Talk:AirBazooka

Validity as a Nerf blaster
This blaster being noted as a Nerf blaster has always bugged me. And, after staring at Air Zone blasters for a good chunk of my day and digging around for information on this blaster (I need a snack and probably two naps after that, and a third after writing this near-essay talk point), I'm starting to think that the NIC was wrong about this being a Nerf release.

Fistly, it is a possibility that the blue version was indeed a Nerf release, but there's no evidence showing that. No packaging, no advertisements, nothing. The only advertisement I've seen of the blaster is with its Air Zone release, on the back of the packaging for The Professional (another Air Zone blaster).

Only a few images of this blaster exist, notably of its packaging, which specifically show off an old Air Zone logo and not a Nerf one. Heck, the packaging only refers to it as "Air Bazooka", which leaves another mystery as to where the "SuperMAXX Buzzer" part comes from.

Just comparing the supposed Nerf version to other SuperMAXX blasters, both Nerf and Larami, it doesn't add up. The design of it doesn't match anything under either SuperMAXX name.

Trying to find the earliest known mention of this blaster is hard. The earliest mention of it I can find is from 2000, which doesn't have an image, but specifically notes the Air Bazooka as an Air Zone release. There's this nearly empty page from 2001; the link to it on the prior page refers to it as a third-party blaster, with no mention to Nerf. Considering the range of release years for the Air Zone blaster, I'm certain this is it. This is another site dating back to 2001--it includes one of the known images of it, and again, no mention of Nerf. This dates to 2004: same image, with no mention of Nerf.

Here's a site with its last viewable date in 2006; in its "Rare Gun" section it does not mention this supposed Nerf SuperMAXX blaster. Heck, not even the Air Zone release is in here. There is also no mention of a SuperMAXX Buzzer Air Bazooka on NerfCenter, which has reviews for practically every blaster considered vintage by late 2000s standards.

Orange's Nerf Page is known for having images of pretty much every vintage Nerf blaster ever given a proper release. It lists the blaster as the "SuperMAXX Buzzer Air Bazooka" with an asterisk next to the name (sidenote to newer editors: we can't use images from this site). So, my best guess is that Orange didn't recognize the blaster, and gave it that specific series for a name because... reasons?

Checking the HTML source for Orange's Nerf Page (I can't seem to provide a link due to browser shenanigans, but right click anywhere on the site and click View Page Source) provides a date of 2005 in FreeWebs' legalese. The copyright year for the Nerf webring embedded on the front page of the site points to 2006. So, frankly, I'm pressed to think that this is where it originated from: some point between 2005 and 2006.

Checking a bunch of early 2000s/late 90s Nerf fansites gives no mention of it being a Nerf release. Attempting to search for it now will give its article on here, an article on the old Nerfpedia, and mentions on fansites like the subreddit and NerfHaven--all of which call it as its misnomer.

The damage is done, and I'm very certain that SuperMAXX Buzzer Air Bazooka is a huge misnomer. We don't have the proof online that it had a Nerf release, unless someone comes along and provides images of an intact box or copyright print on the blaster itself. Problem is, what do we do now? I'd like to fix the mistake and relabel this as just an Air Zone blaster, and remove it from the Nerf SuperMAXX articles/templates, but is that feasible when it's so ingrained into the NIC that it had a Nerf release? Jet [ Talk • Contributions ] 06:44, January 31, 2018 (UTC)


 * That's quite a lot of info! I would have to concur that I've never seen any mention of it being a SuperMAXX or Nerf branded product, and I've searched around a little myself. It doesn't really look like a SuperMAXX blaster because they tend to look like Super Soakers, and I can't think of any Air Zone blaster that was originally or later released as a Nerf product. Now I don't really know much about Air Zone stuff and how they get to make what blasters they do, but I've never seen a Nerf Air Zone product.


 * I think it's safe to say that it wasn't a Nerf or SuperMAXX product after all. I do wonder how it came to be recognized as a Nerf SuperMAXX product and who found all the information we have on it. I think this could bring in to question the buzzing capabilities of the missiles as well. I haven't seen any mention of it buzzing or seen anything to suggest it does in fact buzz when fired. Or course, it's impossible to say as nobody has done a video review of it or the ammo, but I think that we should scrutinize all the information we have on the blaster at this point. I think we should change the information to be what you have found to be true, and also leave the previous information until we get some solid proof (like someone doing a review).


 * PS - Thank you so much JetCell! Your link to the Professional's box image was the missing link in my investigation on two old blasters I recently acquired. Turns out they were old Air Zone blasters which I never would've guessed. They are made by a company called Just Toys and the copyright date is 1998. I don't think I ever would've found it without you! Cerrwiden (talk) 04:07, February 1, 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I put in probably way too much effort for this, lol. Good to know my efforts might have been worth it all. I may attempt to rewrite the article and everything tomorrow; I definitely plan to leave in information on the whole misnomer thing surrounding the blaster, since that's part of its history at this point, but I'd love to set the record straight.


 * Also, holy smokes, that's awesome. Could you possibly take and upload images of those? There's little to no info on the 90s Air Zone releases, save for the images of the back of the box jerm uploaded years ago, and so having articles and images for them would be great for preserving the history of them. I'll have to look into Just Toys as well (also worth mentioning that the copyright year is around the supposed year of release for the Air Bazooka--interesting stuff!) and see how they tie into Toys R Us and the current Air Zone brand. Jet  [ Talk • Contributions ] 05:22, February 1, 2018 (UTC)


 * Alright, I think I found some answers. I had a hunch that the Air Bazooka was made by Just Toys, and it turns that it is, as well as a lot of the older Air Zone blasters. Here is an Ebay listing of a Just Toys catalog from 1998, showing off The Professional as well as some others. This points to all of the older Air Zone blasters like The Professional having a 1998 release, which means that the Air Bazooka was most likely released in 1998 as well. I also was lucky enough to find this site, which seems to be the designer of the packaging for the Air Bazooka. There it says that the Air Bazooka was in fact a Just Toys blaster and it even has a decent quality image of the black colour scheme. So there we have it! No mention of a Nerf/SuperMAXX release or anything about buzzing missiles (not to say that it's impossible).


 * I'll do my best to take decent quality images of the two Air Zone blasters I got. I actually bought them in a large batch of older blasters which had lots of neat stuff like a Hydro Torpedo, Koosh Vortex blasters and a Jet Squadron (among other things). I split the lot with a friend and he has one of them so we may meet up this weekend and take some pictures then. The two we have are the Periscope Blaster and the Hydrodarts blaster, although I'm not sure we figured out everything about them. We didn't get any proper darts for them, although the work decently with Micro Darts. I think the original darts were similar in width and length to Nerf SuperMAXX Darts, although the inside was the width of a Micro Dart. Fun stuff! Cerrwiden (talk) 05:11, February 2, 2018 (UTC)


 * This is great, having more history for the Air Bazooka and righting wrong information given over the years is a really great feeling. I've gone ahead and renamed the article and rewrote a bunch of it to fit better with actual information and history. If I've missed anything, feel free to edit and add in additional info. Jet  [ Talk • Contributions ] 05:57, February 2, 2018 (UTC)