The Nerf Dart Tag Stinger. Looks like the Nerf Elite Jolt was turned Dart Tag, and now comes with a target board like the Tech Target.
ELIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE AAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLPHA TROOOOOOOOOOOOOOPERRRRRRRRRRRRR (here’s hoping they fixed the problem with the pump handle)
Got a shoutout on facebook about these, and now UK Nerf has put up the images. Also… note the “Nerf Alliance” tags? Looks like a “gather points for super stuff” deal… should be interesting to see where it goes! Now we have incentives to buy the same blaster 4 or 5 times 😛
Nerf Vortex Diatron. When I first saw it, I thought:
And as far as Nerf blasters get, this is about as close as I feel you can get to one without buying this:
Quick Stats:
Price: Approx $19.99 Ranges: 30-40′ @ Flat shooting (See video)
Ammo Type: Vortex Discs Ammo Capacity: 12 discs (load 10, prime, then load 2 more) Orientation: One-handed, ambidextrous handling possible Tactical rails? Yes, but not very comfortable (Read on) Stock Attachment? Possible Dual-Wield? Not really
Annnnd Video:
The Nerf Vortex Diatron looks cool, first and foremost. At least, I think so. The Vortex discs give it decent range, and it’s part of the “MultiShot Madness” campaign that Nerf is running with it’s RoughCut and Triad, but that being said it’s a great thought but not without some reservations.
First, let’s take care of the good. The MultiShot function works! It fires 2 discs, and they both launch out of the top barrel.
Top barrel, only one disc shown but needs 2 to fire.
Also, higher capacity than a Vigilon, hence the common misconception that there are 2 barrel and one disc flies out of each. It’s shaped as such to make room for the higher-capacity internal magazine:
There’s a tac rail on top, and if you’re aiming the blaster the priming lever is on the left, the disc release/jam clear is on the right. The mag release switch is on both sides of the handle. The rear part of the blaster can have stocks and such attached, adding to the customizable options of the blaster.
So the blaster’s multishot is a nice change of pace from what we’ve seen with the Vortex line so far, the paintjob is pretty cool, and the design is fresh from science fiction. It fires pretty decently too, within the normal tolerances of a stock blaster, hitting anywhere from 40-50′. The discs are stacked vertically when they exit the barrel and spread apart, with the bottom disc getting the lower end of the range, while the top-stacked disc goes a few feet further. The thing is Vortex discs are so unpredictable in flight sometimes you do run the risk of getting tagged no matter what you do.
That being said, there are some issues to consider about the Nerf Vortex Diatron. While the mag release IS on both sides, the priming lever and jam release placements might be problematic for lefties. Also, the Diatron’s a bit tougher to reload than the Vigilon. It’s a lot easier to palm 5 discs and slam them all in at once as opposed to the 10, 6 of which you might be able to bunch in, and individually reload the rest. Thankfully, the extra shot trick still works (check the video for that). The Diatron REQUIRES 2 discs loaded to fire, and it jams if there’s only one. In the video I show how to troubleshoot the Diatron if only one disc loads on accident for some reason, but I see many people not reading the manual and wondering why their blaster is broken and the trigger is not pulling. So, it’s a bit touchy. One concern I have read about on other reviews is the Nerf Vortex Diatron’s priming lever is flimsy and counterintuitive. I agree that the priming lever is definitely not something I saw from this blaster in the preliminary photos, but what’s done is done, and if you can fit this with your playing style, then game on. As for the arm being flimsy, I disagree on that. I think it feels pretty robust and don’t see it breaking on me in the heat of the game.
Range-wise, the Diatron was on the low side for Vortex blasters I thought. One of the discs only flies about 30′ while the other gets standard Vortex ranges, and I would have liked to see similar power put on both discs. There’s an inherent inaccuracy with Vortex ammo, so that’s no surprise that the effective range is maybe 30-40′, and the discs slice severely after that.
One final thought is that I really would rather use this as a sidearm, but the Diatron’s so big it won’t even fit in my super-sized Grabit Pack.
