News Updates: Everybody Gets Tariffs!
April 7, 2025In case you’ve been living under a rock, April saw the beginning of tariffs on virtually all US trading partners. Of course, we’re focused on toys here, but sometimes world news and politics do, in fact, affect hobbies.
Naturally, the largest concern is China: 77% of all toys come from China. Additionally, they’ve retaliated with tariffs of their own, leading to the US threatening even higher rates.
Even outside of China, there are new tariffs on Vietnam and India. At this point, we don’t know if the prices discussed for items at Toy Fair will actually be accurate.
As such, we’ll update as soon as more concrete numbers appear – everything is in flux.
Xshot Shocks with Pro Motorized AEG, Dart Zone Colors Up
March 30, 2025Over the weekend, Xshot surprised the hobby world with an entry on Walmart – we have an AEG coming to store shelves! We haven’t seen one of those on a store shelf since the Nerf Stampede, and certainly nothing at the pro level.
Meanwhile, Dart Zone is getting those recolored Dart Zone Max blasters in stock on their website, with occasional flash sales as a promotion.
Let’s look at everything, shall we?
Adventure Force Cricket Pro Review
March 26, 2025It’s been out a while…but I waited until it was on the local Walmart shelf before I bought it and did a review. Such is life.
If you’ve seen the Dart Zone Max Solo, then you know the concept: turning the classic “Nerf Jolt” design into a pro blaster. Where the Solo was chunky and rugged in in design, however, the Cricket is thin and sleek, with a few tweaks in function and design that let it hit pro performance at half the price. Is it as versatile as the Solo when it comes to modding? Perhaps not. But for $7, it’s a heck of a deal.
Nerf Super Soaker XP55 Review
March 10, 2025Nerf has seen decent success with their “reimagining” of classic designs in the soaker space. I was especially fond of the XP100 which, naming conventions aside, balanced tribute and performance quite well.
This year’s XP55 is less successful in that regard. The overall looks are there, and the blaster shoots up to 30′. So for the casual user, it works. But as the odd person who still has three original XP55s from their childhood, the blaster leaves me unsatisfied.
Toy Fair 2025: Peeking at the Hasbro Booth!
March 4, 2025
Toy Fair Update: Dart Zone Debuts the Primus and More!
March 1, 2025Here at Toy Fair, the best booths are the ones that interact with the public. To that end, Dart Zone is on top of their game, as always.
This year’s announcements have been a mix of blaster recolors, new products, and items that are on the bubble for becoming an official Dart Zone offering. Let’s take a peek, shall we?
Nerf Announes the Loadout Line, New Gelfire!
Here I am sitting down at Toy Fair, trying to make a post on my phone, because we’re already seeing big things!
Nerf put out a 2025 Lookbook with a bunch of new things being planned – this post doesn’t cover everything from Hasbro, but it does have the big stuff. More posts later as time permits!
Let’s take a look at Loadout. Modulus 2.0?
