A few weeks prior to the London Toy Fair, we asked the community for questions. Questions that we would then ask the Hasbro UK representatives and attempt to get them answered. Not only does this give everybody an opportunity to get involved and find out a little more, but it also buys us some time with Hasbro and makes it seem like we're not just there to play with toys (I don't think we fool anyone).
Ever since the MEGA Magnus was announced, I knew I wanted one. I had a feeling that even on it's worst day, it would be the first useable blaster to come out of the MEGA range and actually have a use in game.
The keen eyed among you will know that we were the first to announce the MEGA Magnus' UK release date on our Facebook page. But with that came the sad confirmation that Europe would receive the grey trigger variant that we all feared.
In this article we will discuss the differences between the orange and grey triggers and scientifically determine how much of a difference there actually is.
Warning. Science Content!
EDIT: I should explain at this point, this article was written well over a year ago, just after the release of the Magnus. For some reason that is beyond me I never actually got around to publishing it.
Since the Orange vs. grey debate has popped up once again, I thought I'd share my investigations.
For those of you that don't know, some territories (mainly Europe and Australasia) have laws that specifically limit the energy transferred by projectiles for toys. The specifics of these rules are still unclear but it suffices to say that the MEGA blasters enjoyed in the US are too powerful to comply with these guidelines, hence, the MEGA blasters sold here in Europe are 'dialled back' and are noticeably wimpier than those found in the States. That is what is meant when people refer to 'varients' of NERF blasters such as the Magnus. The US version (the more powerful one) will have an orange trigger and the European one will have a grey trigger.
But what exactly is the difference between the two?
The obvious hypothesis would be that the grey trigger blasters will have a weaker spring. This would tone it down enough to conform to the guidelines, but keep manufacturing costs down. Let's face it, if Hasbro had to completely redesign a blaster to conform to one set of rules, they simply wouldn't release the blaster in that territory.
Let's Get Down to it.
Well, in hand the prime on the orange trigger MEGA Magnus is noticeably heavier yet there is no obvious difference in performance. I played with them both for a bit and I couldn't really see much difference in the way the darts flew. The orange version seemed to have a bit more 'punch' but I couldn't really see that effecting range.
Opening the blasters up, I noticed that the breech for the EU Magnus is also grey. I did a few measurements but I can't see any obvious differences between the two breeches. I feel that there must be a reason for the grey breech otherwise they wouldn't bother. My guess is that the grey Magnus has a weaker AR spring along with the weaker main spring. Without butchering the breech I can't really know for sure.
Removing the spring is pretty easy but it is soooooo much longer than I was expecting. This spring is way longer than anything I have seen in a NERF blaster before. At 168mm it's even longer than a Longshot spring.
In comparison, there is very little visible difference between the two springs. They are pretty much the same length, they have the same number of coils but crucially there is a 0.1mm difference in the wire thickness. Can this really make that much difference? Can it?
Now for the science bit. Grab your lab coat, we're going in.
So what is spring rate and how do we measure it? Spring rate, (otherwise known as constant) is the change in the force that a spring exerts, divided by it's length. Or, put simply, the amount of weight needed to compress a spring by a certain length.
The simple way to calculate the rate of the Magnus spring is to set up some simple apparatus and take some simple measurements. We need to know the free length for the spring (168mm in this case), we need an object of known mass and a ruler (or rule if you want to be all sciency).
The method is simple, apply the mass to the spring, measure the compressed length, do some maths. Below is a picture of the rig I built to apply the mass to the spring. I basically used a length of PVC with a heavy object attached to the end.
Now we simply measure the compressed length of the spring. Do this for both springs and record the result. If the orange trigger version IS stronger, theoretically it should be harder to compress and so the compressed length will be greater.
Now for the maths part. I had to trawl through all of my old engineering texts to find the answer to this. It's been a while since I used formulae.
By inverting Hooke's law, we can find the spring constants using the data we have just collected.
k = spring constant, F = weight of the object, L free = free length, L def = compressed length
Throw in all of our data and we get the following results:
Orange Trigger = 333 N/m
Grey Trigger = 257 N/m
There you have it. The orange trigger Magnus has a spring that is 23% stronger than that of the grey trigger version. That is a very significant amount.
