XD Blasters getting Local

Unlike previous recolors, Nerf has been rolling out some of their latest blasters with more than just shiny new colors.  Those "XD" blasters are toting better ranges than the 75 Ft Staple that used to adorn every Elite blaster.  Recently, I found a white XD Triad at a local Target store and a XD Stockade that was labeled as a "Wal-Mart Exclusive".  At first, I thought "XD" would be a stamp for a certain range, but the Triad's XD range is listed at 80 with the Stockade XD range listed at 85.

At this point, printing XD on a box is essentially saying "more than 75 Feet" or "more range than the blaster you already have".  Think of it as the Blue Trigger blasters in the short-lived Dart Tag lineup.  It's likely that the springs are slightly stronger.  In the case of blasters like the Triad, which uses that Smart AR system, it might actually be worth getting since spring upgrades are about the only way to crank more power out of blasters like that.  The flywheel blasters, like the Stockade, could be interesting too.  It probably means a motor upgrade.  And, of course, a better stock blaster means a stronger modded blaster (to a certain point) so these might work well for folks like me who generally just do simple mods like ARs and Volt Mods.

I can't tell if I'm annoyed by the fact that XD blasters will have all sorts of different ranges or if I'm happy to see more a variety instead of "EVERYTHING IS 75 FEET" like they started out with.  However, it at least looks like they'll be keeping a few of the upgraded blasters in my favorite Blue n White scheme!  It'll be interesting to see how the Elite lineup pans out from here.