Tag: nerf

Breaking news! Nerf & Dude Perfect WANT YOUR SUGGESTIONS

Nerf and Dude Perfect Team Up for First Ever Crowdsourced Trick Video
By Vas The Stampede

Dude Perfect and Nerf want YOUR sweet trick shot suggestions!

“Nerf is teaming up with Dude Perfect to create the first ever Nerf crowdsourced video featuring the N-Strike Elite Demolisher 2-in-1 blaster and the N-Strike Mega Thunderbow blaster. Nerf and Dude Perfect are asking Nerf Nation to suggest the stunts they want to see in the video by posting to Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter using the hashtag: #NERFPERFECT.”

Get on it, Nerf Nation! I’ll see you back here once more info becomes available later today.


And, #ThrowbackThursday – a few trick shots of my own from awhile back – http://youtu.be/FO5RAwm_Lbo

Nerf Des Plaines II – REVISITED (Illinois Tournament)

Nerf Tournament in Des Plaines, Illinois (thanks, Des Plaines Park District!)
By: Vas The Stampede

Last year, the Des Plaines Park District hosted a Nerf Tournament. Darts were fired, and fun was had. The fun was so plentiful they went for a second go recently as well! From the looks of it, there were about 30 (24 in the group shot below) who showed up to play, that’s up from the (roughly) 17 in last year’s group photo. Given that this is one of the few (if not only, at least as far as I know) park districts near me that uses Nerf/toy blasters as part of its programming, this is progress. (Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview, I’m looking at you.)

Here are (some of) the pics from 2014 – the day started off with some free skirmishes for the teams to get warmed up, then into round robin and eventually the knockout round.

The Des Plaines Park District set up the whole event-

The game of the day was Capture the Flag – teams would hide their flag somewhere on their half of the field, then search out the flag of the other team. If a player was tagged with a dart (and only a dart) they had to run back to their end of the field, count to 5, and jump back into play. A team only needed the other team’s flag to win, if their flag was moved they just had to hustle the other team’s flag back to their own base before their flag reached the other side. If a flag carrier was tagged with a dart they would drop the flag and it was to stay where it landed, a team could not move their flag back to base.

A little different was teams could only use ammo they brought into the game at the start; reloading from darts off the field was not allowed (probably to speed up the game, as teams would end up putting up strong defenses and reloading magazines. Even in a 5 minute round, this got a little slow.) If a player was hit, they were to pick up ONE dart from the ground and drop it into a bucket at their base. If there was no flag capture by the end of the 5 minute limit, whichever team had the most darts (meaning their players were tagged more) lost the game. Eye protection was mandatory, and players supplied their own ammo. Obstacles were provided by the park district, along with some loaner blasters when necessary.

Here’s the gallery:

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

Interesting note, I didn’t see any off-brand blasters. Whether it was the marketing or just preference of the players, I’m not sure. The blasters were stock (from what I could tell, and mods weren’t allowed anyway) but from talking to some of the players were definitely aware of the larger community, yet here they were doing work on the field laughing and playing with stock blasters.

The players range from 6-14 (maybe? I hadn’t really asked) but the kids came to play. Park staff acted as referees through each game and resolved any disputes and rules questions, and things went through pretty smoothly. The whole event took about 4 hours to complete from briefing to awards.

The kids definitely came to play, they were hustling, talking strategy, scouting other teams, all hallmarks of really wanting be competitive and put on a good show during each game. Admittedly, the games I played in the past at other meetups are a little less competitive so it was refreshing to see Nerf through the eyes of a more competitive mindsetthan I normally see. (Ask me about “Cannonball” sometime to get a feel for how I Nerf.)

I provided a little tech support (and some photographic coverage) but ultimately these kids may be the ones to pick up the hobby and continue to demonstrate that yes, blasters are still a valid toy market! Thanks again to the Des Plaines Park District for letting me be a part of this event and hope to see some of these faces again next year!
 

Nerf Zombie Strike Crowbar/mask kit found!

