You won't trip down the aisle with this cute idea!

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My wedding was a LONG time ago, but I still remember the panic about tripping down the aisle. We were married in a field at our farm and the aisle runner was nothing more than a white, free floating strip of nylon placed on fluffy, uneven field grass. I had to encourage my bridesmaids to goose-step like the Russian army so as to not pitch themselves into the seated guests.

Since out door weddings haven't ever lost their charm, I thought this was an adorable idea to decorate the "aisle" without that tripping stress that you didn't know you had to worry about until I just freaked you out with it (thank me later). Two paper hearts are taped to a stick (like a wooden skewer) and pushed into the ground. Super easy and do-able long before the wedding. This idea was featured on one of my favorite wedding blogs 100 Layer Cake. Of course the cuteness for this wedding doesn't stop there. I love their dessert table full of all different cakes because it reminds me of a State Fair Baking contest, you know? And that colorful backdrop is so attractive! You'll probably want to see more so check out the entire wedding here.

Rant: We're all blaster snobs

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Clearly, she's done this before.. never.

I was standing in the toy gun aisle in a Target the other day while I overheard a conversation a man was having with what I think was his gf/wife about Super Soakers. He picked up a Thunderstorm box and showed it to her and said "I got me two of these, Fully automatic madness. I'm gonna totally own Dan's kids next time we have a water fight"

She seemed suitably impressed and said the customary grown up thing to say of "they look so dangerous, so different to when WE were kids" and thought he was an all round wacky kinda guy.

I just looked at them in horror, quietly shook my head and thought to myself "lightweight":P Are you serious? Water guns when you were a kid would totally destroy two Thunderstorms.

How many times has this happened to you when you hear someone talk about toy blasters like they're an expert but really, they have no clue and you can't help but think they're a total noob? Yup, that's how I felt. And then I realised. Dear god, I am a blaster snob..


Ever been to some sort of regular mixer and some guy is trying to go on about how awesome he is because he bought a Nerf gun and boasts about it being a 6 shooter and you feel the massive desire to just jump in and say "that's a Maverick, it's been around for ages, normally the first gun any 8yo gets in the Nerf range, whatever chump"? Then you're a blaster snob.

If you've ever had some friend of yours who's a parent go on about how their kid has "so many Nerf guns" and you look at their collection and say "yawn, yeah I've got them all but that one isn't very good, you obviously don't love your child very much" then... you're a blaster snob.

Ever had someone come to you to tell you about the "latest Nerf gun" and you say "I have it, that's not new".. then you're a blaster snob.

Do you read websites where mainstream journalists write about toy blasters and obviously have no real idea what they're on about, and the photos they show with them holding one like it's from another planet just make you want to cringe and write a comment under their article letting them know the Nitron is NOT the biggest Nerf blaster out there and they're "holding it by the clip, noob"? Then you're a blaster snob.

If you've ever said "it's a blaster, not a gun" then you're a blaster snob.

If you take pleasure in absolutely outclassing some punk who thinks he's the shiz with his stock Recon with your heavily modded to death Longshot and making it rain foam all over him while telling him exactly WHY his blaster is inferior to yours, even if said punk is only 10 years old and you're old enough to be his dad.. then you're a blaster snob.

If you actually read this blog, and blogs like it.. then you're a blaster snob. Especially if you find inaccuracies in my posts and call me on it. Then you're a pedantic douche of a blaster snob:P (hehe)

And, if you've ever cringed at a mother buying a Cosmic Thruster, you know you're probably a blaster snob too. Although if you throw yourself in front of her and stop her and convince her to buy something else, you're just a good Samaritan :D

LazerBait's LTX

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LazerBait has been making excellent accessories and modifications for laser tag blasters for awhile now.  Most of the long-range lenses we use in our most accurate sniper rifles were built by him.  Around this time last year Mike Yates of CTDYNE developed the "LTX Combo Mount".  While it was as much of a work of art as it was an excellent accessory to the LTX, it was expensive to develop.  LazerBait developed a much cheaper cost-efficient variant of the Combo Mount, seen above on his Phoenix LTX.  With the stock providing excellent stability, the lens magnified with precision to hit targets well over 1,000 feet away, and the sight mounted on a weaver rail above to line up each shot, this blaster is certainly a threat from afar!

