For those that grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s, it’s likely that some of the best weekends-ever consisted of epic Nerf soft-dart Blaster fights and fort-building. Unlike LEGOs, the soft darts didn’t hurt if you stepped on one and the combination of building strategic forts for protection certainly led to at least some productive brain-play with creative civil engineering brainstorming and strategy.
While one doesn’t normally associate Nerf Blasters with STEM education – although building protective forts might count – the new Nerf N-Strike Modulus ECS-10 Blaster is probably the closest that Nerf has ever gotten to applying some sort of “thinking” to an otherwise straight-forward toy. The toy dart shooter looks similar to other existing Nerf Blasters except that it breaks apart for users to add new sections and accessories for over 30 possible design combinations based on specific needs.
Among other modifications include increased power for longer-range shooting, better aiming with scope integration, shoulder butts for support and alternative magazine clips for darts. Nerf plans on expanding their ecosystem of add-on products over the near future to branch out into even more possible design combinations. Could modular Nerf Blaster parts be the new POGS or trading cards?
Either way, if a kid is going to shoot soft darts at a target on a wall or enjoy a safe battle with friends, you might as well put some productive thinking behind it. Will this also open the door for 3D printed Nerf accessories in the near future, too?
The Nerf N-Strike Modulus ECS-10 Blaster will be available this Fall for $50.
