Today's announcement of the "new exclusive Nerf blaster" was definitely received pretty poorly on the whole by fans, who were obviously all expecting something.. well bigger and better than another Barricade RV-10 repaint. It's interesting how the benchmark Nerf has set is something that even they are struggling to deliver on; the delivery of four new blasters in the shape of the new Vortex line has not even been a month old and already people are screaming for "what's next?".. whoah. Ease down turbo!!!
As much we at Urban Taggers are well known to give Nerf some serious stick regarding their marketing and product releases, we have to admit Nerf have done quite the phenomenal job this year. Although a tad early for a Christmas TV special-esque recap, looking back through the year you have to admit there have been some amazing releases:
- four new Dart Tag blasters and accessories to revitalise the line
- five new Super Soaker water blasters
- two repaints- one in our opinion being the hottest scheme they've ever done with the Whiteout series
- a whole new blaster line with the Vortex (that's 4 more new blasters right there)
I mean that's pretty impressive right there, not to mention: new Scout IX-3 repaints, N-Force gear and the upcoming 18round AT drum.
It's natural for everyone to be curious about what Nerf have up their sleeve, but as we have said before, I do believe there does have to be a time where we reflect on what we actually have already and enjoy them for a bit longer before we start stoning them for NOT releasing something new.
Sure, I am as critical as the next fella on HOW they announced the new Bumblebee Barricade RV-10; I thought the decision to "surprise" everyone with a shock announcement that was obviously going to excite people in a way their release probably would never meet the hype was probably not fantastic on their part....but come on, it honestly wasn't ever going to be anything mind shattering so soon to the Vortex release anyway. Given the Vortex line is supposed to be geared up (hehe) as the "it" toy for Christmas, we'd be thinking that's where they're focusing their attentions for now, and rightfully so.
For now, I'm back to rekindling my love for my Alpha Trooper:) Sooooo good.:P
I think the big problem isn't that folks initially are always asking for more, but that Nerf has made a reputation for releasing new products frequently that... quite honestly... has spoiled fans. Did Vortex just come out a few weeks ago and make a killing on store shelves everywhere? Yeah, totally! But Nerf just made a big deal of a "new blaster" on their own... not because fans were asking for it. And then the let down of it not really being "new", let alone a new concept (they already had a Transformers themed Barricade).
ReplyDeleteSo by flooding the market with new stuff, Nerf has spoiled their own fans. So when we hear something like "new blaster", it's believable to us that it's actually something new and worth checking Facebook at 3pm for. Then when it's the Lame-i-cade all over again, fans get pissy.
I have to agree, I was a bit pissy after checking facebook at 6am for a new blaster, when it was yet another repaint. sure, they've released tons lately, and that's awesome, but it's annoying when they say it's a "NEW" blaster.
ReplyDeleteNice Photo Shop!
ReplyDeleteI can't say I'm surprised at nerf doing this, but when you see a new concept less than a week ago (mini swarmfire) you're hoping for confirmation.
ReplyDeleteI was deeply disappointed too, getting told about a NEW nerf gun was coming out and finding out that its just a repaint really took the biscuit, (The jam covered one too)
ReplyDeletevoss
I guess we've all just been waiting for a new N-Strike blaster, so we really forgot to apreciate nerf initially. But this probably means the N-Strike team is up to something to treat us with next year!
ReplyDelete@anonymous above me: Hopefully. I feel like they left n-strike in the dust this year. I would have settled for a new attachment, or a single-shot lil' blaster. But im not not gonna argue on how sweet vortex is.
ReplyDeletewhat about exclusive versions of the whole vortex line with the transformers theme??? that would be a serious best-seller [new blasters with exclusive painting for a limited time only]
ReplyDeleteon the other hand, please please don't release blasters like this -- it would be a menace to my wallet
Personally, my disappointment isn't to do with me wanting new blasters (although I do), more that Nerf said it was a new blaster and not a repaint of an old blaster. That's the bit that annoyed me.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit the announcement was not what I was expecting but I will be getting one of course. I think Hasbro should have just made the announcement instead of trying to build up hype and making people wait. We do take what we have for granted and people quickly forget about things that released just months ago. I will say this, for new blasters this has been a let down year for me since I wasn't wowed by Dart Tag or Vortex.
ReplyDeleteI think people wanting more is due to Vortex being HIGHLY overrated. The Discs are really weak in terms of accuracy, and my Longshot shoots nearly as far as all of the Vortex blasters, unmodded.
ReplyDeleteDart tag isn't really impressive, the mod potential is limited, and the stock proformence isn't really that impressive, in my opinion
In my opinion, yes I agree with the overall 'rant' (and well spoken I might add).
ReplyDeleteBut the whole problem why people got their nickers in a knot is simple; they said it would be a "new" blaster. The Barricade *isnt* new.
It doesn't matter if it's a repaint, transparent plastic, includes a yellow Raider stock, or even if it was released with a magic Nerf Lamp tactical rail attachment that when you fired it a Genie would pop out and grant you three magic headshots. It's still a Barricade.
The fact that there were pictures floating around resembling a mini Swarmfire (which people were hoping for instead) was where the 'hype' crashed and burned onto the crowd of excited (and as stated previous; 'spoiled') fanatics.
Me personally? I'm too busy enjoying my already too-big collection, with the recently added Vortex Praxis and Vigilon taking the cake for my indoor, ricochet off-the-wall skirmishes :P