Tag: boomco

New York Toy Fair 2015 – In A Nutshell

New York Toy Fair 2015 in a Nutshell (The Good, the Not so Good, the…. What?)
Vas The Stampede

‘Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.’ – Norman Vincent Peale

And there was a lot of shooting (darts, rounds, water pellets, zartz) at this year’s North American International Toy Fair. This makes 5 years now I’ve gone to the show and as always, I come back saying, “wow.” So here’s a quick rundown on what I saw, and some initial impressions.

Quick note: As always, this trip is not sponsored by any of the companies. No one pays to fly me out. This is all out of pocket for me on this trip to ensure I am covering what I want and saying what I need to say.

BRANDS:
There were a LOT of blaster type/associated brands that caught my eye this year. The Story So Far (in no particular order), followed by a taste/preview of things I liked (+) and/or didn’t like (-). As I intend to give each brand their own post, these tidbits are shots from the hip, what I readily recall.

  • Nerf (Hasbro)

    • DOOMINATOR +++++++++ (the amount of +s are completely arbitrary, but may relay my sense of enthusiasm) 
    •  Modulus blaster by itself – (it’s a Stryfe, even if you can make additions)
    • Strike & Defend blaster (Literally, a “Stock Blaster”) +
    • Rival line ++++++++++++++++
    • Zombie Strike silly s Zombie Repellant + 
    • Rebelle Codebreaker + 
    • Tek Strike +
    • Rotofury doesn’t have a stock –

 

BOOMco Needler – Halo

  • BOOMco (Mattel)
    • Halo blasters ++++
    • Spinsanity +
    • One of the new blasters is another triggerless/slam-fire affair – 
  • Zing 
    • New airborne toys/planes +
    • Firetek Styled Zano Bows +
    • Some additional roleplay items to the “Legends” line +
    • Firetek Style Sky Ripperz+
  • XC Shot/Bug Attack (Zuru)
    • Bug Attack will have included targets for additional hilarity +
    • New blasters for XC Shot (the ones with clips) were prototypes and not firing –
    • Increased ranges for XC shot blasters + 
  • Primetime Toys
    • Not much new there, as a lot is still in the works. I did get video of the Talon, but Primetime promises some new product in the next few months. They did address some reports about the dart adhesive being problematic, and insist they have since fixed the problem. Comment below if you still find Primetime Toys streamline darts to fall apart, I’m sure they’d be interested to know. The Scorpion was one of their first forays going out of the Airzone line, and they plan to do more.
  • K’Nex +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A springer styled shotgun of their own.

    • I mean, seriously. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
      • With a little working knowledge, I’d be interested to see how the standing K’Nex community excels with these blasters. They’re built with “regular” blaster play patterns in mind, with the intent of being able to withstand a drop/fall/hit like any other blaster currently on the market. DROP TEST HERE.
      • What makes me a believer? That one of the folks that works for K’Nex made a multi-barreled blaster (that fired on a single trigger pull after priming each individual plunger tube) out of the available kits. It took some work he said, but it worked out. To me, that spoke volumes of the potential of builds in this line. With enough plungers, connectors, rods, who knows what is possible. Also, look forward to their promotion coming this spring, to really find the best K’Nex fans out there! 
  • Marshmallow Shooters

    • Marshmallow Shooters Orballistics ammo
    • ORBALLISTICS. Reportedly going to get 50′ flat, and straight no less.+++
    • Foam ammo finally. Apparently the feedback was a lot of people didn’t like wasting food, so this is now a thing for their line. 
  • Discovery Kids
    • TBD: they had a number of blasters in boxes, nothing to demo. The designs looked like stuff we’ve seen, but if the price point is right (also, they might have some interesting licenses) I won’t discount them out right.
  • Moose Toys (From what they told me, they have a blaster in the works. Not your typical fare, but I’ll get more info on this later.)  
    • TBD
  •  NXT (Maya Group, from the way I see it, this is a reboot of the Xploderz line)
    • This iteration of water pellet shooters from Maya Group FINALLY HAZ A TRIGGER. After all this time, and the first run with BlasterPro, these blasters get a trigger. I will admit, I had misgivings about previous Maya Group blasters, but these seemed on point. Although, paintballers might see something very similar here (at least, the gravity fed hopper shape on top. +

