Tag: toy

REVIEW: Nerf Vortex Pyragon

 Nerf Vortex Pyragon against the Lumitron and a Clear Raider

Ah, the Nerf Vortex Pyragon.  The Nerf Raider CS-35 ended up being one of my favorite blasters, I would decimate entire teams with the right timing to apply the slam-fire.  Would the Pyragon match it in utility, and even outdo it in range and reliability?

After the break-


TRICKS:

REVIEW:

A couple of outdoor games with this, and it is definitely worthy of standing next to the Raider, if not outright overshadowing it.  Even the Rampage pales in comparison to what the Nerf Vortex Pyragon brings to the table.  It was impressive enough to see in action at the Nerf Elite Hailfire release party earlier this summer, but of course there’s no substitute for having the blaster in-hand 🙂

So let’s get down to it!  The Nerf Vortex Pyragon comes with the Pyragon, a 40-disc capacity drum, manual, 40-discs, and your hopes and dreams.  No scopes, no stocks, no blast shields.  It’s $39.99 at most retailers.  Thanks to Nerf, I got a sample.  Would I get another one from the store?  Most likely 🙂

FUNCTION:
It’s comfy.  In particular with the lightningstorm stock, as pictured here:

And the foregrip fits nicely for adult hands.  Ergonomic is the Pyragon’s middle name, from what I can tell.

The Nerf Vortex Pyragon can be considered the Rampage/Raider/Alpha Trooper of the Vortex line, due to the slamfire capabilities.  Advantage to Vortex on this one though, because the slamfire on the Pyragon is smoother, more robust, and more reliable than the slamfire on the N-Strike blasters.  Just a cloud of discs all flying at you in a matter of seconds.  It’s firepower, it’s elegant, it’s reliable.  A winning combination.

The drum is piece of work as well.  There’s the stem which serves as the main chamber, but then 4 auxiliary chambers inside the drum.  And when one empties, it automatically rotates to the next chamber until empty.  That’s why you’ll run out really fast, but maybe not before you tag an entire team with just one drum. 

A lot of people liked the Praxis, but the Pyragon has it and the Lumitron beat in spades.  What it trades in a little bit of width is more than made up for in reliability and slamfire. Not to mention the drum serves as its own turret mount 🙂

Quick word of warning… use caution if you put the Pyragon drum into a Lumitron or Praxis.  I found the priming arm triggered the mag release mechanism and inadvertently dropped my drum a couple of times to the ground because of this.  I didn’t have an issue using the drum with a Nitron, but the Nitron does admittedly fire slower than the Pyragon.

Also, I tried attaching a sling to the Pyragon, but it looked a point of attachment was not available on the Nerf Vortex Pyragon.  With that much awesome, I’m thinking the design team figured no one would want to carry anything else if they had a Pyragon, hehe.

Range-wise, the Nerf Vortex Pyragon hits pretty much what you’d expect from the Vortex line.  I’ll let the video do the talking here.

Anywhere from 50-70’+ depending on angle.  I had a slight breeze, which could attribute to the slice my discs were experience.  That being said, I was very pleased taking it out onto the field a couple of times and taking care of business.  It is still small enough to be mobile even with the large disc drum.  I crawled and roadie-ran through a few jungle gyms with it during games and didn’t feel the pinch for mobility at all.  The thumb hole in the foregrip feels more secure when holding the blaster, especially when using slamfire.  And as proven, it’ll fit grown hands –

Thanks Rogue!

In any event, the Nerf Vortex Pyragon is a solid buy.  Between the drum and the improvements over the mechanisms introduced with the Praxis it’s a good upgrade/addition to your playstyle if you favor a heavier hitting kind of mentality with a shock and awe approach to unloading a swarm of discs, or just having a lot of ammo on-hand for surgical strikes.  The drum is designed with a lot of nice touches (etched numbers, a snazzy logo) and it’s just satisfying to keep hearing that click when you decide to unload the entire thing.  Cleanup is not as much fun, but when is it ever?

Run out and get one, seriously.  You’ll feel better about yourself. 🙂

Vapor Deltas and Atlases? At San Diego Comiccon? SDCC?!?! (Also, where to buy it if you’re not at the show….)

So the Vapor Delta and Vapor Atlas are a couple of new offerings from Vapor that are pretty cool.  Disposable ammo, streamlined looks, and pretty decent performance out of the box.  Looks like there’s something cooking on their end at San Diego Comic-Con.   The Vapor facebook page might have more details on what they’re preparing, but it looks like a lot of blasters and ammo.  Lots of ammo.  If you’re at SDCC, I’m super jealous.  Enjoy your time there, and hope you find Vapor while you’re there!  If you’re not (like me) then you can still find a Vapor blaster (Delta or Atlas) online, and for a discounted weekend-only price!

(MOAR after the cut)

Been wanting a Vapor Delta?   It’s on sale NOW!  http://shop.razor.com/Vapor-Delta-500/

25% off for this weekend only!  (Call it an SDCC perk)  Do me a favor and tell’em Foam From Above sent ya, eh?

