New York Toy Fair ended and that leaves a hole in my schedule and a LOT of material to run through. But as always, I'll do my best.
Nerf-wise, the biggest news to come out of the showroom this year wasn't some super secret video with a mysterious silhouette. This year Nerf was upfront about where they're going by revealing their new line with girls in mind, the Nerf Rebelle.
For years, I've been running the "Foamme Fatale" gallery on my blog to show that in fact, girls are interested in and play with Nerf toys too. This isn't, nor should it be a new or surprising development. From Amazons to Samus Aran, females are into the action toys as well. It's good to see that for a couple of years, Nerf did the research and is now getting this initiative in gear. 1200 girls surveyed to see what it is they wanted out of Nerf blasters, and the Nerf Rebelle line is evidence of that.
Now, I don't remember, but did anyone see girls in the running for the last user-submitted NDTL? Just putting that out there.
First off, I'm a big fan of the line. I love the functionality, the streamlined feel of the blasters, and the call back to older weaponry (Nerf Crossbow, Bow N Arrow) with some of them. The "Rebelle" (and I think even that's a bit smart, I believe playing off "reveille") line will get the same performance as the Elite blasters, and the only difference then is the outside aesthetics, kinda like how boys and girls are different on the outside, but on the inside we're all able to reach 75'. (Or something like that).
The performance is there for the Rebelles, for sure. And handling the blasters I can tell you the function matches the form. They are sleek, streamlined, feel pretty mobile, and are very eye-catching. All good ingredients for success. Now, at first I was wondering about the pink trim, and "why does the girls stuff have to be pink?" but... it's what my niece has been looking for. And this is why I say it will sort of challenge gender stereotypes. Sure, pink is a stereotypically feminine color, but remember the original Bow And Arrow(s?) And as cool as some of these blasters are (I refer to the Nerf Alpha Girl) the boys are going to HAVE to get used to a pink blaster.
So, failed argument bemoaning the coloring. Nerf researched high and low for 2 years figuring out what girls wanted, and they wanted pink blasters, accessories, social interaction, the works.
Something different. A pink box, a couple of girls looking like they're ready to have some fun with blasters. And not just blasters where it's "oh, these are for boys, but hey girls can play too" it's FOR you, a female, speaking TO you in the advertising. Images mean everything, and this might be what it will take to get most (remember, research of over 1200 girls for 2 years) girls to give the blaster aisle a 2nd look for something directed at them.
As well as included some female characters into their marketing collateral.
What does this mean? Attempts to appeal to the association to characters such as "Katniss Everdeen" from The Hunger Games and "Merida" from Disney's Brave. No joke, a number of the pitches I heard during Toy Fair drew correlations to creating strong female empowerment imagery to associate to one's toys. Or it was applying technology for existing "Boys'" toys to "Girls'" toys.
What does this mean for our blasters? Nothing alarming, don't get me wrong. What this means is that girls have been recognized as a missed opportunity in the action toy department, and Nerf's Rebelle and Zing's Huntress are the start. We might see more of this female-oriented development from other companies in the future should these particular initiatives succeed.
My Last Dart has already spread the news that Nerf is going to make discs that serve different functions, one of which is to get the discs to fly faster and farther. Knowing that they are already pushing the envelope with the blasters themselves, this makes sense that they decided a back door way to try and get higher performance with the ammo. The Elite darts were only the start (essentially modified stock streamlines). Now you have what could be a precedent for different dart types as well.
Head spinning yet? Girls are a new market, look for new innovations in ammo types more than the blasters, Max Force and the first round of water pellet blasters was the start. Possibly blasters are going to start looking crazier and crazier, so they look less like real firearms. Ultimately though, Nerf still has one more (or 3) trick up its sleeve.... the as-yet unrevealed blasters that are under NDA right now, but being hinted at. Nerf's still THE brand to contend with, and we'll just have to see what happens next. Lock and load.