March 28, 2014

Mattel is Back! BOOMco. Blasters Coming Summer 2014

Thanks to Reddit user MarcusH26051 for this amazing find! Turns out Hasbro is going to have competition in a big way this summer! We can introduce the BOOMco. blaster line!

Slogan: Get ready to have a blast!

This is going to be a giant post, with lots of content updates, now that I've found so many new products to post. Be patient, and follow the page break!

FINAL EDIT: At least in Europe, the initial wave of blasters (the ones with officially released pictures) comes out on the 3rd of June, 2014. The rest are scheduled for the 15th of August, 2014. All dates are subject to change.
Let's run through all of the blasters. I'll leave comments in the captions for each blaster. In general, the claimed ranges are 70 feet, with the miniature blasters claiming up to 60 feet in range.

First: the BOOMco. Farshot!

Simple slide-action piston, with storage for two darts in the handle.

The Farshot is also available in the Dual Defenders two pack!

Twice the fun!

Next is the Clipfire!

One of the 60 footers. Prime, aim, fire.

The Clipfire is also in the Head to Head Bundle.

Sweet glasses. +2 to Reflex Saves.

This one looks interesting. It's the Rapid Madness!

This blaster is air-powered, and seems to be, operationally, the new Magstrike.

Here's one blaster that wasn't supposed to be shown yet: the Smart Shot.

This blaster appears to be pull and release, but since information isn't officially out yet, we'll have to see.

Another promotional oops: the Stealth Ambush!

Also uses clips, but appears to be a manual springer, unlike the Rapid Madness.

The Twisted Spinner:

If you watch the promotional videos, pulling back launches the dart. Returning the handle spins the entire turret once, stopping at the next dart.

Finally, we have another secret blaster: the Whipblast!

Interestingly, this originates from, among others, US Patent US 20110168150 A1. Mattel chose the Triple Barrel Grapnel as their Batman tie-in blaster, and kept this design for the BOOMco. product line.

Of course, you have to have darts and accessories. Here's an extra clip for the Rapid Madness (and the Stealth Ambush).

Twenty darts of extra goodness.

There are plenty of darts, some in solid colors and others in stripes.

They seem longer than standard Nerf darts.

Here are various targets. The darts are supposed to only stick to targets and vests in the BOOMco. line.

Decals for placing on objects.
Deluxe targets.

Turns out they even have grenades! Well, sort of. They're called Smartstick Rounds, and are thrown at the target.
TOSS ME!

And to round off the list, they're even making DIY targets. Think of it as a large version of printable label paper.
EDIT 1: Turns out they also have a bandolier!
Holds darts, and serves as a shield.

As you can see, this is a huge development in the world of blasters. Time will tell how well these perform in the field, and how well their sales will perform versus the Nerf brand.

EDIT 2: It's only a quick mention, but the product line was mentioned in Mattel's Form 10-K Annual Report.

EDIT 3: For those of you in the UK and France, your country's sites have a link to sign up for the BOOMco League community. First few hundred signees get a bonus box, so hurry on up and sign in! Note that since Mattel is expecting younger participants, they will require you to submit your parent's email address in order to have them confirm that you can join. Even if you're older than 18. Also, you have to actually live in the above countries. No word yet on whether this promotion will be done in the US, Canada, etc.

EDIT 4: There's also a smart phone cradle, not unlike the Nerf version.

3 comments:

  1. That Rapid Madness sounds wonderful, are we certain they will sell clips separately? That would be amazing

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    Replies
    1. The clips are indeed listed separately as individual items! That's a relief, since Hasbro tends to neglect any non-standard blaster clips (Magstrike, Centurion, etc).

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