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Peek behind the curtain: Wired article on Nerf & the Hailfire!

Seen this piece yet on Wired?   If you were curious what it took to develop a Nerf blaster, look no more!  Up to two years in some instances, and it starts with an idea and a bunch of parts.  Really interesting stuff if you’re into design and what it demand when you work in the toy industry.

REVIEW INBOUND! NERF N-STRIKE ELITE HAILFIRE (IN PHOTOS)

I first saw the Nerf N-Strike Elite Hailfire earlier this summer, at the big ol’ Nerf launch party and I finally got my sample! (Thanks Nerf!)

Pics! (after the jump) –

https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

And, we’re back!  As you can see, I’ve put up some photos of the Nerf N-Strike Elite Hailfire.  At max capacity it can load up to 144 darts at once, using 8 18 round straight mags.  I’ve also included some shots of different combos of mags and accessories, just for fun.  So, how did I like it?

My play style on the field is pretty haphazard, so something like this so ridiculous plays into it very well.  Whether you’re using 4 35 round drums or the 18 round mags, you’re looking at a new futuristic side table :).  Basically, this thing is a “heavy weapon” and it should be used as such.  You stalk with it, you walk with it, if we learned anything from the Nerf N-Strike Vulcan you aren’t supposed to run with it, especially at full capacity.  When using smaller mags, sure it handles better but you’re not supposed to be very mobile using something this big.  A strap helps, but run and gun this thing is not at 144 darts.  You’re not going prone with it, as the thing demands you stand there tall and proud, to lay down the foam.

Now, my thinking about taking this out to a Nerf war with stock blasters – I’m not going to really be using much else.  I barely use 144 darts when using a Stampede during a round of CTF or Freeze Tag; I’m going to check my fire to cut down on reloading between rounds, and I might even just use one mag per round.  To me, that’s at least 8 games I’m going play without having to swap all my mags.  Victory favors preparation; if I’m going to use the Hailfire, I’m going to have a mess of preloaded mags in my gear, and on top of that I’m going to make sure I use one or two per game.  It’ll cut down on reloading between rounds, much less relying on reloading on the fly.  I’ve done this with a Stampede, Alpha Trooper, and a Rayven.  It’s a system I can make work for the Hailfire too.  And yes, once I’m out, I’m out.  Unless it’s during a lunch break, you won’t catch me reloading all 8 mags all over again.

As for the blaster, it’s fun!  Who doesn’t want to unload all that foam?  When using the handle, it’s a tactile experience of being a big bad walking turret.  I liken it to using a smart gun from “Aliens,” minus the swivel arm.  The trigger pull is solid, the flywheels rev loud and proud (seriously, with something like this are honestly telling me you want to play it silent?) and the transparent door is a nice touch (Hey Rogue!)

Using the Hailfire is easy enough- the handle on the top rotates the ammo rack, which accomodates N-Strike mags/drums, however you combo them is up to you.  You pull the accelerator trigger on the handle, and the main trigger moves the pusher arm that feeds darts into the flywheels.  The ranges I was getting were somewhere in the 50s-70s, whether flat or angled, video to follow.  I didn’t run into trouble with streamlines like I did with the Nerf Barricade, so bonus points for that.

Otherwise, it’s about $40 for this bad boy, and with that you get 4 6-round mags, the Hailfire, and 24 darts.  Why so few?  At this point, my guess is that the assumption is you already own a few 18 round mags after owning the Stampede, and wanted to keep the initial cost of the Hailfire down, while 18 round mags and a Hailfire upgrade kit separately.  Personally, I bought a large number of longshots once upon a time, and it ended with me having a surplus of small 6 round mags.

Either way, it might seem like a big cost but I sometimes just want to unleash a cloud of foam at people.  On days I don’t want to use my Nerf Vortex Pyragon, the Nerf N-Strike Elite Hailfire gives me a dart shooting option.  It’s reliable, it’s intimidating looking (as far as Nerf blasters can look intimidating) and I had a good amount of fun trying it out.  And that’s the important thing, isn’t it? The fun?  You can dress up your reasons for having something “War-worthy” or “Useful” but hang it all, this thing is decadent, it’s overkill, and some days you feel like a nut.  Have one of those days.

OH SO YOU WANT VIDEOS, HUH?  NERF N-STRIKE ELITE HAILFIRE VIDEOS???

annnnd maybe you remember this one?

REVIEW: Nerf Vortex Pyragon

 Nerf Vortex Pyragon against the Lumitron and a Clear Raider

Ah, the Nerf Vortex Pyragon.  The Nerf Raider CS-35 ended up being one of my favorite blasters, I would decimate entire teams with the right timing to apply the slam-fire.  Would the Pyragon match it in utility, and even outdo it in range and reliability?

