October 25, 2014

Nerf Elite v. XD Performance Test: Retaliator

Here in the US, we're finally starting to see Nerf Elite XD blasters trickle onto store shelves. We've already had a few negative reactions to the "upgrade", however. Derpmods bought an XD Triad, only to find that it was firing far shorter than an original Triad. Chris Cartaya, meanwhile, already disassembled an XD Retaliator to find no substantial difference between it and the original version.


I apologize for the lack of pictures for this post; this is mostly going to be data. I found Retaliators on sale for $20, with a white one among them, and grabbed it off the shelf. I then proceeded to take that, an original Retaliator, and a brand new 75-pack of darts to the nearby practice football field.

October 17, 2014

Breaking News on Upcoming BoomCo, Nerf, and Super Soaker Blasters! Part 3

Finally, we'll shed light on some future soakers. Quite frankly, there's not much to expect out of Nerf these days in the water gun department, since just about everything is a syringe-type soaker. In addition, we only have one picture so far. But we at least have some names and prices.

Super Soaker Flash Flood
- familienshopping24 listing, 24,99 €
- DVBshop.net listing, 24,99


Description:
End the constant refilling of the water tank. Here is the first Super Soaker that comes with a garden hose! Simple and straightforward; connect the garden hose and continuously splash your friends. If the garden hose is disconnected, the Blaster has normal pump function and a tank of 1.7 L to provide classic water-action.

So, it looks like there's a garden hose adapter at the very top, but at the same time the included handle looks like a Tidal Tube was slapped on top of the blaster. It will be interesting to see how this is set up, but I'm not interested in much beyond that. Isn't the point of water guns to NOT be connected to a hose the entire time?

Super Soaker Floodfire
- familienshopping24 listing, 29,99 €
- DVBshop.net listing, 29,99 €

Rebelle Super Soaker Triple Threat
- familienshopping24 listing, 29,99 €
- DVBshop.net listing, 29,99 €

Rebelle Super Soaker Cascade
- DVBshop.net listing, 12,99 €

Super Soaker Microburst II
- DVBshop.net listing, 9,99 €

Super Soaker Tidal Torpedo 2 in 1
- DVBshop.net listing, 22,99 €

Rebelle Super Soaker Warrior Wear
- DVBshop.net listing, 22,99 €

October 16, 2014

Breaking News on Upcoming BoomCo, Nerf, and Super Soaker Blasters! Part 2

Now for Nerf blasters! I apologize again for the haphazard way I'm putting things up, esp. to people coming here from Facebook or Reddit.

Secrets and Spies Secret Shot
- DVBShop.net listing, 29,99 €
- DVBShop.net listing with 3x dart bonus, 29,99 €
- familienshopping24 listing with 3x dart bonus, 29,99 €
- Amazon.com listing

Description:
Look stylish and stay ready for action with the Secret Shot blaster! You can carry this blaster that looks like a purse on your next spy mission. Nobody will suspect a thing until you press the button to convert it into a 4-shot blaster! The blaster comes with 1 Message Dart that you can use to write a secret message that can only be decoded with the included decoder! Give the decoder to a friend so you can send coded messages in plain sight of your opponents. If you're in the mood for a stylish shot, use your 3 collectible darts instead. Show off your stealthy style with the Secret Shot blaster! Nerf and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.

After extra searching beyond the European sites, we have a name for this blaster! It would appear there are two different colors, as well, since the Amazon listing is specifically for a BLUE blaster.

Nerf Rebelle Strong Heart
- DVBShop.net listing, 29,99 €
- familienshopping24 listing, 29,99 €

There isn't a picture available, however, there has been previous speculation about this blaster based on the Rebelle Mission Central App. Since the sites above didn't have the Sweet Revenge listed separately, I'd leave this entry alone for now. Although I find it interesting that familienshopping24 has it listed for a Spring 2015 release.

Nerf Rebelle Mini Maven
- DVBShop.net listing, 12,99 €
- familienshopping24 listing, 12,99 €

This is another blaster listed with a Spring 2015 release date, but no picture. I'm sure we'll get more news and/or speculation in the future.

Nerf Rebelle 4Victory
- DVBShop.net listing, 19,99 €
- familienshopping24 listing, 19,99 €

This is another blaster listed with a Spring 2015 release date, but no picture. I'm sure we'll get more news and/or speculation in the future.

