Forum:2013 announcements/rumors

Just in case some people decide to create the article off rumors, here is the discussion page.

Promotions

 * Nerf Alliance: Hasbro sponsored UK promotion event, a few new products (Nitron 2.0 with possible shield, stunt kite) (Nerf Alliance)

Announcements
Possible NDA breaches by PR firm

Coverage: MyLastDart, Basic Nerf


 * New blasters and release info for Stockade
 * Stockade will be Walmart exclusive
 * Series expansions for N-Strike Elite, Vortex, Super Soaker, Nerf Sports, N-Force, and Dart Tag
 * Vortex Revonix360 (thirty disc drum, slam fire, seventy foot range, new awesome deco, "multi color" Vortex discs)
 * Blazin' Bow (foam arrows, pull-and-release bow, not what MLD was referring to in his comment about big Stefans)
 * Asia is new hot target for Nerf products. The United Kingdom is second and the United States are third.
 * US sales dropping slowly

Rebelle

 * Nerf "Rebelle" line (attempt to draw in female audience) (Entertainment Weekly article)
 * Heartbreaker Bow (pull-and-release bow, fires darts)
 * Xrossheart Shot (crossbow-like blaster, unknown if there is a correlation to Nerf Action Crossbow)
 * Wildshot (six darts, "smart mechanics")
 * Wish Shot (pocket blaster)
 * Collectible darts

Discussion

 * elite alpha trooper rumor: N-Strike logo + number code (CS-12) are a dead giveaway that its fake. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 16:25, January 3, 2013 (UTC)
 * While the N-Strike logo is odd, the idea of it being a CS-12 isn't unreasonable, if it is using the Retaliator's clip. And the firing mechanism shown on the internals pic is VERY different than the current Alpha Trooper, and is apparently a direct plunger. Could simply be a prototype. There's also the fact that it is NOT just a regular AT that someone repainted, unless they went to the trouble of repainting the insides as well, and did a damned good job of it (as well as matching the color of the other Elite blasters perfectly). That's not something that is easy to do.


 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 14:08, January 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * A direct plunger AT. Seems pretty legit. I don't think it's fake because of the new internals. Tehecksbawksaddict (talk) 21:03, January 9, 2013 (UTC)
 * the rampage already replaced the raider and the drum practically covers the alpha trooper drum (centered). similar to the jolt and reflex, those also had the NS logo and number codes. those were pretty much the same as the original (jolt had better ranges) but listed as elite blasters. just re-releases under the new series. i am expecting the same to happen if this is in fact a real blaster, just a re-release with better internals (direct plunger) Nerfmaster8 (talk) 02:56, January 10, 2013 (UTC)


 * talk of the rumored 50 dart drum has sparked discussion on the stampede, Hasbro source has hinted at possible stampede, vulcan. this leads me to believe that they are working harder to get a bigger drum created (50 or more darts, S configuration). the vulcan hint is a bit strange, didn't the Hailfire literally replace that? the overlord is better than that thing, so heavy! Nerfmaster8 (talk) 06:18, January 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I had brought up the idea before of the Hail-Fire being a successor or replacement for the Vulcan (and even added it to the article at one point), but everyone else seems to disagree with me on that, despite the fact that it is nearly impossible to find a Vulcan in any stores anymore other than maybe Toys R' Us. As far as the Stampede goes, I'd really love to see an Elite Stampede with the 50 dart drum, but I'm not holding my breath for it. I nearly always keep one of our 35 dart drums on our Stampede since the 18 dart clip (or even an 18 dart drum) seems puny and out of place on such a big blaster. To me, the Stampede just looks "right" with a big drum attached.


 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 14:08, January 4, 2013 (UTC)


 * oh wait, forgot that hasbro singpore mentioned that the hailfire wasn't going to replace anything; that was probably a hint at what was to come-foreshadowing the elite vulcan. i do have to ask, why the vulcan, already got copied (overlord) and the new one is probably better without tactical rails.
 * i think we should list all the official blogs, not just in the US as sources of info. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 17:18, January 4, 2013 (UTC)


 * Even if there is a 50 dart drum, I'm not one to be buying it. 35's already heavy enough and 18 more than enough fro a heavy prime modded Recon. Tehecksbawksaddict (talk) 21:03, January 9, 2013 (UTC)
 * well, people are asking for bigger clips and drums and this is one way of hasbro doing that. creating a bigger drum that could possibly be lighter. the new blasters weight about the same but have better performance.


