Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-29595756-20190729031944/@comment-2234967-20190729033322

Your explanation of your stance hits the nail on the head for mine as well. Many blasters have been released with molding of another series logo, like the ZED Squad Longshot, and the Zombie Strike Crossfire Bow and Sidestrike - oddly enough, the Crossfire Bow had international packaging that labeled it as an N-Strike Elite blaster, and the Sidestrike would go on the be a proper N-Strike Elite blaster with its two-pack.

Other things to consider are, say, the prototypes of the Fusefire and the Ripshot, which both feature the Vortex logo molded in. This was left off in later releases, but I think this could be a clue as to why the NSE logo is on the ICON Magstrike and Element. Obviously I can't prove this but I have a feeling that these were initially meant to be simple re-releases into the N-Strike Elite series. But since there was the 50th anniversary, they had reason to give them their original paint jobs instead and slap them under a new sub-series, as a means to advertising the brand and line.

Performance isn't really a reason to label them as N-Strike Elite either, especially when "Elite" ranges are the norm now and not special to N-Strike Elite.

That's my best bet, anyways. If by chance these are given an N-Strike Elite release overseas, then okay, sure... but that doesn't really properly make them part of the Elite series, either. Packaging is a part of the argument against the whole Elite series categorization, but it's also important to keep in mind the initial intent of release, rather than something decided on with a subsequent release that's only in certain parts of the world.