Overall, is this worth the $20? It’s no Pyragon, but the Diatron could be a fun little blaster in its own right. If you liked the Vigilon, this is right up your alley. If you like Dead Space but can’t afford a replica Plasma Cutter, this is your option right here (my cousin worked on the game and he agreed it looks pretty close). The multishot feature is a bit disappointing in the disparate ranges between the fired discs, but I had no problems with the feature actually working. And… ultimately, the Nerf Vortex Diatron looks really cool! Whether you use Vortex discs or not or you play indoors or out, try it out and maybe you’ll find it does in fact work for you. Try before you buy, if you can!
I’ll get the full review up soon enough, but in the meantime, here’s a quick video on how the Nerf Vortex Diatron fires, and even a troubleshooting tip. Enjoy!
Oh man… what a year! 2012 was a pretty big time for toy blasters. There was just so much that came out and so many things have happened, here we are again.
Some of my fave things:
– New York Toy Fair 2012
– The Nerf Hailfire Release Party (Thanks Nerf!)
– BATTLE OF THE AMAZONS
The Release of the Nerf N-Strike Elite: – Retaliator – Rampage – Hailfire – Triad – Stryfe – Strongarm – Elit Reflex/Eliminator (Though I don’t believe it actually has a range increase) – Elite Rayven – Firestrike – RoughCut 2×4 – Stockade (outside the U.S.)
RoughCut 2×4
Nerf Hailfire
Nerf Retaliator
Nerf Rampage
Nerf Strongarm and Firestrike
Nerf Elite Rayven and Stryfe
Nerf Triad
Nerf Eliminator
Nerf Stockade and 30 pack of darts
Nerf Dart Tag: – Snapfire 8 (outside the U.S.)
Nerf Vortex: – PYRAGON
– Diatron
Whew! It’s been a busy year 🙂
Nevermind that Nerf revamped the Lazer Tag line:
Buzz Bee and Air Zone/Prime Time Toys had some respectable years with new releases of their own, but the most notable was probably the Range Master, an air blaster w/pump that got good ranges and gave some folks out there a non-springer option:
But it wasn’t just the year of the foam dart blasters, not at all. Disposable ammo is part of the game now, past the Max Force spit wads and the first run of Xploderz water pellet blasters, there’s now also BlasterPro, “X2” series Xploderz, and Vapor.
BlasterPro
Xploderz
Vapor
This branch of the toy blaster tree will definitely bear some watching come 2013. I got a feeling we’re in for a whole new level of innovation, between Nerf upping the ante with their increased ranges from the Elite/Vortex lines, now these new companies are going to have to show what they can do next.
Definitely not least, Zing Toys is out there with some great products as well. Definitely keep an eye out for their Air Storm line:
Zcurve bow
ZX Crossbow
Zing Shot and Pop Rocketz
Zip Bak Bow
Z-Tek Crossbow
WHAT A YEAR, HOLY CRAP. SO MANY TOYS.
On that note… let’s not forget the fallen. Gone, give or take some leftover stock on the shelves. Safe to say these brands aren’t supported in their current forms anymore:
Max Force
Light Strike
BUT… while two brands dropped out (apparently)… one more has risen. Yup, Launch N Attack
And a more local offering, Bumpa’s Blowguns!
And that, as they say, is that! Sorry if I missed anything, but there’s only so much one can recall! Have a great New Year, and see you in 2013!
Alright! Thanks to Eyespy Toys, I was able to get my hands on a Launch N Attack Annihilator and a Target Launcher.
Nerf Barricade, Prime Time Toys Quick Shot 6, Launch N Attack Disc, Launch N Attack Annihilator, Launch N Attack Disc Launcher
Cost: $14.99 – $19.99 depending on vendor. Ammo Capacity: 10 shots (closer to a Dart Tag Blaster in output) Range: Blaster shoots about 20-30′, the discs go up to 40′ upward (supposedly)
The disc launcher attaches to the blaster on the side, and you pull the rip cord which spins the disc that lifts it into the air.