After the break-


TRICKS:

REVIEW:

A couple of outdoor games with this, and it is definitely worthy of standing next to the Raider, if not outright overshadowing it.  Even the Rampage pales in comparison to what the Nerf Vortex Pyragon brings to the table.  It was impressive enough to see in action at the Nerf Elite Hailfire release party earlier this summer, but of course there’s no substitute for having the blaster in-hand 🙂

So let’s get down to it!  The Nerf Vortex Pyragon comes with the Pyragon, a 40-disc capacity drum, manual, 40-discs, and your hopes and dreams.  No scopes, no stocks, no blast shields.  It’s $39.99 at most retailers.  Thanks to Nerf, I got a sample.  Would I get another one from the store?  Most likely 🙂

FUNCTION:
It’s comfy.  In particular with the lightningstorm stock, as pictured here:

And the foregrip fits nicely for adult hands.  Ergonomic is the Pyragon’s middle name, from what I can tell.

The Nerf Vortex Pyragon can be considered the Rampage/Raider/Alpha Trooper of the Vortex line, due to the slamfire capabilities.  Advantage to Vortex on this one though, because the slamfire on the Pyragon is smoother, more robust, and more reliable than the slamfire on the N-Strike blasters.  Just a cloud of discs all flying at you in a matter of seconds.  It’s firepower, it’s elegant, it’s reliable.  A winning combination.

The drum is piece of work as well.  There’s the stem which serves as the main chamber, but then 4 auxiliary chambers inside the drum.  And when one empties, it automatically rotates to the next chamber until empty.  That’s why you’ll run out really fast, but maybe not before you tag an entire team with just one drum. 

A lot of people liked the Praxis, but the Pyragon has it and the Lumitron beat in spades.  What it trades in a little bit of width is more than made up for in reliability and slamfire. Not to mention the drum serves as its own turret mount 🙂

Quick word of warning… use caution if you put the Pyragon drum into a Lumitron or Praxis.  I found the priming arm triggered the mag release mechanism and inadvertently dropped my drum a couple of times to the ground because of this.  I didn’t have an issue using the drum with a Nitron, but the Nitron does admittedly fire slower than the Pyragon.

Also, I tried attaching a sling to the Pyragon, but it looked a point of attachment was not available on the Nerf Vortex Pyragon.  With that much awesome, I’m thinking the design team figured no one would want to carry anything else if they had a Pyragon, hehe.

Range-wise, the Nerf Vortex Pyragon hits pretty much what you’d expect from the Vortex line.  I’ll let the video do the talking here.

Anywhere from 50-70’+ depending on angle.  I had a slight breeze, which could attribute to the slice my discs were experience.  That being said, I was very pleased taking it out onto the field a couple of times and taking care of business.  It is still small enough to be mobile even with the large disc drum.  I crawled and roadie-ran through a few jungle gyms with it during games and didn’t feel the pinch for mobility at all.  The thumb hole in the foregrip feels more secure when holding the blaster, especially when using slamfire.  And as proven, it’ll fit grown hands –

Thanks Rogue!

In any event, the Nerf Vortex Pyragon is a solid buy.  Between the drum and the improvements over the mechanisms introduced with the Praxis it’s a good upgrade/addition to your playstyle if you favor a heavier hitting kind of mentality with a shock and awe approach to unloading a swarm of discs, or just having a lot of ammo on-hand for surgical strikes.  The drum is designed with a lot of nice touches (etched numbers, a snazzy logo) and it’s just satisfying to keep hearing that click when you decide to unload the entire thing.  Cleanup is not as much fun, but when is it ever?

Run out and get one, seriously.  You’ll feel better about yourself. 🙂

Nerf Firevision – have a "look" (YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH)

Back at New York Toy Fair, I Nerf Firevision gear, and it was pretty awesome.  While not intended for play in ABSOLUTE darkness (yeah…. sure…. no one’ll try that…) being able to see the the various equipment (football, basketball, etc.) brightly illuminated up to 100′ is pretty neat.

Now while sports are the forte of this line, I had to wonder what kind of applications these lights and reflective surfaces had for other purposes.  And if there’s something we love to do here at the House of Foam, it’s repurpose items for all kinds of stuff.  (Not mod though, can’t do that.  Hi Nerf!)


Quick rundown – (prices are approximate)

Hyperball set with either red or green frames – $9.99
Nerfoop set with either red or green frames – $14.99
Nerf football set with red or green frames – $19.99
Red or green frames sold separately – $5.99

And now, the video!  We would use an objective-based game where zombies (we only had 3 red pairs of frames available, so the starting zombies got those) had to find the hyper ball after it was hidden by the humans.  Game ended once the zombies got the “brain”.  Humans just had to survive with the brain as long as they could.

Let’s go to the tape!

Personally, I’m a big fan about how vibrant the light is (the green illuminates a bit more visibly than the red) and it just shows up on camera so well.  Definitely see what all the hoopla is about with Firevision, maybe you’ll find a game that works for it too 🙂