2024 Wrapped: Nerf Hobby Style

Welcome to 2025! This is now our third annual end-of-year nerf hobby wrap-up! 2024 was another strong year of new blasters and great events worldwide. We got lots of new blasters from First-party companies, from overseas, from within our community, and even a community member having their own design became an on-shelf release. Event planning and promotions for this year are already in motion, and many players are preparing for the season. Just like the years before, casual and competitive scenes have continued growing, so we have a lot to cover!

First-Party Releases

Starting off with the big brands, 2024 saw the first pro-level Nerf blasters since the Stryfe X in 2023. They released two blasters: The Torrent pump-action springer and the Sender semi-auto flywheeler. Both accepted full-sized angled talon magazines. To keep it short (and not very sweet), neither of these blasters met the community's expectations and seemed more problematic than they were worth. If Nerf does continue with their pro blasters in 2025, I hope they’re a lot better because I would love for Nerf to be back at the top. 

Dart Zone had an excellent year of releases -- perhaps their best ever. Pretty much every release was a winner. The Nexus Pro X, Aeon Pro X, Venom Pro, and Maxim Pro are solid choices. If you’re looking for blasters in the 150-200 FPS range, I don’t think you could go wrong, especially considering the prices. The Dart Zone Desperado, a full-length dart, double-action grip revolver blaster, has become quite popular with the community as a fun blaster. Dart Zone also released their new Nitroshot+ darts: The first-ever 1.0-gram version of their Bamboo darts, which puts them in the same weight class as Worker HE short darts. The quality of their releases continues to improve, and many hobbyists seem to especially like how their 2024 releases perform.

Then we got Siren Blasters, a new company that released three blasters this year. Siren did a huge marketing campaign for their blasters, and my Facebook feed was flooded with their ads. Overall, their blasters are okay. I’ve had the chance to use them all, and they’re not bad for a first wave. The Gnarl was okay for a $25 pistol. The Blink is a pretty cool flywheel blaster controlled by two PWMs to adjust the performance and the rate of fire for $90; the ergonomics aren’t the best. But the Maulr is the one that has had the most issues. I’ve seen it jam a lot; the pusher cuts into the darts, and the priming block on the inside already snapped off of someone else's. Again, it is an okay first wave, and I hope they come out with some new blasters in 2025. More options on store shelves are always better.

We did get one blaster release from Buzz Bee that was cool. The Twist Fury: A full-length injection-molded version of the Charamile Designs Skewer licensed by Taffy himself! Perry interviewed Taffy on the Blog last fall if you want to hear more about it. Congrats to Taffy! 

From Overseas

From across the Pacific, some new blasters piqued a lot of interest. Most recently, Worker released the Kunlun, a 200+ FPS bolt-action springer. While this blaster is very new by comparison and has yet to show off its capability, designers, and tinkerers are already hard at work pushing it past 350 FPS with style and aplomb. We finally have a bolt-action sniper with the performance to back it up! I can’t wait to see many of these at APOC come August. 

2024 also saw the release of improvements in the Automatic Electric Blaster (AEB) category. The Zius BK1s was a new iteration of the BK1, performing around 170-200 FPS, with many seeing it as the closest we’ve come to an affordable and accessible AEB to come to the American market. It has become pretty popular because of this, and community members have created many body kits and mods. There’s also the Colonel Wasp 77, the successor to the CW76, that hits 200-250 FPS. Built like an “automatic Caliburn,” the CW77 is a great blaster on paper, but it's not for everyone. It has a wide trigger with a very tough trigger pull that makes repeated single-fire shots difficult. 

