It’s that time of year, finally! All the press people are in New York, trying to get the scoop on new toys. And yours truly is looking at blasters in particular – though I will sit through other things to get to the good part. Let’s dive into the first few bits of news!
Zing Has Cyberpunk 2077 Gel Blasters?
Yep! You read that correctly. Zing Toys has been realigning priorities and projects. Pre-Covid, there were plans for a double-barrel, giant marshmallow shotgun (imagine that slapped on blasters instead of the proliferation of 40-Max shell designs), and other fun bow additions. Instead, those lines have remained largely static, as they currently sell, BUT are often large enough in terms of packaging that shipping is a major profit killer. Zing has focused more on smaller-sized hits like Stikbots that involve not just collecting figures, but posing them, making stop-motion videos, and putting them on social media.
That being said, blasters aren’t completely out of the picture! And with Cyberpunk 2077 being updated to Version 2.0 and having brand new DLC at the end of September, the timing is great in terms of public consciousness (even if they won’t be on sale until 2024). The first gel blaster is based on Skippy, and holds 300 rounds in the integrated hopper. And yes, there’s going to be a fun Instagram filter with Skippy popping up. Expect tons of lines from the game to pop out (how many R-rated ones, we don’t know). There’s going to be a base version, plus another that comes with a display stand that lights up when in display mode, and turns off when you pick the blaster up to play.
There’s also going to be a shotgun, but that isn’t quite as far along in the manufacturing process (they only had a mockup there). That’ll be pump action, load 3-5 balls at a time, and shoot them ~70′ away.
Expect (for the moment) $70 for Skippy, and $80 for Skippy plus the display stand. The shotgun’s price is “more”, but not set in stone yet.
Dart Zone has Chalk Darts, Mk4 Specials, Attachments, and Omnia Updates!
One bit of news that blended in with the display if you didn’t pay attention was an injection-molded bearing attachment! They had some mounted on Mk4s and Nexus Pros, where you can use them in place of SCAR barrels for raising the accuracy. It would seem that, in their internal testing, metal and plastic bearings saw virtually no difference, so plastic ones are used to cut down both the manufacturing cost and the end price. They can be expected on future blaster releases, as well as their website (since you can grab them and use them with the older blasters as well).
Speaking of Mk4s, there were two new colors on display: metallic red and gold. These are special edition blasters, with only a few in existence. The red ones are actually giveaways at events Dart Zone attends with their pop-up tent (like they’ve done in Maryland a couple times, for example). Supplies last..as long as they last, while the Dart Zone rep is there to promote things. Gold, meanwhile, was a choice made for Black Friday. It will cost exactly the same as the regular one, but there will only be 28 available for purchase. So you have to act fast on release if you want one. Such a limited run isn’t making them a large profit anytime soon…but it’s still a fun touch for fans.
Finally, we have the Omnia. Five different issues have been fixed or adjusted, and there will be a podcast episode dedicated to those changes. Notably, a small error in the molds led to the cage alignment issue; that’s been corrected. The stopping position of the pusher (like we’ve done in mods previously) has been adjusted, as has the braking system. It’s apparently a fine balance to adjust both without running into potential jamming issues (for example, the pusher stopping IN the magazine), but they spent the time to make it happen.
Also, they upgraded the 5A switches to 10A switches! There’s more to tell, but those are what I remember offhand. We’ll see the improvements when new ones ship in November. Which reminds me, I should check my email and make sure I was confirmed to get a replacement…
Finally, there were little things here and there. The Adventure Force Stranger Things blasters were on display, as were the gel ball offerings…but those aren’t NEW news at this point. They do work, though!
MORE TO COME SOON! I need a nap after so much walking…