  • NXT Generation (Bows, crossbows, etc)
    • Some of the most solidly-built blasters/shooters I’ve seen, but the ammo to me leaves something to be desired. They require a closer look from me for a determination on this next set. The shotgun I reviewed was a little expensive for what you got, but it’s a new year, with a new line of products. TBD

  • Ogo Sports (had a few interesting launchers, they might be good for objective-based gameplay) (N/A, as these are more for goals and objectives, and I see them as less for PvP.)
  • Hog Wild Toys (Power Poppers)
    • What is becoming a yearly standard, while these blasters are simplistic but freakin’ hilarious. +
      Honorable mention, right here! Made me think of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”.

    By my count, that’s about 13 different brands that made something blaster/launcher-related.
    There’s a LOT of press release info to go through, photos, and videos but I’ll release them all here! Stay tuned, as I will be releasing more galleries and videos this week (piece by piece, so as to not overwhelm you:)  and if you have any questions please leave in the (moderated) comments below!

    Let’s connect:
    Instagram: Blasterbot1984
    Twitter: @VasTheStampede
    YouTube
    Google+
     


    Review: BOOMco Stealth Ambush

     BOOMco Stealth Ambush product review – 
    Vas The Stampede



    Basic Stats:

    Stealth Ambush by BOOMco

    MSRP: $39.99

    Range: approx. 60′

    Includes: 17 Darts,10 round clip, blaster, shield, stickers, and BOOMco Smart Stick target

    Available Now

    The BOOMco Stealth Ambush is a different type of blaster for a couple of reasons. First, it is solely slam-fire, there is no trigger. Also, it has a “hidden” turret that launches three darts, and flips out 2 wings that act as ammo holders. The turret is primed with a handle on the back (don’t prime it with the turret extended, only when concealed). There is a lock on the back that also supposedly locks the turret in until you need it, but more on that later.

    The blaster:

    The main barrel and the turret seemed to get 30′-40′ flat, but definitely around the 50′ mark and beyond with an angle to the blaster. It felt a little heavy on the back handle, but still a mobile blaster to swing around quickly if you need to adjust your aim elsewhere.

    Unlike other slamfire-style blasters I’ve used in the past, the back handle moves to engage the firing mechanism, including the release for the hidden turret. What I’ve found with this style is it threw my aim off just a bit, and might take some getting used to. Also, the lack of a stock means I can’t brace the blaster against my arm with the inherent shaking and moving that happens when using slam fire. Now, it is possible to not rapid fire the darts and be more controlled (especially with a 10 round clip) but in the heat of a game that sometimes just isn’t possible. Be prepared to spam, and spam often, which seems to be the role of the blaster in the lineup.

    That being said, the blaster also comes with a 10 round clip. That may be a low amount for folks who like to shoot more per reload, but it also accepts the 20 round clips sold separately (and with the Rapid Madness). So you can definitely expand your loadout for more ammo. While it means you have to carry clips in addition to darts, the BOOMco clips are pretty small to begin with, and if you use the BOOMco bandolier that’s at least one not carried in your pocket. But, that’s a play style question better answered by the player.

    The Stealth Ambush also comes with a Smart Stick target shield, as most BOOMco blasters do. It mounts to the top rail on the front barrel, releases via a push-button, but ultimately I preferred my sights open and clear, and removed it as I do with other shield attachments. I will admit though, the blaster almost lends itself to being fired from the hip as opposed to at shoulder level with the sight, so some users may find the shield useful.
     
    Troubleshooting (yup, a pun) –

    The lock switch in question. In “locked” position here, flipping down is “open” position

    I admit there was trouble with the hidden turret. The locking mechanism wasn’t 100%, and the turret would pop up unexpectedly after a few shots. It happened almost after 3 or 5 shots from the main blaster, but sometimes it would stay in place firing an entire 10-shot clip. For $39.99, if a blaster has a feature, I would expect it to work properly and consistently. I hope that the one I received was the exception in that regard, and other Stealth Ambush blasters on the shelves are in fact locking and releasing as they should. The main barrel fired great though, no jams, misfires, or anything else. And while yes I lost accuracy going full blast with the slamfire, it still fired reliably.

