Marshmallow Shooters and the Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary – in Time for Halloween! Vas The Stampede
Happy Halloween! Back at Toy Fair I saw that Marshmallow Shooters had managed to get the Ghostbusters license, and while I normally don’t like repaints, I thought the Ghostbusters scheme (Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and all) looked pretty great. It fit, with the lines and the shapes of the Shooters being very reminiscent of the Ghostbusters own proton pack.
As it so happens, 2014 is also the 30th Anniversary of the original Ghostbusters film franchise,starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis (rest in peace), Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson. Thirty years, a sequel, a cartoon series, a comic book, and many other forms of media later, the franchise still has a huge following and is even in talks to get a reboot for a new generation of Ghostbusters.
Marshmallow Blaster – MSRP: $28.00 (final price depends on vendor)
Marshmallow Shooters was kind enough to send along some samples of their “Stay Puft” Ghostbusters Shooters, and they look just as good as I remember. The Shooters are functionally the same, as they tend to be with every new skin. Same ranges anywhere between 30′-40′ depending on the shooter you have, whether it is classic, or the blaster. I’ve always enjoyed the satisfying “POP!” from shooting the blaster, personally.
Some new products are the orb “Slimeball” and the “Snap Dragon”
Orb “Slime Ball”- MSRP: $16.00
Snap Dragon (note, the ammo holder in the handle) – MSRP: $11.00
And I don’t remember seeing Straight Shooters before, but they’re blow gun type shooters –
Not pictured in Ghostbusters colors:
the Mini Bow, the Bow & Mallow, and the Double Shooter (I have a firing video of the original Double Shooter here).
Gameplay wise, I’ve used Marshmallow Shooters to great hilarity during games, usually resulting in someone running up and stealing my ammo for a snack or trying to catch my ammo mid-air (NOT RECOMMENDED.) And while I’ve found a lack of separately available hoppers/inline cartridges affecting my reload time (as I have to stop, detach, reload, and then keep firing) the Marshmallow blaster is probably my favorite (followed by the Snap Dragon) because it doesn’t require a tube to to load and fires pretty well. The Snap Dragon is not vulnerable to marshmallow build up (as happens with the breech loading shooters) interfering with the functioning of the blaster and the ammo holder is a really nice touch.
All the same, a great look from Marshmallow Shooters for the Ghostbusters. If you’re a fan of the movies (and even if you’re not and want Marshmallow Shooters) these would be a fun buy… now who ya gonna call?
I saw this at New York Toy Fair, but it looks like the Nerf Rebelle SpyLight (not supposed to be out until Fall) hit the wild… somewhere. Eyes open, chummers. Fall will be here before we know it.
Just a heads up! The Nerf Spring 2014 line arrived (some of it, you will see the other bloggers posting their reviews), VMD Cannon Commando, and Attacknid are being worked on, as well as Tek Recon and some randoms. Thanks for hanging in there, and be back with the word on them soon!
As has been heavily covered already (seriously, I’m basically the last one to post about this), Mattel’s jumping into the blaster market (again!) with a product calledBOOMco. I heard rumblings about this at New York Toy Fair, amidst other companies and apparently the group at dartblaster.de heard about it during the International Toy Fair Nürnberg. Not having anything solid to go by, I haven’t been able to say much at all about it. Mattel was also booked solid by the time I found out, so I wasn’t able to bug them.
Clipstrike – Cause it has a carabiner! A belt clip! Geddit? It also looks like it folds up, no?
The Farshot (shield deployed)
No cross-branding here! Dart refills (w/Smart-Stic Tech) look longer than Nerf darts, most likely not compatible.
Dual Defender pack
Rapid Madness!
Additional targets & other accessories (see below) will be for sale
Twisted Spinner blaster – NOT to be confused with a dilophosaur.
First things first. No relation –
All joking aside, I’m a bit surprised and really interested at Mattel even getting near blasters again. I want to expect a knock-down, drag-out slugfest of innovation in blasters now that 2 of the top toy makers out there are on a collision course. They rule the roost with Barbie and Monster High, have some great games with Uno and Apples to Apples, but blasters and playing with blasters has been synonymous with Nerf. The other brands (not necessarily blasters) on the market are carving a great niche (Zing, Marshmallow Shooters, Power Poppers, Tek Recon come to mind) but admittedly, a blaster brand/company with the resources and deep pockets like Mattel has been long missing. Nerf, long synonymous with blasters for many years might have that challenger.
