Messenger

The Messenger is a Nerf blaster that was released in fall of 2014 under the Secrets & Spies sub-series.

It comes packaged with a double-barreled message decoder, an invisible ink marker, and five Message Darts.

Details
The Messenger is a single-fire blaster that holds three darts at a time. It features the use of intelligent air restrictors, which allow a single dart to be fire out of any barrel. The barrels themselves are made of similar material to the included message decoder, allowing any secret messages to be read off of loaded darts.

It features one tactical rail and an iron sight on the back of the blaster.

It advertises a firing range of up to seventy-five feet (twenty-two meters).

History
The first prototype mock-up design of the Messenger does not feature the iron sight seen on the final production blaster. An early stock image of the Messenger features black plastic in place of the translucent red plastic on the barrels. The handle's logo was also not painted on this variant and the main logo was centered and not on a slant. Some early models are also considerably lighter in color than final production blasters.

The Messenger was discovered alongside the Spylight and Diamondista on the Brazilian toy website HobbyBrinquedos in late January of 2014. The name was not completely known at the time due to the fact that the site was using prototype names. Because of this, the Messenger was sometimes referred to as the Message Blaster or the Message Launcher during this time. At the time Hasbro would not comment on the three blasters, instead telling fans to wait for the 2014 Toy Fair.

At the Toy Fair, the blaster was unveiled in its prototype state. As well, stock images of the blaster were released. By late May, packaging images of the blaster had surfaced.

Modification
As the Messenger features smart air restrictors, removal of the air restrictors is impractical. Despite this, the Messenger is a superb choice for entry-level modders due to its simple and straightforward internals. Some mods can be completed on the blaster such as barrel replacements, spring replacements, and seal upgrades. Some may choose to wrap the handle to cover up the holes in it; a common criticism of the blaster is that the handle is rather uncomfortable.