Oh man... what a year! 2012 was a pretty big time for toy blasters. There was just so much that came out and so many things have happened, here we are again.
Some of my fave things:
- New York Toy Fair 2012
- The Nerf Hailfire Release Party (Thanks Nerf!)
- BATTLE OF THE AMAZONS
The Release of the Nerf N-Strike Elite:
- Retaliator
- Rampage
- Hailfire
- Triad
- Stryfe
- Strongarm
- Elit Reflex/Eliminator (Though I don't believe it actually has a range increase)
- Elite Rayven
- Firestrike
- RoughCut 2x4
- Stockade (outside the U.S.)
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| RoughCut 2x4 |
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| Nerf Hailfire |
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| Nerf Retaliator |
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| Nerf Rampage |
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| Nerf Strongarm and Firestrike |
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| Nerf Elite Rayven and Stryfe |
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| Nerf Triad |
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| Nerf Eliminator |
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| Nerf Stockade and 30 pack of darts |
Nerf Dart Tag:
- Snapfire 8 (outside the U.S.)
Nerf Vortex:
- PYRAGON
- Diatron
Whew! It's been a busy year :)
Nevermind that Nerf revamped the Lazer Tag line:
Buzz Bee and Air Zone/Prime Time Toys had some respectable years with new releases of their own, but the most notable was probably the Range Master, an air blaster w/pump that got good ranges and gave some folks out there a non-springer option:
But it wasn't just the year of the foam dart blasters, not at all. Disposable ammo is part of the game now, past the Max Force spit wads and the first run of Xploderz water pellet blasters, there's now also BlasterPro, "X2" series Xploderz, and Vapor.
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| BlasterPro |
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| Xploderz |
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| Vapor |
This branch of the toy blaster tree will definitely bear some watching come 2013. I got a feeling we're in for a whole new level of innovation, between Nerf upping the ante with their increased ranges from the Elite/Vortex lines, now these new companies are going to have to show what they can do next.
Definitely not least, Zing Toys is out there with some great products as well. Definitely keep an eye out for their Air Storm line:
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| Zcurve bow |
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| ZX Crossbow |
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| Zing Shot and Pop Rocketz |
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| Zip Bak Bow |
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| Z-Tek Crossbow |
WHAT A YEAR, HOLY CRAP. SO MANY TOYS.
On that note... let's not forget the fallen. Gone, give or take some leftover stock on the shelves. Safe to say these brands aren't supported in their current forms anymore:
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| Max Force |
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| Light Strike |
BUT... while two brands dropped out (apparently)... one more has risen. Yup, Launch N Attack
And a more local offering, Bumpa's Blowguns!
And that, as they say, is that! Sorry if I missed anything, but there's only so much one can recall! Have a great New Year, and see you in 2013! Labels: blaster, blaster pro, blasterpro, diatron, elite, hailfire, launchnattack, light strike, list, max force, nation, nerf, new nerf 2013, new year, New York TOy Fair, top 10, vapor, xploderz, year in review
