Revisiting the ELV2

Wait, what?  Nobody knows what an ELV2 is!  Ah, yes but it's like how we call the Alpha Trooper the AT.  This is the Elite Longshot Version 2... and I haven't revisited this project seriously since last year.  However, I've got a couple of questions as I return this fella to the workbench.  The FIRST... I'm having one heckofuh time trying to figure out an "Elite" paintjob for this.  With the Xplorer grip on there, I want to cover up that bare metal and tie this thing together to make it look like it's part of the design.  That being said, as I try to plot things out... especially considering how BIG the ELV2 is going to be (since it WILL include the Front Gun) it's a bit bothersome.  I want the lines to work with the other Elite accessories for a front barrel, so it'll need a white stripe up top.  Now then, I know there's several of you out there who are a whiz at Photoshop and such, so I challenge you to take this image and give me some "Elite" lines to follow with it.

The second is revisiting the internals.  Part of why this project sort of stopped in the middle is... well...this thing kind of shot it's self up on the inside.  The Spring was a bit much, the "plumbing" wasn't nearly tight enough to properly put all that power where it needed to be and... with the Front Gun in the mix... it probably needs to be rebarreled somehow.  SO, I've essentially got a need for two kinds of Nerf Modders: the exterior Vanity Club folks and the interior pipe-dream engineers.  Hopefully this Blog has garnered enough attention to get some great input on this!

Now this doesn't mean I'm giving up exploring my own options... I just want YOURS while I'm at it!

"Gear Up!" Again?

So, it's early 2014.  That NERF N-Strike Elite Demolisher is going to be coming out, and it's all decked out in obnoxious Orange Juice Orange.  The Stryfe is also getting Orange treatment.  Other blasters in the Elite lineup are sure to follow suit if Nerf is going to go the Orange/White route for their next round of blasters.  Now I've recognized two big glaring issues all of a sudden.  The first being that I've spent the better part of two years on-board with the Elite Blue and white-striped paint jobs on the latest blasters tracking down accessories to deck them out with.  The second: I scoffed at the "Gear Up!" blasters decked out in gaudy orange back in the summer of 2011 while we waited for the Nerf Vortex lineup to come out and didn't bother picking any up.  Why is this a problem?  Well... now it looks like Orange will be the next "thing" for Nerf... and now suddenly all my accessories that I love so dearly won't match the next wave at all!

Now then, not all is lost.  You'll also notice that there's some inverted versions, too.  The Rough Cut has been found in a white with orange stripe format and the new NERF N-Strike Elite Cam ECS-12 looks to be white, too.  That means the beloved Whiteout Series of blasters should work well with that half of the coin, as evidenced by
Andu Mijomee's wonderful work with his Longstrike.  That also means that some of the white Super Soaker accessories should look good, with 'em, too.

Now honestly none of this stuff is "earth shattering news", but for the accessory nut... it might be a bit annoying.  Not only do we have to start all over again, but now the existing accessories out there that COULD match up are incredibly hard to find.  Unless you happened to pick up a Gear Up Recon or Raider, you've got nothing to spice up the Demolisher.  That being said, I figured "oh well that means prices on eBay for the Gear Up stuff will shoot sky high"... but apparently since those were hard enough to find, they're already quite expensive.  I've seen Gear Up! Raiders being sold for $75 and a Gear Up! Recon going for over $100.  I'm an accessories nut... but I'm not stupid.  Plus, the "Orange" used on the new Stryfe doesn't look like it's an exact match for the old Gear Up! colors anyways... and I'm a stickler for that sort of thing.  I'm pretty much fretting about nothing of much importance here in a bit of an informational rant-like manner.

Long Story Short: Nerf keeps changing colors and it drives me batty.

TWS: Update #2

With the latest commercial for Captain America: The Winter Soldier airing during the superbowl, I was reminded that I now have a short 2 months left to complete this costume project in time for the movie premiere on April 4th.  If you've missed it, I already started putting a few bits together with components I'm re-using from previous costumes.  I also started building a harness for the shield to fit on my back.  Recently, more pieces to this costume have been coming together and I'm pretty happy with how things have been turning out so far.

The picture to the right isn't exactly accurate.  I've cleverly "Photoshopped" the stars and stripes from another photo onto my 511 Shirt to try to get an idea of placement and sizing for these bits.  The Rapid Assault Shirt and matching pants are quite comfortable and should lend themselves well to this project.

 One snag I ran into was the "Browns" matching up.  The combat belt that's being re-used from my older costume isn't the same brown as the straps for the shield or the darker fingerless gloves that I found.  They're all very different materials, so I don't know if I can dye them to match or if I have to go out and find better matches.  This is the part of the show where it would've been better to MAKE these 3 items with the same material so they'd match up easily.  I didn't anticipate such trouble finding the right shade of brown!

The other picture to the left shows the 511 Rapid Assault Shirt with a T-Shirt placed over it that has the design printed on it from the new movie.  I got this shirt from a guy on The RPF Forum and I'll be using it as a guide for building parts of the star and stripes on the chest.  Getting the sizing and placement right on these parts is crucial, so it's nice to actually have something I can lay over the shirt to start lining things up.

