Quick Review Dorm Labs: Fore Grip and Shotgun Grip

Gonna Need Some Paint

I admit I am on a mission, our Nerf group really doesn't like the Rampage so I have never given it a chance. Now that I have been part of the NIC for a bit see that a lot of folks swear by the Rampage over the EAT. So thanks to my good buddy Jangular for the Rampage trade and check out all the dirty details after the jumpski...

Nerfcast Episode 30: London Toy Fair with My Last Dart

We're back again, this time to discuss the big reveals of this year's London Toy Show. We're proud to welcome back My Last Dart as a special guest on the podcast again. We hit on all the new previews, the Mega Thunderbow, the ZombieStrike Slingfire, the Rebelle Agent Bow, and of course the Demolisher 2 in 1. All that plus your questions and more!


Video after the break.

War Room: Rally The Troops!

First Rule of War: Zing Arrows

Hey everyone! Here at Bay Area Nerf, we're always looking to find new content to bring to you guys.  That said, I would like to introduce a new video segment called "War Room," where I discuss running Nerf Wars.  I'll go into detail about different aspects of running a war, and what has been successful for our games as well as some mistakes I hope I can help others avoid.  These are much shorter video segments, which each update being 5-10 minutes.  There will be a new episode every Monday, send up your questions at BayAreaNerf@gmail.com and I'll answer your questions for you.  Feel free to let me know your thoughts below in the comments section. Video after the break, Happy Tagging!

VMD: Cannon Commando

Say hello to my little friend!

While other blogs are bringing you the latest from the London Toy Fair, we figured we'd bring you a review off the beaten path. So, as our friends across the pond might say: "And now for something completely different". You really have no idea how much unsuspecting joy this thing has brought in the past few days since it was initially purchased. But I'm getting ahead of myself.  First, we need some proper introductions. This little baby is the VMD Cannon Commando. The VMD stands for "Vehicles of Mass Destruction." It's made by a company aptly named Skyrocket. It retails for around $60 (at least that's how much it was at the K-Mart we found this at). How does it fair for it's price tag? Is it a viable option for your Nerf arsenal? Let's "drive" right in!

Full review and YouTube video after the break.

Stealthfire Shield isn't very mighty...

They're all here: Hawkeye bows, Iron Man repulsors, Hulk hands, Mjolnir, even Wolverine claws. So why is it when it comes to the leader of the Avengers we keep getting these let down products?!

'MURICA!

Ok, aside from the lack of Black Widow's "stingers" (which I'm hoping the Rebelle line will fix) we've been pretty absent of any Nerf related merchandise for one key member in particular: the Star-Spangled Avenger! Sure, we've had some non-Nerf products, like the Triple Blast Shield, and the Disc Launching Shield, but nothing more directly compatible with Nerf products. I mean, we had stuff like that for the other heroes, but we've finally been seeing some cross promotion with some of these blasters, albeit in a very kid friendly form: they're tiny.

So, I was of course expecting a small shield when I saw pictures of the Stealfire Shield debut, but what I didn't expect was just how awful it was going to turn out to be....

Full review and YouTube firing video after the break.

Prepping for the Zombie Apocalypse....During Lunch Break

Scary Box!!!

While doing my daily Amazon browsing hoping to find Nerf blasters on sale I came across some pretty cool looking zombie targets that are usually meant for BB guns. They were on sale for a little over $10 so I figured why the zombie not.

Nerfcast Episode 29: New Horizons

Josh, Shawn, B.F.U. and Arjang recap some lost bits of the last podcast, answer questions, and discuss their thoughts on the Havok and the new year!








YouTube link after the break.

Hawkeye Longshot Bow-gus

What? No trick darts?!

Somehow Hasbro has done it again. They've gotten our hopes up, only to crush them again. While most blogs will undoubtedly be talking about whatever the new mystery blaster is that Hasbro is revealing today, instead we here at Bay Area Nerf thought we'd shake things up a bit. Break the mold. Not do the same-o same-o. Also, Hasbro didn't contact us about any exclusive reveals so...

Anyway, we're not talking about this new surprise blaster. We're looking at another blaster some of us have been waiting quite some time for, with many a rumor surrounding it and it's release as well. The Avengers' Hawkeye Longshot Jolt..er.. Bow.

The End Of An Era

We want to wish a fond farewell to Nerf Mods and Reviews. After half a decade of serving the Nerf community, they are closing their blogging doors.  Many of the contributors still have their own pages/blogs/channels so it's not a total loss, but it's truly the end of an era. The page will still remain for now, with all of the posts over the years leaving a wellspring of information for veterans to reminisce over and new fans to be inspired by.

Beware My Power....Cheap Clip On Light

Recently I have run across a very inexpensive way to create a flashlight for nighttime Nerf craziness. While looking for dart containers at my local Storables location I came across this little light below:

Pretty Box!!

Put The Screwdriver Down BFU

So today's post was going to be a review on the Fuse Fire complete with pics from the unboxing to the internals. Everything was going great until the dreaded stripped screw. Well, I figured I could get around that if it was the only screw that stripped and guess what happened? The very next screw stripped the same as the previous screw. Well, being a man of little patience I kind of...well I will let the pictures do the talking after the break.

As you can see things started off smashingly and I was excited to renew my love of disc based blasters.

I Got The (Elite) Blues

Best Elite EVAR!

Ok Hasbro, what gives? Why do you make things so confusing? We've heard in the past that elite ranges were the new standard, and we were happy about that, ecstatic even. We were diggin’ reshells of our old favorites and lovin’ the new and innovative designs that were debuting. It was mostly easy to tell the difference from old to new, most of the old stuff was yellow. The few that weren't were easily distinguished by the blazon white stripe of the elite line.  So why Hasbro? Why are you re-releasing non elite blasters with elite colors?! First the Jolt, then the Barrel Break and the Reflex. To my knowledge these weren't the bestselling blasters to begin with, so I can understand not wanting to spend the time and money to improve them to elite ranges. So why repaint them?! Listen, I get it, you want more variety, but you want to phase out the yellow of old. Fans will see it as tainted and under performing. So, why not release them in a different color? Or without the white stripe? Or NOT AT ALL. I mean, they had their day in the sun, if they weren't great sellers why bring them back? You already have superior offerings at those price points and with similar blaster types. 

What I Have Learned About Painting Blasters

This week I found myself with a serious painting bug. This is was not my first foray into painting some of my early work is : Bio-Shot & Re-Painted Heartbreaker & Elite Airmax 10.

While these early paint jobs made me feel like I accomplished something I knew it was time to step my game up. As part of that effort I wanted to do a quick overview what I learned this week and how to go from crappy things like the Bio-shot to things like what I'll share at the end of this entry. Here are the lessons I learned this week.

Nerfcast Episode 28: Happy Nerf Year!

Hey everyone! It's that time again! Another episode of Nerfcast is here. We apologize in advance, this episode was riddled with technical difficulties, in fact there was a lot more that we THOUGHT was recorded but didn't end up captured.  Also, our special guest, Rob, from Southern Brisbane Nerf Club, who is officially announcing his return to blogging! That's right folks, you heard it here first (well, read it here first since the announcement got cut off). Anyway, we hope everyone is enjoying their new year, and a super thank you to all the fans who have supported us and made this possible! We'll see you in 2014!

Dorm Labs: http://www.dormlabs.com/

YouTube link after the break.