Aggrogate

21Oct/112

Orange Mod Works Announces Massacre Mod Total Nerf Overhaul Packages

We last looked at Orange Mod Works' Nerf mod kits in August, where I had some tiny-spring-losing problems but otherwise thought it was brilliant. Orange Mod Works makes modification kits for Nerf guns, offering stronger springs and reinforced parts to make Nerf guns even stronger. Now they're putting out an all-in-one kit for completely overhauling your Nerf gun. The Massacre mods don't just give you springs and backplates (like the kit I reviewed). They give you stronger springs, metal backplates and trigger catches, and most importantly polycarbonate bolt sleds and plungers.

To get the best distance from your Nerf gun, you need to remove the air restrictor from the breech. This requires you to either cut the mechanism in half and reseal it (which is really difficult), or to drill/melt through the barrel until the restrictor falls out. It's a pain. Since this kit gives you a completely new, reinforced breech, plunger, and bolt sled, you don't have to do any of that. The downside is that the Massacre kits are $37, which is more than the guns themselves.

If you want to go hardcore with your Nerf guns, you can do it in November, when the Massacre kits start to ship.  It will be available for the Recon, Alpha Trooper, Longstrike, and Raider, and the Alpha Trooper, Longstrike, and Raider versions will come with metal triggers if you preorder them (yes, a preorder bonus that's not useless!). Pretty cool if you're into Nerf insanity. Which we all know you are.

2Aug/111

High-End Nerf Modding: Orange Works’ Laser-Cut Metal Nerf Gun Kits

Nerf gun mods are nothing new. People have been stretching springs, replacing barrels, and removing air restrictors for almost as long as Nerf guns have been around. However, they've always involved off-the-shelf parts and a lot of creative gluing, bending, and cutting to get things to work. Now Orange Mod Works has taken the guesswork out of replacing and improving parts of your Nerf gun.

Orange Mod Works is a small company that sells mod kits for Nerf guns. Instead of just offering the tools (though there is a very large tool kit you can buy from them to be prepared for complex and extreme mods), they offers measured springs and all-metal replacement parts you can just drop into your Nerf guns to both make them more powerful and reinforce them. They sent me their Alpha Trooper Stage 1 modification kit, and I was surprised by just how well-made the entire kit is.

13Feb/111

What is Nerf’s Vortex? We Don’t Know, But Check Out This Quick-Loader!

Toy Fair 2011 Day 1 is over, and with it my tour of Hasbro's showroom. Once again, Hasbro is hinting at a major new Nerf launch this fall, this time on 9-10-11. It's called the Vortex, and we have no idea what it is yet. Hopefully the company will be revealing what exactly it is this summer. Until then, all we know is that Hasbro will be offering yet another series of Nerf gun repaints, this time in a "Vortex-themed" orange with black stripes.

Fortunately, we don't need to wait months to see some new Nerf guns. The company previewed a handful of new Dart Tag models that look pretty sweet. The Nerf Dart Tag Speed Load 6 and Quick 16 blasters have new loading systems that let you just pop darts straight into the weapon to reload, via a slot that feeds them into an integrated magazine. Also, as you can see, the Quick 16 looks like it has a freaking AK-47 banana magazine. It, along with a new double-sided Nerf N-Force sword, should help tide us over until the Vortex is revealed.

11Jan/112

Cube Warfare: The New, Electric Face of Nerf

It's been some time since the last Cube Warfare post. In the last few months, a lot has changed in the world of Nerf. Where the Vulcan was once the mightiest weapon on the block, it has since been replaced by a newer, more fearsome gun. It's sleeker. It's lighter. It's electric. We showed a preview of it when it was first announced, but we finally got our hands on one, and we're very, very impressed. Meet the Stampede, the new ultimate Nerf weapon.

25Aug/107

Steampunk Warfare: Building a Well-Reasoned Argument (with video!)

Professor William von Greenwald here from the airship S.S. Aggrogate, because everybody is a professor with a "van" or a "von" in their name aboard an airship when it comes to steampunk stuff. The aesthetic may be overused, but I think there's still some life left in the Victorian high technology pastiche yet! I told you a few days ago that I was working on something special with the Nerf Barrel Break IX-2, and here it is!

22Aug/102

Cube Warfare: Nerf Barrel Break IX-2

The Nerf Stampede doesn't come out for a few more weeks, but that doesn't mean there aren't a few new foam-firing contraptions from Hasbro. August has seen the release of three store-exclusive Nerf guns: the Alpha Trooper at Target, the Spectre at Wal-Mart, and the  Barrel Break at Toys R Us.

The Alpha Trooper is a $20 pistol version of the Nerf Raider; it comes with an 18-shot drum magazine and you can "slamfire" by holding the trigger down and pumping the handle. If you don't want to drop $40 on a Raider, it's a nice answer to your rapid fire needs. The Spectre is a 5-shot revolver, similar to the Maverick but with one less chamber and more opportunities for customization. It comes with a barrel extension and a folding stock, meaning you can set it up just like the Recon.

And then there's the Barrel Break. It's a sawed-off, double-barreled, breech-loading Nerf shotgun. Basically, it's the least combat-useful of the three guns, but the most completely awesome.