BREAKING! - NERF TekStrike, New Tech for Nerf Blasters!

Exciting tech news from the Toy Fair floor, warriors! EyeSpy Toys just gave us a direct heads up on a new product line called Nerf TekStrike. Programmable Smart Darts, hit recognition tech and Bluetooth connectivity. Well, it looks like NERF is taking the next step in wireless play!

This is the "TekStrike Storm Shield" which attaches as an accessory to any NERF tactical rail. With the use of Bluetooth and RFID tech, the Smart Darts are tracked all across the field. Apparently we will be able to assign HIT points to a shooter/player and then the Shield will track hits and damage.

I am interested to see if this technology will be as easy to use as they say. Apparently you mark darts as yours by just swiping them against your own Storm Shield and start firing. You also can use your smartphone to keep track of stats and do upgrades as you earn them. They say all of this will be free (instead of purchasing upgrades like with Tek Recon).

NEW NERF Attacknid VS Stealth Stryder

It's interesting to see Combat Creatures and Nerf come together like this. Foam From Above and others saw a NERF version of the Attacknid at the NERF booth at the New York Toy Fair. Thanks to Foam From Above for the coverage!

You can see that this version of the Attacknid has no armor to shoot off and you can't really see a head like on the original creations. I like what the original Attacknids have with the armor etc. I hope that NERF goes back in that direction as they develop their version for release.

Vas the Stampede from Foam From Above was told that everything is rather preliminary on the product, so we'll probably still be seeing some changes as they go. Even the box art was a concept that they put out to tease us. A $79.99 price was being quoted by some reps to bloggers. We should be seeing these in the Fall.

Unless NERF convinces Combat Creatures to disappear from Target and Amazon.com, I'm afraid they'll have a hard run for their money at that $79.99 price. The Attacknid Doom Razor with Snypa dart launcher is down to 50 dollars in local Target stores and the version with a disc blaster is 50 bucks on Amazon.

Even better, Combat Creatures just announced the release of their newest Attacknid, the Stealth Stryder. This one can be operated by an app on your smart phone! It started out on Amazon for 70 bucks.

With these options available, I don't think I'd be inclined to drop more money just for the NERF name on the product. Again, they said things would be changing, so perhaps we'll see something even better by this Fall.

So we have foam drones with tracks, wheels and legs -even some that fire from the air (though not foam). We'll have to pull off some head-to-head reviews as we go to see how these will stand up against each other. So far, it looks like it will be a Combat Creatures Attacknid versus the VMD Cannon Commando! ~Chris

NERF Successes Shared at Hasbro Investor Meeting

Hey warriors, I was able to take a few minutes this morning to look over the information from Hasbro's Investor Update they publicized ahead of the New York Toy Fair. Again, anyone claiming exclusive on this is being dishonest or is very misinformed. Our take on this may be exclusive, but the information is and has been readily available online!

Unfortunately, There are no new goodies that we can share with you after perusing the material. It seems that all of the blasters for the fair have been "leaked" by the company itself ahead of the big day(s). 

Yes, there is another angle on the previously revealed Demolisher. You can see the vent on the front of the launching post for the missile. Strangely, Brian Chapman (Senior Vice President over Global Design & Development) called this projectile, what he calls "the Thumper", the largest one done in Nerf. I really don't think it's any bigger -or even quite as large as the Titan rocket. Maybe they forgot about that one.

(More on new Rebelle products and Nerf's success after the jump)

Mystery Blaster Talk As UK Toy Fair Wraps Up

Well warriors, the UK Toy Fair Wrapped up couple of days ago. The first and most comprehensive recap for the Nerf presence there I saw was from UK Nerf.

As you can see from UK Nerf's write-up. The rumor mill has begun cranking on a new mystery blaster. Hasbro left that particular space in their display empty when UK Nerf showed up to take a look. My Last Dart is hearing that the code name is NERF Elite Phantom. That might make sense. Phantom was what many early on-line markets called the Retaliator as it was coming out. I wouldn't be surprised if Nerf is recycling "code names" (really just working titles) for blasters like they recycle names for finished products.

Foam From Above will be covering the heck out of the Toy Fair in New York coming up in February. Either we will likely see the mystery blaster debut there, or Nerf will send out info leading up to the fair. I am fairly excited to see what shows up! ~Chris

NEW Blaster! - Rebelle Agent Bow

The props go UK Nerf for this info. I just had to pass it along because it's super-interesting.

This new bow looks like it may blow any of the other Rebelle products out of the water. As UK Nerf puts it, " . . . a bow powered bow! The foamy gods be praised!"

The description is as follows: "The Nerf Rebelle Agent bow is perfect for high-profile missions that require accuracy and skill. Release the string and watch as the first ever Nerf Rebelle foam-dart arrows soar up to 85 feet across the sky making a whistling sound! For added precision, the Agent Bow features an electronic glowing red dot that provides better aiming accuracy with every shot."