Paper Shooters Launches Website January 30! (Paper shooting blasters) Vas The Stampede
Paper Shooters is back, and this time, with funding. After a couple attempts at crowdsourcing, the product is ready to roll out and take orders! Featuring a familiar “paper ammo” (a la Max Force, if anyone remembers), these blasters are different for a few reasons:
+ A trigger! + Instead of buying more ammo, the product is supposed to include a mold that people can make their own out of normal paper (which then gets loaded into a shell, that loads in to the magazine, that loads into the blasters.) + A trigger! + Customization is something encouraged with these blasters as well. Make your ammo, build your own blaster (it starts out as a construction kit, from what I understand), and the game is yours. +Nerf designers are part of the team working on this line.
Some things about this release that make me a bit nervous –
– The cost. Between $35 & $49. – The Clan App gets used on a wristmounted smartphone? Hrm. – Accuracy of the paper wads – Using paper wads! They got messy before, and I can see loading each individually into a separate shell being time consuming. – Shells/magazines sold separately, I assume. And when I first learned of this blaster, PvP wasn’t a big part of the conception, as I understood it. A Clan App to track stats changes that. But until I try it all out, I can’t say strongly either way if this is a good option for even casual or office wars. Given the past history with other brands and their mobile apps, I’m a little reserved about that until I see it.
Do I have reservations? Sure. But without the blaster in front of me, I’m at least willing to try it out. New blasters, new companies, new innovations can only help the hobby!
I caught wind of Paper Shooters on twitter and instagram, they seemed interesting enough. Behold, a triggered paper wad shooter! While the paper wad part brought back memories of the Shadow Hawk/Max Force line, they looked like replica M4 rifles and had a trigger… not to mention these things were supposedly made out of cardboard. You know the motto around these parts, “If you can fire it, I will try it.”
Right off the bat, this line isn’t fully in production yet. On Friday, their indiegogo page goes live – www.indiegogo.com/papershooters – and from there you can pre-order your own shooter kit. As stated in the video, they need to cover some further costs on die-cutting parts of the kits so that’s where the donations come in.
The team was nice enough to send along a bit of info:
Included in each kit:
– Plastic shape (skeleton) and all internal mechanics, rivets, springs etc – Layer one Camo Skin (with rivets/ screws to attach to plastic) – Layer two Camo Skin (glues onto layer one to add significant detail)
– A Magazine- additional Mags available – 8 Gold Shells with 50 pcs of pre made ‘soft splat’ paper ammo – Mould to make ‘soft splat’ ammo from ordinary paper (never need run out of pellets) – Zombie head target (this is a cardboard model head- made from the box itself)
“Everything is included in the box. It uses screws and a patented ‘rivet’ ststem. An ordinary rivet cannot be opened when fixed but the ones utilsed in our kits can. We include a tool so you can ‘un pop’ them and change the skins, pieces etc. Glue/ screwdriver etc all included!”
Price: Around $50-$60 – Target Audience: Ages 14+
Digital Ops, Golden Touch, and Zombie Slayer Skins
Anyone else love unlocking the “Golden Gun” in Goldeneye on the N64?
The Ammo! (It does look similar to the Max Force paper wads…) Requires to be set inside a casing, THEN placed inside the magazine.
First, this isn’t the typical fare of shooter/blaster we’re used to seeing. These are construction kits moreso than a toy (think like making a model plane) where the end product is a replica (of sorts) of an m4 rifle. But this actually has a function and shoots projectiles. In this case, wet paper wads. The experience of building is the sell before target practice. If you mod your toy blasters, you know what I’m talking about. The kit is your starting ground. You have the option to build your blaster from the ground up (albeit being handed the pieces), craft your own ammo with the mould included, and customize as more pieces are available.
