As has been heavily covered already (seriously, I'm basically the last one to post about this), Mattel's jumping into the blaster market (again!) with a product called BOOMco. I heard rumblings about this at New York Toy Fair, amidst other companies and apparently the group at dartblaster.de heard about it during the International Toy Fair Nürnberg. Not having anything solid to go by, I haven't been able to say much at all about it. Mattel was also booked solid by the time I found out, so I wasn't able to bug them.
Proper news broke on Reddit - MarcusH26051
ANYWAY, here we go.
"Twisted Spinner Blaster - BOOMco. Blasters - Mattel 2014"
“Rapid Madness, Twisted Spinner, Farshot & Clipfire - BOOMco. Blasters - Mattel 2014”
Much EXTREME, such stunt. Wow.
The incoming available product line can be found here on Amazon.
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| Clipstrike - Cause it has a carabiner! A belt clip! Geddit? It also looks like it folds up, no? |
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| The Farshot (shield deployed) |
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| No cross-branding here! Dart refills (w/Smart-Stic Tech) look longer than Nerf darts, most likely not compatible. |
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| Dual Defender pack |
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| Rapid Madness! |
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| Additional targets & other accessories (see below) will be for sale |
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| Twisted Spinner blaster - NOT to be confused with a dilophosaur. |
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First things first. No relation -
All joking aside, I'm a bit surprised and really interested at Mattel even getting near blasters again. I want to expect a knock-down, drag-out slugfest of innovation in blasters now that 2 of the top toy makers out there are on a collision course. They rule the roost with Barbie and Monster High, have some great games with Uno and Apples to Apples, but blasters and playing with blasters has been synonymous with Nerf. The other brands (not necessarily blasters) on the market are carving a great niche (Zing, Marshmallow Shooters, Power Poppers, Tek Recon come to mind) but admittedly, a blaster brand/company with the resources and deep pockets like Mattel has been long missing. Nerf, long synonymous with blasters for many years might have that challenger.
One thing I can tell, not all the blasters are triggered. The Twisted Spinner blaster isn't, and has a... different kind of rotation mech. The Rapid Madness does have a trigger though, but it also uses a clip reminiscent of a Powerclip/Magstrike (additional clips are sold separately).
Some quick specs:
- Blasters should hit around 70' (not sure if this is for all of them, but it's claims are close to N-Strike Elite)
- Darts use "Smart Stick" Tech to show hits, supposed to be used with the shields/targets that also stick to surfaces. As shown in the videos, the targets can be worn on clothes to optimize stickability.
- Eye protection, 2 in 1 bandolier, extra darts, targets, and clips will be sold separately.
- The shields are used to protect and collect, catch your opponent's darts so you can fire them back. I guess that helps cut down on dart sweeps.... maybe? The shields are fixed to the blasters via tactical rail.
- Interesting bit, if you watch the videos from the pros in their interviews, one of them mentions how you don't really know where the darts are going, adding to the satisfaction when you DO get a hit. Testament to the accuracy? Who knows. Honestly, that won't be a confirmed thing until these come out Summer 2014.
- Mattel looks to be going big - Nerfnation meet the BOOMco League (and win a "Boom Box" while you're there.)
Mattel has a reputation for putting out strong, quality products. Can't attest that the reputation upholds though until these are out. The videos however make a good number of promises, and I will admit with Mattel's name involved, I am just a touch less skeptical than I would normally be. Given the past incarnations of sticky ammo from other brands though, I wonder how those new darts will work on cloth and skin. But wondering is about all I can do, along with the rest of you, until these come out and hopefully I can get my hands on them. BUT, with the possible competitiveness between these two powerhouse toy companies... I truly hope it's us the consumers who win out. With each trying to outdo the other we might see some of the best blasters to date in performance, quality, and features.
Lock and load, things just might get interesting.
Labels: 2014, blasters, boomco, gadget, mattel, nerf, new, preview, release, summer, tech, toy, toy fair