Nerf
It started with a dream - a dream of breaking one of the biggest
no-no's in the world: No playing ball in the house. Inventor Reynolds
Guyer (creator of Twister) had a means to attain that dream,
and that means was polyurethane. From that synthetic foam came the
first Nerf ball, and from that first Nerf ball came a line of balls,
bows, bats and more that continues to expand today. Guyer's first Nerf
ball rolled out to the public in 1969. With the promise that "You
can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old
people" (and no, that's not a challenge!).
Nerf was safe enough for indoor play, but its squishy portability
made it an ideal take-anywhere toy. By the end of its first year on
the market, over 4 million Nerf balls had been sold, and a new toy
superstar was born.
In the wake of the Space Race and moon madness, Nerf was nearly
dubbed the "Moon Ball" by its inventor. In retrospect, the made-up
word "Nerf" was a much better idea. The original ball would likely
have been a success either way, but Nerf had bigger and better things
in store than a single, smallish "Moon Ball."
Throughout the 1970's, the Nerf line expanded through nearly every
sport involving a ball -soccer, golf, ping pong, baseball, basketball
(the ever-popular Nerfoop) - and even a few with no ball relationship
whatsoever (Frisbee, darts, etc.). But the jewel in the Nerf crown was
clearly the Nerf Football. Debuting in 1972, this oblong mass of foam
soon came to dominate backyard tackle ball, street ball, kill the man
with the ball, and intramural flag football games everywhere.
While the Nerf Football continued its
reign, over 50 new kinds of Nerf products were introduced in the 80s,
including; Nerf Soccerball (1980);
Nerf PingPong
(1982); Nerf Boomerang
(1983); Nerf
Indoor Golf set (1986); and
Nerf Blast-A-Ball
(1989).
The balls were designed to be used indoors
(as it would be nigh on impossible to actually break anything with a
Nerf ball) but they were more often than not played with outside where
they would invariably get waterlogged, filthy and chewed by dogs. In
purple, orange or lime green, everything would stick to these balls -
grime, fluff, cat hair, cats . . .
Starting with 1990's Blast-a-Ball, Nerf unleashed an
assortment of toys that fired soft, safe projectiles at unsuspecting
friends or family members. The Nerf Bow and Arrow was an early
favourite, and the line has grown to encompass everything from
Crossbows to Gatling-style rotating guns to the motorised "Ballzooka."
TRIVIA NOTE
The Nerf Ball was used by astronauts on the
space shuttle to demonstrate the effects of gravity and inertia. |
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