Shelf News: Mid-January!

Goodness gracious, January has been full of new products and sales of older ones.  They're really ringing in the new year!  And with that new year comes new Super Soakers under the Nerf Brand.  I was wondering if the 3 new blasters that Nerf debuted on their Facebook Page would be the ONLY ones in the lineup this year, but it turns out they've brought back many of the soakers from 2011.  The Hydro Cannon is back, as well as the Thunderstorm and Tornado Strike.  Both the Thunderstorm and Tornado Strike have new Box Art while the Hydro Cannon seems to have retained it's art from 2011.  Also, I found Lightningstorms on shelves, but no sign of the Microburst or Elecrostorm.

I'm personally happy to see the Thunderstorm back, as I thought it was one of the best looking blasters in the lineup.  It's also nice seeing the Hydro Cannon back, as that thing is a beast and packs quite the punch!  While it's not that impressive compared to older CPS-series blasters during the "Golden Age of Super Soakers", it's certainly the most powerful one on the market right now.

It seems all the electronic blasters have this "Powersoak Technology" logo on the box, or "PT".  Looks like they're making it blatantly obvious which ones are electronically driven.  The box art for the Electrostorm carries the same logo on there.  I have not spotted any Point Break or Scatter Blast Super Soakers, so I get the feeling they've been replaced by the Electrostorm and Microburst.

All of these Super Soakers were found at my local Toys R Us, so obviously Price is going to be higher on these than other retailers.

I also found quite the sale on Light Strike products at Toys R Us.  Price cuts are at liquidation levels, with the Assault Strikers, once sitting at 30-40 dollars, are now at a much more manageable 18 dollars.  Accessories are being clearanced too.  The only thing I couldn't find a clearance tag for was the normal Strikers, which puts the new price of the Assault Striker even cheaper than those!  I only found these kinds of prices at Toys R Us.  This sale looks to extend into the end of the month of January.  I'll be watching their shelves to see if this low of a price can get this system to sell around here, as Light Strike has had a tradition of collecting dust in my area.  Oddly enough, the Lazer Tag Phoenix LTX sets are sold out all over town.  There is empty shelf space where they used to reside, so either folks have been reading my blog or someone is about to have one heckofuh lazer tag party!