 * OK, while looking at Amazon (per our Praxis discussion) for discontinued products (or ones that might be) I looked at the Longstrike. HOLY S**T! Look at the prices they are asking for them, and there are only a few left in stock. With Toy Fair coming up soon, that might be a good sign that we may be getting an Elite model soon. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Dtoys-and-games&field-keywords=nerf+longstrike&sprefix=nerf+longstr%2Ctoys-and-games%2C522 Bluedragon1971 (talk) 18:53, January 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * so far amazon has not confirmed the recon, maverick, raider, nite finder, jolt, barrel break,  yet the vulcan and longstrike are discontinued ... no consistency what so ever. already tagged the ones amazon confirmed. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 03:43, January 5, 2013 (UTC)
 * Lots of speculation here but the ones not marked as discontinued except for the Barrel Break will probably stay for a bit longer due to popularity and cost-effectiveness. They'll probably release a final 5th gen for these guns with maximum power output for reverse plunger and 2.5 kg springs before discontinuing (theory based on Maverick's modability and increasing power output). Tehecksbawksaddict (talk) 21:08, January 9, 2013 (UTC)
 * all rumors are added to the forum, this was agreed upon a while ago. if you want to discuss the discontinued templates, go to the other topic. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 22:29, January 9, 2013 (UTC)
 * NSE is the final transition of NS, there most likely won't be any more NS blasters released as NS is moving towards NSE. there will however be stock left for a good while but not for long. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 02:56, January 10, 2013 (UTC)
 * seems like DT is either not going away, new blasters coming out soon. 35.11.163.207 19:20, January 19, 2013 (UTC)


 * Okay, I don't really follow this. Why do we use Amazon as a complete source for this? We put discontinued tabs on a ton of products because an Amazon seller is out of stock. Do we actually visit stores to see? There are hundreds of Mavericks out there on shelves, Mavericks, Nite Finders, Raiders, Longstrikes, Deploys and others can be found at nearly every store that sells Nerf, and practically every NS blaster sold is still found at Toys R Us. Just because an N-Strike Elite blaster has been released to replace it, does not mean it's discontinued. Ga  ge  16:36, January 19, 2013 (UTC)


 * I don't think we were going simply by Amazon seller stock, but by Amazon themselves listing a product as discontinued by the manufacturer. Hasbro themselves have said that N-Strike as a series was being replaced by N-Strike Elite, and therefore that the blasters that have been replaced are definately discontinued. While stores in Canada may still have huge backstocks of older N-Strike blasters, and still be selling them at their original prices, that is not the case here in the US. If you like, I could go around to several major stores around me and take photos of the Nerf aisles. They are almost completely transitioned over to Elite now, other than a few stores having the last remaining N-Strike stuff on clearance. One of our local Walmart stores must have got the last few cases of Barricades from the Distribution Center, because thay have probably 20 of them on the shelf on clearance for $8. At the Target stores near me, the only N-Strike item remaining is the Alpha Trooper, which won't be there for long since we know it is about to be released in the Elite line. In fact, one of them has recently cleared a LOT of space on that aisle to make room for new Elite stock (they seem to still be restocking from Christmas).


 * As for Toys R Us, it has always been an oddball on keeping around older stocks of toys that have long since been discontinued. I think what happens is that they order huge masses of items and only slowly distribute them to the stores. I once saw a Toys R Us store (in 1990) that had found and was selling a few cases of Star Wars figures that had been discontinued since 1985 or 1986.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 00:30, January 20, 2013 (UTC)


 * FYI, I picked up the last green Rayven at one of our Walmart stores today on clearance - $9.50!!!!
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 00:52, January 21, 2013 (UTC)


 * I have to wonder if that Dart Tag target set with the Stinger is going to be another non-US-only release like the Snapfire and the Stockade. I guess we will see in a few days after Toy Fair.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 21:03, January 20, 2013 (UTC)

The Nerf Alliance thing is for sure confirmed, should we make an article about it? As for the AT and Stinger, they're labeled as confirmed on here, so should we create articles for them as well? Jet [ Talk • Contributions ] 21:31, January 20, 2013 (UTC)

In reference to the prior poster who thought the name of one of the Dart Tag blasters was "Quick Draw": Quick Draw is the description under the blaster (Sharp Shot) in the product catalog, not the name of it. Look at the similar text by the other pictures. They are all descriptions, not names.

