Alright, I've been writing this blog for about 5 years, most of the entries happening in the last year. When I started this project, it was to get me writing again, and I chose something I enjoyed and knew a bit about. I liked shooting nerf blasters with my friends, and had my fair share of stock wars with my buddies. Besides that, there were also the reviews of blasters I owned.
Then came the Nerf Dart Tag League, and fortunately it landed in Chicago. This led to me contacting Nerf, which to me has exploded into a trip to NYC, products to test and look at, and Nerf fun to spread around to the current group I play with.
So what's the point? What's the big news?
I'm going to Toy Fair, in New York City this February. With a media pass.
Which to me, is the big time. It's a toy industry-only conference where a lot of toys for 2011 from all over the industry will show up before they hit stores. Buyers make their orders for the following year, and this is a lot of stuff involved with the holiday shopping for 2011. The news about the Stampede initially broke at one of these events, as well while it was still under its code name, "Big Blast". Nerf showed early photos on their facebook page, and that's where the clear blasters were first put on display. The N-Strike tac vest first popped up there as well last year.
And I'm going to be there, this year. After five years of blogging on/off, it's come to this. A lot of Nerf news has already come out before this event, but it'll pretty much be the first official news on US shores. The big press releases come out from this event.
Now, this trip isn't compensated by Nerf or Hasbro, like the other media event in NYC. This is going to be all out of my own pocket, and for those that don't know FFA is a one-man show. But I enjoy doing it because I never totally grew up and enjoy running around with silly blasters with my friends and other like-minded individuals.
But yeah, here's the thing for you dear reader. I would never have gotten this pass if not for you visiting my site. For that, I thank you. In the meantime, if there is anything you want me to ask people from Nerf when I go there, please leave a question in the comments below. I obviously will not be able to take ALL QUESTIONS. I am going to select a few, and try to get answers. Any question involving a crossbow rerelease will not be taken, hehe. But anyway, I'll leave it at that for now. With this event being next month there's plenty of time for you all to figure out stuff to ask. So, fire away and see what sticks. I wouldn't have this opportunity without readers, and so this is a way of me being able to represent you as well, sort of.
Thanks again, and I look forward to your questions. And be realistic, they obviously won't disclose everything, much less have at-length discussions regarding the use of inverse plungers etc. They also won't respond to questions in-depth about modding, opting to just say they don't support it. But yeah, take a shot and I'll see what I can use. Thank you, so so much.
-@VasTheStampedeLabels: 2011, nerf, new nerf guns, nyc, toy fair