But what does that mean in real life?
We gave both of our Magnus' (or is that Magni?) to Foam Data Services for some more science. Tom ran them over his chronograph to give us a real idea of how big a difference there is between the two.
After firing 30 darts out of each blaster, we can take an average from the test and compare the results.
Orange Trigger = 71 fps
Grey Trigger = 60 fps
So there you have it, grey triggers suck, orange triggers rock.
They’ve been a company selling their trademark sticks and connectors in a variety of forms for 20 years. And recently, they’ve decided to go into blaster technology with their K-Force lineup for 2015.
I had the opportunity to talk to their team at London Toyfair, an extremely enjoyable experience that has landed them in my good books.
With many of the 2015 blasters already hitting shelves, there is still very little information on the one blaster that has created the most discussion, The NERF Elite Crossbolt.
Well, thanks to a video posted on the Smyth's Toys YouTube channel, we can now see a firing demo of this little beauty.
Whilst most of us are nursing a sore head after the
new year festivities, many are looking at 2014 and reflecting on another great
year of NERFing. We've seen an unprecedented number of new blasters this year
but more importantly, it has been a great year for the British community.
Looking
forward into 2015, not only do I want to think about the shiny new blasters
that we are going to see, but I want to talk about making 2015 an even better
year for NERFing in the UK.
With less than a month to go before the 2015 London Toy Fair, I thought it'd be a pretty good idea to start getting ready.
2015 will actually be the 5th year I have attended the Toy Fair and the 3rd year I have covered it for UK NERF. Although it's a hectic and fairly stressful day out, it is a great opportunity to meet up with the bods at Hasbro Europe and take a look at some of this years most hotly anticipated blasters. At the beginning of 2014, we got an exclusive hands on look at the new Zombiestrike blasters and Demolisher 2-in-1. So what could be in store for the 2015 event?
Hasbro's mail-outs are usually a fairly dry affair, but the most recent Christmas email contained a very interesting graphic.
Looks like there will be a big announcement on Boxing Day, but what could it be?
German blog Dartblaster.de recently went on avisit to Hasbro HQ in Germany and managed to give us a glimpse of a brand new ZS blaster. Could this be what all the fuss is about?
Fire up that rumour mill and let us know what you think.
UPDATE:
Looks like all that excitement was for nothing. Despite having officially released the blaster weeks ago, Hasbro's big boxing day announcement turned out to be the Zombiestrike Flipfury. Rather disappointing really. Thanks Hasbro.
I love receiving parcels. Every time I hear the postman's abrupt, officious knock at the door I turn into a small boy at Christmas, dashing to the door to see which recent purchase I'd be playing with next. So imagine my surprise and confusion when I receive an international parcel that I was not expecting.
Looking at the label, I see the word 'Blasterparts' and that small boy feeling wells up inside me once more as I realise what the parcel might contain.
Whilst sounding more like an engine part than a toy, the CAM ECS-12 is
one of the newest blasters in the NERF range and is also the first ever blaster
to feature an integrated camera. With it becoming easier and easier to make and
share home videos via the interwebs, this blaster will provide NERFers with the ability to record
their antics and share missions and skill shots with their friends through
social media.
I hadn't been to my local Toys 'R' Us in a while so Christmas shopping seemed like a good excuse to go back. Browsing through the usual NERF goodies, I happened across a Longshot and almost had a heart attack.
It's nothing new to see a Longshot CS-6 in the UK, they have always been available here as an exclusive to TRU but this is the first time I had seen one in a shiny new box. Sadly it's just a bit of re-branding, bringing the box design of the Longshot into line with the look and feel of the Elite range. Although the N-Strike logo is clearly shown, I can't help but feel this is a subtle move to 'fool' consumers into thinking it's the same as the rest.
The only thing that is different is that this package comes with 6x Elite darts. Same old clips, same old blaster(s).
Personally, I love the graphic advertising the range. 10m, like it's something to brag about!
Well, it's not the amazing find I initially thought it was, but at the very least it means that the Longshot will be sticking around for a while.
I am not really a huge fan of the NERF Elite Triad.