Assassin's Creed III

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All Assassins Creed fans: 
 

If you have not noticed jet. Ubisoft revelled cover for just announced AC3 which comes out in October 30^th. From the cover, we can see that it will be placed in America at time of American Revolution which took place in 1775 to 1781. IGN.com suspects that it will happened between 1777 to 1778. There are several clues that suggest that. Like flag in the back and uniforms of the solders. 












I must say, I am very excited for this new chapter of AC. I just love the way this new character looks. There are some strong Native American signs. However, I don’t know how will the gameplay be satisfying. In previous ACs we had lots of building to climb, high towers and so on.  But at this point in the history American colonies were not so populated. There were some cities, however none of them were anything like Venice, Rome or Constantinople.  But we’ll see. I thrust Ubisoft not to disappoint us. 


Today there were also some screen shoots leaked. They do reveal quite some more stuff, but this are still just some speculations. It seems that we will be able to climb threes and hunt. So for that surrounding areas will get stronger position. 
But most importantly, we know now that our targets are British soldiers and influencing figures. And our friend will be George Washington.
Also on Monday,5th of March they shall revel trailer with much more clues. 

Nerf Vortex Pyragon: UT treatment

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We've been bombed with a huge amount of emails asking us why we haven't done one of our mad photo shoot treatment of the awesome Nerf Vortex Pyragon. Well.. we have now:) Photos after the jump, and while we believe the photos are safe for work, there seems to be some readers out there who'd prefer to not see our model talent (who btw aren't actually models and just friends of mine who love toy blasters too) , sooo.. you don't have to look!

The Pyragon. "There are many like it but this one is mine"

Nerf Dart Tag Snapfire 8: Click Click Ow

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New blasters for all of Nerf's lines were announced early this year- A new 'Hailfire' to helm the N-Strike Elite, the all mighty Pyragon was the new Vortex blaster, and the Dart Tag line received the Snapfire 8 to its ranks. 
The Snapfire 8 has generated quite a bit of interest since it's announcement being a rather compact non-motorised-yet-semi-autofire blaster and to date has only really been seen in Singapore (do correct me if I'm wrong) Thanks to Ben 'Psyk' Koh of Nerf SG, we got our hands on one (ok two- I always order multiples) to put it to the test and see if it's all that it's cracked out to be...

The Snapfire 8 comes in a pretty small lightweight compact box- which makes sense given it's a pretty small lightweight compact blaster:) Standard Dart Tag branding all over the box with the dude in the official dart tag jersey and eyewear is pretty normal for the current Nerf Dart Tag series of gear.



Inside the box, it's the blaster, 8 dart tag darts and a manual. It's pretty easy to get out of the box too which is nice.

The Snapfire 8 follows similar design cues to the big daddy Swarmfire in that it's got that big whale looking front but then sort of slims out at the back, with a rather aggressive cut out part for your thumb that makes it sort of resemble those old Star Trek phasers. 

It's quite comfortable to hold, and has a very long grip for big hands. I don't have big hands, but that's ok:D  It's a lot smaller than I thought it'd be, but the fatness of the muzzle makes it impossible to easily holster/pocket, but there's no loops anywhere to clip it to your belt or anything.

It's shape actually looks almost... comical, like a Marvin the Martian style blaster; whereas Nerf's other lines seem to be looking quite tough and realistic in design, the Dart Tag blasters seem to really be wanting to go a different route, similar to sporting equipment, which is true to its general marketing message of Dart Tag being a new "action sport".




The Snapfire 8 holds that many darts- eight- and they slide in similarly to the Speed Swarm and Swarmfire at the front. I've heard rumours of the darts falling out, but this hasn't happened to be yet- they're quite a snug fit and I've tried them with Elite darts with no problems.



