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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Pinky has the Vortex Series figured out


One of our readers, "Pinky" sent us a very informative analysis of the Nerf Vortex teaser vid. We thought we'd publish it, because.. well he's done all the hard work for us:) He's broken down the blasters and matched them up with the names that we published a while ago from the German website we found. All and all, check it out after the jump.


I should probably start from the top as it was the Nitron packaging shown at the end of the video that lead me down this rabbit hole. If you pause the video just as the Nitron packaging comes up, you can see that on the left side of the frame someone is holding a foregrip, much like the one on the Stampede. From this we know that the Nitron has a foregrip.

We think this is the Nitron.
If you go back to the first scene in the video (when they're pulling back the bubble wrap), as well as a scene from the middle of it (a pan up the blaster in someone's hand), we see a blaster with a foregrip.

Schmick  Nitron bro.
 It's the only one shown in the video with such an attachment, so I'm betting it's the Nitron.

From comparing it to the other blasters in the video, as well as judging by its price point on the leaked list, I'm assuming the Nitron is Vortex's answer to the Stampede or the Tag Swarmfire.

Next down the line in order of size is the blaster that the German price list called "the practice." However, when watching the test fire part of the video, we hear someone clearly say "Vortex (Draxis or Praxis maybe), blaster one, test shot one." I'm assuming that what has been mistranslated as "Practice" is in in fact meant to be something like "Praxis" or "Draxis."
The Praxis.. we think.
This blaster is shown most clearly, and we can see that it is a little smaller than the other blaster I'm assuming to be the Nitron. We can also see that this blaster has a recon-style stock, and when the tester loads the clip, we can see him prime it manually--which I'd assume would mean that the blaster has at least a manual priming as well as battery operated mode, if not only a manual mode. From the size of the blaster and the price point, I'm assuming it is comparable to an N-Strike Longshot/Longstrike or the Tag Quick-16.
Vigilon. Maybe?
Third is the blaster that I think looks the most badass: the one with the switch to flip open the ammo compartment . This blaster seems to be of a comparable size to the N-Strike Recons/Alpha Troopers or the Tag Speedload-6.

Also, when two of these blasters are seen sitting on the ground in the video, beside a different, smaller blaster, it seems to be further confirmation that this blaster is likely the one listed as the Vigilon.

Last is the blaster that barely shows up in the video and could be easily missed: The Proton. However, it might as well be known as Sr. Blaster Not Appearing In This Film.

We only catch sight of it twice, lying on the floor when they are testing other blasters. I figured it was the Proton because it's obviously smaller than the two other blasters it's lying next to, which I assume to be the Vigilon. I guess that, if we're continuing the comparison to other blasters, the Proton would be the Vortex equivalent of the Nightfinder or the Tag Sharp Shot.

So there you have it folks. Pinky's broken it down.. and it makes a lot of sense.. thoughts?

17 comments:

  1. I agree with most points, but I think there is very little chance of the 'Praxis/Draxis' being battery powered. If you look above the guy's thumb, there are two orange catches, one for the mag release (he uses one similar on the Vigilon), and the other looks to be in the right place to be a stock release (they seem to have changed the stock design yet again). No sign of a on/off switch.
    Also the Nitron appears to be a flywheel-powered blaster, due to the distinctive cylindrical features either side of the barrel (you can see them most clearly when he holds and tilts it).

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  2. It certainly makes sense... Can't think of anything else better. Thank you, Pinky!

    Now that's settled, all we can do is wait till nerf releases more info on their fb page... I can't wait!

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  3. Hey, I think i can say with decent reliability that the "Nitron" is electric. Not absolutely certain, but there are some good clues. Is there BB code here so i can toss some images in?

    The round "cans" to either side of teh barrel, right in front of the mag well: Unevenly sized, as if to hold unevenly sized flywheels, exactly what you'd want if you wanted to impart spin.

    That Orange nub on top of the blaster about half way down it's length is in a slide track. Sliding a good couple inches. I'm thinking power switch.

    And the aft end of that thing seems a bit bulky, and appears to have an orange cap on the butt stock, ala battery cover. The aft end is pretty much square, and seems like it could hold a few C-cells.

    This along with its price tag in the line-up makes me think electric, pump action.