I’m not sure this qualifies as a blaster toy. It’s a creative experience first, followed by the play. Additionally, it’s geared to 14+, NOT within the usual range of 8+ like most of the other blasters I write about (I believe BlasterPro was aged 14+ as well.) I’d qualify these as a type of display piece/model, that you can play with. While these are modeled after an actual firearm, they are scaled smaller(like an airsoft rifle might be), have the visible orange tip, and colored in atypical designs. While they do fire, the rate of fire is slow compared to current toy blasters (bolt-action, no slam fire, it uses casings to hold the paper wads which eject after each shot, etc.) good for some hijinks in the office and target practice but until I get these in-hand I can’t attest to the actual experience of these in use. Between the casings and the rate of fire, it is at a distinct disadvantage for most of the ways I play dart tag.
The base of the model is plastic but then decorated and finished off with the cardboard accents. Word has it the cardboard on the exterior will be treated specially to make it more durable than regular cardboard. Again, should I get my hands on these I’ll test for sure.
Pricing – admittedly $50-$60 is a bit steep, but when you think that buying additional paper wad ammo packs isn’t necessary (you can make your own from scrap paper, but additional magazines and casings will be available), that’s one thing you save on, and you get a very nice looking replica you made yourself. AND A HUMAN ZOMBIE HEAD TARGET MADE FROM THE BOX. But in this case, the value is all on what you’re into. This is an interesting level of customization and ‘smithing right out of the box in regards to Things That Shoot, so I’m intrigued to say the least.
So you build your own shooter, then what? If the indiegogo does well, they have plans for an RPG, “Call of Duty”-type crossbow, additional sights and accessories, and stronger internal mechs and springs to add to your models after some time. So, you start with these and then continue to upgrade as pieces are made available. This only happens though if they have enough support! When the page goes live Friday, if this seems right up your alley, go for it. www.indiegogo.com/papershooters It looks great aesthetically, and the creative process of crafting your own shooter and ammo (from paper scraps, no FBR or additional materials necessary) might interest you creative types. Give them a look, and if they get to their pre-order target I’ll hopefully be back with a proper live test/review of these things when they’re available.
Bottom line:
For the 14+ crowd Jury is still out on playability VERY STRIKING aesthetically Offers a creative element usually only experienced in the mod community (build your own) Pricey, but full of potential in customization and future product offerings Indiegogo preorders must be made for this to come out
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!
Hmmm.. holy crap. 2011 was not just a huge year for Nerf, but for toy blasters in general. Why all the popularity? I really couldn’t tell you. Maybe Hasbro’s N-Strike line proved that kids still like to play soldier, and the creation of pseudo-military looking toy blasters like the Maverick and Longshot showed there was some money to be made. The Maverick is one of the best selling Nerf blasters ever, and with the revolver look and feel Hasbro did good, and they looked to do good again (proven in the amount of cosplay photos I’ve seen). Success breeds competition though, and boy oh boy, were there a lot of newcomers this year. This blog entry is by no means all-inclusive, and I know I’m going to miss a lot, but dangit I’m going to try!
One could say a large bit of news came from the New York Toy Fair , where both old guard and new competitors rose to visibility. Prime Time Toys stepped out from the Air Zone shadow, showing off past creations like the Powerstrike 48. Toy Fair showed their new version of the Gatling Punisher and a new take on the revolver, a Quickfire 12. This was just the start! Since then they’ve released a Quickfire rifle and a new belt-fed rifle. Their ammo is a different take on streamline ammo as well, unlike Buzz Bee darts that still fit most Nerf blasters. I would expect more from this company in 2012, as it looks like they’re not done yet by a long shot. Keep your eyes peeled here for more info coming soon.:)
Buzz Bee released a lot of new items as well, notably the Rad 12. Honestly, they released so much I’m not sure I can list everything. The Double Shot got a new look, and a four-shot turreted blaster called the Rogue came out as well. It looked like the Ultimate System they put out didn’t do so well, as I don’t really see many more Sniper Blasts and Ultimate Missile Blasts on shelves.
