Rant: Official release?

"buy one! impress your friends! great at parties"

This is probably the same topic I've been ranting about all thru Urban Taggers, but it's something that seems to fire me up some:P There's always a lot of talk about "official release information". If you go to the Nerf official Facebook page, one of the very strict rules is to not talk of anything "unofficial" by our good friends at Nerf.

If you think about it, then half of the blasters available can't be talked about in Australia. Officially, there IS no Alpha Trooper, no Spectre, no Barrel Break. Actually, there's not even any Deploys, or tactical vests, or camo ammo. Because they're just NOT released here, and there's no say on when they will be. AND.. the fact Magstrikes, Rapid Fires, and even Longshots popped in and out without warning, they're not necessarily "official" either. If we're talking about "official" releases, we don't really have a whole lot to go by.


The benchmark it seems, is once Nerf have declared it "somewhere" in the world, then it is to be considered true (especially the US)- but while it may be "official", it's not "available". But in general, parallel importing is frowned upon, and I am only supposed to buy from my local distributors. I even get told stories that Australia's safety standards is stricter than most and our blasters are detuned and I run the risk of customs seizing my imports if I buy from overseas. (I know, WTF?)

If a blaster IS available in Taiwan (ie the RV-10 Barricade), the fact it hasn't been made "official" to the US shouldn't mean it's not out there, available and readily to purchase. People have them, and have bought them legitimately. Sooo.. what's the problem?

Companies have IP, I get this, and they want control of how they sell their stuff. A lot of R+D goes into these Nerf blasters and so the last thing they want is for competitors to get a hold of them before they're ready to release them publicly. But the thing is.. Nerf DOESN'T bring them out here. We get old stock, we get very limited stock, and we don't get any replacement stock (of the new stuff.. perish the thought the day Nitefinders become a collectors item!).

In this day and age, once you release something SOMEWHERE in the world, it's releasing it TO the world. I've seen US websites try to ban people from visiting it because they've got I.P addresses from overseas, but this doesn't stop anyone- users will just go to "unofficial" sources where the information is perhaps more up to date and on the pulse than the official line. Open up the channels, let those who want it, be able to access it, and everyone will be a whole lot happier- and you'll sell more too:)