Design: It definitely looks styled after a Nerf Barricade, minus the trigger guard, or a nub to attach a stock. It has the extra rail on the side to accomodate the attack disc, but some of the more important design differences are a bit closer…
Low amount of extra space in chamber to accommodate other darts. This is literally sized for their ammo alone.
Dart length comparison between an original Nerf Streamline, a Nerf Elite Streamline, and a Launch N Attack Dart
The Launch N Attack rotating chamber only has enough clearance to barely cycle its own brand of darts through the blaster. You can’t use other brands of ammo with it unless you force and manually rotate the blaster through each shot. Not the most efficient if you’re in a pitched game where each shot counts and every movement means the difference between tagging or being tagged. In the heat of things, finding this out could be wildly frustrating. You can see the Launch N Attack Darts are just a touch shorter than Nerf ammo, hence the lack of compatibility. One other quick note is the Launch N Attack Darts are a harder plastic/rubber on the tip, not as much give as the Nerf ammo tips, so you know if you decide to shoot your friend unawares.
Now, while I miss the trigger guard and the ability to use all types of ammo the Launch N Attack blasters do what they’re supposed to do blaster-wise, hitting 30′ or so and pretty consistently. I say consistent in that it hits that range, but it does leave something to be desired in the accuracy department. And that is a common trait among streamlined style blasters and flywheel ones at that. The weather’s been a little bit crappy since I got these, so I haven’t had a chance to test the disc launcher outside yet to check the 40′ claim, but I do have something to compare it to:
Nerf N-Strike Disk Shot vs Launch N Attack Rapid Attack
Disc that comes with the annihilator, Rapid Attack Disc, and Nerf Disk Shot disk.
Utimately, how do I feel about the blaster? With the market going the way it’s going, to see a normal 20-30 range out of a blaster knowing there’s farther shooting stuff out there for just a few bucks more is a tough sell, in my opinion. Never mind the lack of interchangeable ammo usage which makes using this in a game of tag a tough choice. From a playability standpoint, the addition of the target disc is a good incentive to use it for target practice/reaction testing for yourself, or if you’re bored want a mobile target to shoot at. I will definitely continue to keep an eye on this company though, as I like where they started, but definitely hope to see a more current take on their blasters considering what’s out there now.
Thanks to the folks at Paragon, I have a couple of images to share! I’ll update with more info, but don’t have that much time at the moment (remember, I do have a day job.)
EDIT: I’m back! Now I’m not too sure about how much I can say, but here’s the story so far:
No plans for this in the U.S. yet; only UK, Europe and South Africa.
1st Nerf attraction of this sort opened up November 9, you can find it in Westfield Merry Hill. Name of the thing is called “Quest”. If you find pics, send’em! Post on the Foam From Above Facebook page!
There will be any number of components; notably a Nerf-only toy store/Pro Shop, Shooting Range, and Arena (the arenas should start popping up around March 2013, again in the UK.
Definitely a “try before you buy” setup, and there is going to be something they’re doing to make visiting worth your while, and even more worth your while to keep coming back 🙂 Again, not sure what I can say about that at this point in time.
The pics above show the shooting range (up to about 6 meters, about 20 feet). No pics on what the arenas are going to look like, but I will say there are going to be a couple of versions, depending on what kind of location you’re in.
Either way, this is super exciting! Official arenas, all-Nerf stores, target ranges, the works. It just saddens me that much like the Stockade and Iron Man Firefly, this is going on overseas first. Hopefully there’s a company out there willing to take this project on to bring it to the U.S., though maybe between having paintball and airsoft so readily available, maybe it was considered a tall order to start here?
Here’s the best part; all the material is official and Nerf-licensed, so if you’re looking for a true Nerf event/game, this is it. I imagine it would only be Nerf products/ammo, but ultimately the quality of a dedicated field/play space just might outweigh the lack of modded blasters and other off-brand stuff, no? The Nerf Dart Tag League seemed popular plenty, why not a store? What’s to say a number of storefronts couldn’t band together in a proper Nerf League? The potential seems strong here. Nerf supporting the use of its brand in a competitive setting. I remember countless posts on forums in the past about setting up a Nerf arena/proshop/whatever… and here we go. It’s all set, and we just need to find it and hope it happens in our area. Well played, Across the Pond. Enjoy your jump on the U.S. in having this initiative there first.
