After a bit of press for the last year or so, Paper Shooters is finally ready for the U.S. shores! I’ve been following the brand ever since they approached me some time ago, and it was good to finally see and shoot a finished product. I went for the GoPro POV while aiming and shooting. Note the priming between shots and the shell ejection.
The basic kits will run $29.99 and may include the following (pulled this from their website, I assume it will be the same in the U.S. during release:)
“Your 138 piece kit contains : – All plastic components, screws and springs to create your PaperShooters™ base model – 8 highly detailed A4 die cut cardboard pieces that contain all the individual pieces to create your awesome Zombie Slayer camo skin
Also included :
– 50 ‘Soft- splat’ paper pellets. Just dip them in water for 20-30 seconds, load them into shells and blast away! – A mould to create endless amounts of ammo from ordinary paper. Got paper,? Got ammo! – 6 shells that eject with every shot!”
I will have a more in-depth look at this when the samples come in and will give more of my thoughts then. Already, I know that it’s supposed to be a pretty involved build and I am looking forward to taking a crack at it. It’s not going to be the usual blaster out of the box experience, but I am definitely taken with the look and feel of the product.
Say what you want about Marshmallow Shooters, other blaster lines have come and gone but they are among one of the constants at New York Toy Fair year after year. Last year the biggest news from them (in my opinion) were the Ghostbuster-themed shooters, they looked great and while they were still functionally the same as previous releases, the line was just in time for the big anniversary of the release of the original film.
This year, it’s not a new paint job that piqued my interest, but this new line of blasters from Marshmallow Shooters, the “Orbballistics” as well as the “new” “FoamFury” line. Marshmallow Shooters is now in the business of making reusable foam ammo, as they did have some people who wondered about “wasting food” when it came to using Marshmallow ammo. While this is a concern for me as well, another problem with marshmallow ammo is degradation from heat or reuse. Squishy marshmallows loaded into barrels/hoppers usually meant residue on barrels and plunger heads. Foam ammo makes that less of a problem, thankfully. Based on the technology that they use for the “Orbball”, the ammo for the Orbballistics is a hollowed out foam tube that forms kind of a hollowed out oval, something like a grape, or a mini, teeny tiny hollowed out football. I’ve had some fun with the Classic, Crossbow, Bow, and a variety of other shooters in the past, but the ammo wasn’t optimal in the summer and I had to keep mindful about that. Also, never mind the constant consumption of my ammo from other players. Before the round, during the round, after the round, etc. Not entirely unexpected and it was all in good humor, it became the running gag any time one of us used a marshmallow shooter. Thankfully though that also gave me a lot of reasons to make s’mores and rice crispy treats as well!
Marshmallow Shooters is claiming 60′ flat on these things (and it might be possible, haven’t been able to do the video yet because of technical difficulties but there is one) so that’s pretty interesting stuff. Some of the initial comments I’ve gotten tell me these are similar to the Vortex Koosh blasters from way back, but these are definitely more compact. I didn’t have any prices at the time at New York Toy Fair, but they may be available as of 4th quarter, at least in time for the holidays.
As always, if I manage to get any samples I’ll be sure to do a review right at this blog. The model I handled was a prototype, so it’s way early for me to comment on handling and build strength. At most I can say that it looks sleek, and the ammo holders are always a nice touch. Past that, I am always looking forward to seeing new challengers to the foam arena.
Besides the Orbballistics, Marshmallow Shooters had “FoamFury” which is their classic shooter now firing foam “ear plug” like ammo. 20′ of range, so while made for a quick release definitely not what one can expect from the Orbballistics shooters. Also, there were “Varmint Series” blasters which look hilarious. Pics of these and more can be found in the gallery.
So, thoughts? Another (this time foam) solution from Marshmallow Shooters, with more range than the original shooters and with reusable ammo. Is this something you would try out? Would you qualify it as large ammo if your games use those rules? Comment below, and let me know!
Scorpion Gatling Blaster: Dart Zone/Prime Time Toys By: Vas The Stampede
Size Comparison: Scorpion vs. Nerf Barrel Break and Zing Legends Bow
My firing video:
Basic Info:
Price: $19.99 (Wal-Mart Exclusive) Range: Up to 70′ (angled) Includes: “Super Darts” x 20 20 Dart Ammo Belt x 1 Instructions Scorpion Gatling Blaster x 1
Prime Time Toys keeps the hits coming with one of their latest entries, the CovertOps Scorpion Gatling Blaster. A Wal-Mart Exclusive, this blaster is obviously inspired by some earlier similarly styled “gatling” blasters like the Punisherand Gatling Blaster. This fully automatic, 20 shot blaster proves itself a pretty good value for 20 bucks.
It requires 6 AA batteries, and that spins the barrel (purely cosmetic effect) and also powers the flywheels. There’s no accelerator trigger here, once you hit the “on” button the flywheels go and all you have to do is hold the trigger down. It’s pretty easy to shoot in bursts, or just empty the entire belt for maximum hilarity. The blaster is small, probably smaller than either of the earlier gatling blasters. This does make it a bit easier to carry and move quickly, although the chains do swing about, nothing new if you’ve ever run with a Nerf Vulcan. Unlike the Punisher, there is no ammo box, so there’s a loss in aesthetic as well. Oddly enough, while the line is called Covert Ops, once this blaster is on, there is nothing covert about it. If you didn’t like the noise level of a Barricade, you will definitely not like this blaster. As I suggest with any of those complaints, just wait until you’re about to shoot and flick the power switch then, don’t run around an entire game or scenario with your flywheels running (unless there’s a strategic reason for it, as I’ve done in the past).
