Nerf is a worldwide phenomenon.
They have spanned almost 50 years being a staple of the childhood experience whether
it's nerf sports or blasters chances are you had something nerf as a kid.
So we wanted to highlight some stuff you probably didn't know about nerf.
Before we get to the nerfing make sure you subscribe to our channel and hit that little
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Nerf is a cash cow
Its tough to sustain a market in the toy-game.
Due to the ever changing nature in technology and well because kids don’t stay kids forever.
Toy makers have to come up with new ideas for toys that people want to buy.
So that means that the hot toy of 2017 may be gone by christmas time next year, or an
old toy will get repackaged and brought back for a new generation.
Which makes it pretty difficult for toy makers to find and sustain profits.
There are tons of fad toys like furbies, tomogachi, and beanie babies.
All came an went in an instant.
But not Nerf.
Nerf is totally different.
For almost 50 years, Nerf has experienced sales that make it attractive to investors
of its owner Hasbro.
As of 2015 Nerf was the profitable arm of its parent company hasbro which is crazy since
Hasbro has tie in deals to produce toys for some of the most prominent brands in the world
including star wars.
But still Nerf maintains the top spot making the most money for Hasbro.
It really is Nerf or nuthin’
Nerf ball
If you think Nerf you think Blasters, epic fire-fights and if you’re old enough getting
pummeled by the Ballzooka.
But for all the amazing things Nerf makes now.
When they started out they made one thing.
A ball.
Back in 1970 the first nerf product the nerf ball was introduced.
Nothing else just a foam ball.
Just trying to imagine opening a birthday present and finding a plain old foam yellow
ball… sounds like the recipe for the worst gift ever.
But almost 50 years ago the idea of a ball that could be used indoors without fear of
smashing windows and breaking all of your parents knick knacks was a huge boon and from
that simple little nerf ball an empire was spawned.
So next time you’re having an office war take a second and lob a foam ball across the
battle field out of respect.
Nerf Mods and Cosplay
So nerf blasters are awesome right out the box there is no doubt about that.
But there is a huge community that take the awesomeness of these blasters one step further
by modding the amount of darts that can be fired or increasing the velocity and distance
of a single dart.
The nerfing community has come up with some amazing mods from simpler stuff like changing
the springs in the spring powered guns to changing out the air limiter and swapping
out the barrel in the pump blasters.
These modders are dedicated to creating the best nerf blasters they can.
And while modding the gun for performance is one aspect of Nerf there is a whole separate
community who takes their nerf guns and turns them into famous guns from movies and video
games.
The cosplay community has made some amazing replicas from a beautiful recreation of Destinys
the Last Word to D.va’s Light gun from overwatch.
But this modding community is one of the big reasons that Nerf has sustained it financial
success over the last 50ish years.
So thanks modders!
The Giant Nerf Blaster
The only way to truly make Nerf blasters any better would be to make them bigger.
Like a ton bigger.
Like so big you would need a jaeger from Pacific Rim or a transformer to hold them big.
Well that’s what Mark Rober, a former nasa engineer decided to do.
He built a giant n-strike Maverick replica that is as tall as he is and can fire darts
at up to 70mph.
Now if he could just make a bunch of giant nerf guns; the video of a giant nerf gun fight
would probably break the internet so bad that nothing would ever be able to repair it.
Clooney is a fan
George Clooney of facts of life fame...
And a few other things.
The guy has made countless movies and even more money from those movies and tv shows.The
guy has done it all from bit parts on tv sitcoms to being the top of the a-list in hollywood.
He even sells his own brand of booze.
Which is the litmus test for being super successful.
Make a bunch of money then sell a branded alcoholic beverage.
But on top of all of that he is a huge Nerf fan.
there are multiple accounts from co stars that Clooney would toss nerf balls at them
while trying to be in character.
Ryan Gosling has said that while working with CLooney there would be a nerf gun behind the
camera and if Clooney didn't like the take he would just shoot a dart at the actors.
So there it is George Clooney loves him some nerf can we get a super cut of his scenes
in dusk till dawn where the guns are replaced with blasters.
Nerf Foam is a Science Marvel
Ever wonder why people have to buy Nerf products at a store?
With the amount of science that goes into a Nerf product, it is possible that the feds
would think they are trying to be the next walter white in their basement and not make
indoor safe foam toys.
Nerf material is “polyester resin.”
basically Nerf material is made of several types of resins that give it its unique material.
The first is a polyester resin and the second is a hardening agent which is activated when
co2 is introduced.
Thus creating a spongy porous and light weight foam which you can use to shoot darts at people
or slam a monster dunk on your kids.
Nerf Leagues
So you know paintball right?
Well now replace that with Nerf guns and you have Nerf leagues.
These leagues are endorsed by Hasbro and have all the customs that come along with other
competitive sports including rules and regulations on blasters and what type of mods are allowed
if any.
Nerf leagues are popular enough that military bases like camp pendleton in San Diego California
allow their training spaces to be rented out for Nerf League events.
I don't know about you guys but I would absolutely watch a nerf league championship on Twitch.tv
i mean more so than some of the esports championships they show.
Naming Origins
Nerf is a weird name for a foam ball or a line of awesome blasters and guns; and many
people will tell you the name is an acronym for “Non-Expanding Recreational Foam”
which is why the darts are made from spongy porous material.
But that acronym is listed no where on any nerf product ever made ever.
So that name origin is the stuff of Urban Legends to say the least.
So where did the nerf name come from then?
Well oddly enough it came from drag racing To “nerf” someone is to basically nudge
them gently in racing.
As such, racers created “nerf bars” to help protect against it but also use it when
they are looking to bump people off track.
Essentially, they are modified fenders.
The only real question now is how was that a good name for a ball?
Nerf’s inventor
When you think of monolithic pillars of indutry you think of crowded board rooms, R&D departments
and focus groups to make sure they have found the perfect toy or gadget for a select segment
of the populus.
Well not with Nerf.
It was invented by one guy in Minnesota.
Reyn Guyer came up with the idea of an indoor safe volleyball game and pitched it to Parker
Brothers.
After examining reyns volleyball game Parker Brothers decided that everything had to go
but the ball and thus the nerf ball was born.
The first official indoor ball for mankind.
Ohb yeah Reyn Guyer also invented the popular game Twister.
lightning round.
For this last enrty we wanted to rapid fire some cool facts that wouldnt make up a whole
entry so you would be in the know ya know.
The Monkees appeared in the first Nerf Commerical in 1970
The Nerf Football was invented by Minnesota Vikings place kicker Fred Cox
The super Soaker is a nerf product being acquired by Nerf in 2010
1992 was Nerfs biggest year in history as they introduced their first blasters the sharpshooter
and slingshot the commercial for those blasters featured
a young seth green in the last 5 years Nerf has sold enough darts
to circle the globe 4 times.
Nerf has a giant testing facility where they simulate a variety of environments to see
how a blaster performs.
Locales including bedrooms, office cubes, and basements
early nerf marketing tagline was “throw it indoors; you can’t damage lamps or break
windows.
You can’t hurt babies or old people.”
rolls off the tongue.
And that's the list.
What was your favorite nerf fact.
Did you know them all?
Let us know in the comments and make sure to subscribe to our channel and watch our
other videos.