    Wrapping it up, is this worth the $40? If you are loving the BOOMco line so far, then you may like the extra fire control afforded in this semiauto blaster as opposed to the Rapid Madness. However, be aware that I can’t vouch for the reliability of the turret or how accurate the blaster will be (though with more practice, that may work itself out). But the slamfire feature is fast, smooth, and does not jam. The darts and the clip design seem to reinforce that. Universal clips are always a good thing, even though they incur an additional cost and gear to carry than just packing darts and a front loading blaster. Ultimately though, that is a call the buyer has to make, and hopefully this review has been helpful! Questions? Comments? Let me know below (with comment approval) or shoot me an email via the contact form.

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

    Thanks again to BOOMco for the sample, I continue to look forward to what they have coming next!

    HOT NEWS: BOOMco Exclusives – Toys R Us, Amazon, Target

    BOOMco exclusive offers and packs – Target, Amazon, and Toys R Us
    Vas The Stampede

    I’ve been in touch with Mattel, and they have been kind enough to pass on some info about current BOOMco exclusives. So far, Target, Toys R Us, and Amazon each have specific offerings –

    TOYS R US EXCLUSIVES

    BOOMco. Epic Blast Pack Blasters –
    List Price: $49.99

    BOOMco. Ultimate Rounds Pack
    MSRP: $14.99
    BOOMco. Extreme Battle Pack Blaster
    MSRP: $39.99

    AMAZON EXCLUSIVES:

    BOOMco. Extreme Battle Pack Blaster
    MSRP: $39.99

    TARGET EXCLUSIVES:

    BOOMco. Deluxe Smart Stick Target Pack
    List Price: $14.99

    Review: Mattel BoomCo – F2A First Impressions on the Rapid Madness

    BoomCo Rapid Madness First Thoughts!

    (Recorded this late last night while I was putting together the review – I picked the blaster up late at Target, it was a surprise to see it, will update with a better video once I am rested and have better light. In the meantime, here are some pictures:

    Hey everyone! So I picked up the BoomCo Rapid Madness last night. Enjoy the gallery –

    The BoomCo shield is removable, and the pump is double action!

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

    Price: $49.99 (!?)

    Includes:
    Rapid Madness x 1
    Darts x 30
    Throwable “Round” x 1
    Shield x 1
    Target board x 1; Instructions x 1

    Impressions!
     
    BoomCo is Mattel’s foray into toy blasters. They don’t use foam darts, and the big gimmick is this “sticky technology” on the dart tips that are specially formulated to react and stick to specifically developed targets. It’s a huge line, and coming from one of the top toy makers in the world, is it enough to challenge Nerf, a brand that has become eponymous with toys that shoot darts and other projectiles?

    In the past, many other brands have come and go – Light Strike, Max Force, gel shooters, and so on. The difference here is Mattel is much bigger than the other companies trying to broach the blaster market in the past. They have deep pockets for R&D and Marketing which really help getting your brand and toy noticed.  

    “Sticky” technology, you say? According to Mattel’s techs, they formulated the rubber/polymer/whatever on the darts to only react/stick to the specially designed targets. And they do! It’s amazing! It could theoretically make hit-tracking and scorekeeping much easier depending on what rules/gametype you, the player, devise. And it’s a strong grip, too. Any other surface/material and the darts just bounce.HOWEVER – CAVEAT – the stickiness will fade if not maintained; you have to rinse the darts regularly or use tape to remove debris. Have no fear, the instructions have…. instructions on how to do this. The Round included is entirely composed of the sticky material, which…. gives me some scenario-style ideas. But more on that as the line develops.

    The darts themselves are constructed of a thick straw-like plastic, topped with the sticky material. I don’t have a scale to tell you a difference in the weight of these darts vs. foam. If I had to attest to durability, I’d rather take the darts out to a game rather than hypothesize, and see the attrition that way. The foam darts are definitely thicker, and you can find a pretty good overview at UKNERF..