The Covert Ops line is a green and orange mash of colors, crossing toy safety and a color scheme reminiscent of the movie, “Predator.” While this isn’t the total minigun that some folks may want, it does pretty well all the same. To me, the plastic and build feels pretty sturdy and that it might take a drop or 2. That is only descriptive of the blaster body, though. I can’t attest to the strength of the electronics and the motor if you dropped this blaster. Bottom line, it feels solid.
The amount of clearance to fit other brand darts through the Scorpion.
I repeat, the size proves deceptive as you might not expect the power you get out of this. I was able to hit almost 50′ flat and angled my shots hit about the advertised 70′ range. And this was with both the proprietary “super” darts and other leading brand darts. This blaster shot just about anything I put in the ammo belts. The accuracy did leave something to be desired, but with foam ammo that tends to just be the reality of the medium. And if you’re sending out about 20 shots at a time, maybe accuracy isn’t your main concern!
That being said, I can’t comment if chains from the earlier gatling blasters will work with the Scorpion, as I don’t have either. And if I had any real complaint about this blaster, it’s that additional chains aren’t available to use this as a proper defensive or offensive weapon. Extra chains and the fast reload (with some practice and preloaded chains) would make for a good time in a stock blaster game. As far as I know, separate chains are not sold anywhere so you have one 20 shot belt and that’s it with the Scorpion. Either check your fire or get ready to reload the same chain frequently. For $20 and only 6 AA batteries, I definitely think this blaster is worth the trip to a Wal-Mart (in the US) and adding to your inventory. It’s a great price for a 20 shot blaster that hits its range and fires pretty quickly.
Thanks so much to Prime Time Toys for the sample, and to you for reading! If there’s anything I missed feel free to use the contact form or make a comment below (comments are moderated, so they may not appear right away.
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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
(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!
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 tipsthat 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. 🙂
Requires 6 x AA batteries for tank, 1 x 9v for remote (batteries not included).
Ages 8+
MSRP: $39.99
Available now at major retailers.
Range: 50 max. at lowest angle, 20′-30′ at highest
Fired Nerf brand streamlines (elite, suction cup, zombiestrike) as well as included darts. Did NOT launch Buzz Bee or “extreme air zone” darts.
Includes: Remote, darts, Cannon Commando, and tailpiece for stability. (GoPro Mount is my own)
The turret raises/lowers manually.
Dart comparison between VMD darts (far left) and other brands.
Tail piece to prevent the VMD from tipping backward (optional).
Tank treads made driving through gravel and some grass ok, directions note DO NOT drive through heavily loose ground, as this may interfere with motorized internals.
Thanks to Skyrocket Toys for the sample! (All opinions are my own.) So I’ve seen the Cannon Commando before, but this is the first time I’ve actually been able to check it out for myself. Click Click BAMF did a review of their own, so feel free to check that out. As for my my own thoughts, they follow below.
FIRST: The VMD is obviously remote controlled. There are 3 frequencies (A, B, and C) that it uses to sync a VMD Tank unit with the control. There is a switch on the control, and a similar switch on the underside of the tank. This is to help 3 people each with a Cannon Commando each use theirs to shoot independently. I am not sure if more than 3 at one time is possible, though. And you set the frequency when you turn on the Cannon Commando, so it is not possible to hijack another player’s tank mid-game by flipping the switch on your controller.
You fire the VMD by flipping the “armed” switch cover to reveal the “arm” switch underneath, and flip that to light up the red skull on the control. Press down the top right bumper switch on the control, and you can fire away. Firing AND moving isn’t built in the functions though, one function or the other at a time.
The VMD also has to be aimed manually. You set the angle you want to fire, and then drive around. the lowest angle would hit around 50′ (the video above is set in a high wind, fair warning) while the highest elevation reduced range to about 20′-30′. Also, this is a flywheel blaster (see the above breakdown at the beginning of the article for what darts did/did not work) so launching a variety of darts is a bit easier than with a blaster that uses a magazine. They market this as one of the hardest firing launchers out there, and it’s true (stock). There is definitely some pop in the flywheel launcher, more than I initially expected when I first saw this. Definitely a lot of surprise in such a little package.
Reloading the VMD is a bit tricky, from what I could tell the dart cylinder doesn’t pop out, so you have to manually (and somewhat gently) rotate the chambers if you choose to reload darts that way. Besides the rotation mechanism though, the rest of the tank feels pretty solid in construction. It’s hefty, and the treads are a decent rubber. As you can see it rolled along on pavement pretty quickly, and low grass wasn’t a problem. I really wish it could aim with the remote, but chances are that would have taken it above the attractive $40 price tag.
While this isn’t the normal type of dart shooter and maybe not one I’d use for a normal running around type of dart blaster game, I still found it a lot of fun to play with and there are some interesting ideas I have to use this for in the coming weeks. For a motorized dart launcher with a lot of replay value, I think this is worth the $40. In the office, at home, or just because, definitely worth a look!
So, there are some constants to New York Toy Fair, and Marshmallow Shooters is another one of those brands who keeps chugging along. Every year there’s something new, and this year they revealed a few things. Now, in my opinion they most famously have many repaints of existing models, but given the circumstances, I don’t mind in this case. They landed the Ghostbusters license, so the next round of Marshmallow Shooters are going to look fresh out of 1984 (Happy 30th Anniversary to “The Ghostbusters” and it’s a sad thing that Harold Ramis had to pass away this year. As a fan of his work, I couldn’t believe it when I first heard it. But that is a whole different blog post. If you missed out on the original Ghostbusters pop guns back in the day, maybe these will take the edge off. But at the very least, it’ll be for a new generation.
Ghostbusters paintjobs for Marshmallow Shooters
A concept image of an upcoming Marshmallow shooter. Think… scattergun. Scattermallows. Something like that.
A Beaver Blaster. Not only will it shoot Marshmallows, but it is supposed to also have a foam ball.
Foam From Above 