Way back in the golden years of the late 1980’s the NERF Blast A Ball came into the world. This little weapon made it possible to annoy adults from as far as six feet away, giving you plenty of time to shoot and run. A lot of people refer to it as the first PUSH gun, but it wasn’t really a gun at all. In order to launch the ball you had to jam it inside the tube, pull back on the “trigger” and then quickly push the trigger forward again. The air pressure inside the tube built up and would shoot the ball out the other end of the tube – sometimes even in the direction you wanted it to go.

It wasn’t until 1991 that NERF released something that could actually be considered a weapon and that was the NERF Bow and Arrow. This toy used the same basic principle as the Blast A Ball but instead of shooting a ball you shot NERF arrows and instead of having to pump the air yourself you were aided by the bow action. This allowed the children of the early 90’s to shoot arrows up to a full 60 feet. Despite the amazing amount of distance, the NERF arrows were still harmless (unless they went straight into someone’s eye and even then it would just sting a while).

As the 90’s rolled on and grunge became more prevalent our children demanded something that looked more like an actual gun and NERF finally delivered with the Nerf Ballzooka. What was great about this toy wasn’t the science fiction like appearance or the fast that it could shoot balls at all, it was the speed at which this gun could put balls down the range.

No matter how angsty your big brother was back then, getting pelted with 15 NERF balls in just six seconds was more than enough to break him out of his emo stupor and have him chasing you around the house.

Today NERF funs operate pretty much the way they have for the past few decades. Compressed air or a coiled spring propels foam balls or darts at your enemies. Twenty years of design and engineering has allowed NERF to create weapons that still look childish and futuristic all the way up to some more modern and realistic designs.

The most popular NERF gun on the market at the moment is the NERF N-Strike Maverick. The Maverick is a hand held NERF six shooter that shoots darts equipped with a small suction cup on one end. The Maverick can shoot darts over 30 feet leaving little room for your sister to run and hide. Available in a variety of colors and finishes, this little gun can also be used as part of the NERF Unity System where you take three separate NERF guns and assemble them Voltron style into one big mega gun capable of striking fear into the heart of your worst enemies or best friends.

NERF guns make a safe and fun toy for kids of just about any age. Even with computers, game consoles, and cell phones trying to get their attention kids still love to run around and shoot things and the NERF N-Strike Maverick will let them do that. Give a 10 year old a NERF gun, a running water hose, and a sunny day and he will never want to come inside again.

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