| NERF | |
|---|---|
| Type | Toy weapons, foam balls |
| Inventor | |
| Company | |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1969–Present |
| Materials | Foam, plastic |
| Slogan |
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| Official website | |
Nerf (trademarked in capitals as NERF) is a toy brand created by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. The acronym NERF stands for "Non-Expanding Recreational Foam". Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, but there are also several different types of Nerf toys, such as balls for sports like football, basketball, and others. The most notable of the toys are the dart guns (referred to by Hasbro as "blasters") that shoot ammunition made from Nerf foam. Since many such items were released throughout the 1970s, Nerf products often feature bright neon colors and soft textures similar to the flagship Nerf ball. The slogan frequently used from the 1990s advertising until now is "It's Nerf or nothin'!".
Outside the United States, only the blasters (and subsidiary brands such as Super Soaker and Lazer Tag) are currently marketed as Nerf products. In Japan, Nerf blasters are imported and distributed by Takara Tomy.
Contents |
Nerf foam is made from a solid, spongy cellular material. Polyester resin reacts with a compound while CO2 is simultaneously released by another reaction. It is this gas that creates open pockets within the polyurethane that, in turn, makes the material soft and light.[1]
Parker Brothers originally developed Nerf, beginning with a four-inch (102 mm) polyurethane foam ball. In 1969, Reyn Guyer, a games inventor, came to the company with a volleyball game that was safe for indoor play.[2] After studying the game carefully, Parker Brothers decided to eliminate everything but the foam ball. In 1970, the Nerf ball was introduced as the "world's first official indoor ball". Marketed that one can "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people."[3] The ball filled a strong consumer need and by the year's end, more than four million Nerf balls had been sold.[4] The four-inch (102 mm) ball was followed closely by a large version called "Super Nerf Ball". Shortly after, in 1972, a basketball game called "Nerfhoop" and the Nerf football joined the family. The football quickly became the most popular Nerf ball.[5]
The company continued to add to the Nerf line until they handed control to Kenner Products, a sister company, in 1991,[6] when Hasbro acquired the Nerf line through the acquisition of the Tonka Corporation.[7] Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Nerf brand served under the subsidiaries OddzOn and Larami before Hasbro took full control of the brand.[8]
Over the years, Nerf has continued to expand the line, adding new looks to existing products. The current line of Nerf products range from various sport balls, foam blasters, and now onto video games and accessories.[9]
Nerf has a wide range of foam balls that are molded to look like various sports balls. This line is currently marketed as Nerf Sports or N-Sports. They are designed with different color schemes and features; some of their footballs feature color schemes and logos licensed by the NFL. A sub-line known as Vortex (not to be confused with the blaster sub-line of the same name) consists of footballs with tail fins attached on one end, resembling torpedoes and designed to fly at longer distances. [10]
Currently, the company's most popular products are Nerf Blasters, which are toy guns used to shoot foam darts, (consisting of streamline, dart tag, whistler, and suction) balls, or arrows. Various forms of dart ammunition are available, including a variety tipped with Velcro that can stick to Nerf vests, another tipped with suction cups designed to stick to smooth surfaces, a streamline dart designed to fit in magazines, a sonic dart that emits a whistling sound when shot and color variations of the darts including camouflage and glow in the dark. The Nerf blaster line consists of two main sub-lines: N-Strike and Dart Tag.[11]
On September 2011, Hasbro introduced a third sub-line of Nerf blasters called Vortex. These blasters fire small green or white glow-in-the-dark discs made of soft plastic covered in foam with a range of up to 70 feet.[12]
The N-Force line consists of swords and melee weapons made of the same Nerf material. These include: Vendetta Double Sword, Thunder Fury broadsword, Shadow Fury basic sword, Marauder broad longsword, Warlock battleaxe, Battlemaster three-flanged mace, Klaw hatchet and the StoneWall Shield plus short sword. The swords can fit into the back sheath of the Nerf N-Strike tactical vest and the Nerf N-Strike bandolier kit. [13] Hasbro also released N-Force-style toy weapons for the 2011 Marvel/Paramount film Thor.[14]
Originally owned and marketed by Larami, Super Soaker is a popular line of water guns. Recently, Hasbro has released a line of Nerf-branded Super Soaker blasters.[15]
Lazer Tag, a popular laser tag toy line from the mid-1980s, is also currently part of the Nerf banner.[16]
Nerf has also produced video game accessories for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DS Lite and the Nintendo Wii.[17] Visionary Media, Inc. released the first-person shooter Nerf Arena Blast (or NAB, sometimes Arena Blast) in 1999. EA Games, in association with Hasbro, released the 2008 video game Nerf N-Strike[18] and its 2009 sequel Nerf N-Strike Elite. Both games feature the Switch Shot EX-3, which doubles as a functional dart gun and a Wii Remote accessory.[19]
In 2011, the Nerf N-Strike Stampede ECS was awarded "Boy Toy of the Year" and the Nerf Super Soaker Shot Blast won "Outdoor Toy of the Year" at the 11th Annual Toy of the Year Awards, which is held at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.[20]
In June 2010, Hasbro sued Buzz Bee Toys and Lanard Toys for patent violation of its Nerf and Super Soaker brands. The lawsuit stated that Buzz Bee and Lanard infringed two U.S. patents for the Nerf N-Strike Disc Shot blaster, while Buzz Bee infringed on a Super Soaker patent.[21] In November, Hasbro won its patent case against Buzz Bee with the latter banned from producing certain water guns.[22]
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