Nerf Nstrike Elite XD Crossbolt
- familienshopping24 listing, 29,99 €


Finally, here's one of the blasters from the notorious Nerf 2015 slide that made the rounds on the internet. It's manually primed, and has a clip in the rear. Seeing as it appears to indeed be bow-powered, I imagine the top dart in the "clip" is brought forward on the return stroke, and dropped down in front of the primed string in the dart barrel. That would explain why there are two dart jam doors - one for above the clip itself, and one above where the dart drops into the barrel. Again, that's just a guess.

Nerf Nstrike Elite XD Sharpfire
- DVBShop.net listing, 22,99 €

Another listing off the Nerf 2015 chart, although not with a better picture. There's at least a price listed, however.

Nerf Zombie Strike Flipfury
- DVBShop.net listing, 24,99 €

Yet another listing off the Nerf 2015 chart, although it too lacks a good picture. Interesting to note, though, how many revolvers with changeable turrets we've had in recent years. First the Prime Time Toys/Air Zone Quickfire 12, then the Zuru Xshot Xcess, and now this.

Breaking News on Upcoming BoomCo, Nerf, and Super Soaker Blasters! Part 1

Yes, you heard that right. There's a bunch of new blasters on the way. Some look better than others, but they're all interesting in their own way. I apologize for the information overload, but info's out there, and I'm going to get it documented before anything gets taken down. So please tolerate my repeat posts to Facebook and Reddit as I get each part done!
Part 2: Nerf Dart Blasters
Part 3: Super Soakers


Let's start with BoomCo, shall we?

October 10, 2014

Nerf Cam ECS-12 Obsolete! New Nerf Camcorder Hitting Shelves

If you still weren't convinced of the lack of value presented by the Nerf Cam ECS-12 (thanks to a post from Tactical Tag), then this development should put the last nail in the coffin. Presenting the Nerf Rebelle HD Action Camcorder!

With its weatherproof case!

As with previous licensed gadgets, this is manufactured by Sakar International. Unlike many previous gadgets, this appears to originate from the Vivitar brand that Sakar purchased in 2008, a brand with a deep history in cameras, lenses, and optics in general. I myself have been using a Vivitar 787HD kit for the past two months, and it serves well as a poor man's GoPro. (Walmart link here) Needless to say, I hope that this will perform just as well.

Sadly, the packaging leaves much to be desired in terms of details, including what it considers to be HD. All I could find in terms of stats was that it has a 1.8" preview screen, a few mounts INCLUDING a blaster mount, and a charger. Yep, you can put those tactical rails to good use!

Sorry about the blurry pic. I'll get a better one ASAP.

This was hiding on a shelf at TRU for $50, and I have found nothing online about the device. Even so, I think it's safe to assume that it's of far higher quality than the 0.3 MP (640 x 480) camcorder in the Nerf Cam ECS-12. Find a Rapidstrike on sale for $30, and you have a full auto blaster with a good, rechargeable camcorder, instead of a semiauto blaster with a poor, alkaline battery-powered camera.

Ultimately, one of us will have to bite the bullet and buy one of these for testing. Even so, I think we can declare the Nerf Cam ECS-12 to be DOA.

EDIT: Thanks to user "rdewalt" from Reddit, we have more info! There's an N-Strike version as well, so as to not exclude one gender. It also has the same things in the package, and actually lists the camera specs. You know, because apparently girls don't care about that...


He'll be posting test videos in the future, so keep track of rdewalt's post!

October 3, 2014

Zuru X-Shot Excel Series Found!

For some reason, in spite of the huge blaster market here in the United States, it seems that off-brands like X-Shot are slow to make it to shelves. It's been getting better, though, and now the yellow Excel blasters are popping up in the wild!

Although the discs look like large pats of butter.

October 1, 2014

Air Hogs Sharpshooter Long Shot Review

After a bit of a hiatus hitting the books at college, I'm back with more reviews! We'll start with a toy that's somewhat of a novelty - the Air Hogs Sharpshooter Long Shot. For those who don't know, Air Hogs is a brand dedicated to R/C vehicles, aerial toys, and the like. In this case, the ~$40 Sharpshooter Long Shot is an R/C helicopter that can shoot foam darts on command.


The box claims 20' ranges (although the method Air Hogs used to test that for a flying toy is unknown) and is meant for indoor use. So it's unlikely to be useful at a war anytime soon, unless you can get someone to approve it for an awful blaster round in a large enclosed space or a day without wind. It's still plenty of fun, though!