Image courtesy of BrickForge

Are you an Adult Fan of Lego as well as an Adult Fan of Nerf? Then you might want to check out one of BrickForge’s latest offerings: a Dart Tag accessory pack! They’re offering two different packs, to allow you to construct two different dart tag teams (figures not included). They are both $6 a piece, which is a bit high when one is talking about a few accessories, but these are high quality and made in the US in smaller batches. The packs are:

Dart Tag (Delta Team)
- Maverick Hair
- Dart Tag Vest – Black w/ Medium Orange Crosshairs
- Medium Orange Darts (x2)
- Megagun
- Bow Striker – White
- Multi Arrow Pack
- Canister Gun – Bright Light Orange
- ‘Foam’ Sword – Lime Green & Medium Orange
- Automag – Lime Green

Dart Tag (Alpha Team)
- Hero Hair
- Dart Tag Vest – Black w/ Lime Crosshairs
- Lime Green Darts (x2)
- Megagun
- Shotgun – Bright Light Orange
- Bow Striker – Bright Light Orange
- Multi Arrow Pack
- Canister Gun – Lime Green
- ‘Foam’ Sword – Rust

It also looks like they’ll be offering a pair of Super Soaker accessory packs in the future as well, though as of the writing of this article, they’re not available on their store. Check them out, as well as their other awesome offerings at BrickForge.com.

Wired has a fantastic article that was just recently posted which reveals a bit about how blasters are designed, how long it takes, and also a few hints about what we’re in for next year! Check it out here: http://www.wired.com/design/2012/09/how-nerf-became-worlds-best-purveyor-of-big-guns-for-kids/

Check out the official video from Nerf’s N-strike Elite Launch party! Of course there’s a cameo by us in it!

I know that many were excited when this product popped up on Kmart’s website; I know I was! The good news: it’s now available! The bad news though, is that it’s nothing like the flashlight shown in the picture above or the one in the description!

I bought one last week online, as I was unable to find them in my local Kmart, and I was excited for the new accessory, even though it was made by a company other than Hasbro (Sakar, like all of the other electronics . However, as you can see in the picture below, it’s not the accessory we thought. Though it’s an okay LED flashlight, it is not at all able to attach to a blaster without the aid of adhesive tape.

When we attended this years’ party, we had an opportunity to learn more about Sakar making these Nerf Branded electronic products. The story, I’m sad to say isn’t that great. Basically marketing saw an opportunity to make money off of just the Nerf name, and allowed Sakar to make accessories that would cost way too much for Hasbro to invest in making. It seems as though they were given some guidelines and set off. Nerf’s own design and engineering team has very, very little say in these products at all.

I understand the reasons why Hasbro doesn’t directly produce these types of products, but I almost wish they weren’t produced if they’re just going to be these crapgadgets. And most of them are poorly designed as well. The flashlight, though is a pretty good design compared to the other products put out. But then again, from what I was told it’s based off of a design from one of the Nerf Designers (which was used without his knowledge, I believe).

I’m still looking for that elusive Tactical Rail Camera, in the hopes that it’s at least able to attach to the tactical rails as promised.

Direct from the NerfNation Youtube channel, we present to you the N-Strike Elite Hailfire blaster reveal video!

Nerf has released some amazing information today, only a few days ahead of New York’s Toy Fair: the release of a new series of enhanced blasters! The N-Strike Elite blasters are a series that boast ranges more than twice that of their original N-Strike counterparts! From the short blurb, we know that this release will be similar to the releases of the previous two years; a few Elite blasters will come in August, and one big one will come on 9-9-12.

From the silhouette in the  image at the page linked to above, it appears as though there will be at least 3 blasters initially, with a 4th (and most impressive) coming in September.

This Elite Series is definitely a big win for all of us in the Nerf Nation, because it proves that the amazing designers and engineers at Hasbro don’t want to disappoint the older segment of Nerf fans, like us here at the Adult Fans of Nerf (not that they’ve ever disappointed us). It also shows that they aren’t done pulling tricks from their hat, and they’re still able to surprise us!

The New York Toy fair is fast approaching, and with that: new toys! So far, Nerf/Hasbro has let slip a few select movie tie-ins that we can all tell are slightly modified Nerf blasters. I’m sure you’ve seen them around a few other sites in the Nerf-o-sphere, but I’ve managed to find one that you may not have seen quite yet, and I have to say that it’s the only blaster of these that I’ll probably go out of my way to get.

I don’t know about you, but the Brigade Blaster (above) looks ugly and cheap. I’ll have to get my hands on it to be sure (I’m really curious about those darts), but I’m really surprised they took the opportunity to modify the iconic Maverick in such a way.

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Nerf keeps throwing us firsts.  We like it, keeps the game fresh, keeps people talking.  There has been lots of talk about the first blaster released from Nerf’s new Light it Up series; the Rayven.  I’ve heard the comments, this design isn’t very popular right now.  Let me assure you, this unique blaster is worth every penny.

The Rayven’s design is a major cause for concern throughout the community, the bullpup idea not sitting well in the stomachs of many a fan.  The bullpup puts the clip and firing action behind the trigger saving on space and weight.  I like the feel of the Rayven, it fits nice against my shoulder and the angled foregrip out in front makes the blaster very stable while aiming.  This design doesn’t differ much from that of the original glow in the dark blaster; the Firefly, which can’t technically be called bullpup as the firing action was on top of the trigger, not behind.  That being said, the Rayven is a lightweight, compact fly wheel powered blaster of awesomeness.  It really is.  Aside from the green paint job which I don’t really care for this thing has all the right things going for it.  It uses only 4 AA batteries, making it as efficient to power as the Barricade and stole my favorite feature from the Nitron; a second trigger on the grip to activate the fly wheels only when needed, not only saving battery life but keeping stealth a factor in play.

My least favorite thing about the good old Firefly was the giant flash that went off when you fired, it was annoying and totally gave away your position which is not ideal when dealing with a night fire situation.  Thanks to the Rayven’s new clip which charges darts individually as they move up the 18 round straight clip using 4 UV lights mounted at the top of the dart slide(where you load the darts into the clip) there is minimal risk of alerting your enemy to your presence.  The clip itself uses 3 AA batteries making the Rayven a total battery load of 7 AA’s which isn’t that bad.  The blaster is comfortable in both right and left hands and is not too difficult to dual wield if you so desire(it kinda makes you feel like a badass). (more…)

2011 has come and gone.  In its wake we have a lot to reflect on, it’s been a BIG year in the world of Nerf.  Not to leave anything out, we’re not going to do a “best of” for the year.  Instead, we’re going to break down all the Nerfy goodness of 2011(in no particular order) and throw it all on the chopping block for one last year end review.  There’s a lot of material to cover so sit down, strap in and prepare for takeoff!

Super Soaker

[View with PicLens]

Summer fun got a big shot of awesome in 2011 with some major overhauls to the Super Soaker line.  Not only did the entire lineup get a frosty new paint job, but some new blasters changed the face of modern Super Soaker play.  There were a few impressive additions to aqua warfare coolness, most basic of which being the Point Break and Scatter Blast.  (more…)