic, low remote range vehicle. BUT, it’s a sweet looking replica-level Batmobile in its latest incarnation. It also drives well I think, some nice additional touches to add to the Batman feel, and is a nice diversion indoors or out. $60 might be a little much, but when you account that this car can offer a lot in the way of playability (the size allows it to be driven indoors with little issue, and less material would be necessary to build an obstacle course, for instance) it might balance out the expense. I do have some questions about durability, but I think marks like those add character to my own Batmobile.

One oddity I encountered was if I left the batteries in the controller after turning off the Batmobile, they would keep going once I turned the car and remote back on again. This was remedied by removing the batteries from the remote as well between driving sessions. Not a terribly big deal and easily remedied, but still a weird thing to encounter. Now this didn’t change the fact that I had a good time driving the Batmobile at all, and that zipping it under cars and inches from the curb was a lot of fun all the same. All in all, a pretty fun purchase if you can get past the price. If you’re a little late on a present for Easter, or you know a Batman fan who really likes tearing up the streets of Gotham in their mind, you wouldn’t be wrong going with this Air Hogs R/C Batmobile.


Don’t miss out, Air Hogs has a pretty awesome contest (Grand Prize is a trip to L.A.!) going on right now. Ends April 30, don’t miss your chance to enter!

Friday 5: Five Must-See Places Outside the U.S. for Nerf Enthusiasts

Friday 5: Five Must-See Toy Blaster Hot Spots Outside the U.S.
Vas The Stampede

Early on in my blogging life, I quickly learned that Nerf games are not just for U.S. backgrounds, but organized games are an international phenomena. Nerf/Hasbro being a worldwide brand and a top toy maker, that should not have surprised me. Thanks to the advent of the internet and social media though, I see posts from communities abroad and it is a pretty amazing thing to think about. Taken from my analytics and personal observations, let’s look at 5 places outside the U.S. where Nerf blasters have very active player communities and play their games regularly.

Keep in mind, this list is in no particular order! The 5 selected are taken mainly from my own experiences and the amount of activity I see on my website analytics.

SINGAPORE
Some basics about Singapore (info taken from Google’s search engine entry:

“Singapore, an island city-state off southern Malaysia, is a global financial centre with a tropical climate and multicultural population. In circa-1820 Chinatown stands the red-and-gold Buddha’s Tooth Relic Temple, Little India offers colorful souvenirs and Arab Street is lined with fabric shops. Singapore is also known for eclectic street fare, served in hawker centres such as Tiong Bahru and Maxwell Road.
Dialing code: +65
ISO code: SGP
Currency: Singapore dollar
Population: 5.399 million (2013) World Bank
Continent: Asia
Official languages: English, Tamil, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Standard Mandarin”
The Singapore community is one of the first international Nerf communities I encountered. Once upon a time, there was a blog, SGNerf, and he was one of the first other bloggers I ever communicated with. Other bloggers/YouTubers from there, including Psyk from PWND, Blaster Shogun, the modder Ahtanie, and so many others. I used to frequent their forums, and had many a good conversation with this group. From what I’ve seen, this group has regularly scheduled games and even larger events. I think the group’s been running for at least 6-7 years (2015 was their 6th anniversary, I believe) and is definitely one of the more active communities out there anywhere. Without getting bogged down in details, they do have some very strict gun laws which extends to paintball/airsoft as well, so Nerf blaster games seem to serve as an alternative. I’ve seen a LOT of different events come out of Singapore, from tournaments held in malls, to games in a variety of environments – woods, suburban areas, numerous historical military spots, and parks like this:


Obviously, one of these days I have to go visit. Somehow. But between the locations and the consistency of the players, Singapore definitely seems a must-see place if you’re interested in Nerf/toy blasters on an international scale.

GERMANY

Country in Europe
Germany is a Western European country with a terrain of vast forests, rivers and mountain ranges, and 2 millennia of history. Berlin, its capital, is home to thriving art and nightlife scenes, iconic Brandenburg Gate and many sites relating to WWII. Munich is known for its Oktoberfest and cavernous beer halls, including 16th-century Hofbräuhaus. Frankfurt, with its skyscrapers, houses the European Central Bank.
Capital: Berlin
Dialing code: +49
Population: 80.62 million (2013) World Bank
Chancellor: Angela Merkel
President: Joachim Gauck

Admittedly, there’s very little I know about Germany’s Nerf/toy enthusiast community, but I see enough posts on the net to make me notice! Between the number of hits I get from there and the posts I see crop up, along with news from the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, AND home to both dartblaster.de and the OWL Community. (whew!) I see a number of LARP related posts on modifications/blaster paintjobs from German hobbyists as well, of astounding work. All that leads me to qualify Germany on this list.