One thing I can tell, not all the blasters are triggered. The Twisted Spinner blaster isn’t, and has a… different kind of rotation mech. The Rapid Madness does have a trigger though, but it also uses a clip reminiscent of a Powerclip/Magstrike (additional clips are sold separately).
Some quick specs:
– Blasters should hit around 70′ (not sure if this is for all of them, but it’s claims are close to N-Strike Elite) – Darts use “Smart Stick” Tech to show hits, supposed to be used with the shields/targets that also stick to surfaces. As shown in the videos, the targets can be worn on clothes to optimize stickability. – Eye protection, 2 in 1 bandolier, extra darts, targets, and clips will be sold separately. – The shields are used to protect and collect, catch your opponent’s darts so you can fire them back. I guess that helps cut down on dart sweeps…. maybe? The shields are fixed to the blasters via tactical rail. – Interesting bit, if you watch the videos from the pros in their interviews, one of them mentions how you don’t really know where the darts are going, adding to the satisfaction when you DO get a hit. Testament to the accuracy? Who knows. Honestly, that won’t be a confirmed thing until these come out Summer 2014. – Mattel looks to be going big – Nerfnation meet the BOOMco League (and win a “Boom Box” while you’re there.)
Mattel has a reputation for putting out strong, quality products. Can’t attest that the reputation upholds though until these are out. The videos however make a good number of promises, and I will admit with Mattel’s name involved, I am just a touch less skeptical than I would normally be. Given the past incarnations of sticky ammo from other brands though, I wonder how those new darts will work on cloth and skin. But wondering is about all I can do, along with the rest of you, until these come out and hopefully I can get my hands on them. BUT, with the possible competitiveness between these two powerhouse toy companies… I truly hope it’s us the consumers who win out. With each trying to outdo the other we might see some of the best blasters to date in performance, quality, and features.
And look, a genuine demo video, showing how the hit registering works. I was pretty amazed, to be honest. Yes, it’s different, yes, you have to aim for the shield, but nothing is written in stone and to be able to track hits? Heck yes I’ll try this out.
NERF COMBAT CREATURE RC Robot
(HASBRO/Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $79.99/Available: Fall 2014)
NERF battles mobilize when combined with remote-controlled COMBAT CREATURE robots! Using the handheld remote, fans can activate the all-terrain, 6-legged mobility, shoot Nerf darts up to an impressive 45 feet and use the aiming elevator and 360 degree rotation to hit their targets. Battle friends and activate rapid-fire blasting to shoot up to twelve NERF darts in a row, changing the direction of each shot to keep advancing robots at bay. 6 AA batteries required, not included. Available at most major toy retailers nationwide and on HasbroToyShop.com.
My time with the Nerf Zombie Strike Slingfire. You might even have an idea of the range/accuracy, as I used a GoPro for part of this video.
Now, if only they had 2 of them.
I’ll continue to embed videos here, so make sure to come back to this page!
Nerf Writeup from the American International Toy Fair in New York City, 2014 Vas The Stampede
Nerf N-Strike Elite, Nerf Rebelle, Nerf Sports, Super Soaker, Zombie Strike, Mega, 3rd party licensed electronics, Oh my!
