Friday, July 20, 2012

Thoughts: Australian Elite VS American Elite: Which is better?

(Link) As the loyal Nerf Nation followers know, us Australians are getting 'nerfed' versions of the upcoming N-Strike Elite blasters (such as the Retaliator and Rampage) slightly decreased in ranges, due to our rather, umm, strict laws about projectile weapons, while our American friends are receiving the full, un-touched versions of the blasters.

In a way, I see this as a good thing, and a bad thing. The bad thing is for us dedicated collectors, such as myself, is potentially paying more money for an Elite blaster, when in truth, there are cheaper and more powerful versions out there. I don't know that much about our laws about guns, but in the end, Nerf is a kid's toy, and they are taking precautions to reduce potential massive injury. Why, just one shot from my Swarmfire (Blue Trigger) could take an eye out.

But in the end, if there is a more powerful version of a blaster than the ones we are destined to get, then it would make much more sense to import, since:

A. I don't mod, and probably never will. These blasters are getting the ranges I want, without cracking them open.
B. I'm a collector, and I love collecting rare gear as a hobby.

With the new Elite gear, I'm definitely excited for the all-new blasters and crazy ranges, but I need to know how 'reduced' our versions are gonna be. Anyway, looks like Amazon will be an option. Enough with my thoughts, what about yours on the upcoming Elite gear? :)

5 comments:

  1. (Alex) In my opinion, modder or not, I feel it's a silly predicament. I understand that the laws in place are for safety of children playing with these toys, but when one country makes the same thing at full strength, then makes weaker versions for other countries to abide by health and safety standards, the advantage is it means we get SOMETHING rather than it being banned and we get nothing at all.

    ...BUT it still makes me feel cut short of what I should be getting for what I pay for; that I'm not getting the 'complete package' - especially in Australia where everything seems to cost more than it should compared to other countries...

    The more powerful version is going to do similar amount of damage as the weaker one if someone gets hit in the eye - hence why Nerf always preach 'wear eye protection' - so what good does it mean in the long run making a weaker version that is STILL going to be a childrens toy projectile hazard anyway? It's not like they're going to put holes through doors or windows or armour plating... :P

    What makes it worse is that there is nothing stopping people from buying the more powerful version from overseas; Customs (for now at least) are not seizing them, and it's not like the Fed's are going to rock up and take them off you either.

    The last straw for me as well is that even when the Australian release 'weaker' versions come out, it will be likely that modification will bring them back up to their US counterpart's standards anyway, yet means more money to shell out for springs / tools / whatever to do so. It almost seems like in the long run it will be cheaper to buy it from the US, and get the 'as advertised' Elite power ranges. Plus Australia is always the LAST place to receive anything new in the world of Nerf, so this way you also get it early and not feel left behind.

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  2. I think that there will be no actual difference. If the 15m ranges we will get are angled, then the Elite blasters will have nothing over current blasters except darts, which can be purchased seperately anyway. I think that they look for maximum range from Elite blasters for the US and other countries boxes, while for us they put the average flat range to make it sound like it conforms better to safety standards.

    Rnage tests from most guys in the US show Elite blasters get about 50ft range flat, which is the range that we will supposedly be getting with ours.

    The Vortex blasters were advertised for 60ft ranges, yet a number got that easily and then some (my Proton got a good 55-65ft, Praxis 55-70ft, Lumitron 60-70ft). This applied to both US and Aus ones. The difference is that angled shots with vortex don't do too well because of the spin of the disc.

    But in the end, all we can do is wait and see. If the Aus ones really are detuned to be weaker, Nerf's gonna lose a lot of sales from retail to online. If the Aus ones are practically identical and TRU isn't the usual money grabbing morons they are, then online sales won't jump much and retail sales will go well.

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  3. (Just adding this for extra information / clarification) It has been noted that the 75ft range is angled, but 50ft flat. So for our Aussie equivalents it was 50ft angled, and will end up about 35ft flat (aproximately).

    Roughly speaking (since we haven't seen the Aussie Elite versions yet) it is only a little bit further than what we get now with the Recon and Raider angled up.

    I'll try and chase up the sources of info I got this from later tonight :)

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  4. I get 35ft flat easily from both my stock ATs and my stock Recon (all three relatively new but used recently). So really, if our Elite stuff will get 35-40ft flat, I don't know who Nerf is kidding.

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  5. I am going to America to get the real elite ones if we get tuned down versions. But if I get the normal version(cos I live in HK) then that is fine. At least not shipping overseas......

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