Nerf has shrunk its balls for a new line of more powerful blasters

The less enjoyable part of a friendly Nerf battle is untouched, it has to constantly stop to reload your blaster. The disadvantage improved with Rival Nerf Line, which debuted in 2015, but for 2021 the company is introducing a new Hyper range of blasters which shoots smaller foam balls so you spend even less time recharging.

The Rival line wasn’t the first time that Nerf turned to foam bullets as an alternative to dart ammo, but the real draw was that it could throw those tiny spheres (which looked like soft miniaturized golf balls). at speeds of up to 70 mph, or about 100 feet per second. Not fast enough to leave a bruise like paintballs can, but fast enough that you actively want to avoid getting hit in a shootout. For its new Hyper line, Nerf redesigned these foam balls with a new, bouncy material that flies farther and faster, although the speed at around 110 feet per second isn’t the real draw here.

The reduced size of Nerf Hyper ammo means that a hopper or magazine has four times the capacity it would have with Nerf Rival cartridges. So a Rival blaster with a 100-shot hopper could in theory now hold 400 Hyper bullets, but since a new, smaller firing mechanic is needed, it seems the newer Hyper bullets are not backward compatible.

Instead, sometime in 2021, Nerf will launch the Hyper line with three blasters to start with: the $ 30 Nerf Hyper Rush-40 with a pistol design and 40-shot hopper, the Nerf Hyper Siege-50 at $ 40 with a 50-round capacity and pump-shotgun design, and the $ 70 fully automatic Nerf Hyper Mach-100 that uses D-size batteries to quickly empty its 100-shot hopper if you hold the trigger down.

It’s unclear if Nerf will continue to add to the Rival line once the Hyper line becomes available. But with better distance, faster speeds, larger capacities, and a cheaper price per shot (Hyper 200 bullet reloads will sell for under $ 30), it’s hard to imagine fans embracing not with enthusiasm the new line and say goodbye full of tears. Rival.