Key note here, SDCC’ers – “Cruisin’ the streets of Comic-Con with a stockpile of free blasters to share with some lucky friends. Catch the vapor mother-wave tomorrow around 3pm… if you can find us.”

Check out @vaporblaster on twitter, and the Facebook page noted above!

A sign, if I ever saw one.  And Wilfred cosplayers?  Of course, SDCC. (picture taken from Vapor’s Facebook page)

Another shot off the Vapor Facebook page; look at all those blasters!  Keep your eyes open!   The Vapor Delta is a favorite, for sure.

And seriously, Walking Dead Escape?  Yes please!

Nerf N-Strike Elite – info lowdown:

Heads up!  Finally feeling like a human again, I’m able to put together a more coherent post of everything that happened.  Well, not EVERYTHING as some of what I heard was supa top-secret in specifics, but let’s get some business out of the way:

  • N-Strike Elite is going to become the standard of the N-Strike line.  That means the new streamlines, the Elite branding, all of it is here to stay.  The original streamlines and N-Strike brand as we know it are going to be replaced by N-Strike Elite.
    • N-Strike Elite is going to revisit previous N-Strike blasters and release Elite versions of them.  CALM DOWN.  Without going into specifics, not all blasters are going to get Elite ranges.  More recent releases than what came out when N-Strike first appeared are more likely to become Elite.
      • I CAN’T TELL YOU WHICH BLASTERS ARE GETTING THE ELITE TREATMENT.  The key phrase here is, “In the realm of possibility.”  But a Longshot is NOT (I repeat, NOT) one of them.
  • The Nerf Firevision might have something for blaster fans 🙂  That’s about all I can say until Toy Fair 2013.
  • Elite is Elite, Dart Tag is Dart Tag, Vortex is Vortex.  They like to keep the brands separated so I wouldn’t hold my breath for Dart Tag Elite and so on.
  • They aren’t done with Dart Tag yet!  Just the NDTL had been around long enough, and it was time to move on for them.  Dart Tag blasters are still going to be rolled out, but it’s up to the fans to run their own.  From what I’ve heard, Australia’s doing a bang-up job of that:)
  • N-Force isn’t over with, they’re still going to support that.  Just nothing new yet (understandable, with the N-Strike Elite and new Vortex blasters)
  • Clearly, the Nerf Vortex line is going to be supported still.
  • One Direction was NOT at the party.  :*(
  • No oversized Vortex disc shooter anytime soon 😦
  • Nerf N-Strike Elite Darts will be the standard in the future.  Micros and Sonic darts are going to be phased out, in order to make things easier for people.  Elite darts will fit better in most blasters currently released.  Dart Tag darts and Nerf Vortex discs will obviously still be available, as the lines are still supported.
  • SOME international markets (Australia, mainland China, Philippines, etc.) will have a range-reduced version due to the toy safety regulations of their governing bodies.  This means the blasters will achieve somewhere around advertised 50-55′, down from the 75′ that everyone else gets.  
  • Speaking of ranges, around a 35 degree angle is what the advertised ranges we see for darts, while Vortex is fired at 10-15 degrees to determine their range.

Questions?  Comments?  Lemme know!

Nerf N-Strike Elite: Centralized

Collected a number of the videos posted about the Nerf N-Strike Elite press kits and put them all in one playlist.  We all see things a little differently, so maybe there’s something here for everyone!

So far: Rogue1283, BasicNerf, and ClickClickBAMF all have videos up that I’ve found:

Curious about other parts of the Nerf N-Strike Elite line like the new bandolier, Tactical Vest, and even the Nerf Vortex Pyragon will price out:  Shining Foam went and got the whole listing straight off Nerf’s website.  Go have a look! 

At first glance, the Hailfire and Pyragon are going for $39.99, the Rampage is at $29.99 (different from the $34.99 listed in the press kit), and Nerf N-Strike Retaliator at $24.99.  Good lookin’ out!

Nerf N-Strike Elite Retaliator and Rampage Range/Demo follow up videos

https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Thanks for stopping by!  I had some more time, so I took the Nerf N-Strike Retaliator and Rampage out for some additional testing.  I wanted to look at performance depending on using original streamlines vs. Elite, original Nerf N-strike blasters vs. Elite, and so on.  I decided to just make one gigantic video, but have no fear!  The link to each pertinent section follows.  And yeah, I kept the Retaliator barrel on for its firing.  I’ll do another vid without it soon, but in the meantime:

Handy dandy timing break down for the video-

  • Rampage w/Elite darts and 12 round magazine – 1:33
  • Rampage w/original streamlines and 12 round mag – 2:09 
  • Nerf Raider w/12 round mag and original streamlines – 2:51 
  • Nerf Rampage w/12 round mag and Firefly Tech darts – 3:02 
  • Nerf Dart Tag Quick 16 w/Dart tag darts – 3:23 
  • Nerf Clear Recon (stock) w/Elite darts and 6 round magazine: 3:46
  • Nerf Elite Retaliator w/6 round mag, Elite darts – 4:21 
  • Retaliator w/18 round magazine (Nerf Stampede’s), Elite darts – 4:36
  • Nerf Elite Retaliator w/35 round drum mag and Elite darts – 4:51

There’s still more to do, such as checking the ranges and accuracy without the barrel (personally, I like the looks so I kept it on) and a general opinion on the Elite line.  But, that’s another blog post.  As for today, enjoy seeing what the blasters shoot like 🙂

Now that the video is done, I’ll be updating this post in a few minutes with pictures as well.  Stay tuned!