(update!) Here’s a video of the Nerf Slingfire –
THE GALLERY:
https://photos.gstatic.com/media/slideshow.swf 2014 marked my 4th year attending the American International Toy Fair in New York City. I can’t believe it either, honestly. To walk that floor with all the brands, bigwigs, and toys, there’s almost nothing else like it. FAIR WARNING – I have a LOT to say in this post, so there’s a lot of reading (and some pics!) so more after the break –
This Fall will be a very interesting year for Nerf. The showroom had new entries for Nerf N-Strike Elite, Mega, Zombie Strike, and Rebelle. Information had been released leading up to the show (Nerf Zombie Strike Doublestrike, Nerf Cam ECS-12,Nerf Rebelle Agent Bow – Secrets & Spies, the Nerf Zombie Strke Slingfire, Nerf Demolisher 2 in 1, and Nerf Mega Thunderbow) and while all the speculation, wild chatter, and yea/nay can be fun, I always put the most weight when I have the blaster right in front of me. I already posted some firing videos on the F2A Facebook and Instagram feeds, but rest assured I have some high quality video too and that will go up on youtube shortly. As I stay at Toy Fair the whole time (it’s a lot of fun, seriously. I wouldn’t give it up for the world) there’s a lot to go through.
“Zombie Strike” and “Secrets and Spies” are Nerf’s attempts at telling a narrative, having a backstory to their blasters. These are also attempts to cash in on current pop culture (obviously) trends, but who can blame them? With certain TV shows being so popular and other game types, it was inevitable that Nerf would finally pick up on it and jump in.
Interesting note about the Rebelle for 2014 – compared to the naming schemes for last year, “Pink Crush, “Heartbreaker Bow”, and so on (I think the “Guardian” may have been the main exception) something changed. “Rapid Red”, “Agent Bow” indicate this, although “Diamondista” seems to carry over from last year. “Spylight” could just as easily have fit into the N-Strike line, though maybe as “SpylightFireUltraHyperShot REV-6.”
Word has it research showed girls imagined themselves as spies with last year’s blasters, hence the innovation towards decoders and things. Very retro tech, reminiscent of old sticker collection books I had back in the 80s.(I remember a Super Mario Bros. and Voltron one, specifically. They were awesome.)
If I can highlight some things about the Agent bow…
Integrated Pinpoint sight
It has an actual “nock” to hook onto the string, much detail, such archery. Wow.
It just looks great. Sleek and imposing even, and the bow arm mounted quiver is a really nice addition. (check the gallery).
I did ask to be shot with the Agent Arrows (under protest from my tour guide), but I had to be able to tell you what it’s like to be hit with them. Personally, I didn’t find it any worse than getting shot with a Mega Dart from a Centurion at point blank (ask BasicNerf). The heads are just as soft as Mega Dart whistler heads, the plastic shaft of the arrow is a non-issue (at least for me).
The Sweet Revenge was my favorite from last year, the Agent Bow might be my frontrunner out of Rebelle 2014.
Nerf N-Strike Elite though, is Nerf’s Flagship (at least in my estimation) line and the heavy hitters out of the gate are the Nerf Cam ECS-12 and the Nerf N-Strike Elite Demolisher 2 in 1.
The Nerf Cam ECS-12 is probably the most cost-prohibitive of the bunch. The MSRP is at $79.99, requires 8 AA batteries (flywheels + camera power), includes a 4 GB memory card, and is supposed to hit around 90-95′. A lot of Nerf players may already own GoPro cameras or have other arrangements by this point, so is that range bump enough to pour this much money into just one blaster? Especially given the camera is a 0.3 megapixels?
Nerf provided this video of the Cam(era), and it was honestly better than I expected.
But is it enough? We are still months from seeing a final form of this (in fact, all these blasters) so the jury is still out until the Fall release.
As for the Demolisher, the undermount alone is enough for me. Regrettably, it isn’t removable but it’s a step in that direction. It’s just odd that Nerf didn’t do thissoonerconsidering an undermounted removable missile has been available for some time now from another brand. While some folks also hate it is a triggerless system on the Demolisher’s mega missile launcher, I got a decent shot out of it, and the word says it will hit 50′ about. The Demolisher itself will hit approx. 90′.
So, Rebelle gets a makeover and a sweet bow, Elite gets a 90′ increase, that leaves Mega and Zombie Strike.
The Thunderbow is HUGE. About the size of my torso. And it will hit 100′. It primes like the Heartbreaker, actually. You pull back on the string, wait for the indicator to tell you you’ve pulled back enough (the arms pull back as well) and release, firing the Mega dart. You can do this up to 5 times before you are empty. Approximately 100′ out of it. My only complaint at this stage is somebody trying to pull a Legolas may suffer wear and tear on their fingers, as right now there is nothing covering the string where your fingers go.As someone who’s fired a lot of Zing arrows, I hope something gets put there before Fall, as the pull is pretty robust.
