How NERF became the world’s best purveyor of big guns for kids:
It may seem silly to take this stuff seriously as feats of engineering, but in their own way, these toys are as well designed as a Dyson vacuum. When you pick up a blaster, when you feel the heft, when you put the stock to your shoulder and wrap your fingers around the handle, when you chamber a dart and pull the trigger and the dart comes flying out with that immensely satisfying thunk, it doesn’t feel like what you’re holding is just some cheap hunk of plastic. And every detail of that experience has been meticulously designed, engineered, and tested.
If you’re interested in NERF, engineering, or design, make sure you read the full article over at WIRED.
I can’t believe how complicated the NERF guns look now. Pictured is a N-Strike Elite Hail-Fire Blaster which can hold 144 darts across 8 removable magazines (they call them clips haha) that sit in a rotating drum. Crazy stuff, I’m really not surprised that company pulls in $400+ million per year.
Thoughts?
Comments
13 responses to “NERF – The Rise Of Trafficking Toy Guns To Kids”
This is why we win, and why we’ll keep on winning. What do the Bradys and the CGSV have out there for boys (and girls) to enjoy, besides self-righteous indignation?
Dude, Nerf guns are awesome! I’m pretty sure there are legit Nerf competitions….
The guy in the picture is the biggest 8 year old I’ve ever seen.
When I was in college, one of my roommates acquired a nerf gun from somewhere. This launched an arms race in the apartment. The $10 I spent on a nerf pistol was the best $10 I ever spent in my life. Hours and hours of entertainment. For the couple weeks after, you didn’t dare go anywhere in the apartment unarmed. You could be ambushed at any time…
It is kinda suspicious that the grips on most of these NERF guns are college student sized. They definitely play to dual markets.
Awesome.
Used to play nerf with my friends all the time. We would use the whole house, basement to second floor, take family members hostage, the whole thing. Such fun. Sneaky bastard knifed me once.
For my last birthday, my friends decided to get me a silly gift, it was a Nerf Vulcan. Fully automatic, belt fed, 25 rounds, big ass plastic gun. With minor tinkering, the batteries can be replaced, ammo belts stitched together and airflow restrictions bored out.
I now have 150 rounds, firing at 500 rpm.
I have become the Nerf death.
This. A million times. This.
Saw a guy on youtube hook up a car battery to his and paint it grey (to look like an M60) it had about the same rpm as your mod and started melting from overheat!
Our IT department had Nerf wars. The AR-15 models always beat the revolvers. ;-)
Dammit.
Where the heck was this stuff when I was a kid, and looking to storm the whole neighbourhood?
Ill rate it a 1000/10