Nerf Zombie Strike Zed Squad Crowbar Combat Kit –
By Vas the Stampede
Spotted the Nerf Zombie Strike Zed Squad Crowbar Combat Kit for $19.99 today at a Target. Enjoy the pics!

It is a bit softer than I would maybe like but I also enjoyed Half Life (Gordon Freeman!!) a lot, so crowbars are kind of a thing for me. The mask that it comes with is pretty hilarious but I wouldn’t run around for extended periods of time wearing it. Also, this SHOULD go without saying, but it is sized for a child, adults may not find this as comfy like the iron man mask.

(Pics were quickly snapped w/ my iPod touch, so sue me.)
I don’t know a lot about LARP so I can’t speak for utility in games like that but maybe some of you other players out there can make these work. It fits the “zombie strike” world that Nerf is building. Now I was pretty disappointed in the first launch with the machete, but Perpetual Play has really caught me with their weapon and dart storage, the z bombz, and now some of the new kit including this crowbar. 
My only bone to pick is this is a bit pricey, as full blasters with darts/mags with a lot longer reach run similar price points. But, them’s the breaks with this business. $20 could also buy a Sweet Revenge, a Hammer Shot, extra darts, things like that.  
Ultimately though I bought it. So yes, if this scratches your role play itch for whatever you like (in my case, busting open crab heads) it is a good buy, I haven’t seen a foam crowbar otherwise.  
There may no N-Force, but this works too. Game on, Perpetual Play.

Nerf Highlight reel – (Mega Thunderbow, Demolisher, & More)

Nerf was awesome enough to send along some new video for a bit of an early release. While it covers some of the older products (Fusefire, Super Soakers, etc.) the big draw here is the Nerf N-Strike Mega Thunderbow and Nerf N-Strike EliteDemolisher along with a peek at Dude Perfect, Nerf’s resident trick shot experts.

A good portion of the gamut of Nerf Life is evident here, from Zombie Strike to Super Soaker, though Nerf Dog and Nerf Rebelle may be getting videos of their own. 

2014 is going to finish strong from the looks of it! What have you picked up from the new lineup? What do you plan to get?

(I’m… uh… waiting for them to show up on store shelves.)

BREAKING UPDATE: Nerf Rhino-Fire Press Release! Full info!

Nerf Blaster Tops 100…. Dollars! Say Hello the Elite Rhino-Fire
By Vas Stampede
Nerf N-Strike Elite Rhino Fire. 90′ range. MSRP: $100.00 Available Fall 2014.

UPDATE: Here’s the full press release straight from Nerf:

NERF N-STRIKE ELITE RHINO-FIRE Blaster
(Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $99.99/Available: Fall 14)
Dominate the competition with the biggest, baddest NERF blaster yet! The N-STRIKE ELITE RHINO-FIRE blaster is the first fully automatic NERF blaster featuring rapid-fire, double barrel blasting, an amazing 50 dart capacity and two N-STRIKE ELITE dart drums, turning ordinary battles into extraordinary ones. The epic RHINO-FIRE blaster sends darts soaring impressive ELITE distances of up to 90 feet, and features both a front handle for mobility and tripod to ensure awesome accuracy. Includes 50 N-STRIKE ELITE darts.  Six “D” batteries required, not included. Available exclusively at Walmart.

Nerf Rhino images came off Amazon Spain, but nothing really solid to go on yet except the name and box art (which might change as well.)
Have fun!
 
  Whew! Ok, so if I may chime in… holy carp.
Back at the Nerf All Access event (videos are posted at click click bamf and AFON so far) we were informed there was one more big blaster coming. I’m guessing this is it. If anyone experienced a letdown with the Cam CS-12 being revealed, hopefully this is more your speed?