The Snapfire 8's selling point is it's a non battery powered semi automatic with two main settings- "speed" and "power". There is a dial at the bottom of the grip that you gradually rotate and that allows you to customise your desired setting depending on how you like to play.


What it basically is doing is increasing the resistance that fires the dart and in turn that of the trigger- if you want more power, the trigger is really stiff to pull back but allows for your darts to fire further, whereas the speed setting is much softer but you sacrifice the power and hence full range available.

It's kind of fiddly to do, and after a while you just set it once and leave it alone. To be honest I found I just wanted to leave it on the "Power" setting and just deal with the ridiculously stiff trigger.

Speaking of the trigger, it's a totally unique system I've yet to see before- you can see in the picture above it's  in three parts that 'fold' into each other on the squeeze. With each pull, the trigger fires a dart and advances the barrel to the next chamber, with the dart leaving once the trigger has completely folded into the last piece.  This does away with a cocking mechanism, and on full trigger pull, you can really hear the very dense "thunk/click/boing" sound of the dart firing. Or maybe it's my finger snapping:P

Trigger is over double in length of ordinary trigger distance 

 While in theory this is an innovative idea, in practice it becomes ridiculously uncomfortable, especially if you're a small child or have small child hands such as my own. The trigger is much bigger than any other Nerf blaster and requires some effort to pull it all the way back; my index finger was fully extended and barely reached past between the trigger and trigger guard with my first joint. The firing mechanism requires the trigger to be completely pulled in (that's when it connects or 'snaps' for the dart to fire) so in a flurry of semi automatic firing madness, you can easily get caught out with a half assed pull:P

You can see my finger barely makes it around the trigger.

After a full 8 rounds fired, my finger wasn't very happy with me, and after reloading it several times, my hand in general basically told me where to go:P A friend of mine with very small girlie hands (being a girl) couldn't fire the Snapfire 8 on Power mode with one hand- she needed both and she basically handed it back to me and said 'I don't like it'. This is definitely NOT an ergonomically friendly blaster, and dual wielding them, while technically possible is not going to feel fun in your weaker hand. I'm sure with enough practice and training it'll be fine, but for me thus far..i'm with my friend on this one- it wasn't comfortable.

Pulling the trigger isn't at all comfortable and cuts into your finger

 Performances are a mixed bag- I had better results with the Elite darts than with the actual Dart Tag darts, but I found the ranges weren't very impressive at all with dart tag darts, being more reminiscent of Dart Tag pre blue trigger enhancements. That being said, I was pretty happy with it using Elite darts?

The difference between the speed and power settings was noticeable but wasn't THAT great in performances (but quite a bit in ergonomics) and I also found it quite inconsistent- sometimes you'd get a great shot out and others a tad more on the dribble side. The new improved Sharpshot  better ranges from my test shots done to date. Because of the trigger mechanism is so stiff and requires it to be completely pulled to fire, you won't be able to pump out darts as rapid as a Barricade or Hailfire.

All the way depressed. You can see how much grip is left for small hands.

 I really wanted to like the Snapfire 8; it has definitely been on many people's watch lists (including my own) since it was announced but I just found it rather disappointing The speed/power thing was a bit of a gimmick in my book, and the general firing mechanism was just too uncomfortable (which is sad because the blaster as a whole fits great in the hand when you DON'T need the trigger!) for it to be a truly awesome pistol.

It's design makes it difficult to pocket or holster, and while I wanted to think I'd be dual wielding these pups in full John Woo style, in the end the erratic performances and awkwardness of the firing mechanism just left me thinking no- long time play makes my index fingers feel like they've been sawn in two. It's a novel idea and as always, if you can get one for cheap, sure do it, but I'm not sure it's going to be a game changer any time soon. I don't hate it; I just think it wasn't quite what I was expecting and perhaps my expectations were too high- happy to hear your thoughts on it if you've got one.


