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Friday, April 19, 2013

Rant: Believe the hype.. but then not always:D


We're the first to say we love feeding the toy blaster rumour mill, mainly because there's a good chunk of what we report that actually turns out to be true. Normally we're on the money when it comes to new actual blasters, but it's the variations that make for more interesting reading. We'd like to think we're reputable, and we can tell what's legit and what's not.. but really let's face it- when it comes to rumours, only Hasbro can really say what's OFFICIAL and what's not.

How cool are rumours though?:) So let's begin with... the upcoming new Vortex Revonix360- we know it's coming.. but what with?


Something that’s been puzzling me for a bit that I thought I’d involve you all in discussion. Earlier in the year, we heard about the proposed new Vortex blaster- the Revonix360. It wasn’t from a leak or a rumour but from official sightings from the Toy fairs that made it to mainstream press and assumably Hasbro endorsed videos. It’s appeared on a few European websites for preorder, but most importantly, it’s got it’s own official looking box art style image. AND it’s even got an official press release already:

NERF VORTEX REVONIX360 Blaster 
(HASBRO/Ages 8 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $39.99/Available: Fall 2013) 

Amp up freestyle foam blasting performance with the NERF VORTEX REVONIX360 blaster which achieves the farthest VORTEX distance yet, up to 70 feet! 

This disc blaster features new, awesome deco and has a revolving drum that rotates each time you fire the blaster. Plus, the SLAM FIRE Handle gives you total control over your rate of fire – blast a single shot or hold the trigger down and slide the handle repeatedly to unleash an unstoppable stream of discs. 

Includes 30 multi-color XLR discs. Available at most major toy retailers nationwide and HasbroToyShop.com. 

There’s no mention in any of the above intel that suggests it’s going to come with a stock.


But now there’s this image that's been circulated on the net that seems to show it with a pretty tough looking stock- an all new designed stock that looks quite at home with the new Revonix 360..

 Which leads us to three possible outcomes (i'm sure there's more involving unicorns and aliens but for now..)

1) they changed their mind at the last minute and wanna provide a stock, but that’d be a huge amount of work, given chances are they’re already in production, boxed and ready to be distributed;

2) it was just a concept drawing that never should have seen the light of day but it somehow made it out into the interwebs or;

3) Nerf have realised there’s money to be made and are going to appease the fans finally and start selling stocks as optional accessories.

 If you look at the new repaints of the Vortex gear, they're all now a more standardised white- which suggests this stock could be interchangeable..
New Diatron has tribal tattoo style designs and more white
Original Diatron was more orange with striping
 But really, it’s my dreams of what "could be" influencing this post. It’s very unlikely it’s the first outcome, but probably more likely to be the second rather than my ideal third.

We get all kinds of rumours and leads sent to us all the time; some are obviously dodgy (or even well done) home made paint jobs attempting to fool, some are just mis-communication and mix-ups in language translation, but sometimes... you just can't help but to not be excited:D It's because often these rumours make SENSE and we as fans WANT to believe them.

It takes us back to all of those other weird and wonderful rumours that never came about but seemed so official at the time. Remember this weird looking image of what appears to be a lower capacity sickly green Pyragon that never amounted to anything:
I do kinda like the drum however.

or the Rampage with shield and stock:

I really wanted this shield.
The much discussed but never seen Nitron with shield:

Not sure this shield would serve much purpose, but a new accessory nonetheless!

The best nerf rumour ever that never died but also never eventuated- the Stampede ECS-50 drum:


 And my personal favourite- The whiteout Spectre REV-5:


With the Revonix360 though, I just really WANT to believe there's more to it and I actually WANT to believe the rumour that the stock just might happen. An after market stock sold separately would be exactly what fans are after and proof that Nerf listens. I mean, how cool would it be to start seeing new stocks and barrel attachments and other after market accessories goodness?

#needrubyslippers :P

10 comments:

  1. Forget everything else ... JUST GIVE US THE WHITEOUT SPECTRE!

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    Replies
    1. The white out series was the best...

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  2. All i want is the 50 round clip cause its gorgeous!!!!!! end of dissucion

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    Replies
    1. 50 round drum u could go all day with that hmmmmm ;)

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  3. It's curious that so many of these un-produced blaster combinations show up online in what appear to be production-quality versions.

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  4. I kinda agree with Dave there. The whiteout spectre being false was one of the biggest let downs.

    However, having said that, I would love for them to just sell stocks as separate attachments. Would be really really nice, especially because of all the blasters out there that have a place for one, but never come with their own stock

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  5. I'm going to suggest that most of these are actually existing production prototypes and mockups that were ultimately axed for various reasons (production costs, legalities, decisions to ship a certain accessory with a different blaster [i.e. the Rampage stock being switched to the Retaliator], etc.); we already know that pre-production prototypes often have different specifications (remember those tales from MyLastDart about the Electric Centurion Prototype with 150ft ranges?).

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  6. (neo) Ive often dreamed of that myself, barrel and stock mission kits. But from a consumer sales standpoint, you pay more money for the whole blaster you dont want with attachments you do want. It's probably why they dont do that. Im sure this far into the attachments game, its been thought of.

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  7. I can understand Nerf wanting to cut down on production costs by leaving out certain items. But they're really hurting themselves since there are folks willing to pay for these extras. I'd especially wish they'd release items like the 50 round drum separately along with additional items like a new pinpoint laser sight. While it would have a price tag of 12-15 dollars, it would be worth having for those wanting to upgrade their gear. Nerf should definitely get some feedback from the community and find out ways to bring these add-ons to the public in one form or another.

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  8. Hey Pocket,

    Nerfipedia says the Revonix WILL come out.

    http://nerfipedia.wikia.com/wiki/Revonix360

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