Nanofire in the Wild

The wifey found the two colors of Nanofire out in the wild at ALDI here in Iowa just after Easter.

The Nerf N-Strike Nanofire is a new release this year. They've got it in blue and green. There are two holes on the top for horizontal ammo storage.

The official description: 

This compact Nerf blaster lets kids take it almost anywhere to start blasting almost anytime! Load 1 dart into the barrel, pull down the priming handle, and pull the trigger to fire. Reload and fire again! Storage for 2 darts on the handle. Comes with 3 Elite darts. Available in 2 colors: blue and red (each sold separately).

Yeah, you read that right. It says the two colors are blue and red. So the question is, will we see a red one, too?

Many will just write these off as Jolt repacking, and that's not totally untrue. To be exact, this is a repackage of an older repackage of the Jolt. The blaster was called the Dart Tag Stinger that came out in 2013. The biggest draw I see is that you're getting good, usable blasters for family wars or single-shot-only games for 4 bucks if you get them at ALDI.

If you're not lucky enough to have an ALDI nearby, they're going for 10.99 on Amazon.com at this writing. Better yet,  go to www.hasbrotoyshop.com and get it for the MSRP of $4.99.

Sorry for the short blurb. Today, we're heading out for an anniversary game at Carnegie Stout Public Library in Dubuque, Iowa. We'll be recording a review on the road, finalizing interviews for our new series we've been promising and playing in two hours of non-stop Nerf action among the stacks in an actual Carnegie library!

I love this job! ~CJ

The Nerf Neophyte

Hmm. Maybe this on never technically posted. Welcome Corbin Millard to the Click Click BAMF team. Corbin is just getting into Nerf for the first time as a "kiddult". He told me that he was really tempted by the ammo and the sleekness of the new blaster designs. So here we unboxed and reviewed the Nerf Rival Hera.

We talked about terminology in the video a little bit. As you may know, we say things like rounds, dart and ammo instead of bullets. We also refer to the toys overall as blasters. While these are reminiscent of guns, they are toys. We want to separate them for those who need to know the differences!

You can check out the Hera and the Hera Battle Gear Bundle through our affiliate links here.

TOY FAIR REPORT: Even More New Blasters Announced

This post will update with images and thoughts throughout the week.

Now for a couple of Nerf things we didn't really hear about during the Toy Fair 2018 coverage and a few things we just have more on.

The one I didn't hear a peep on or see anything on for sure was the Nerf Doomlands Holdout. The pic comes from our friends at Nerf and the description comes from their Hasbro Product Page.

NERF DOOMLANDS HOLDOUTIn a post-apocalyptic future, the Earth is left a barren, lawless wasteland. Out of the ashes, a lone hero emerges to bring justice to a doomed land. This is the world of Doomlands! Scope out some action with the Holdout blaster, which has a removable targeting scope that slides onto a tactical rail. Load a dart into this single-shot blaster, pull back the handle, and pull the trigger to fire. Includes 2 Elite darts that can be stored on the scope.• Includes 2 blasters and 2 darts.• Single-shot blaster• Detachable scope• Includes 2 Elite Doomlands darts• Transparent area reveals inner firing mechanism• Ages 8 and up

An Affordable Nerf Chronograph?

Since a couple of years after we began the channel, we've been wanting to buy a chronograph to test our fps on the nerf blaster we have. I wasn't really interested in spending too much on it considering all the other costs we have.

A second criterion I didn't mention in the video was size. While the size of some of the chronographs allows for the measurement of larger ammunition, You need to consider more space when setting them up. You will need more space to transport. You also will need a little more setup time when using them in the field.

I recently did a search and found a couple of airsoft chronographs that looked like they'd possibly fit the bill. Acetech was nice enough to send us some to review. Check it out:

Something else I didn't get to in the video was the quick fulfillment. Sometime folks worry about ordering from overseas because shipping can be quite a harrowing ordeal and/or very costly. Well Acetech has their products distributed to fulfillment centers in the US, so I only waiting a few days for the package to arrive after they decided to send it. So there's no concern on that end of things!

As mentioned in the video, there does seem to be some inconsistency due to things like big ammo through an airsoft chronograph. There's also a chance to hit the sides of the chamber due to the size of the rounds versus the size of the testing chamber.

If you're considering getting an Acetech Chronograph. You can check them out through my affiliate links here; AC5000 and AC6000.

New Channel Trailer Out!!

I hope all our warriors are getting the chance to check out the new channel trailer.

I worked on it going into the weekend. It shows off some of the cool gameplay we've taken part in and also points out how we've gone across the US to show off some of the Nerf news and arenas. Please make sure you subscribe and hit the notification bell on youtube to get all the updates from us!

NERF HQ Visit Tomorrow!

Warriors! We are on the eve of a really cool thing. Right now, I am on the way to Rhode Island to visit with the Nerf HQ team and several community contributors.

It's one of the few times that Nerf has brought in just fans off the street to view their facilities and we get to be a part of it! Granted, we aren't quite just "off the street". Several bloggers, youtubers and forum contributors were specially invited by the team to meet up at HQ to see and discuss the up and coming directions that Nerf is headed in.