The Nerf Zombiestrike Slingfire? My favorite so far, simply because I can do this:
Whew! Alright, that’s the showroom.
ICYMI, 3rd party tech made a huge splash at Toy Fair for Nerf this year – Tek Strike is a 3rd party game/setup that promises hit tracking, and utilizes bluetooth connectivity and requires players to be more strategic as you need specialized Nerf darts to play. See my initial writeup HERE Without giving too much away, these folks at Eyespy have a wonderful idea right now, and plenty more wonderful ideas to follow up. I’ll be watching them closely, as I’m genuinely excited about seeing this product and on more than one occasion listening to their pitch I was left speechless. I do have a video that I need to edit as well, so expect that soon.
https://photos.gstatic.com/media/slideshow.swf And Sakar international/Vivitar had a series of cameras, walkie talkies, and more licensed to the Nerf brand… some of which falls in with the Nerf Rebelle Secrets & Spies theme –
https://photos.gstatic.com/media/slideshow.swf My press kit didn’t have much in the way of pricing yet, but I’m in contact with Sakar at the moment trying to get some info. According to the rep I spoke with at Toy Fair, a few of these items (including the hands-free walkie talkies) were pretty new, so the info was lacking. I’ll update this post as necessary! And when I have HQ videos.
Make sure to join the discussion at the F2A Facebook page and see more firing videos on my instagram feed.
I’m sure there’s plenty I’ve left out, so make sure to leave a comment if there’s something you’re curious about. ON THAT NOTE: No secret blaster. All the reveals had been done by this Toy Fair, so the Cam was probably the secret blaster at UK Toy Fair. No super secret sizzle video either like when the Hailfire was revealed. No new Nerf Dart Tag and now new Nerf N-Force (unless you want to count the Strikeblade, but that’s under the Zombie Strike brand.) While not outright saying the lines were defunct, there just aren’t any plans right now for either line, and that is indicated by the lack of new product for those lines as of New York Toy Fair.
Tek Recon broke out at last year’s Toy Fair with it’s app, new styled, reusable rubber ring NRG ammo, and promises of high capacity and high ranges mixed with video game FPS action. The Hammer Head and the Havok generated a lot of buzz via Kickstarter and E3, with some astounding community outreach there and throughFacebook.
That was the past though, and now for New York Toy Fair 2014, Tek Recon brings you… the Predator. They sent out a press release around this AM, and here are some highlights!
From the press release –
“The Predator features rapid slam firing, with ranges exceeding 100 feet. It holds up to 100 ‘NRG’ rounds, more than any other reusable ammo blaster. To help enhance the Tek Recon experience, a newly designed magazine that allows for rapid loading firing will be introduced to enhance the battle experience. The Predator comes equipped with six accessories; including scopes and LED targeting technology that can be customized and mounted on tactical rails. ….In addition to the Predator blaster, new accessories for 2014 include different performance ‘NRG’ rounds, like Long and Soft shots. These special rounds come in a variety of colors and provide more customization for the fans.”
So there you have it. The special rounds of varying styles that dartblaster.de showed, and a new blaster. I’m guessing I’ll get a look at the new cradle too. Should make for an interesting Toy Fair and year in blasters overall. Thoughts? I got some clarification, and they’re referring to this being more rounds than any other Tek Recon blaster, as the Hailfire has a max of 144 rounds.
Anyway, thoughts? How have you liked Tek Recon thus far?
Dartblaster.de saw this at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, here’s the press release from Nerf!
NERF ZOMBIE STRIKE DOUBLESTRIKE Blaster
(Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $9.99/Available: Fall 14)
When zombies are on the loose, double dart firing power is a necessity. Load two ZOMBIE STRIKE darts into the DOUBLESTRIKE blaster, pull back on the hammer mechanism, and fire to unleash both darts in a row! Blaster includes two ZOMBIE STRIKE darts. Available at most retailers nationwide and Hasbrotoyshop.com.
Foam From Above 