Bluedragon1971 (talk) 21:47, January 20, 2013 (UTC)


 * Just a quick question, where did the name Stinger come from? I can't seem to find it in the picture. Ga  ge  23:59, January 20, 2013 (UTC)


 * It isn't in the ad, it is in the product listing on the Argos site http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9115831.htm
 * That being said, the picture (especially on the site, where you can zoom in) looks REALLY weird, like there are two sideways holes across the barrel. It really just looks like a remolded Jolt to me, which would make sense as a blaster for a target game like this (considering the Clue Elimination game)
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 00:07, January 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * Here's the zoomed image of the Stinger from the Argos site:


 * Stinger.pngy weird looking blaster (and obviously a computer generated product image, not an actual photo).
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 00:15, January 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it looks like it's just a remolded Jolt to have that sleeker, rounder Dart Tag appearance. I hope the new Dart Tag announcement or whatever doesn't just announce Dart Tag versions of exisiting blasters... Jet  [ Talk • Contributions ] 00:38, January 21, 2013 (UTC)


 * Considering that the Stinger is the ONLY new Dart Tag product that we have any evidence of so far, and there was only the Snapfire as a new product last year, I renew my suspicions that Dart Tag is essentially dead. Yeah, there are a few products still on the shelves in some places, but by and large Dart Tag products are virtually nonexistant in the US now. I also find it rather odd that this new blaster is blue, and seems to simply repackage one of the old Dart Tag targets. Going by the scale of the trigger and plunger, this thing is nothing more than a remolded Jolt. Nothing new to see here at all.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 00:48, January 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * should we create an assumptions template? not much detail is known about the AT except for the image and that it comes with 12 darts. no indication of actual clip capacity or actual revealed name "cs-12". it might be best to hold off until more information is avaliable, having assumptions may contradict and confuse people when confirmed info is revealed. this wll be a problem later on, i have seen it happen.
 * oh and bluedragons, basic nerf confirmed tat there will be 4 more DT blasters coming out. no word on release locations. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 00:58, January 21, 2013 (UTC)


 * Not sure what you have been reading but here is the link to Basic Nerf's post:
 * http://basicnerf.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/nerf-dart-tag-to-come-back-big-in-2013-rumor/ That's hardly "confirmed" by any means. And the Argos image for the Alpha Trooper pretty clearly shows the 12 dart clip.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 01:08, January 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * that rumor seems like its getting true so far, we know one of the 4 rumored blasters. i realized the name as cs-12. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 01:15, January 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but Basic Nerf even stated that it is far from confirmed, and one small blaster, which is pretty obviously just a remolded Jolt, does not equal 4 new blasters. Big difference. But you are free to continue under the delusion that Dart Tag is still going to be a strong presence.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 01:19, January 21, 2013 (UTC)
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 01:19, January 21, 2013 (UTC)


 * LOL, Baidu copied and cropped the image of the Stinger that I posted above!!! The picture is at the same scale and the cursor is in exactly the same spot. http://basicnerf.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/baidu-dart-tag-stinger-photo/


 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 23:58, January 21, 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, here's the link to MyLastDart's coverage (what he could reveal) of the UK Toy Fair. I won't bother to copy and past the info here, other than to say that my suspicions about Dart Tag are mostly correct. Nothing new coming other than that Stinger set. http://mylastdart.blogspot.com/2013/01/coverage-of-hasbro-nerf-toy-fair-london.html?spref=tw
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 13:29, January 22, 2013 (UTC)

Two words.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/106/887/backpain-1292835351.jpg

