Everything You Need to Know About Nerf Swords
What’s in this article?
Few brands are as well known for making foam swords as Nerf. The toy
Sometime during the late 2000s, as well as a few production periods prior, Hasbro began to make foam swords as part of their N-Force collection and since then, their foam blades have had a role in many kids’ pretend play sessions.
What Are Nerf Swords For?
Nerf swords have a reputation for being well-made but also as a children’s toy. That said, a number of foam swords on the market right now are designed for use as toys as well as cosplay and collector’s items. This is because many Nerf swords are made to resemble swords from popular anime, movies, and cartoon franchises, making them desirable toys for children, cosplayers, collectors, and role play enthusiasts alike.
Cosplay
Cosplayers often use replica swords made of foam as a costume prop. This is especially common for cosplayers who dress up as anime characters or characters from fantasy franchises. Because of this, longswords, katana, and claymore styled foam swords with accurate details are popular in the cosplay community.
Though a few creators make their own, many prefer to use quality pre-made Nerf swords and customize them to add more realism as needed.
Toys
Nerf swords are primarily made as children’s toys which is why you’ll often find them being played in backyards all over the world. That said, the toy has experienced a decline in popularity because many parents now fear that playing with Nerf guns is equivalent to simulated violence.
Regardless, Nerf swords are generally safe toys for children as they are soft and have no hard edges or small parts that children can hurt themselves with during play.
Collecting
Some people buy things just for nostalgia and Nerf swords are no different. Foam swords made to look like Link’s
Art and history enthusiasts may also collect foam swords that resemble swords from famous works of art such as Excalibur, the mythic
Role Play
Foam weapons are also an important prop in the Live Action Role Playing (LARP) community. Members of the community gather to dress up as fantasy/historical heroes and stage recreations of battles from Lord of the Rings and other similar media. Since this means hitting each other with weapons, wood and steel replicas can pose a risk for players, making foam the ideal material for safety.
What Are the Most Popular Nerf Swords?
Nerf swords come in a variety of sizes and styles, most of which are sized for use by children and teens while a few are designed for use by adult Nerf fans. The most popular styles for a Nerf
Nerf N-Force Vendetta
The N-Force Vendetta is a Nerf foam toy that was released as part of the N-Force series in 2009. Unlike previous Nerf collections, the N-Force series focused on melee weapons such as hatchets, battle axes, and swords.
Of those, the N-Force Vendetta quickly rose to be one of the most popular and highest selling Nerf swords along with the Nerf N-Force Marauder. Despite its popularity, the series was discontinued in 2011 so the only option still available on Amazon is the N-Force Vendetta.
The N-Force Vendetta is a longsword style blade that looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie with its blue decor lines resembling light strips used in sci-fi films like Tron. It has a sleek, aerodynamic blade that whips through the air as you slash with it.
The
- Material: Foam
- Length: 76.20 cm
Alternatives to Nerf Swords
Nerf offers a variety of melee and ranged toy weapons from its N-Strike, Rival, and N-Force collections as well as collaboration collections with games like Fortnite. Right now, these are some of the most popular and, frankly, most fun Nerf
Nerf N-Strike Elite Retaliator
The Nerf N-Strike Elite Retaliator is a sub $50 fan favorite dart blaster because of its speedy fire rate, comfortable design, and compatibility with other N-Strike blasters. It can be modified into 4 configurations so you can find the most optimal setting to protect your base with.
The Retaliator is also one of Nerf’s semi-automatic offerings. It can blast each dart up to 71 feet per second so there’s nowhere for your opponents to escape.
- Material: Plastic
- Length: 31 cm
Nerf N-Force Battlemaster Mace Axe
Like the name suggests, the Nerf N-Force Battlemaster Mace Axe combines the blunt force oriented design of a medieval mace with ax blades to create the deadliest foam weapon to enter a suburban backyard’s battlefield.
For the parents out there, don’t worry as the Battlemaster isn’t actually sharp or heavy. While it can definitely knock the wind out of someone if swung hard enough, your kids can’t get hurt with this all-foam toy.
- Material: Foam
- Length: 76.2 cm
Nerf Rival Blasters
Fully motorized for a full offensive advantage, the Nerf Rival Nemesis is one of Nerf’s fastest automatic blasters. The entire blaster is optimized for speed and maneuverability, hence the relatively small size compared to other Nerf automatic guns.
The Rival Nemesis uses a hopper feed that you can load and unload by taking out the clear chamber and swapping it for a full spare chamber. If that’s not an option, you can still load rounds directly into the hopper in a snap.
- Material: Plastic
- Length: 74.09 cm
Nerf Fortnite Blaster
The Nerf Fornite Blaster was made in collaboration with Fortnite, a first person shooting game that uses guns of similar builds to those previously featured in Nerf collections. This SR Blaster is the most lightweight, fast-paced blaster from the collection because of its handheld firearm-based design and inclusion of a scope.
The blaster comes with 8 darts and can hold up to 4 darts at a time. There aren’t any automatic or semi-automatic mechanisms in this blaster, so when you land a hit, you know it’s all your skills doing the heavy lifting.
- Material: Plastic
- Length: 35.56 cm
Nerf N-Strike Modulus
Coming in at just a little over $50, the Nerf N-Strike Modulus is a popular blaster among Nerf enthusiasts who like a classic design that makes them feel like they’re playing Call of Duty. This simple blaster doesn’t have any automation, but with a bit of skill, you can easily get top of the line performance out of this Nerf gun and its aerodynamic Mega Whistler Darts.
The blaster is compatible with Fire Vision gear that adds another layer of realism to your war games without risking injury.
- Material: Plastic
- Length: 59.41 cm
Conclusion
Nerf’s dominance in the toy weapon industry is all thanks to their high quality toys, reasonable prices, and penchant for innovative play. Sometimes the classics are where it’s at, which is why Nerf swords are still a treasured part of the Nerf enthusiast community, cosplayers, and young children alike.