It's only crime? In this reviewer's opinion, it's simply trying to hard.
The Triad is a great blaster, but in its efforts to be a multi-shot blaster, it sacrificed its looks. It feels bulky, the priming arm looks like a lizard's tongue and it just doesn't feel as elegant as say, the jolt (which ironically, is the very blaster its trying to improve upon). This review is not to talk about my dislike of the Triad, it is a review of what I firmly believe to be it's replacement. The NERF Zombiestrike Doublestrike.
(*side note, the word 'strike' is being used to death now Hasbro, there are other words meaning 'hit' you know, I've checked.)
Forget 'Come to the dark side, we have cookies', from now on its 'Come to the LARP side, we have smoked ribs and mead.'
Ever since I started attending Sci-Fi LARP events, I have been hearing the same sentence from many different people, granted the wording is different from each, but the focus is the same. "Yeah these guys are good, but its not like The Green Cloaks". I remember asking "what made them so special as opposed to anyone else?" and then it was explained to me. They don't just spend a day or afternoon doing LARP, they spend whole weekends doing so. The second I heard that, I just had to meet them and experience what the system and seeing if it was for me.
Luckily, I was fortunate to be on hand for their 2nd event on the 20th-22nd June and boy am I glad I did!
When news broke that most of this year's hot releases were available at Amazon.com, I was furious. Not because the US had gotten the jump on everybody. Not because I had been hunting tirelessly for a chance to get my hands on one early. Not even because I had been assured by Hasbro that there would be no 'soft release' this year. I was furious because when I heard the news, I was working, in a field, in the rain, with no internet connection and no way of getting my greasy mits on them.
Alas I had to sit there like a lemon whilst low resolution images of happy people slowly downloaded over my GPRS connection.
Things weren't any better when I got back. All of my feeds were full of more smug people playing with theirs and when I could finally get online I was faced by those three immortal words... OUT OF STOCK! I managed to get some eventually but the important thing is that they aren't here yet!
Fortunately for me, my good friend OldNoob managed to get hold of one and was the first to review it on the BritNerf forum. With his kind permission I have reposted it below.
It may seem like a cheap ploy to write the first new post in ages, and you'd be right.
or: 'How to do a day-out blasting other people right'
To explain the title, when I was asked if I was free on the 25th of May for some NERF blasting (and maybe write a review on said NERF blasting) I naturally jumped at the opportunity. However, when I discussed the 'whens and wheres' with UKNerfWar, he informed me that this was going to be a War, not a LARP event which I was used to.
This being my first 'War', I asked how many people did he think where coming.
"Not many I should think," he replied, "...it'll just be a Casual War."
With news that Mattel are making a new venture into the world of toy blasters spreading like wildfire across the NIC, I thought it was about time to dispell some of the rumour and speculation and actually get these blasters in hand for a review.
First thing this morning, I went to my local Argos and purchased every BOOMco. blaster they had and I have been playing with them all day. Below you will find an in depth review of the blasters that I purchased.
It isn't every day that you get excited when the postman calls but recently the usual utility bills and take-away menus served to cushion the fall of a large parcel.
My good friends over at Blasterparts sent me a parcel containing some exciting new products. The first of which was their shiny new 7kg MEGA Magnus spring.
Regular readers will already know that Saturday in Bristol was the epicentre of the Zombie Apocalypse. Having not played HvZ since my days at college (and even then it was socks and boffers) I was eager to attend this war despite the three hour drive to get there.
The war was hosted on the Downs in Bristol. It was organised by my good friend Boff from the BritNerf forum so I already knew this event would be epic. Not only was it the first BritNerf community war of the year but it was also the first ever BritNerf HvZ event. I wasn't going to miss this for the world.
Did any humans make extraction and get out alive? Was I one of them or did I get nommed? Keep reading to find out.
First up, sorry for the lack of activity of late. Things have been manic! With a workbench overflowing with commissions, a day job and a second child expected any minute, the blog has had to take a back seat for a while.
I'm glad to say that I have a bit more free time now and there is a long list of news and reviews planned for the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!
Now, if you have been watching our Facebook Page, you will know that there is a very exciting war coming up in Bristol.
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