N-Strike Elite

N-Strike Elite is a current series of Nerf blasters that was released on August 1, 2012.

Details
N-Strike Elite is a Nerf product series heavily focused on "tactical" dart blasters with long ranges that can be customized with various accessories. Most blasters within the series feature the use of tactical rails and attachment points for barrel extensions and shoulder stocks. The series also continues the use of the clip system introduced within the series' predecessor.

Performance
The N-Strike Elite series is advertised by Nerf that N-Strike Elite blasters feature ranges up to seventy-five feet to ninety feet, compared to N-Strike's advertised thirty-five foot stock range. This is achieved due to direct plunger firing systems and the Elite Darts, rather than most of their predecessors' reverse plunger firing systems and most having either Streamline Darts, Micro Darts or Whistler Darts.

Versions of the blasters released in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines do not have the advertised seventy-five foot firing range. They received lower performance and gray triggers. To keep with other countries' safety standards, these N-Strike Elite blasters only have a firing range of fifteen meters (about fifty feet).

All the direct plunger blasters are fitted with a weaker spring and the flywheel blasters are fitted with some sort of "limiter" which prevents the flywheels from spinning at their maximum potential speed. Voltage mods on the flywheel blasters will bring the range on par with the seventy-five feet versions.

Because the fifteen meter direct plunger blasters have near-identical internals to the seventy-five feet versions, any modifications done to fifteen meter blasters will likely have the same performance as an identically modded seventy-five feet Elite blaster.

History
N-Strike Elite is a direct successor from the popular N-Strike series. Most original releases within the series featured upgraded versions of original N-Strike blasters.

The Retaliator, Rampage and Stockade were released and given a soft release in some retail stores prior to August 1. The Hail-Fire was also released early prior to September 9.

On September 8, a Wired article mentioned two blasters that will be released in fall of 2013: the Stryfe and the Rough Cut 2x4. These blasters, however, were released much sooner than originally expected. The Firestrike, the Strongarm, and the Stryfe were given a soft release in some stores in December of 2013.

The Demolisher 2-In-1 and the Cam ECS-12 were released in fall of 2014; the Rhino-Fire was released later that same year, on November 1.

The Elite 2.0 series would later be released in 2020, serving as a successor to N-Strike Elite.

Color schemes
Most N-Strike Elite blasters feature a distinct color scheme: blue, white, black, gray, and orange. Some blasters have been re-released with an alternate white, blue, black, gray and orange color scheme in 2014.

Multiple blasters have also been released in an orange and black color scheme, such as the Demolisher 2-In-1 and PocketStrike. The Rayven Stinger has an alternate yellow, black, and orange color scheme. Some people might confuse the blaster with the original N-Strike blasters (due to the color scheme).

AccuStrike Series
The AccuStrike Series is part of the N-Strike Elite, Rebelle, N-Strike Mega, and ULTRA series. The Elite and Rebelle blasters under this series are packaged with spiral headed darts that are designed to be more accurate.

BattleCamo Series
The BattleCamo Series consists of re-released N-Strike Elite blasters and attachments. The series is a Walmart exclusive.

Micro Shots
The Micro Shots sub-series features Jolt-like blasters molded to look like blasters from multiple series.

Multishot Madness
The Multishot Madness sub-series is part of both the N-Strike Elite series and the Vortex series. The Rough Cut 2x4 was released under this series and featured the ability to fire two darts at once.

Sonic ICE
The Retaliator, the Rampage, and the Hail-Fire are all available under the Toys "R" Us exclusive Sonic ICE sub-series, in clear blue plastic instead of the standard opaque blue plastic versions, later followed by the Jolt in a shared Sonic ICE/Sonic FIRE multi-pack.

Sonic FIRE
The Barrel Break IX-2, Strongarm, and Jolt are all available under the Toys "R" Us exclusive Sonic FIRE sub-series in clear red plastic instead of the standard opaque blue, including an exclusive color variant of the Elite Darts with red instead of blue bodies, the same color also used by the larger Mega Darts.

Trivia

 * The series name may have been derived from the previously released Nerf N-Strike Elite video game.
 * The series is the first line of clip-fed blasters to feature a direct plunger system since the Longshot CS-6 and Stampede ECS.
 * Although the pinpoint sight is not identified as an Elite product on its packaging (in fact, the packaging is only branded "NERF", not even "N-Strike"), the instructions do sport the N-Strike Elite logo and refer to the product as "Elite Mission Kit Pinpoint Sight" in at least three instances.
 * The N-Strike Mega series was once a sub-series under the N-Strike Elite series, titled "N-Strike Elite Mega". It became its own series sometime in 2016.