foam dart blaster
Illustration — A foam dart blaster enthusiast with a Nerf Stampede ECS in 2011 A foam dart blaster, or simply blaster, is a toy gun that shoots foam darts. The term is often treated synonymously with Nerf Blaster, as Nerf was the first brand to start producing blasters, and has since remained the most notable producer of them. Other notable brands include Zuru's X-Shot and Prime Time Toys' Dart Zone.
foam dart blaster
Helgi Halldórsson from Reykjavík, Iceland · Nerf · CC BY-SA 2.0
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- toy weapon
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Illustration — A foam dart blaster enthusiast with a Nerf Stampede ECS in 2011 A foam dart blaster, or simply blaster, is a toy gun that shoots foam darts. The term is often treated synonymously with Nerf Blaster, as Nerf was the first brand to start producing blasters, and has since remained the most notable producer of them. Other notable brands include Zuru's X-Shot and Prime Time Toys' Dart Zone.
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History
History
More competitive blaster enthusiasts sometimes choose to opt for building or 3D printing their own blaster instead for improved performance, and modding is popular within the community as well. Foam dart blasters are commonly used in Nerf wars, usually organized either by Nerf internet community (NIC) or locally by youth organizations.
The first foam dart blaster produced was Sharpshooter in 1992 by Nerf, owned by Hasbro. Nerf had earlier produced blasters that fired foam balls, starting in 1989, and many foam dart blaster producers continue to produce blasters that utilize different projectiles such as disks or balls.
Types
Types
While there exists a variety of priming mechanisms for foam dart blasters, they are either powered by a battery, or powered by manual effort to pull back a spring.
Spring-powered
Spring-powered
In a spring-powered blaster, the spring connects to an air plunger that, when the blaster is fired, releases the air to a sealed tube to blow the dart down the barrel.
AEB
AEB
In an AEB (Automated Electric Blaster), an electrical motor is used to pull back a plunger in a similar way to a spring-powered blaster.
Flywheel
Flywheel
A flywheel blaster has a set of rapidly spinning wheels, that upon contact propel the dart forwards.
Drain
Drain
A drain blaster requires the user to manually compress air using a bicycle pump mechanism. This air is released when the trigger is pressed. The prefix 'drain' comes from the typical majority of these blasters being made from PVC pipes. By this definition, a 'drain blaster' includes older compressed air Nerf blasters. Homemade drain blasters are a lot easier to make potent blasters, and are typically regulated at Nerf wars due to variable muzzle velocity.
Yoinky-Sploinky
Yoinky-Sploinky
A Yoinky-Sploinky uses an electric motor to pull a plunger rapidly down the tube, creating the air pressure needed for a spring-powered blater, but at a significantly higher rate of fire.
Harm
Harm
A key risk is that of eye injuries due to projective striking in or around the eyes. The can cause severe blunt ocular trauma and permanent visual loss, particularly in children. This should always be prevented by wearing eye protection during play.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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