Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Centurion Mess

When news of the N-Strike Elite Centurion broke, Nerf Nation went crazy. A big blaster with long range and new ammo. Some folks liked it, some folks didn't, but the info was out there regardless. All of a sudden, Hasbro says not to post the info because it is "not from an official source", claiming that the blogger who posted this has "misrepresented the info and his access/relationship to Hasbro."

A few bloggers and websites have taken down the information supplied by MyLastDart, who posted an explanation of what happened.  However, the cat is out of the bag.  Regardless of whether the information MLD supplied us with about the specifications of the blaster and it's unique ammo is accurate or not, the box art and general concept of this blaster are running wild on the internet already.  

I find the situation amusing because, when it really boils down to it, these are toy blasters.  If this were a more serious note, like a major corporate bankruptcy or a conspiracy within the government, I could understand the sensitivity of this information.  Is information regarding a new toy blaster really important enough to warrant removing posts on a fan blog?  Or maybe sending a goon squad to Pocket Esq's home in Australia?  Granted, this isn't nearly as serious as that situation... but one would think that a toy maker has better things to do than worry about future release information being "leaked".  It's just my opinion, but these incidents cause an awful lot of noise for something as trivial as this.

10 comments:

  1. I thought the same thing during the Pocket debacle... they're just toys! We're not disclosing anything relevant to national security - if anything, we're generating interest, advertising for free. I suppose in the conspiracy vein, you might argue it's intentional viral marketing on Hasbro's behalf? After all, we're talking about it right now.

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  2. My problem with the centurion is that it defeats the purpose of having modification skills. Why buy brass and angel breech a longshot if you can buy a centurion? It makes Nerf seem more like paintball or airsoft where having a more expensive gun will make you better than if you have a cheap crappy gun.
    Also this blaster messes with the hierarchy of things. Someone pays the $75 price tag for a centurion, and brings it to a nerf war is just about on par with someone like MiG, Captain Slug, Nom, or FA24, who poses the amazing gift of ingenuity and craftsmanship, enabling them to make 100 ft+ blasters out of plumbing parts or blasters that only shoot 30-40ft in stock form.
    I dunno, the centurion just seems to me to violate what our hobby stands for.

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  3. the whole situation with NDAs cofuses me, they first said the info could be released, then said that they got it mixed up? Hasbro need to get their *&%^ together. Their just toys, but there was no way I wanted a Hasbro goon squad knocking at my door either.

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  4. The problem is the split between the lawyers and the PR team. Lawyers are "THIS IS OUR SECRET. ATTACK NOW" and the PR team is "FREE POSITIVE MESSAGE YOU SAY? TWO THANKS".

    Then the lawyers strike first, and the PR team is sitting there going "How did free and positive turn into negative and viral..AGAIN?". Hasbro's treatment of Pocket soured me on buying the Elite range, and put me off blogging about Nerf. I'm just starting to get hyped on the Rebelle range, and then, another round of clueless heavyhandedness to put me off.

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  5. Not trying to be devils advocate. But I work for one of the biggest toy company (not hasbro), I can't speak for all but the toy industry is pretty cutthroat. When it comes down to it, you're absolutely right it 'just a toy'. But to the mega million corporation it always boils down to the almighty $$$. See how fast they approached urban tagger after the online community threaten hasbro with their 'pocket' book (pun intended). All company that lead want to stay being the top dog even though it knows the competition has an inferior product. Ex look at buzzbee. The quality and feel just don't measure up to nerf standard but they are getting better which is why I got a panther because nerf doesn't have an air tank blaster. However it still does have that mystique. What I am saying is that bottom line hasbro wants your money and will protect its interest in order to get your hard earn dollar.

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  6. It might have more to do with revealing products during the wrong time of the company's fiscal quarter. You don't want investors to see something early and react according to preliminary information that's this specific. I mean, if its really still three-quarters of a year away from launch, people with vested interest in the company or perhaps even people with the wrong idea (moral crusaders against toy guns for example) might bring about bad press right when you need the stability to release the product first.

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  7. anybody else wish mylastdart would fall off the face of the bloggosphere? His grammar is atrocious. His posts display very little understanding of how nerf blasters actually work. Now Hasbro says he is lying about his relationship with them and their products. I had refrained from picking on him, because I really thought he was just a child, but it turns out he's a grown ass man. I really thought that English was his second language, but he's English. The man is a fool unworthy of touching the hem of nerfs garment. That is all.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words my good man, keep hating is all I can say. Address your own grammar before throwing house at stones made of glass. Oh, you might like to refer to this: http://mylastdart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/short-simple-and-straight.html

      I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Pocket is a graphic design professional and has actually complimented my msPaint skills.

      Stay safe, and do have a good day :)

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  8. This sounds outlandish a bit, but Hasbro really should just announce and release blasters(once they hit a production level safe enough to release of course)as they come. I don't see the the whole use of the cover up strategy. Anything that comes up at a toy fair, I bet someone will leak it out. Hasbro will try to stop it but its already out there in under 24 hours. Its no use, and in other words, its pointless of them to think that way.

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  9. I think the reason why they don't want people to know about it is that, if they officially announce the Centurion, then less people will buy elite blasters and instead save up for that one. But still, it seems bloody expensive -_-

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