The Air Zone line out of Toys R Us, combined with the Humans Vs. Zombies game to produce blasters emblazoned with their logo, an eight-shot pistol and a new version of the triple shot. The triple shot also saw a red repaint, sans HvZ flair. Far as I can tell, this is a coup that a gametype involving foam blasters actually gained notice from a mass retailer. So, congrats to the HvZ team for their success, and here’s to more zombie-fighting gear in 2012. I’ve always said “throw your wars how you want to throw them, and let the attendees sort ’em out.” People spoke loud and clear in this case:)
I didn’t see too much of the “XC” blasters, which I first saw at Toy Fair; but then not much in retailers:
The dark horse of the whole foam weapon business? Zing Toys, with their Zcurve bow and arrow and other rubber band-powered weapons! The Zcurve bow was by far my fave toy of their line, and I hope to see more out of them in 2012:
Some other companies attempted to pull people away from foam shooters. Jakks Pacific came out with a line of spitwad shooters called “Max Force” urging people to “graduate from foam” with their paperwad shooters. The blasters didn’t have a trigger, but they did have a bit of power in them, getting upwards of 80′. Sadly, the accuracy left something to be desired and reloading clips was a pain in the rear end. Aesthetically, they looked really cool, but the functionality was a real task to get used to.
Speaking of functionality if I had to give a goose egg this year to blaster design I would give it to Xploderz, one of the new lines that fires evaporating “gel pellets.” Nevermind that their commercials are misleading in how the blasters function, they’re just poor blasters. Unreliable loading mechansim, poor accuracy, bad placement of hand grips and components, limited allowance of motion, and delayed gratification with a toy right out of the box. And these things are pricey, upwards of $50 for the longer range models. Seriously, buyer beware.
Razor, of all companies, jumped into the blaster game this year just as 2011 comes to a close. Their Vapor line fires gel pellets as well, but I think they do it better. For instance, their first blaster, the Atlas 250 (first seen at this here blog) has a 50 round capacity per reload for a PISTOL, but also goes with a more traditional (and comfy!) trigger design. Definitely worth watching, make sure to check Amazon.com and Zappos for products! Of the newcomers in new projectiles, I think Razor might have the better of the products.
Wowwee, of Paper Jamz fame, released a new version of laser tag, called “Light Strike”. A little pricey to start, but once you get going it’s a lot of fun. With different modular accessories and other battle field items like the Intelligent Targeting System and target vests, there are a lot of ways to play, you just have to figure out how for yourself 🙂 Full link (including pricing) to the proper review: http://foamfromabove.blogspot.com/2011/10/light-strike-heres-go.html
HYDRO CANNON . NERF SUPER SOAKER TORNADO STRIKE NERF SUPER SOAKER SCATTER BLAST . NERF SUPER SOAKER POINT BREAK NERF SUPER SOAKER CLIP SYSTEM Refills
Even having something for collectors, two different versions of the Barricade Rev-10, one with an Optimus Prime paintjob, and another with Bumblebee. So, lots going on with the worker elves at Hasbro this year! Nothing new on the lazer tag front yet, but 2012 is well on its way now. Not to mention licensed material, like this Transformers: Dark of the Moon blaster, as well as some of the toys from this year’s big Marvel movie blockbusters like Thor and Captain America.
WHEW! So. Much. What does this mean for 2012? The market for toy blasters and other foam weaponry just might get a bit more competitive! What I hope to see? Blasters that have a VARIETY of functions, not just the same ol’ one dart, one pull kinda deal. Much as I loved the Nerf line, they all fire a dart 25-30 feet, or a disc up to 60. But functionally they tend to feel the same. Pump-action, priming slide, it’s all too familiar territory. Semi-auto, single-action, or full-auto. The pistols fire within the same range as the “higher powered” blasters. I understand that there are regulations, but give us something to work with. I will say there’s at least one contender out to try this out, but I can’t say much more than that. I hope to see a revisit to blasters more Blastfire and Lightning Blitz, and less like the Hornet. Nerf’s still top of the game, but I hope there will be less repaints and reshells for 2012. Wow me again, Hasbro. Before one of the other companies beats you to the punch!
I’ll be back for 2012, and even more importantly, I’ll be back at Toy Fair this year in February. I’ve got some more news to put out, but that will wait after the Mayan Spaceship invasion 🙂 Take care everyone, be safe, and weather allowing, get out and play!
Foam From Above 