    It also appears that the removeable stocks may not match up to the N-strike line. in the shot with the blasters laying on the floor you can see a detatched stock next to another "Praxis", showing that the connector is at least twice as long. However the release button is still on the same side and may work the same way withthe same lower clearances.

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  4. I must say, Pinky, this is easily the most brilliant analysis of any Nerf intel I've ever seen! Everything seems to fit perfectly, and you got it all in there! Never before have I seen someone actually go all the way with something like this! Congratulations again; I bet Nerf didn't want us to know all that!

    As an aside, I noticed that there is some writing on the Vigilon's side, nameplate-style. It's too blurry to read, of course, but it seems to be two words. The first seems to be the right size for the word Vigilon, but the other... Perhaps Vortex will have ammunition and loading designations as N-Strike does.

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  5. Just ran the phrase 'Praxis' through a few translators--the word is German for 'practice', hence the strange misnomer on the German site. So, yeah, odds are its name is the Praxis.

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  6. How are these disks going to fit nerf's "foam-only" bit? They need some type of disclaimer.........

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  7. ^ anony 2 gots good analyzation skills
    I agree the "cans" as he called them are flywheels and the different ones impart spin. I'll have to call the "Praxis" completely manual...if the Vortex line is analogous to the N-strike line, then it each only will have one electric blaster, therefore the "Recon" is manual. however, i find it hard to think up effective ways of forward motion AND imparting spin at the same time with anything except flywheels
    i_am_a_(guest)

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  8. It looks like the Stampede looking blaster has a weird breach access:
    http://imgur.com/GbIsz

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  9. Hey captain slow, those are the "cans" i was referring to.

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  10. I think the nitron is full-auto because it is quite bulkey and how would it be primed if not auto? there isn't space for the handle to move if it is manual priming. heellllooo. use your obsermalvation skizzles peoples.

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  11. Q1. What happens if theres wind? A. Fail. Q2. What happens if you tilt it? A. Fail. Q3 Is thre enough Velocity? A. No theres not.

    Unfortunely Question 1 cant be fixed.
    Question 2 on the hand you can fix by not tilting it. :P
    Velocity I think can be fixed with a little elbow greece from Hasro.

    All in AlL, I'll get one, but only one, which will be the best one. :D

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  12. Nice comments peeps, I am impressed. For me personally, I tend to care more about the hardware itself (ie.. they look farkin' cool)and as long as they can make it from one side of the apartment to the other, I'll be happy.

    When the time comes I will definitely be looking forward to some very cool paint jobs (Johnson Arms, are you listening!!)

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  13. under the long range, the light letters say,"disc _____"

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  14. I just realized something... that disk fired in the video went, like, 60 feet and was still flying well. Pinky determined that that blaster was the Praxis, the second most expensive. Now, if they expect N-Strike to successfully coexist with these things, the 30-40 foot ranges of TODAY's N-Strike will ensure that line's extinction (after all, compared to Vortex, who would want a Maverick or Spectre?) So, since they have confirmed the coexistence of these two lines (indeed, they have strongly hinted toward some sort of rivalry), then we should expect N-Strike to see some substantial performance increases in tandem with Vortex's release on 9/10/11.

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  15. Alternatively, Bluefire, it may be the case that the Vortex line is Hasbro trying to get a firmer hold on their brand by making a line of blasters with better performance but which are harder to mod.

    I mean, I'm sure Nerf Mods & Reviews will find a way to make the Vortex line fire labrador retrievers, but what I realized today is that it's going to be a heck of a lot harder for third parties to replicate those discs, or to produce alternate discs that fly farther/at higher velocity (Stefans).

    So, though it may be the case that N-Strike and Vortex will coexist for the short term, there's no guarantee that Nerf will be under any pressure to bring the performance of the N-Strike line up to the level where it matches the Vortex line. This small factor, in the long term, could mean higher Vortex sales--particularly when you take into account everyone who converts to Vortex is another customer needing to replace his former arsenal of thousands of foam darts with thousands of little green rubber discs!

    I guess it's like Beta or DVDs or Blueray: Nerf is introducing a new format to an existing audience, and they're likely hoping it takes and eclipses the old format so they can sell us the same thing all over again. And least that be seen as griping, it should be made clear that I could care less. When it comes down to it, I'm an adult with a decently-paying job, and toy blasters are cheap. If the new blasters are more fund to play with than the old ones, I'm not going to have a problem throwing another $100 Nerf's way.

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