Hasbro Hall of Fame

Discussions of all varieties of stock water guns and water blasters.
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SEAL
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Hasbro Hall of Fame

Post by SEAL » Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:11 pm

I had this thought this morning and decided to post it for the sake of making a thread. Everyone likes to dirt on Hasbro, but to be perfectly fair, they have released a small number of decent weapons. Maybe nothing like Larami's best, but there have been some Hasbro guns that are battleworthy in lower tiers. This thread is dedicated to them.

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2004:

Liquidator: While pistols don't see a whole lot of use in contemporary league warfare, the Liquidator is one of the better ones, on par with the MD 4000. Of course the only downside is the very breakable Max-D trigger.

2005:

Aquapak Devastator: Rarely gets talked about, but I think it's one of the best sidearms around. The gun part isn't much bigger than a normal pistol, but due to the backpack reservoir, it can support a CPS chamber for some potent blasting, while being able to hold more water than any other backup blaster. I think it would be cool to experiment with modding this gun. Nozzle drills, colossus, and of course, de-Max-D.

Triple Shot: The king of pistols. My brother got one last year and I agree with that statement. Have you seen the size of the stream on this thing? It is by every measure a miniature CPS 2000. Shame they aren't very common. That probably has to do with the Max-D trigger breaking. This is becoming a theme here, haha.

Flash Flood: Some consider this to be the best Hasbro blaster. I don't have much experience with them, but they've got the right ingredients: CPS chamber and large nozzle. They're typically used as hit-and-run blasters, with the option to skirmish if necessary. With the right mods, the FF could compete firmly in the medium class. Although now you have TWO Max-D triggers to deal with.

2006:

Defender: Cool looks aside, this gun might not attract anyone's attention at first, but it's actually pretty beastly in its own right. It's one of the few Hasbro guns in existence with a separate PC, and that coupled with it's compact form makes it an excellent sidearm. Nozzle drilling is needed to unlock its full potential. But again, it suffers from the same thing that most other early Hasbro guns suffer from. *SNAP*

2007:

Arctic Blast: Basically a rework of the FF, though I believe it's not quite as powerful. But it's still CPS, and still has plenty of modding potential. Once again it has the Max-D virus, but you can go for the newer Iron Man 2 blaster and not have to worry about it.

Hydroblitz: A lot of people make fun of this one, but it is a big CPS gun, one of only two ever made in the company's entire 15-year ownership of Super Soaker. While the Hydroblitz won't stand much of a chance against real heavy weapons, in this company it's definitely worthy of mention. I bet there's modding potential too, although most people aren't going to want to meddle around in the clusterf*** of tubes and valves in the internals.

2011:

Hydro Cannon: The other big CPS gun. Also the only Nerf Super Soaker to make the cut. Stock, the HC isn't likely going to leave an impact except perhaps as a hit-and-run weapon in the light tier. But nobody buys a Hydro Cannon to leave it stock. With the proper mods, this might be the only Hasbro blaster capable of fighting in the big leagues. Just adding a nozzle will help it immensely.

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So there you go. Looking back on it, I find it kinda funny that people used to always complain about the Max-D system. Obviously they were legit complaints, but they seem kind of trite now that Hasbro won't even give us triggers at all anymore. They solved the problem by just eliminating pressurized soakers altogether. There are actually two downfalls of Super Soaker. It downgraded in 2003 when Hasbro took over, moving to weird gimmicks and barely any CPS, then again in 2010 when it was shoved under the Nerf banner, where only six pressurized guns have ever been released. The Hydro Cannon is an anomaly; most Nerf Super Soakers are put to shame even by older Hasbro blasters!

The history of Super Soaker can be likened to a day. Sunrise with the creation of the SS 50, mid-morning with the XP line, high noon with the CPS 2000, afternoon with the rest of the CPS series, dusk with the Hasbro takeover, and sunset with the Nerf takeover. The moon is out now. Will the sun ever rise again? Not unless we can make water wars popular. BBT never really went beyond dipping a toe into the medium class, but even they seem to be on somewhat of a decline these days. Quality has been an issue lately, and where the hell are the 2018 models?! As I've said many times before, it's time to hit the workshop. I've got a few things in the pipe that I can hopefully bring to life at some point.

I realize that was kind of a tangent that didn't really have much to do with the original topic, but I thought it was interesting. But anyway, do you agree with this list? Anything you would add or remove? Discuss.
~Hotel Oscar Golf~

We probably won't be back, but the legacy lives on.

Drenchenator
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Re: Hasbro Hall of Fame

Post by Drenchenator » Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:36 pm

Neat idea for a list! I definitely agree with a lot of this. I think once Hasbro came along each year had to have a gimmick and that gradually degraded the quality until the Super Soaker line got subsumed into Nerf, at which point it lost relevance.

I like the Liquidator. It's definitely a solid PR pistol, and it's simple design just works. It's probably my favorite pistol (other than the XP 215).

Personally, I remember the Max-D line being a real let-down from the high of CPS guns. We were expecting more awesomeness but got some mediocre. Of course by today's standards I'll take the Max-D line hands down, but in retrospect the criticism was deserved but perhaps sharper due to increased expectations.

The day metaphor is interesting. I think Hasbro and even Buzz Bee have definitely dropped the ball. We are in "dark times." If the quality was much higher there would be a lot more interest. There doesn't seem to be any interest. I've discussed Super Soakers with some people where I am and they remember it more as a 90s fad. I think homemades are the only hope at this point to drum up interest and to keep us soaking for the time being. I can't imagine all the old CPS guns lasting forever.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench

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