    The dart was fine!

    Let’s look at the BoomCo Rapid Madness. At $49.99 + tax, I was a little leery about buying it. There are/were numerous blasters of similar function in the past (Magstrike, Powerclip for starters) but they were also pre-Elite and at most were hitting 20-30′, probably. The Rapid Madness outdoes that with 50′ in range (see the video above!). It also comes with a shield, a target, and a throwable projectile (see previous paragraph).

    The Rapid Madness! (Shield is attached and closed up)

    The “Round” – both halves stick together when they are pressed, they separate for easy cleaning.

    Functionally speaking, we’ve been there, done that. Pump the blaster (at most) 18 times (a double-action pump no less), pull the trigger, and point where you want to unleash your straw/rubber-sticky doom. The only difference in this instance is the 50′ in range vs. maybe 30′ in earlier blasters. It’s this similarity though that makes me question the price, even with the extras included.

    The blaster is fully automatic, so it is definitely a spray and pray kind of experience. I found myself wanting to use a grip with my offhand besides the pump, but there really isn’t another place on the barrel that seemed like a good fit. Aiming from the shoulder also seemed improper because of the nature of the blaster, so I actually found shooting from the waist better, again with the spray and pray idea. The double action nature of the blaster’s pump might make it feel slower to refill with air, and depending on your play style this may or may not be your cup of tea. Once your first salvo is out…. MOVE. However, as you can see in the (newly added) video, doing bursts of darts isn’t too hard with the Rapid Madness.

    The shield mounts on the barrel and deploys at the press of a button. Even though there is a sort of iron sight on it I felt like the shield made aiming a bit more difficult, which made shooting from the hip even more preferable. In fact, like the Nerf Stampede shield I felt better just having it off. I also don’t think the blaster is for lefties, since the clip loads from the left of the barrel and has to be inserted that way due to the arrow guides. There was a bit of the blaster near the grip that would dig into my hand as well, whether that is because of the design for kids or a flaw in construction I am not sure.

    The blaster itself had a separation in the shell already as well –

    The shell seemed a bit opened here.

    But it worked and as the video shows, the volley needed some dialing in but otherwise it worked pretty well. When I have some time (and daylight) to update the video outside to check max range, I will. The pump felt durable and sturdy, as did the rest of the blaster (something you can expect when a company like Mattel is doing the building.) My nephew (he’s 11) thought it looked pretty cool, and got a kick out of shooting it.

    When it boils down to it, what are we looking at? The Rapid Madness is expensive for a mechanic we’ve already seen elsewhere. It requires stocking up on Yet Another Ammo Type, and even then the BoomCo ammo gimmick may fade out over time and leave you with darts that do little else but bounce like any other darts but at a premium price (for the blasters that launch them, if not the darts themselves.) However the range is on par with the current market of available blasters (at least, until certain 90-100′ blasters hit shelves later this year) and honestly they do look pretty slick and futuristic. The sticky tech sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun to play around with and I’m willing to give the line a chance and see where they go. If you want to try something new maybe give this a look. But with its price maybe check out some of the lower priced blasters before you go with the Rapid Madness. Honestly, of all the blasters in the line, I wish I had found the Twisted Spinner first, based on the uniqueness of the blaster alone.

    Thoughts? Questions? Let me know in the comments! NOTE: I moderate comments, so if they don’t show up right away, don’t worry about resubmitting! I will get there and read them. 🙂

    Mattel’s Blaster Line – BoomCo – Summer 2014

    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 called BOOMco. 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.

    Proper news broke on Reddit – MarcusH26051

    ANYWAY, here we go.


    “Twisted Spinner Blaster – BOOMco. Blasters – Mattel 2014”


    “Rapid Madness, Twisted Spinner, Farshot & Clipfire – BOOMco. Blasters – Mattel 2014”

    Much EXTREME, such stunt. Wow.

    The incoming available product line can be found here on Amazon.

    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.

    Lock and load, things just might get interesting.