New toy blaster company: PaperShooters

Disclaimer: This is not actually Nerf. But since it's still in the same genre of harmless toy guns, I thought I'd alert you to its existence.

There's a new company out there that's just getting off the ground. While the name- PaperShooters- is not the most indicative of good performance, I think this group has actually hit on something. There's currently a Kickstarter crowd-funding project for them, and apparently people are eager enough for this product that the goal of approx. $7,000 has been far exceeded.

But to get to the good stuff:

The premise of this product is a "build-your-own customizable blaster" that shoots biodegradable paper ammo. The gun itself is, I believe, made of plastic, but it comes with several cardboard "skins"- pre-cut designs to put on your blaster. They're claiming that it has "marksman accuracy" and will shoot 65 feet.

Pros:

1. Buildable. You get to have fun putting together the 124 separate pieces. Great for those who would like to know how their gun works.
2. Biodegradable ammo. The ammo is made of paper, and is therefore biodegradable.
3. Make your own ammo. The kit comes with a mold with which you can make your own ammo out of scrap paper.
4. Realistic. This would be a wonderful product for teaching gun-safety, because it's realistic but perfectly safe.

Cons:

1. Not a Nerf gun, not compatible with anything Nerf, not for nerf wars, etc.
2. Non-reuseable ammo. You shoot it, it splats, and that's that.
3. "Some assembly required." This will not be a piece of pie to put together. It has a hundred twenty four pieces, after all. A lot of them will surely be small.

Overall, though, I think this product would be well worth the buy. Go to PaperShooters.com to get more info, or just go to the Kickstarter page and check out the videos there.

What do you think about it? Tell me in the comments!

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Painted Sidestrike

Nearly a month ago, I gave you a preview of a project I was working on. I apologize for taking so long; I actually was hoping to get this out to you only about a week and a half after leaving you in suspense over it. Anyway, here it is: the repainted Sidestrike.

I never really was a fan of the green/light gray color scheme on the original (click here to see my review with pictures). I much prefer a simple stealth black and the regulation toy-gun orange for my nerf guns. For one thing, it makes night missions in nerf wars much easier. And all the orange is there for two purposes: a) I doubt anyone will have trouble recognizing that this is not an actual firearm, and b) it looks cool.
Mostly b.

So basically, I coated the main body pieces and the cocking slide with gloss black spray paint. I left alone the orange pieces and the handle insets. I did the orange detailing with acrylic paint, as with the bits of charcoal gray detailing. The handle insets received several coats of the orange acrylic paint. Then all the painted parts got a coat or two of satin finish top coat. The combination of the gloss black and the satin finish resulted in a really nice, tactical non-reflective texture (which, interestingly, also gives it a good feel in the hand). The top coat also means that the gun can get a bit beat up, without showing any wear on the paint job.
As usual, the little parts that were already orange stayed orange.

I didn't take a picture of it, but I also lightly dusted the holster with black spay paint for a shadowy look.

Detail of the handle.

My "signature", and a close-up of the
detailing on the Nerf logo.

Close-up of the cocking slide.

What do you think?

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The Nerf Nuke!

I was stumbling around the internet the other day, and I discovered a rather interesting product. Since it might be of interest to you, I decided to write a post about it. So here it is: my review of the Nerf Nuke, by ThinkGeek!

THE NERF NUKE!!!

To start off with, I do not actually own this product. Neither have I gotten a chance to play with it. As such, this review is pure speculation.

Anyway, this nerf "gun" is marketed as "The Nerf weapon to end all Nerf wars!" Also, even though it's made by an obscure company called ThinkGeek, I'm almost positive that it is licensed by Nerf. (See the little Nerf logos on the fins? the color scheme? the fact that they're calling it "Nerf" instead of "foam-launching"?)

Here's my guesswork about the Nerf Nuke:

Good:

• Explosive! The website claims that the reverse plunger system is compact, yet fires darts up to 30 feet in all directions.
• Launch system. This product comes with a high-powered, tripod-mounted launching tube that can apparently launch the Nuke up to forty feet away.
• Capacity. The Nerf Nuke holds (and comes with) 80 old-school micro darts. I believe it will shoot any dart other than Streamlines, and it can most likely be modded to shoot those too.
• Unique. To my knowledge, this is the only foam-launching toy that explodes.

Bad:

• Overpriced. I wouldn't pay a hundred bucks (plus tax) for this. Would you?
• Probably hard to set up. The website mentioned that the big red button on the front is used for both arming and "firing". Crank it to arm it, push it to explode. I'm figuring on a lot of premature explosions while you're setting it up. And that would make a colossal mess.
• Reloading. Good luck getting your little brother to reload this.

That's my two cents. What do you think? and would you buy it? Please tell me in the comments section.


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UPDATE

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Since creating this post, I have learned that this product sadly does not actually exist. Booooo!!! Turns out, the company, ThinkGeek, has a great (if not horribly mean) sense of humor, and every now and then they'll "release" on their website an exclusive product that doesn't exist at all. When you go to its page, it seems perfectly legit-- until you try to buy it, then you get an "April Fools" message.

  So in summary, my excitement for this product was wildly premature. I've got my frowny face on now.