ENGLAND (UK)

Country in Europe
The U.K., made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is an island nation in northwestern Europe. England – birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles – is home to the capital, London, a globally influential centre of finance and culture. England is also site of neolithic Stonehenge, Bath’s Roman spa and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge.
Capital: London
Dialing code: +44
Population: 64.1 million (2013) World Bank
Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime minister: David Cameron
Chancellor: George Osborne
Currency: Pound sterling


The UK also showed a strong level of activity on my site hits, and with good reason. The BritNerf forums are pretty active still from the looks of things, along with various other social media outlets out there. Let’s also not forget that one of the first Nerf-sponsored/branded arenas anywhere popped up here:

AUSTRALIA

“Australia is a country, and continent, surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans. Its major cities – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide – are coastal, but its capital, Canberra, is inland and nicknamed the “Bush Capital.” The country is known for its Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, the vast Outback (interior desert wilderness) and unique animal species including kangaroos and duck-billed platypuses.
Capital: Canberra
Dialing code: +61
Population: 23.13 million (2013) World Bank
Currency: Australian dollar
Queen: Elizabeth II”
 
 

The land down under, home of the kangaroo, Australian Outback, Aborigines, Dream Time, and another of the biggest (and I believe oldest) consistent Nerf communities I’ve seen. The other places I’ve mentioned you can say are countries… Australia however is a Nerf-heavy CONTINENT that stands alone. I’ve heard of groups in Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Riverina, and so many more on their forums. New Zealand is off the southeast coast and has a steady group in Canterbury. In the past, I’ve heard that toy blaster interest really takes off in Australia (especially when the Nerf Dart Tag blasters released in their black and yellow colors. Needless to say, the place is not lacking for active players, albeit they may be spread out.

CANADA

“Country in North America
Canada, stretching from the U.S. in the south to the Arctic Circle in the north, is filled with vibrant cities including massive, multicultural Toronto; predominantly French-speaking Montréal and Québec City; Vancouver and Halifax on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, respectively; and Ottawa, the capital. It’s also crossed by the Rocky Mountains and home to vast swaths of protected wilderness.
Capital: Ottawa
Prime minister: Justin Trudeau
Queen: Elizabeth II
Governor-general: David Johnston
Population: 35.16 million (2013) World Bank
Provinces: Ontario, Québec, British Columbia, Alberta, More”
 

 

 
 Canada! Oh, I heard about Canada. There is a pretty strong group (groups?) up there from what I remember, and used to hold some pretty massive events (I think they still do) like Massacre. The groups I do remember were heavy into modifying blasters, but they got together to fling darts as much as anyone. I believe most of the connecting is done over Facebook, but chances are if you wanted to get in with the Canadian toy blaster scene, by the time you’ve read this you’re already in it.
 
 
 
And that’s all, folks! As I stated before, I looked at my site data for my spotlights. If you want me to revisit or think I overlooked your country/continent, let me know! And abundant apologies to the countries I did name if I got anything wrong about your fair landmass – again just let me know so I may make the appropriate corrections. Hope this info was useful to you, and see you next time! 
I’ll have another post up this weekend, “Super” related (and not a blaster product, but a fun toy all the same.)

 

Toy Fair 2016 – Testing Paper Shooters

Paper Shooters at Toy Fair 2016
Vas The Stampede

After a bit of press for the last year or so, Paper Shooters is finally ready for the U.S. shores! I’ve been following the brand ever since they approached me some time ago, and it was good to finally see and shoot a finished product. I went for the GoPro POV while aiming and shooting. Note the priming between shots and the shell ejection.

The basic kits will run $29.99 and may include the following (pulled this from their website, I assume it will be the same in the U.S. during release:)

“Your 138 piece kit contains :
– All plastic components, screws and springs to create your PaperShooters™ base model
– 8 highly detailed A4 die cut cardboard pieces that contain all the individual pieces to create your awesome Zombie Slayer camo skin

Also included :

– 50 ‘Soft- splat’ paper pellets. Just dip them in water for 20-30 seconds, load them into shells and blast away!
– A mould to create endless amounts of ammo from ordinary paper. Got paper,? Got ammo!
– 6 shells that eject with every shot!”

I will have a more in-depth look at this when the samples come in and will give more of my thoughts then. Already, I know that it’s supposed to be a pretty involved build and I am looking forward to taking a crack at it. It’s not going to be the usual blaster out of the box experience, but I am definitely taken with the look and feel of the product.

