Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-24548292-20140830212109/@comment-126472-20150819174442

Nerfgunattachments wrote: If Nerf hired me to design blasters, I would actually listen to and accept and implement good ideas from fans. Maybe have large focus groups with fans of all ages every quarter...

Unfortunately their reason for not doing so isn't just because they don't want to. There are some legal issues with accepting outside suggestions like that, and there's a reason Hasbro's site has a "no solicitations" clause in their legalese.

The same issue happened in the 70's with DC, where one fan wrote in saying he wanted to see Green Lantern and Wonder Woman get together. They were planning on doing the same thing, but no longer could because someone not contracted by DC suggested it. As a result, there was nothing legally they could do to continue that idea. If they had, regardless of whether or not they informed the fan in question, not crediting him would have resulted in a proof-of-intent problem that could have resulted in a lawsuit.

Basically, in order for Nerf to take suggestions like this, they would have to credit everyone who came up with the same idea to avoid legal potholes, or they would have to make all of their development documentation publicly available, which would void their patents. At least, they would if they did this regularly and not just in the limited capacity they already do (playtesters, contests, etc.).