Witty Englishman  17:37, January 22, 2013 (UTC)

new announcemens discussion
I suppose we should hold out on making articles for the Rebelle line? We have quite a bit of information on each blaster, as well as the series as a whole... Jet [ Talk • Contributions ] 20:33, February 8, 2013 (UTC)

I'd say hold off until after Toy Fair at the very least, we may get more info (and better pics) soon. I know that I'll be getting some of these when they come out for sure. We always have a bunch of girls who like to play when we get our blasters out in the courtyard at our apartments! My wife will probably want them too. As for US sales dropping, I think that Hasbro brought some of that on themselves by all but abandoning Dart Tag here for a year, refusing to sell popular accessories (Pinpoint sight in particular), and having a horrible time getting products into the stores. I still have yet to see one of the new Jolts or Reflex in a store, I got ours from Amazon, and can't even find the Jolt there anymore. I had wanted to get some more for our boys' birthday party next weekend as party favors. I saw a bunch of the old Jolt EX-1s at TRU the other day, but for the same price they wanted for them, I can get Triads at Target.

Bluedragon1971 (talk) 20:59, February 8, 2013 (UTC)

there is a lot of information released and the information from basic nerf was bad PR release. Mylastdarts confirmed that there have been breaches of NDA embargos, due to this i HIGHLY recommend that articles not be created until fully revealed by Hasbro. Hasbro has started to show better plans of keeping classified information on future releases. Almost every question that we want the answer to is deemed classified, the shields from nitron and rampage are also under the nda embargo. Hasbro is keeping a tight lid this time around, don't expect leaks.

i honestly don't wish to get into legal discussion over articles with hasbro's legal team...

as for the dropping sales, it seems like hasbro has picked up where they have gone wrong and have initiated steps to fix them. they took insight and based off future releases on what we want. they may change their minds on the accessories. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 21:15, February 8, 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, considering that they are keeping a closed mouth about accessories, we may have some in the future. The ammo holder on the Heartbreaker Bow actually looks like the tactical ammunition holder, which I hope gets a separate release.


 * I'm not sure what to say about the email/NDA embargo thing, as DarthRambo got the same email for NM&R. I can't say whether or not the email said not to share the information, as I did not recieve a copy. For the articles pertaining to specific blasters, we will hold off on those... but perhaps an article for Rebelle wouldn't be such a bad idea. Jet  [ Talk • Contributions ] 21:33, February 8, 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree Jet, the series at least should get an article now. We have a good deal of background info on it, at least enough to begin a decent article, and we can list the blasters in the Rebelle series that we know about in the article text itself for now. No need to make an article for each blaster yet till we have more concrete info on them. I wish they had posted better pictures of the other blasters. The images on MLDs page are really blurry for some reason.
 * I still think that Hasbro has set Dart Tag up for failure here in the US since there are so few TRU stores around the US compared to Walmart, Target, or even Kmart stores. Making it a TRU exclusive line really sucks for me since the closest full TRU store is over 50 miles away from me. There is a TRU Express location closer, but they have a very small stock of Nerf blasters. Yeah, I can order the blasters online, but I'm one of those people who really likes checking things out in the store first if I can.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 22:14, February 8, 2013 (UTC)