GET CONNECTED:

Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Friday 5 – 5 Nerf Features I wish would come back

Friday Five: 5 Nerf Features that I wish would Make a Comeback
VasTheStampede

  1. The Blast Button
  2. Semiauto spring blasters
  3. Integrated clips (the black and yellow Dart Tag line)
  4. Integrated “Secret” Barrels
  5. Non-slamming Air Pump Blasters

With the new Nerf Rebelle Cornersight coming out later this year, I was reminded of the old school Nerf Sneakshot. What other old school features would I want to see come back? The list above, and the explanations… are below.

BLAST BUTTON – Many years ago, Nerf made a blaster called the “Blast Fire” or “Blast Fire DX” (depending on which version you got) which had a neat little feature: you would prime the blaster, pump the air (5-6 times, maybe more), and you had either 5 shots in quick succession or could hit the “blast” button on top of the blaster to shoot all/remaining darts at once. It was a cool shotgun effect, and one I wish they would explore again, even though in the current line I’m not sure it will. Nerf did multishot a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t quite the same as this, or the Hornet that followed, and the Lightning Blitz which didn’t even bother with a single shot function.

Picture from SG Nerf, the Blast Fire in all its glory. Blast Button is on top.

The successor, the Hornet. Blast Button is on the side. Picture from NerfWikia.com

SEMIAUTO SPRING BLASTERS – During the Nerf Dart Tag line (black and yellow incarnation) there was a really cool pistol called the Sharpfire (yep, same name as the modular pistol out now) with a semiauto/power selection option. Yep, true semiauto trigger pull fun! No priming, no pumping, no accelerator trigger, just squeeze the trigger. The blaster could go from a higher power/slower trigger pull to a weaker setting/faster Rate of Fire setting, but it made dual wielding easy, and quiet (no motors, ma!) Nothing else has come out since then with a true semiauto function again though, and that’s kind of a shame as I thought it was a really fun blaster. Unfortunately, one of the ones I bought didn’t have the same power as the other no matter what setting, so there were some manufacturing issues it looks like on this blaster and given the mechanics involved I’m not terribly surprised. Still though, I would love to see something along these lines again.

INTEGRATED CLIPS – Yes, yes, I know the Han Solo blaster is out now, the Rey blaster, the Mega Magnus, etc. but the integrated clips from the black and yellow Dart Tag line (on the Speedload 6, Quick 16) were really interesting and I found them to be a lot of fun. For starters, the Speedload and the Quick didn’t have to prime before loading. A lot less clumsy of a mechanic than the other current blasters. You could load the blaster, prime it, and even get an extra shot out of it (much like you can with the Fusefire, if you have one). I got to the point where I could feel the breech and just load the blaster without even looking at the clip while running; with half the blaster pulled out for the Magnus and co., that’s a bit more fumbling around if you ask me. The dart tag blasters of this line were much considerably bigger and thicker because of the clip and the positioning, and the clip had jam issues (the best darts were blue tipped dart tag darts, even the older dart tag darts had issues loading with these new blasters), so hopefully if Nerf went back to this design it would come back stronger than ever.

INTEGRATED “SECRET” BARRELS – Nerf made a couple of “Secret Shot” blasters waaayyyyyyyy back, which had the main shooting barrel, but also a hidden second barrel either in the handle or on top. The first Secret Shot was a spring pistol, the main barrel in front and the version with the handle in the bottom. If you didn’t know what it was, it looked easily like an ammo holder. But then if you were in a game and went with the “I surrender” well, much hilarity was to be had if you made the shot. 🙂 The Secret Shot II was an air blaster that had a flip-down barrel on top that you could use after firing the first shot, but had to pump the blaster again between shots as opposed quickly pulling a priming arm. There’s the Rebelle Secret Shot now, but there’s no hidden barrel, just the flip-out function of the blaster itself. And I don’t consider blasters like the Modulus stock blaster as part of this classification because it functions as a separate blaster, and has to be removed before shooting. Especially the Secret Shot I, this function was fun, but also pretty sneaky, and I like that.

(old school video review from Ahtanie, a Singapore Nerfer)

The Secret Shot I. The ammo holder on top also worked as a selector for whichever barrel you were using, and you had to flip it in place.

PUMP BLASTERS (non-slamming air blasters) – There used to be plenty of these, blasters you would pump, and then pull the trigger to fire, and I already mentioned a couple (see the beginning for the Lightning Blitz). Air pump blasters were slower because of the pumping action needed between salvos or shots, but they were super satisfying in some cases, too. Hearing the “pop” from an airtech blaster as you shot was nice (the 2000 was a popular one) and you almost felt like you got some real range stock. The Super Maxx 3000 was another good entry with this functionality, and for awhile was a primary of mine until wear and tear got the better of it. Nerf gave the fans what it wants in speed though, and possibly reliability (air bladders and seals were problems for these blasters as they got used) with the current spring/flywheel lines, and so the only real air blasters they use are those that “slam” function, like the Demolisher missile launcher, the Thunderblast, and one of the attachments on the upcoming Tri-Strike. Gone are the days of shooting 20 darts from a Wildfire, then scrambling to reload WHILE pumping the air back into the blaster. At least, from Nerf blasters.