Doublestrike Dankeschön

Thanks to my buddies in German Land, we've got footage of the latest Nerf Blaster for the ZombieStrike lineup: the DoubleShot!  It's a hammer-primed double-barreled pistol thing!!  Tiny tactical rail mount on top of two front-loaded barrels for a lethal little handgun.

There's also video of the SlingFire, which is looking bigger and more hefty every time I see a new angle of it.

You can see more in this video from dartblaster.de

Centurion Abandoned?

If all these signs are true, then Nerf has actually flip-flopped on the N-Strike Elite MEGA Centurion in less than a year.  A quick look at the trademark information regarding "Centurion" is just another piece to the puzzle with the information released earlier indicating that this blaster is going the way of the Dodo.

http://www.trademarkia.com/centurion-86019442.html

Abandonment Notice! On Thursday, January 23, 2014, status on the CENTURION trademark changed to ABANDONED - AFTER PUBLICATION. Apply Now for this name starting at $159!

CAUTION: Although federal registration for this particular filing is inactive, the mark may still enjoy common law rights, or may have been applied for again in a separate application. Further research may be warranted to determine where this mark is truly abandoned in commerce.

Status Update! On Thursday, January 23, 2014, status on the CENTURION trademark changed to ABANDONED - AFTER PUBLICATION.

On Thursday, July 25, 2013, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for CENTURION by Hasbro, Inc., Pawtucket, RI 02861. The USPTO has given the CENTURION trademark serial number of 86019442. The current federal status of this trademark filing is ABANDONED - AFTER PUBLICATION. The correspondent listed for CENTURION is HASBRO, INC.of HASBRO, INC., 1027 NEWPORT AVE, PAWTUCKET, RI 02861-2500 . The CENTURION trademark is filed in the category of Toys and Sporting Goods Products . The description provided to the USPTO for CENTURION is Toy dart shooters and foam toy darts for use therewith.

Additionally, using that same Trademark site, we might have a clue (literally) about another new lineup for Nerf called "Secrets & Spies". It's listed as "Toy sporting equipment, namely, toy dart shooters and toy darts for use therewith, toy ball shooters and toy balls for use therewith; toy crossbows and toy arrows for use therewith."  You read that right.  Crossbows with arrows (unlike the ZombieStrike Crossfire Bow) and Ball Shooters as part of a secret agent-type lineup for Nerf are potentially in the works.

http://www.trademarkia.com/secrets--spies-86106364.html

Fun fun fun!!  Just two years after Nerf made "Universal Ammo" with the Elite Dart their thing, we've now potentially got two more kinds of ammo to rekindle with the brand.  What are your thoughts on this new info?

700k Pageviews!

It's still amazing to me that this blog is just under 3 years old, and yet it's still got a great following.  Most folks wouldn't bother with a Lazer Tag / Nerf maniac, but it's incredibly flattering not to mention pride-inducing to see how many folks have tuned in to see what Tactical Tag is about.  700,000 Pageviews later, the posts are still coming and the support is still strong!  Thanks so much to everyone who have contributed to this blog so far!  No plans to stop anytime soon, so don't get worried if you've got "abandonment issues".  I'm not through with the internet just yet!

That being said, I do have something in the works for the 3-year Anniversary of Tactical Tag, which has been fun putting together for a few months now.  In the meantime, it's business as usual here on the blog, Facebook Page, and YouTube Channel.  Thanks for spreading the word and sticking with me thus far!

UK Discontinued Blasters - Centurion?

Got this info from a reliable source (they used to send Urban Taggers a lot of info when Pocket was posting).  Take a read, especially if you're in the United Kingdom.

In the past, UK toy distributor AB Gee has a pretty large database (open to everyone by the way) about what toys (including Hasbro brands) they can send to stores across that country. But they also list discontinued products in the database.  

Everything I'm going to list is marked *** Obsolete Product *** in the product listings. Pretty much all of the Vortex line included recent releases of the Revonix, Pyragon and Diatron have been marked as obsolete. This confirms that the Vortex line (not sure about the Zombiestrike offshoots) are effectively dead in the UK. The Stockade is dead too.
Here's the real surprise of the bunch. This distributor has marked the Centurion as a 'Obsolete Product'. For a product that only has been out for less than half of a year to be marked this raises quite a few questions. 

Here's a few links
AB Gee's Hasbro list page- http://www.abgee.co.uk/BrandDetail.aspx?BrandID=20
The Centurion's page on AB Gee- http://www.abgee.co.uk/productv3.aspx?ProdCode=285%20A3700

So what do you guys think?  The information seems pretty clear, so is Nerf canning Vortex?  ... and the Centurion, too?

UPDATE:  Upon further investigation, there is another listing for the Centurion on that page. (http://www.abgee.co.uk/productv3.aspx?ProdCode=285+A6288).  The Listing Code on the "obsolete" one is A3700 but then has A4288 in parentheses.  It's also listed as a 2013 product.  Then the 2014 one listed just has the A4288 model listed and has a star, indicating it's a new blaster.  Is this just a listing code update?  Or... better yet... is it a sign that the Centurion has gotten upgraded or tweaked somehow?