Lets just get this out of the way: When it comes to NERF this year, everyone is going to be talking about The Judge.
As with every year, Hasbro is going to increase its NERF arsenal, and this year the company seems to be focusing on both accuracy and firepower.
Upon entering the NERF portion of the Hasbro showroom this year, we were immediately drawn to the NERF Doomlands section towards the back. Our guide for the presentation was busy reloading all 30 darts into the brand new cannon, The Judge.
This monstrosity holds 30 darts in 10 three-dart configurations. It’s pump action. Upon firing, it will let loose that cluster of three at the same time. In other words, despite having 30 darts, you only get 10 shots with this behemoth, but boy does it ever look impressive when you see it up close.
We bemoaned the lack of rapid fire capabilities, so our guide jumped us out of order and took us back to see the latest edition to the Rivals line-up, the 100-round Rival Nemesis. This bad boy not only has a massive shot capacity, but it also has the quickest load time ever for the Rivals line with a top opening breach that will allow you to drop in handfuls of balls at once. When you’re ready to fire its batteries, spin up the auto-fire mechanism and you can unleash hot NERF death upon your foes.
As we mentioned, NERF is also focusing more on accuracy this year with the introduction of its new Accustrike darts and Accustrike blaster line. These new darts feature a flattened head and finning behind the flat surface to be more accurate when you fire. Don’t worry, however, if you need to mix-and-match darts, because these darts will work in older guns while those darts will also work in the newer weaponry.
Additional new weapons include the Zombie Strike Dreadbolt, which fires whistling darts at your zombified enemies. For those of you who jumped on the NERF Modulus line last year, more parts are coming your way along with an all-new blaster called the Modulus Regulator which features a selector switch for single-fire, burst-fire and full-auto.
And last, but not least, NERF is launching an entirely new product category this year called NERF Nitro. This new line features blasters that shoot foam cars instead of darts. The sets will include ramps and other stunts for you to perform with the cars, but unlike with traditional miniature cars, there is no fear of scuffing up your walls when they collide.
You can expect to see many of these new NERF weapons as the year progresses.