There is a pesky little NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that stops us from leaking some stuff, but the PR team tells us that there will be plenty of tidbits that we will be released to share.

You may have seen some of the discussion in from our recent hangout with the Nerf HQ team the brought of some SUPER interesting possibilities for what we might see at tomorrow. Are there any burning questions that you are hoping to get the answer too?

Hit us up! ~Chris

Flameless Fireworks? - The Firetek Rocket!

Cool treat here, warriors. Our friends at Zing sent us a Firetek Rocket system recently and urged us to give it a try. We just had to get some night tests going ASAP.

The Firetek Bow from Zing! was already a lot of fun. I think this gives a lot of fun too at a little lower cost. Though, the Rocket is really not designed to use as a weapon so much as it is built to be a fun launcher. The thing is that you can't fire Rockets from the bow while you CAN fire Arrows from the Rocket sling. So, I would recommend buying extra Zing Firetek Arrows and using them in both of these products so that others can fire them back! I might argue that you can use this as a weapon is some cases -like when you have "explosives" rules in play at Dart Warz or other places where you are using bunkers and the like. More to come on that.

I titled this as "Flameless Fireworks" because I think you can get almost as much fun out of just watching this thing at night as firing it. But what are we missing? More colors!!!

(More after the link!)

The Current MEGA Line

Hey Warriors!

You know those reviews we've been promising? They're coming up now. We just posted the MEGA Cyclone shock review. There are a LOT of good things coming from this blaster. There was a little disappointment in there as well though :( Check out the review to find out what we're talking about. BUT THE BIGGEST PART: Could there be a giveaway announcement tucked in there too?

While we were finishing up that review, Dart Warz put up a group review for the MEGA BigShock we were honored to be a part of! They had their tournament recently and I had a complete blast being part of it along with the store teams and Vas from Foam From Above!

We have our individual BigShock review coming up in a while, but don't be shocked if a lot of what was said in the Dart Warz video is reflected there too! ~Chris

New Logo?

What's up, warriors? I'll tell you what's up: a new logo. We've been wanting to get a badge design going for a while now and to update our current logo a bit. So we finally pulled the trigger. Our designer came back to me with a few designs. We've narrowed it down between a few and will likely make a decision soon! What do you think? ~Chris

AirForce Blowgun - Blow by Blow Review

Got the chance to get another review up! This time is the AirForce BlowGun from the company with the same name.

I just got done talking with the creators of the BlowGun and they've got some good news. They're checking out new samples from the factory right now that account for left-handed users. In addition, they tell me that a new design on the tube will get rid of the small jamming problem from using too much pressure to pull in a dart.

We should also talk more about the Range category. Becky from AirForce BlowGuns had some good responses to our review that I want to bring up. We should really acknowledge that the Range results will vary based on the individual operator (they include that on the box as well). We tested out the blaster with what I would consider an average force of breath. But the beauty of the blowgun design is that you can vary your breath to change the distance you are firing the darts. I am looking forward to trying this blasters in an upcoming, full-on battle to give it the best workout possible.

Maybe at some point we can add a chronometer and pressure or force measurement to the testing for a more thorough review too.

I'm looking forward to continuing to cover the AirForce BlowGuns. I think things will just keep getting better! ~Chris

Brand New - AirForce BlowGuns

Warriors, have you heard of AirForce Blowguns? I started watching these guys develop a few months back after an article that popped up in a search. The article was out of the Daily Herald in Utah and was titled Family works together to create fun foam gun for all ages.

The writer gives a lot of the background of the family and the start of their endeavors. But, of course, you're going to want to get a lot more on the operation of the gun and how it works. Well, we'll get that covered!

Check out the unboxing and be assured that a review is in the works:

Super Soaker Reviews Begin

Well -after a brief hiatus, we begin the Super Soaker review process! First up is the un-boxing of the Super Soaker Tri-Strike Crossbow. NERF and the community both seem to have fallen in love with crossbows as of late.

The MSRP is $24.99. It might be a little steep for what this is, but we'll get into that in the review shortly. ~Chris

NERF Sent Us Super Soakers!

The time has come! Spring Break was this past week (or the one before that) for most kids in my area. It's a time that signals warmer weather and Summer fun being just around the corner. For some of you, warmer weather may already be a constant, but around Colorado, the weather stays bi-polar. So, we'll hope for the best.

To gear up for Spring/Summer 2014, our friends at NERF sent us the package seen in this video so that we can bring you info on some of the best toys to get!

(Click through for more news on our upcoming Super Soaker reviews)

BOOMco Part 2

Well warriors, there was a lot of initial excitement with Mattel's new line of blasters. BOOMco just started getting more widespread coverage in the community. Then UK Nerf got us a reality check. These are not another entry into the the foam warriors' arena like we first thought.