Buzz Bee still has their “Air Warriors” line full of new air pump blasters, including the “Destiny” as featured below. Previously, they also made blasters like the Range Master and even the popular Panther which utilize air pumps in their play pattern. Hope for air blasters like this are not gone, just elsewhere.

Questions? Comments? Do you want to see animal-shaped blasters again like the Manta? Comment below!

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

F2A Friday Five – Five Gametypes For Small Groups!

Thanks to Hummer, a blaster game runner from Wisconsin I game with regularly, on the help for this one! He runs his games with a Milwaukee area crew in Wisconsin, check out M.A.N.O. for their shenanigans. Nerf games don’t always have to be groups of 20-40 people running around (though that’s a lot of fun, and these games types tend to work well in small groups of 10 or less (5 v 5 ultimately, or even less.)

Hummer in action during a game


Gametypes:

1. Zombies. Zombies can be added into many gametypes in addition to being played with variations (Dismemberment, chopper, ect.) (Stampede chiming in here) Zombies are players who would normally be considered “out” but instead find a new life as a facilitator of game play, marching around the field and tagging players who are still alive. I like instituting this facet because it means people don’t have to sit out during a game, and zombies help prevent standoffs/camping. The rules we usually play with this game are there is an OZ or two, and they start off unknown (like HvZ), tagging players. Getting hit with a dart means a 7-15 second stun for the player to get away. This can be altered as noted above with variations, including large ammo.

2. Catch ’em all/blob – best played with 6+ people, but not above about 15. (Everyone starts with unlimited lives, 15 second respawn. Free for all. When you get tagged, you respawn on that persons team. Play until everyone’s on the same team).

3. Free for all – Make sure you set boundaries, otherwise, you’ll get the one camper who’ll come in mostly fresh on lives. Adding zombies helps with campers 😉

4. Freeze tag – getting hit with a dart/projectile/weapon results in the victim being frozen in place. A teammate may release/revive the tagged player with a touch to the frozen player’s person (BE NICE. DON’T BE RUDE ABOUT REVIVING YOUR TEAMMATES.) Frozen players may be used as cover, with hilarious results.

5. Royal rumble
Royal rumble: Start off with one person in the field, with everyone else lined up on the sidelines. add a person every 15-30 seconds. One life. Go until there’s noone left or keep cycling in the dead players ’til tired. Alternatively, you could try to enforce a lives system, where you have to get back in line every time you die.

Some gameplay video from a recent game he organized, taken by CrissWolfNerf.

Questions? Comments? Hopefully these game types or some variant will be useful to you!

F2A Friday Five: 5 Toy Fair 2016 Blaster Favorites

Five Takeaways from Toy Fair 2016
VasTheStampede

note: there was so much great stuff at Toy Fair! The Five involved with this list are by no means representative of the whole experience.

Edit: previous version of the article incorrectly listed the company for RBS as Super Impact, that has been corrected as of 2/29.

1. Nerf – I’m cheating a bit here. (See the full gallery of images here) The Nerf booth had a ton of things that I felt will be huge in 2016. Heck, the Nerf brand in general is going HUGE in 2016 and beyond, from what I could tell. Even the Platinum Bow from Rebelle is a huge offering and regardless of it being Rebelle I intend to own one. Other blasters, like the BattleScout and the HyperFire, offer new twists on previous features, like the stripper clip (seen on the Magstrike and Powerclip, mainly) and a new camera, while the HyperFire has an increased Rate of Fire. The Nerf Rival Khaos is a ridiculous beast, and while the magazine compatibility is lacking, that is a seriously hilariously large blaster and magazine.

The Nerf blasters this year are incredibly eye catching, but with that comes a level of functionality in some blasters that may change the blaster landscape over the next year. Not just because the Tri-Strike makes most available ammo types usable in a single game play, or that the Hyperfire may arguably be the fastest Rate of Fire for a stock blaster to date, but because Nerf is showing confidence in its brand to try some crazy, oversized ideas. The Brainsaw is evidence the Zombie Strike line continues to produce some fun toys (yes, TOYS) while the Double-Dealer is another massive eye catching piece with its double mag setup. (The Double-Dealer was a non-functioning prototype when I was at the booth, so sadly no firing video. But the stock is in fact a magazine holder, if you haven’t see it yet.) My main concern though is the main blasters are going anywhere between $30 to $80, and to a family that can add up, even to an enthusiast collector. But the fans have wanted bigger and better, and this year, Nerf served that up in spades.