 * its not that i don't want to create the articles, its that Hasbro has shown that they are willing to take action to end the leaks. i don't know what information released was deemed classified but mylastdarts said "NDA breaches have occurred". the thing isn't about wether basic nerf and darthrambo received emails on the info, the main thing to worry about is were the PR company was violating a legal embargo? the new info, especially vortex is a bit concerning; seems very suspicous that it is in violation of the NDA. seeing how basic nerf noted that info came from his PR contacts, i worry that this is in violation-its not directly from hasbro themselves.
 * link: http://basicnerf.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/vortex-revonix360-n-strike-mega-blazin-bow-coming-fall-2013-elite-stockade-to-be-walmart-exclusive/
 * if you can get confirm that this is not the violating info, then go a head and create the articles. unless you can get darthrambo to post the email as a screenshot, i can't support adding articles on this. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 01:04, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * Why do you keep bringing THAT information up on the topic about the Rebelle blasters? How about starting a different post about those? That is a totally different issue from creating the articles about the Rebelle blasters, which is what we are discussing on this topic.
 * That being said, it seems that you are under the mistaken impression that the PR people that sent this information out work for some company other than Hasbro. A company as large as Hasbro is going to have their own PR department, they don't outsource that to other companies. Unless you can demonstrate otherwise, the information that was released by the PR people in question came directly from Hasbro.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 01:31, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * Quoting from Basic Nerf's post about those blasters though: "My Public Relations contact over at Nerf  sent over this some info today." Notice that the PR people he is referring to WORK AT NERF. If the information came directly from them, then it isn't a leak.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 01:35, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * Yeah, really, I mean we're not going to get in any trouble whatsoever for using already posted information on our site. If MyLastDart was able to get the information out, Hasbro obviously doesn't care enough to come after us. On topic now, I'm actually very interested in these blasters. They may be for girls, but they honestly look pretty neat. The Koosh blasters were cool to me because they brought back the ball ammo, however the performance was substandard. This, on the other hand, looks like a set of entirely new blasters with good performance. With all this re-releasing nonsense with NSE, I'd rather pick up one of those 6-dart shooters than a re-release of the Rayven, Jolt, Barrel Break, Reflex, or an updated Raider, Recon, Alpha Trooper, etc. GA  GE  01:46, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * well, Hasbro's PR is Litzky Public Relations. if you go look them up, you will see that they do work for Nerf. on that topic, urban taggers brought that up a while ago with a recruiting video from online. basic nerf didn't reference hasbro, he said "nerf". mylastdart only mentioned nda breaches, i don't know which ones those are but considering the fact that foamfromabove also posted it, i assume its fine now since its out. since all official sources have posted, i assume the vortex blaster wasn't a part of the nda breach that PR was a part of. i only brought it up as precautionary measures. link: http://www.litzkypr.com/clients.html
 * by the way, this is a discussion section, no reason to divide it up. on that note, i do follow all the blogs unlike you guys.
 * adult fans of nerf confirms that this info was released by the pr firm: http://www.adultfansofnerf.com/vortex-revonix360-and-n-strike-mega-blazin-bow/
 * Nerfmaster8 (talk) 04:04, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * The Revonix and Blazin' Bow are listed under the "2013 Rumors" topic, the Rebelle stuff is under this topic, since they are being announced at the New York Toy Fair. Unless someone wants to merge the two topics (which will be a mess), it makes more sense to leave the discussion of each under their own topics. Thanks though for that info on the PR firm. And I do take offense at your assumption that others of us don't follow other blogs. I read all of the major ones that I know of (Basic Nerf, AFoN, MLD, FFA, NM&R, and a couple others). Out of all of them, the only one who said ANYTHING about there being an NDA breach was MLD.
 * Bluedragon1971 (talk) 13:46, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * Agreed, what makes you think we don't follow all the blogs? I don't follow AFoN, FFA or Basic Nerf, however I do follow UT, NM&R, SGN, TacTag, etc. Don't know what that comment was spawned from. GA  GE  14:07, February 9, 2013 (UTC)


 * Also, we need to keep in mind that he doesn't know everything about Nerf yet. He thinks every knock-off blaster was made by SDL, even when they're not. in this article, he rants on how a 2010 knockoff is "ripping off NSE colors". This is also not the first time he's pointed out a knockoff, when he revealed he reported several companies to Hasbro, who are now apparently pursuing them at this very moment.  GA  GE  14:23, February 9, 2013 (UTC)
 * well a lot of info that you guys miss are on the blogs that you don't follow and that annoys me. its true that adult fans of nerf and foam from above don't post as much but basic nerf and mld have been posting pretty much daily. i only brought up the nda breaches as i was unsure what that was referring to, mld is unable to tell at this point-legal actions. now that all the official blogs posted the info on the new vortex blaster, which was a bit strange and caught me off guard, i assume its okay to post the article on the vortex blaster.
 * gage you have mentioned a while back that you guys don't have time to follow all of them, so i don't get your complaint. you have mentioned before that you only follow certain blogs.
 * is it a bad thing to notify hasbro or any company of a knock off product? its a copyright and possibly patent violation, it honestly doesn't matter where that info comes from. Nerfmaster8 (talk) 23:47, February 9, 2013 (UTC)