Nerf Rival Challenger Review
February 18, 2024Here’s a fun fact: we haven’t had a new Nerf Rival flywheel blaster in over four years, since BEFORE the Covid pandemic. The last one was the Charger, which came in at $35, featured an internal magazine, and focused on being a compact primary blaster. This year, with the continued Accustrike refresh of the product line, we have the Charger – a blaster for the same price, but with much more capability. It’s essentially a Rival Stryfe, and that’s a great thing.
Tidal Storm Aqua Thunder Review
February 12, 2024There aren’t too many new things in the world of soakers this year. For the most part, we have variations of products from last year, just in a different or larger format. Prime Time Toys (makers of Dart Zone), though, seems to have settled for a throwback of sorts. The Tidal Storm Aqua Thunder is a battery-operated water blaster that is fed by “magazines”, not unlike the Nerf Super Soakers of a decade ago (or models far older than that). The capacity is limited (both by volume and by a current lack of replacement magazines), as is the range. But the ergonomics are great, and there are a couple other surprises in store for hobbyists, should they want to tear it apart.
In any case, when it comes to arming the children, the Aqua Thunder does the job.
Hasbro 2024 Product Lookbook – New Nerf Incoming!
February 8, 2024We don’t have Toy Fair in New York this year, but companies are still announcing new products right now. In the case of Hasbro, that apparently includes late-night emails with PDFs full of product entries!
Nevertheless, let’s take a peek at some of the products announced – some we already know are coming, and a few that are new!
Nerf Better Than Balloons Review
February 7, 2024I mainly review blasters on this website. But sometimes there are related items that are worth a try. For example, Zuru’s Bunch o Balloons line has been great for quickly getting ammo ready for water warfare. Even so, they’re still water balloons, coming with all the cleanup afterwards of rubber bits.
Hasbro, meanwhile, has taken a different approach. Better Than Balloons aims to fill plastic water pods quickly (albeit with the need to separate them after), pop open on impact, and keep each “balloon” in one piece for easy cleanup. They’re sturdy enough to be handled roughly, but can be thrown, stomped, squeezed, etc. for whatever soaking action you want. Are they worth it? Perhaps, if you want to do the messy part ahead of time – and have time.
Dart Zone Reveals the Nexus Pro X and Aeon Pro X!
January 30, 2024Toy Fair in the US might be gone this year, but fairs elsewhere in the world are still on the calendar. Today was the first day of the Nuremburg Toy Fair, and it started out big for the blaster hobby. Dart Zone is redoing the first two entries of the Adventure Force line, with new looks, a focus on short darts, and many upgrades. And as of the end of January, there are links for the Nexus Pro X and the Aeon Pro X on Walmart’s website! Let’s jump in!
Nerf Rival Continues into 2024! Mirage and Challenger!
January 18, 2024There have been sneak peeks on toy wholesaler websites until now, but at last, we have listings at Walmart for the Nerf Rival Challenger and the Nerf Rival Mirage! At $35 and $22, respectively, the two blasters feature a new design motif along with sone interesting features; the first is a Rival Stryfe with a funky banana mag, while the other is a springer that can be breech-loaded or mag-swapped.
As soon as these go on sale, they’ll be in my cart!
Nerf Elite Jr Racer Review
January 5, 2024Sometimes, simple is better. That’s especially true in the case of Nerf Elite Jr. You need to make blasters usable by young hands, but if you do too much with a blaster that fires lower velocities (like with the Explorer), you get a terrible product.
The Racer avoids that problem entirely. It fires two darts, without asking extra from the propulsion system. It’s easy to prime and fire, between the oversized trigger and priming handle. And it’s only $5! It’s hard to argue with the results here, because this is the perfect blaster for introducing young kids to the world of Nerf.
Welcome to 2024!