The story so far:

Available Fall 2014 (most likely around the holidays)

Wal-Mart Exclusive
MSRP: $99.99
Range: 90′
Includes 50 Darts, a tripod (I’m assuming 2 x 25 round drums)
Requires 6 D batteries (!)
While I’d prefer to wait for the actual product, here’s some of the chatter:
Flywheels
Pistoning barrels (like the Pulsator)
Tac-Rails (of course)
I’m sure it’s only one trigger, but the early speculation also says maybe selective firing capabilities.
I already thought $80 was a bit high for the Cam, but this one tops out at $99.99, definitely for the holiday shopping frenzy. With dual barrels and who knows what else by release, this is a huge gambit to see just how much people are willing to pay, especially around holiday splurging. For the cost and the range, and the ultimately big bad feeling to come with a blaster like this, I wonder how fast it will be snatched up. If the Centurion sales (lots of people DID buy them, regardless of the performance) this just might be a big beast during the holiday season. Personally, I’m very interested to see the final product, as impressed as I am with this hype and promise at the moment. Only one way to be sure!
Anyway, thoughts?

Nerf All Access Event: Year 2014 & beyond!

Nerf All Access – Google Hangout with the Nerf Team
By Vas Stampede
Whew! Finally recovered, and on Thursday, June 26, myself, Mr. K from Adult Fans of Nerf, CJ from Click Click BAMF, and Blaster Labs arrived in NYC for the annual meetup/media event with the Nerf team to go over the new products for the coming Fall. 
Hard to believe this was my 5th year. Wow. Anyway, a lot of this I saw at New York Toy Fair but months later, here we are. There was a LOT of info with garnered from the design team, so I am  getting a little help from at least CJ and Mr. K to put it together.
– I can tell you this though, the Nerf Double Strike is still in the works! It will fire a single dart per prime, no multishot madness here.
– The development cycle is still about a year to a year and a half from drawing board to production, so at Toy Fair what I saw was halfway through.
– Some designs are actually held back in anticipation of doing them better, the upcoming Nerf Elite Cam CS-12 is one such instance.
There was a lot more! Coming soon. In the meantime, enjoy the pics! Still working on the gallery but these should tide you over in the meantime.

Review: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Star Lord Quad Blaster! (Nerf)

 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY STAR-LORD LORD QUAD BLASTER:

Price: $19.99 (Target.com – ordered)
Range: 20′-30′
Includes: 
Nerf Elite darts x 4
Quad Blaster x 1

(The pics are reposts – But the video is new!)

There it is! The Star Lord Quad Blaster in all its glory. Last seen at New York Toy Fair, I managed to order one off Target.com.

The blaster has 2 triggers -> one opens the blaster up exposing the extra barrels, and the other fires darts. There are 2 slides behind each barrel that pull back and return to position, priming the blaster. Depending on which barrels have darts in them, those darts will fire. If all 4 barrels are loaded, the inner barrels fire first, then the outer. If you load darts any other way whichever barrels are loaded will fire (smart ARs).

Pretty basic, front-loading and a pullback slide with a sweet gimmick. It’s almost the perfect formula for a licensed product. And as far as licensed products go, I’m more used to them going 10′-15′, not 25′-30′. And that’s what you’re going to get out of this blaster. So while not on par with many Elite/other brands, it doesn’t have to. The push here isn’t someone looking for performance (mostly) but a comic fan who is looking to tag their nearest Ronan The Accuser-looking friend for fun. Costumers may get a kick out of this and folks who check out the movie that will become new fans of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Is it worth the $20? I enjoy the gimmick of the blaster, regardless of the ranges. I like my Nerf games stock and up close anyway, so 20′-30′, 50′, whatever that’s not what I got it for. I got it cause it looks cool and people will understand why I yell “OOGA CHAKA OOGA CHAKA” as my new battlecry 🙂 I will admit, I thought the ranges were a little longer at Toy Fair, but I don’t really care. It’s easier to holster when it’s closed up, but I’d probably use it by itself and not as a sidearm because that’s just how I do things.

Excelsior!

Pssst…. this was on the back. Looks like there is another blaster coming out! Star Lord doesn’t get to have all the fun 🙂