Pages

January 31, 2015

Rebranding Alert: TRU Replaces Air Zone!

I came across this fun tidbit today at ToysRUs, both in-store and online. The packaging style remains largely the same, but check out the label: it no longer says Air Zone!

This sleek looking new blaster to be reviewed soon!
The new branding is for "Stats Blast" instead. For those who don't know, "Air Zone" is actually trademarked by Buzz Bee Toys, while "Stats" (for the purposes of outside sports toys and the like) is trademarked by ToysRUs. My guess is that either Buzz Bee is no longer allowing TRU to use the trademark, or TRU doesn't want to pay to use it anymore. Makes sense, as TRU has been continually changing what manufacturers get blasters distributed through them. (Lanard, Buzz Bee, and Banzai have all had deals in the past, but the current partner is Prime Time Toys.)

Looks nice, even if the included darts look nothing like the one on the label.
This doesn't appear to be a fluke, as there is another blaster buried in the TRU website with the same branding. In this case, it appears to be a revamped Lanard Over Under. While that blaster was terrible, the range claims on this version would indicate larger or more efficient internals.
In any case, TRU has a new wave of blasters on the way!

No comments:

Post a Comment