Community Releases

There were a lot of community releases this year, too many of which go in-depth, but I do want to recognize those who put their blood, sweat, and tears into contributing to our community. (If there are some that I have missed, I am very sorry)

Photo Credit: Eric (AKA Misplaced Moose)

• Dan 404: Amoeba, Nucleus
• Flygonial: Protean
• Gavin Fuzzy: SBL2, SBL2 EX, SBF Bullpup
• GenCoMegaWerks: X-Shot Micro (1.0) Reshell blasters, BungieMAX 40mm Shells
• GifD: Spirit/MHP LMG
• GONK: GNK-200, GNK-90, MS-GNK
• Leedle Dynamics: Easy DIY 3D Printed Stringer Blasters
• Lyza: SBM (Spamf but Mega) 
• Misplaced Moose: 31K
  
• MrHeathPants: MHP LMG
  
• Out of Darts: Juno
• Poppy: Tulip 
• Sillybutts: Silly Shells, Battle Axe, Wildstyle, Foxbat
• XFoxGames: Phantom, XFA1, Blaster body kits

Events

Events were once again stacked this year, both returning and new events. To the East, we had Maryland Mayhem, APOC/BPOC, Endwar, and Survival Fest, and to the West, we had Armageddon and Ragnaroktoberfest. These regional events continue growing in number and scope. Attendance turnout was so large that organizers must make changes this year to ensure everyone can have a safe and enjoyable time.

The community is thriving, with local clubs crossing paths at these great events and people branching out to others more than ever. With more clubs branching out, more clubs are planning their events to bring in hobbyists from outside their own state and even the country.

Photo Credit: United Nerf Ops

Additionally, More people are interested in competing than ever, and more clubs have expanded to have a second day dedicated to competitive blaster tag. In early November, the Blaster Allegiance of New England (BANE) held its first weekend invitational event, with a day each of casual and competitive play. It makes me excited to have the chance to travel out to more groups. to see what their games are like.

Competitive Blaster Tag

The 2024 event season also saw back-to-back competitive tournaments, both returning and newly-hosted. Maryland Mayhem’s Maryland Foam Tournament (MFT), Endwar’s Foam Pro Tour, BPOC, and the Blaster Tag Association’s King of the Hill Tournament returned for their second year at Ragnarocktoberfest, pulling in 18 teams, 13 teams, and 12 teams, respectively.

Photo Credit: Wes Chan

Magic Smoke successfully defended their first-place title at Maryland Mayhem and BPOC. Likewise, Red Tide once again Won KotH at Ragnarocktoberfest, Magic Smoke taking second and traveling all the way to the West Coast to do so! Most of the events livestreamed their tournament, including some commentary from yours truly at BPOC, so go check it out if you haven’t already! 

Armageddon held its first-ever companion competitive event: the California Foam Tournament. Ran by Cail (AKA KingOfGames), the CFT ran the Flag Dash ruleset with eight teams competing. Then, in early November, the Blaster Allegiance of New England (BANE) held its first weekend event with the second day for competitive play. I personally welcome more tournaments like this to be held. At the rate the competitive side of the hobby is growing, more and more teams want to compete, and the few tournament organizers currently out there can't possibly host every team.

• • •

Every year that comes and goes, there is so much stuff to cover. More or less, we cover a lot of the same stuff, but the quantity and the quality of each topic have been increasing. We’re getting so many new blasters on shelves that bring new players into our hobby. The hobby in itself attracts creators and tinkerers that loop back around to providing players with great new toys to play with. There is so much talent in the hobby, and the hobby would not be where it is without them. Oh, and Merge Masters is coming back again this year! Check out MisterNathan’s channel for more details!

Photo Credit: Naptown Nerf

Community-hosted events are thriving throughout the world. United Nerf Ops (UNO) hosts up to four events in the Tristate area every month. I traveled to Singapore last year and played with Nerf SG, and a few other players worldwide have also played outside their own borders. Maryland Foam Tournament opened its registration on New Year’s Day, and all 18 team slots were filled up within an hour and a half.

NorthShoreNerfWars will also be hosting a Flag Dash tournament a month before Maryland Mayhem, the weekend of April 11th to the 13th. So, if you’re looking for some practice, you know where to go. There’s a lot of planning already happening behind the scenes. Remember to thank your hosts and admins. I wish everyone a great 2025 and look forward to seeing as many people as possible in 2025! - OnlyFoamDarts