OP/ED: Hey, marketing/PR/design toy people, just a thought –

After another Toy Fair, it got me thinking.  I’ve listened/read to many a pitch about this or that product, and it always boils down to a few target markets in the toy business, parents and kids.  Either the advertising/initiatives/campaigns are geared to the fantasy roleplay of a child’s imagination that gets them to bug their parents for a toy, or the parent thinks their child might be interested in said toy.

Well, what about us?  For years I’ve heard that the NIC and other communities just do not make up enough of a population to necessitate any marketing.

 I wonder just how true that is.  Worldwide, I’d like to say that interest in blaster-based games has increased exponentially.  Sure, there are mainstays like airsoft and paintball (where applicable) but the fact that Nerf/related product blogs has grown exponentially in years says a lot.  There’s interest, there’s people paying attention, and I think it’s time some of the quoted talking heads I’ve seen doing news pieces or whatever on toy blasters need to be on notice.

Like some cartoons, not all toys are “Just For Kids.” 

I saw this piece a months ago (thanks to the Aussie Canberra crew for linking this on their FB) – http://www.timetoplaymag.com/toys/2814/the-maya-group/xploderz-xranger-2000/ – and while I respect the Time to Play team (seen them, never had a chance to actually speak with them) for their work, this little quote regarding Xploderz made my eyebrow raise a little,

Xground Pounder

“Who It’s For
The Xploderz XRanger 2000 is for ages 8 and up. We think that this will have a special appeal to older boys, even college-age kids.”

I’m sorry, what?  College age?  I tried the Xranger (and the Xploderz stuff in general), and… well, if I got this in school chances are it would have been donated to some needy family or theater kid for costuming.  In fact, the blasters look like space ships more than anything designed with ergonomics in mind so it could probably fill in for a student sci-fi film.  Between the 4 hour wait-time (Sea Monkeys, anyone) for extra ammo and the overall unreliability of the blaster (it shoots when it wants to, even moreso with the Xground Pounder) and the lack of accuracy (due to the pull-release mechanism) to simple issues like BLOCKING YOUR SIGHTS WITH A HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINE (again, Xground Pounder)… I wasn’t a fan.  My mother taught me, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” but in a case like this, it’s buyer misinformation. 

And I don’t think this was in bad form.  For almost $40 the Xranger and Xground Pounder are not worth the experience, and on a college kid’s non-budget there’s a lot better stuff out there.  The Time to Play team (or many other bloggers out there) play with blasters like I do, such as with the Tacticool Tag and Gaming Society of Chicagoland (http://ttagschicago.blogspot.com).

I exchanged some emails with a company about samples they sent, and told them that the blaster they sent me was not functioning well, and the company wanted to go over what was happening.  One thing they mentioned was feedback like mine was good because they get an idea of how users actually deal with their blasters outside of shooting targets in their room

So… what do they imagine kids are even doing once they take these out?  Sure, shooting targets is fun but we all know the first thing we did when we got the new toy home was aim it at a sibling or our buddy (NOT RECOMMENDED winkwinknudgenudge).

Which brings me to the point.  Between all these communities like Mall Wars, HvZ, and the already existent aftermarket community, it’s not worth a company’s time to market to us a little bit?  Nerf’s done a pretty decent job of outreach to bloggers, Zing Toys, and Vapor, but they’re the only ones.  At places like Toy Fair, people ask about my readership.  When I mention all the places that show up on my analytics (and that one hit from Uzbekistan) their eyes grow huge.  We’re out there.  We want to spend money.  LET US BUY YOUR BLASTERS.  TELL US ABOUT THEM.  MAKE THEM AWESOME.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned these past few months is that the Internet becomes a fantastic bargaining chip.  Think of all the recent internet events where with one keystroke, items go viral, facebook and twitter blow up, and then a company either admits fault or disappears.  Oh, hey Ocean Marketing and Papa John’s.  Rush Limbaugh, how’s that apology for the Fluke going?  Miss your sponsors, right?

Our words have power.  Our web presence has power.  We want to have toys for all ages, that play awesomely, and keep us coming back for more.  We’re not just a niche market anymore.  We are a viable share of the market.

And I’m currently working on a way to prove it quantitatively.  Stay tuned.