A Correction Concerning Xshot – And Now More Questions
April 22, 2019I have to amend a previous post, the PSA about Xshot continuing to use the Blasterhub “Dart Range” test for advertising, despite it being well past time to let it go. At the end, I made the statement:
You’ve been doing so great recently with the redesigned blaster line, and have made sure people can use regular darts with most of your blasters. That’s a good thing. Perhaps sometime soon, you can bring your darts into the future, making them the same length as everything else and performing well for that low price you’re known for.
Turns out, their latest crop of Adventure Force rebranded blasters actually come with new darts. As pointed out by Valour (see his Youtube here for cool builds and lots more), the newest ones actually have different darts than before. When I grabbed the blasters initially, I didn’t even think to check the dart lengths. However, that raises new issues – and actually makes my main point a bit better.
Game Report – YSU Spring HvZ Invitational 2019
April 21, 2019I’m slightly behind on game report posts and editing my own video, so thanks to a friend of mine for having footage edited of much of the event already. You can be nice and subscribe 🙂
As usual, the HvZ game at Youngstown State University on April 12-13th was a blast! It revolved around a secret cult trying to end the world. Many hijinks ensued.
Unicorn Power Popper Review
April 19, 2019Sometimes, you find special things that bring you instant joy. They may not even be that useful, but they’re great nonetheless. Power Poppers are one such toy. Made by Hog Wild Toys, they work like the Nerf Reactors of old, where pumping an inner and outer tube together compresses air and shoots balls out of an orifice of slightly smaller diameter. They only claim ranges of twenty feet, but they pretty much cover the whimsical side of foam object blasting.
That is, until they made a unicorn that you load by stuffing balls into its butt, and showed it off at Toy Fair. THEN it reached a new level of madness, and I can’t help but love it.
PSA: Please Stop, Xshot
April 17, 2019I was up late doing work, and decided to watch WalcomS7’s unboxing of the new Xshot Ninja series blasters. Nothing new, really, as the blasters had appeared at Toy Fair back in February (although it’s nice to know they’re coming to shelves soon).
What I did notice, however, was that the same old label is still being used to promote the Xshot darts. Based off 2014 testing. It’s safe to say that things have changed since then, which begs the question: how is this still a thing?
NiZn Batteries – Why Isn’t This a Thing?
April 16, 2019After seeing this post (with no replies) and looking into the topic, I grabbed a few Nickel-Zinc batteries of my own for testing. At least in stock blasters, the AA-sized batteries boost dart velocity by a noticeable margin. In addition, they’re rechargeable, can supply decent amounts of current, and are fairly inexpensive. However, there’s issues in reliability and longevity, and higher voltages aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. In the end, there’s really not much to be gained in terms of Nerf, as far as I can tell.
(This is from the “stock blaster” perspective. If you’re actively trying to modify your blaster, there are plenty of guides on rewiring blasters as well as choosing appropriate batteries).
Game Report: Penn State HvZ Invitational
April 10, 2019
Wall Street Journal Covers the Blaster Shelf Wars
April 7, 2019First, a shout out to Blaster Revolution on Facebook, who found and posted a link to the WSJ article – otherwise, I would’ve been too busy playing at the Penn State HvZ Invitational to notice! There’s always great stuff on that page, from war pictures to new 3d cosmetic kits and more.
After years of competing, Zuru has made enough of a dent in blaster sales for people to take notice. As per the Wall Street Journal (there is a paywall, sadly), Zuru has taken a significant amount of shelf space with $20 and under blasters, especially when Nerf has been making more expensive blasters, up to and including the (originally) $200 MSRP Prometheus.
