The Reemergence of DDart
September 15, 2020Yesterday morning, I messaged a friend asking if anyone had heard anything about DDart wrist blasters since Toy Fair. Within the hour, by sheer coincidence, things started appearing from multiple sources – Toy Fair Everywhere (an online connection forum set up in the wake of Covid-19), other Nerfers, and even emails to various people. Even better, we have sample videos showing off the new products now on Youtube. Let’s just jump in and see where the line is going – faster speeds, higher rates of fire, Rival ammo, and more!
Product Listings
If you feel like just reading the info for yourself, here’s a link to a PDF showing the various products. Individual pages are also in the gallery below. Do note that the listed prices and contact info are for potential retailers ordering large quantities, not hobbyists. I don’t think you should be calling to order unless you’re planning on buying a few thousand. Just saying.
All of the products being pitched for retailers have at least some improvement or addition to the original. Even V2 of the Tempest now fits Nerf Elite darts (the original shipped with slightly shorter darts, and many modders removed the front retention rail to allow normal dart usage). That’s not listed on the data sheets, but it was confirmed with the company via email.
Admittedly, I liked the idea of the original version, though perhaps not the execution. Now, though, assuming that retailers pick up the newer models, I’m excited to see the possibilities. 80 darts in the Blizzard? 77 Rival balls per hand if I dual wield Hailstorms for a Humans v Zombies game? There are so many cool possibilities with these new and improved models. And, of course, in the time since my initial review, we’ve already seen fun upgrades making the original Tempest a viable hobby-grade blaster.
In any case, I hope to see these blasters appearing on shelves in the winter or spring. I know Target still carries the original blaster, so here’s hoping they’ll stay on the bandwagon!