From what I know, only available in Singapore atm, and with shipping cost me around 40 bucks each so probably not quite worth it. I'd be waiting for a domestic release where it should be much cheaper.

Rumours: Nerf Elite Pinpoint Sight?

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You do have to hand it to Nerf for listening to their fans. As seen on the Nerf Dart Tag Tournament Malaysia Facebook Page, the much coveted Pinpoint sight looks to finally soon be re-released, and in the new Elite colour scheme to boot. Which does look sweet.. if you're a fan of the new elite colour scheme (and don't just paint your blasters anyway).

Guidebook- Original pic courtesy of Nerf Dart Tag Tournament Malaysia 2012

The writing really is on the wall that the traditional yellow and orange is definitely on the way out. As I've stated in earlier posts, you either pick up your favourite N-Strike blasters to stockpile them, or wait for the possibility of them being revisioned under the Elite banner. Such was the dilemma I had a few months ago with the Alpha Trooper and Spectre...

SG Nerf: Nerf Elite Pinpoint Sight?:

Rant: We're all blaster snobs

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Clearly, she's done this before.. never.

I was standing in the toy gun aisle in a Target the other day while I overheard a conversation a man was having with what I think was his gf/wife about Super Soakers. He picked up a Thunderstorm box and showed it to her and said "I got me two of these, Fully automatic madness. I'm gonna totally own Dan's kids next time we have a water fight"

She seemed suitably impressed and said the customary grown up thing to say of "they look so dangerous, so different to when WE were kids" and thought he was an all round wacky kinda guy.

I just looked at them in horror, quietly shook my head and thought to myself "lightweight":P Are you serious? Water guns when you were a kid would totally destroy two Thunderstorms.

How many times has this happened to you when you hear someone talk about toy blasters like they're an expert but really, they have no clue and you can't help but think they're a total noob? Yup, that's how I felt. And then I realised. Dear god, I am a blaster snob..


Ever been to some sort of regular mixer and some guy is trying to go on about how awesome he is because he bought a Nerf gun and boasts about it being a 6 shooter and you feel the massive desire to just jump in and say "that's a Maverick, it's been around for ages, normally the first gun any 8yo gets in the Nerf range, whatever chump"? Then you're a blaster snob.

If you've ever had some friend of yours who's a parent go on about how their kid has "so many Nerf guns" and you look at their collection and say "yawn, yeah I've got them all but that one isn't very good, you obviously don't love your child very much" then... you're a blaster snob.

Ever had someone come to you to tell you about the "latest Nerf gun" and you say "I have it, that's not new".. then you're a blaster snob.

Do you read websites where mainstream journalists write about toy blasters and obviously have no real idea what they're on about, and the photos they show with them holding one like it's from another planet just make you want to cringe and write a comment under their article letting them know the Nitron is NOT the biggest Nerf blaster out there and they're "holding it by the clip, noob"? Then you're a blaster snob.

If you've ever said "it's a blaster, not a gun" then you're a blaster snob.

If you take pleasure in absolutely outclassing some punk who thinks he's the shiz with his stock Recon with your heavily modded to death Longshot and making it rain foam all over him while telling him exactly WHY his blaster is inferior to yours, even if said punk is only 10 years old and you're old enough to be his dad.. then you're a blaster snob.

If you actually read this blog, and blogs like it.. then you're a blaster snob. Especially if you find inaccuracies in my posts and call me on it. Then you're a pedantic douche of a blaster snob:P (hehe)

And, if you've ever cringed at a mother buying a Cosmic Thruster, you know you're probably a blaster snob too. Although if you throw yourself in front of her and stop her and convince her to buy something else, you're just a good Samaritan :D

Rumours: Super Soaker X-Treme Hydro Pack

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Our man Chenanio spotted some more intel on upcoming Super Soaker gear from Tao Bao; back in the day there were various backpack influenced water guns so it's great to see Hasbro bring back the Hydro pack.

As always, the product is often overshadowed by the back of the box.. check out some of the new kit!! 

