I was never really a fan of the Nerf Vortex series of blasters. They differ from the standard lines of Nerf blasters greatly. They don’t use any kind of a dart, but instead utilize vortex discs. Plastic discs with a bit of Nerf foam around the edges. Some of them have some great exterior designs, like the Lumitron, but they just weren’t for me. Nerf’s latest line of blasters may prove a bit harder to ignore, though. Allow me to introduce the new Nerf for the new age, Nerf RIVAL.

Nerf Rival Blasters for 2015.

Wow. Just wow. An entire new product line? Blasters for the more mature crowd? Is this a dream? No, this is reality. Meet Nerf Rival, a new series of blasters for ages 14 and up. They introduced two demo units at the Toy Fair, the Zeus MXV-1200, and the Apollo XV-700. The Zeus is a motorized blaster that holds 12 rounds in the magazine. The Apollo is it’s little non-electric brother. Both come in blue or red. The Zeus uses 6 C-batteries to fuel it’s amazing power. These Nerf Rival blasters are capable of firing these new Nerf foam balls at 100fps. That’s the thing about these blasters. They’re made specifically for teenagers and older “kids.” With these high-power, high-precision blasters, they also seem to be bridging the gap between Nerf and Airsoft and Paintball. Nerf really is trying to take over the world. Nerf Rival comes with new blasters, new ammunition, new magazines, even what seems to be a more standard attachment rail. There are additional 12 round magazines, and some paintball inspired face masks, too. Very exciting stuff. Also, I love the way the Zeus is designed. It looks sort of like an HK MP7, but loads the magazine like an FN P90. I love it. Finally, Nerf grows up.