2. Buzz Bee gets “The Walking Dead” license

 In addition to continuing to offer a low cost alternative to Nerf, Buzz Bee has the license for “The Walking Dead”, which I can see a lot of people getting excited about. Especially the rifle at the bottom, which does not seem to use an ammo belt like the last rifle of this style I saw (not from Buzz Bee, I believe). It looks like the license is more for the comics than the TV show, but at this point it’s  still “Hey! The Walking Dead!” There were some other prototypes at the booth (a blaster reminiscent of the Magstrike/Powerclip, air powered and still very cool) but this is what really caught my eye and has gotta be one of the most telling things for me that Buzz Bee has some serious plans for the future and bears watching even more than before.

3. The Precision RBS system (from Super Impulse) –

This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been taken with a new type of blaster and ammo, but there was something so elegant about the Precision RBS system it deserves a callout here. These are rubber band shooters. And not some specialty rubber band ammo, but every day standard rubber bands (three different sizes) which makes getting the ammo easy in a pinch. The larger models have integrated ammo holders, an integrated second blaster, multiple round firing (and the RoF is semiauto, in case you’re curious). The guys who invented this really did their homework about rubber band shooters, and what players look for (even a separate firing mode) in general from a user standpoint, they really thought of a lot of things for this line. I look forward to seeing more from this blaster, that’s for sure.

4. Paper Shooters

Finally! After years of communication, I finally met the owners behind Paper Shooters, and they look ready to hit the American market. Now, these aren’t your typical blasters- it’s a model kit first (so there is some build time to invest) and a functional blaster second. These are some pretty pieces of kit when you’re done, judging by what I saw at their booth, and when you finally get the blaster built it’s very satisfying shooting them. The shell ejection, the pullback lever, it all feels very cool (for lack of a better term) when shooting them. Even moreso cause this is a blaster you build from the ground up with the kit, so it’s a very different offering from when you have a blaster and modify it, now it is your own you built from basically scratch.

5. K’Nex

K’Nex continues the K-Force line – now we have magazines, motors, and turrets to add into the mix. The beast pictured above is a custom build, but it’s three linked triggers to fire three darts at once. I used the initial kits and found the build times a little long, but I attribute that to my unfamiliarity with using K’Nex pieces. All the same, I am glad this line is still kicking because of the customizability it offers, and really want to sink my teeth into some custom builds this year.

Questions? Comments? Did you want to add anything? More galleries and more in-depth writeups to come, thanks for tuning in!

GET CONNECTED:
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Toy Fair Day 1 preview, found them! (Zuru, Buzz Bee, and so on….)

This little gem from Buzz Bee, the destiny. This is just the beginning! More on the way so watch this space.

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Then some Zuru –

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

And Buzz Bee with the Walking Dead!

A photo posted by Humanoid Typhoon (@blasterbot1984) on Feb 13, 2016 at 1:48pm PST

//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Toy Fair news Day 1 upcoming

Good morning! Just an update that I am at Toy Fair! Unlike past years though, I do have a gig at the show but I will do my best to get my photos and (hopefully!) video up promptly.

UPDATED NERF BLASTER LIST HERE (crediting UK Nerf for posting it originally)

On the docket, I have Zing, a new Rubber Band shooter, Zuru, Marshmallow Shooters, and Paper Shooters so far. Tomorrow, I am visiting Nerf in the morning! I’ll be here thru the 15th though, and making a few last minute stops, including Sakar and their Nerf Drone. Wish me luck, and hope to find something that interests you!

From Toy Fair 2014

Wait, Nerf Drone? No new images sent yet, but here is some info:

·         Recon Drone Cam Copter a smaller sized multi-directional drone with a built-in 16.1 MP HD camera for capturing bird’s-eye-view high-definition videos and photos as well as the ability to hover, do flips, and fly upside down ($59) (size: 5.25 X 5.25 X 1.6)

 ·         Air Defender X Drone Cam Copter: a larger multi-directional drone with a built in 16.1 MP camera and HD video recorder ($99) (size: 13 X 13X 2)

·         Air Defender X Drone Cam Copter with Wi-Fi: a connected version of the Air Defender X with on-board Wi-Fi for real-time downloading of the footage captured by the drone’s 16.1 MP camera to the device of the user’s choice ($149) (size: 13 X 13 X 2)