Aesthetically they are looking tough, but hard to see if other than the Thunderstorm if they have triggers or not...

What's NEW for Tactical Tag?

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September has admittedly been a slow month for Tactical Tag, which reflects how busy I've been with other things.  At the same time, I know there's a slight concern out there from folks who have seen NM&R's activity take a massive dip with Jerm's departure from the hobby as he ::gasp:: refocuses his time on more important things in life.  While I'm not certain of NM&R's foreseeable future, as the other administrators there are discussing our options, Tactical Tag will always be here.  That much I am certain of!

There are a few things in the works to make Tactical Tag better for both my readers here and on YouTube.  First, I will be opening a store that I'll list products that I've worked on.  I still won't be accepting any commission work, but instead continuing to be active in the hobby and find good homes for my older projects. 

Second, I WILL be bringing back the Weekly Giveaway in some form.  I still haven't decided how I'm going to run it, but I can tell you it will no longer be a random selection.  It will also likely not be a weekly event anymore, but rather a monthly contest with a prize.  I know a lot of readers had been wanting the giveaway to return in some respect, so I'm hoping to give back to the community that has been so good to me!  No official ETA on that just yet.

And lastly, I'll be improving a few media things both here and on the YouTube channel thanks to a new camera I have on order and access to better video editing software.  It's something I've wanted to improve to better serve the hobby as far as promoting Laser Tag and Nerf as well as continuing to document and follow projects and make some nice tutorials.  I'm really looking forward to bettering the experience here for you, so stay tuned for all that!

Elite Fakes: All too Easy!

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Attention to detail will go a long way and save some over-enthusiastic Nerf Fans some trouble.  I've made it abundantly clear before that my Elite Longshot and my Elite Nitefinder are fan-made blasters that, while designed to mimic the look of those blasters, aren't claiming to be a legitimate part of the lineup.  I just like the way Elite blasters look so I took two of my favorite blasters and made 'em "Elite" looking.

Recently, a photo of this "Elite Jolt" has surfaced and, ironically enough, I received this very image as a submission to Nerf Mods & Reviews.  In my busy schedule I just flat-out forgot to publish the photo.  To my delight, Nerf fans over at SG Nerf have been going bonkers about this photo.  While some have already correctly identified the points that make this blaster "fake", others continue to be hopeful that it's real.  While the blaster's repaint is VERY convincing, there are two points that are obvious giveaways about it's "fake"-ness.

1. The blaster is still called the "Jolt".  Nerf has already confirmed the name will be "Triad" and it will likely be slightly different in design, not a repaint like the one above.
2. The N-Strike logo is the normal one, not an Elite logo.  Even the blasters that have been revamped for the Elite lineup like the Recon (Retaliator) and Raider (Rampage) have Elite logos on them.

So while the paint job is great looking, it's not a legitimate N-Strike Elite blaster.  In my experience with the hundreds of comments I got about my Elite Longshot, even IF the facts are out there, folks will still overreact and freak out about it, but I figured having some solid info floating around out there might help lesser-informed fans.  In the meantime, we can anxiously await the Strongarm, Triad, and other new Elite blasters coming out in the months to come!

Trigger colors!

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Urban Taggers noticed it with the "more powerful" versions of the Dart Tag gear being identified by their Blue Triggers and now we have another way to see the difference between the US Release of Elite blasters and the "watered down" versions that they had reported.  You'll recall that Nerf announced that lower-range versions of the Elite blasters were slated for international release for safety reasons, and now it appears there's an aesthetic change on top of the power difference.


Gray triggers on Urban Tagger's Australian-based Elite Blasters are the surefire way to tell what kind of blaster you've got.  Personally, I like the gray plastic trigger better.  Using a gray trigger in a repainted blaster would look better than painting a trigger gray or black only to have the paint wear off. 
So it looks like we've got a basic visual way to tell the difference between different strengths in blasters.  Blue triggers on Dart Tag gear are better while Orange triggers on Elite gear denote the stronger performance.  ...interesting! Gotta love UT's attentio to detail!