I'm still interested in trying these new blasters out, but they aren't foam launchers. They launch what essentially comes down to straws with sticky tips on the end. Also, as expected, the sticky tips are the kind that can become dirty somewhat easily when they hit the ground. Apparently these darts will only stick to BOOMco targets so you're more sure of when you score a hit -if the darts are mucked up with crud from the floor etc.

The other sad part is the size that UK Nerf discovered when researching the Farshot. It is far smaller than it looks in the graphics from the Argos website. I was hoping for a full-sized sidearm.

One of the cool things confirmed though, are the side panels that sit alongside a couple of the blasters. They are made of the same material as the Smart Stick targets so you can catch the darts fired at you to fire back. It's a cool, yet strange tech. I mean, many wars will count blaster hits as regular hits or at least ask that you treat your blaster as non-functional for the rest of the round. I'm looking forward to seeing how this would work out for a war. I guess you could treat it as a shield.

Pictures of even more BOOMco blaster concepts are out there now. It looks like Mattel is ready to bring these blasters out in force. I am looking forward to when we can bring you a comprehensive review on this line.

What do you think warriors -are you willing to try out any blaster from the new Mattel BOOMco line?

MEGA Redemption, MEGA Magnus Makes Us Reconsider

Fun times, warriors. We took a moment in all of the other NERF news that has been coming out to get out our thoughts on the new NERF N-Strike Elite MEGA Magnus.

The Magnus may have saved the hope for the MEGA line in my opinion. Now there is a viable option for a sidearm that makes the MEGA darts worthwhile. As we said in the unboxing blog, the Magnus comes off like the desert eagle of NERF. The intimidation factor alone may be a reason for some warriors to pick it up and use it. The MEGA Centurion just didn't cut it. You can check out that blog here if you'd like to see more about it.

We know that the MEGA Thunderbow has been making the rounds at the Toy Fairs too since we told you about it being announced in January. Foam From Above got a hands-on look at it during the New York toy fair too!

Well warriors, are you sold on the MEGA line or are you still waiting for that one blaster that you like? ~Chris

Drone Squad RC Car - The next Foam Drone Review

If you've been following, warriors, you know that I've been testing out different "foam drones" ahead of the Toy Fair this year. This was in anticipation of what you may have heard about: The NERF Combat Creature Attacknid. You can check out the small blog about that here and soon I'll get to an Attacknid write-up and review too. For now, check out the New Bright RC Drone Squad car that I grabbed from Amazon:

The Badger - A Foam Missile Launcher

I know how much some of you warriors like Call of Duty. Many more of you at least like other toy concepts besides just blasters. Well, the discovery I made at the store this week will combine those likes. Meet The Badger:

Mega Centurion - Mega Sad?

Warriors!

Another review up for you. It's very rare that we have to give NERF bad marks on a blaster, but that time has come. This is a great show-off piece, but not really something to use effectively on the battlefield -at least not stock.

Plenty of modders have mentioned that they like the Centurion for the amount of space and possibilities, but are you really going to want to drop 50 bucks on this for just the shell? What other ideas do you have for this one?

Let me know what you think!
~Chris

Master of the Range?

We finally got the review up on the Buzz Bee Range Master. This came out at the time that NERF was first producing their Elite series of blasters. Check out the video for our breakdown of how this blaster performs in the categories of Speed, Range, Accuracy, Appearance and Value.

Did you see what this thing hits with its new suction darts in the Range category? While this blaster gets the good ranges, I'm still not sure it's a "sniper" blaster. If the Centurion gets what it claims and performs well with the Mega darts, it think it will out-class the Range Master. Accuracy? Yeah, this thing owns. As mentioned in the video, the scope can be used too -I'd say to better effect than the old NERF scopes.

This blaster really shows up. especially for the $18 price! ~Chris

Answers From Tek Recon: NRG Rounds and Apps

Well, Sunday morning and the kickstarter is sitting at just over 15 percent of goal with 28 to 29 days left. We're already getting some answers from the PR folks at Tek Recon. They were cool enough to answer most of our questions on a weekend. I will post the answers in italics. Refer back to our previous article for more background on the concerns.

Right off the bat, there is a reason behind some of the perceived damage to the NRG rounds: The footage in the video is from much earlier prototype and NRG Rounds that were pre-product. The production NRG Round hold up much better and will last a long time.

They assure us that the actual product is ready to rock! 

Once you see the production NRG Rounds you will feel very confident that they are designed   and manufactured to endure multiple use at any setting on our blasters. The product functionality is exceptional.

As you know, we asked about price for the replacement rounds too. Price will range by retailer, but there will be multiple packs ranging from $7.99 and up depending on quantity. Now on to the app questions. The app is apparently not going to track hits. You can see how that might be difficult to track what physically hits in an app. No the app is meant for GPS Team Play and to track your opponents. Really excited to see how GPS tracking will work in the heads up display.

For the question I posed about other developers working on power-ups and such, they'll get back to us on that one.

Going to try to get our eyes on that app as soon as possible. In the mean time, we'll watch out for other updates. BTW, did you see the official pics released of Tek Recon's two current blasters? ~Chris