Forty Years of Foam Fun

Ah, Nerf. So many fond childhood memories of mine involve squishy footballs thrown around a swimming pool or small yellow orbs of foam propelled at people's heads. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Nerf brand. Until the juvenile energetic staff at PC World posted this video of themselves trying out the goody-box sent by Nerf, I had no idea it was that old. Hope Nerf doesn't enter a midlife crisis. Although, judging by some of the current product offerings, you might argue that it has. I prefer to think of it more in terms of "product innovation".





Nerf circa 1969 (Wikipedia)









Nerf circa 2009 (Hasbro)

If I had one of those belt-fed behemoths in my pillow fort nobody would ever capture my flag. That is, of course, until Nerf develops the N-Bomb, which will unleash massive amounts of atom-sized foam balls annihilating everything within a square mile.

By the way, did you know that Nerf is really an acronym? Watch the PC World video to find out what it is, if you don't already know.