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For years, children have preferred NERF toys for outdoor games — both blasters and water pistols are popular not only among boys, but girls do not mind putting their dolls aside and joining an active game.
Nerf is an American toy brand created by Parker Brothers, which is currently owned by the HASBRO concern. The Nerf brand is known to a wide range of consumers primarily for its foam-based toy weapons. The most popular toy is the javelin, which Hasbro has named «blaster». This type of toy weapon shoots ammunition made from Nerf foam.
It all started with a 4-inch (102 mm) polyurethane foam ball that was developed by Parker Brothers. In 1969, American game inventor Rain Geyer from Minnesota presented his development to the founders of Parker Brothers, a ball game that was safe to play indoors. The name of the brand is based on the slang expression «Nerf bar», meaning a special foam rubber pad, which in the late 60s was installed on cars during off-road races to protect against damage.
«Further — more» — these words can be used to describe the next toy «Nerf». The 102mm balls were followed by the larger Super Nerf Balls, which were also in good demand.
Sports balls and foam darts followed. In 1989, the first Nerf toy weapon was introduced, the Blast-A-Ball pistol, which was a plastic tube with a handle that, when pressed, shot 1.5-inch balls of air pressure. In February 2013, Hasbro announced its Rebelle line, a separate sub-line of blasters targeted at girls, and its first products were released in the fall of 2013.
For more than half a century of its existence, Nerf specialists have developed and released a wide variety of toys, which can be conditionally divided into 5 categories:
* NERF Weapons — This category features water pistols, dart and ball firing blasters, and state-of-the-art laser blasters that fire infrared beams.
* Melee Weapon — N-Force Line
* Balls
* Dog toys
* Video games
Nerf toys have come a rather hard way, from a polyurethane ball to a whole range of children’s weapons, which are rightfully considered the best in their segment. Most of them are aimed at children from 6 to 12 years old. But as practice shows, adolescent children and even adults are not averse to having fun with «weapons»!