Images from Nerf this morning; high-res shots of the Nerf Vortex Diatron and Nerf N-Strike Elite Roughcut 2×4. There are already tons of videos out there from folks who got Roughcuts early due to stores putting them out ahead of release dates, so there’s plenty of info out there on that. The Nerf Diatron however, has maintained some semblance of secrecy. Who knows if it’ll pop ahead of Spring 2013, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
(BTW, for those who don’t know, my relationship with Nerf dictates that when it comes to early releases/info/mods/etc., I can’t post about it. In return, there are in fact some perks such as release event access and product samples.)
The Roughtcut for those who don’t know, is an eight-shot, slam-fire capable, pump-action blaster with Elite ranges. It also fires two darts at a time, making it the closest approximation to a shotgun-spread blaster that anyone has made in a long time (the Triple Shot DOES NOT COUNT. It was good modded, but the stock shotgun spread on that thing was terrible). Either way, it looks interesting and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. None of the stores in my area have it on shelves, so I would need to order via Amazon.
The Nerf Vortex Diatron, that’s a whole ‘nother story. It looks remarkably like a Plasma Cutter from Dead Space (bonus) and fires two discs at once (double-bonus!). It looks like a doubled up Nerf Vortex Vigilon, so I’m guessing the capacity is ten discs per reload. (11 or 12, depending on how you load it, amirite guys?) I do wonder if the discs will collide with each other at some point in mid-air during flight, so it’ll be interesting to see how this fires. Of all the recent blasters, this one is the only one not seen on shelves yet. Yet.
In any event, these two blasters have the “multishot madness” tagline on their boxes so Nerf is definitely leaning towards a different type of functionality, seeing as how they’ve increased ranges using Vortex and Elite styles. Make sure to check the Nerf Facebook page (linked at the beginning of this post) for further info such as pricing and alleged availability. And naturally, once I get my samples in I’ll have my reviews up as usual. Although at the rate things are going, who knows what’ll even be left by then!
In what was a first for me, I went to an all-girl Nerf battle a couple of weeks ago. A friend asked for some help putting it together, so I brought the materiel 🙂 Thanks to Nerf for supplying the goods! This was at Illinois State University, courtesy of their Delta Phi Lambda Chapter.
Sorority. Nerf Blasters. I never thought in my years of blogging would I ever put those words together. Yet, here we are.
Some fantastic highlights:
The Lead Lady who helped set this up on the right, and one of her other sisters on the left.
This. Nerf. This. Thanks for the weapons, Nerf!
Nerf Nitron vs. Nerf Jolt
When you need a base, reuse, reuse, reuse…
We were a bit restricted on space, but we made do. Setting up a midline and some fortifications using boxes and tables, the ladies shot it out over an hour or two, getting familiar with all kinds of blasters. Nerf sent along some Nerf Dart Tag (Speedswarm, Swarmfires, Sharp Shots), some N-Strike (Rayven, Barricade), and Nerf Vortex (Nitron, Praxis, Lumitron) for the ladies to try, and it was good. We didn’t really have a structured game type, just your basic elimination and tag. I threw out some objectives, but ultimately they did what they were supposed to; shoot it out and have fun
The ladies loved the Nerf stuff to begin with (and some of them already owned blasters so it made my job easier. I had very little explaining to do on how to use the blasters, and the DPhiL ladies got a real kick out of the glowing magazines, discs, and so forth. Some of them did have some requests:
– Hello Kitty Blasters – Pink ammo – A grenade (you can see these ladies are on track with a good portion of the community out there)
In any event, they had a good time and I was glad they let me be a part of this event. Hopefully I can make my way out there for another war sometime, as I hear they have both a Nerf club AND an HvZ game that runs.
Foam From Above 
