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83-469: Nerf is a toy brand formed by Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro . Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry , with other Nerf products including balls for sports such as American football , basketball, and baseball. Their best known toys are their dart guns (referred to by Hasbro as "blasters") that shoot ammunition made from "Nerf foam" (partially reticulated polyether type polyurethane foam ). Their primary slogan, introduced in
166-535: A Wii Remote accessory. In June 2019, Raw Thrills released the Nerf Arcade game. GameMill Entertainment published Nerf Legends , a first-person shooter game released on 19 November 2021 for Microsoft Windows , Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S . In 2021, an online multiplayer first-person shooter titled Nerf Strike was developed by The Gang Stockholm and released by Metaverse Team under license from Hasbro on
249-669: A cease and desist letter. The incident resulted in fans setting up a campaign on Facebook boycotting Hasbro. Toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment . Simple examples include toy blocks , board games , and dolls . Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building
332-553: A Super Soaker patent. In November of that year, Hasbro won its patent case against Buzz Bee with the latter banned from producing certain water guns. In April 2012, Hasbro contacted the Australia -based fan blog "Urban Taggers" for leaking information on unreleased Nerf products found on the Chinese marketplace website Taobao . Hasbro allegedly tricked one of the bloggers into disclosing his home address for their lawyers to mail him
415-792: A fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones. Playing with toys can be an enjoyable way of training young children for life experiences. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys. Newer forms of toys include interactive digital entertainment and smart toys . Some toys are produced primarily as collectors' items and are intended for display only. The origin of toys
498-527: A large and important part of human existence, the toy industry has a substantial economic impact. Sales of toys often increase around holidays where gift-giving is a tradition. Some of these holidays include Christmas, Easter, Saint Nicholas Day , and Three Kings Day . In 2005, toy sales in the United States totaled about $ 22.9 billion. Money spent on children between the ages of 8 and twelve alone totals approximately $ 221 million annually in
581-486: A lightweight foam that is notably different from traditional darts in that they are made with closed-cell, rather than open-cell foam. This construction allows for fins to be molded into the rear of the darts. Size-wise, Ultra darts are between N-Strike Elite darts and Mega darts in diameter, but shorter than both in length. They cannot be fired from any previous Nerf line or off-brand compatible blasters, nor can any other lines' darts be fired from Ultra blasters. This design
664-408: A model Noah's Ark with miniature animals and objects from other Bible scenes. With growing prosperity among the middle class , children had more leisure time on their hands, which led to the application of industrial methods to the manufacture of toys. More complex mechanical and optical -based toys were also invented during the nineteenth century. Carpenter and Westley began to mass-produce
747-553: A series of child labor laws, putting an end to child labor in nations such as the U.S. (1949). This fully entrenched, through law, the Western idea that childhood is a time for leisure , not work—and with leisure time comes more space for consumer goods such as toys. During the Second World War , some new types of toys were created through accidental innovation. After trying to create a replacement for synthetic rubber ,
830-548: A single repository. Foam dart blaster 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. More competitive blaster enthusiasts sometimes choose to opt for building or 3D printing their own blaster instead for improved performance, and modding
913-478: A specific age range can even harm the development of children in that range, such as when for example toys meant for young girls contribute to the ongoing problem of girls' sexualization in Western culture. A study suggested that supplying fewer toys in the environment allows toddlers to better focus to explore and play more creatively. The provision of four rather than sixteen toys is thus suggested to promote children's development and healthy play. Age compression
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#1732779651773996-427: A study found that parents who demonstrated some androgynous behavior have higher scores in support, warmth, and self-worth in regards to the treatment of their children. Even as this debate is evolving and children are becoming more inclined to cross barriers in terms of gender with their toys, girls are typically more encouraged to do so than boys because of the societal value of masculinity. With toys comprising such
1079-518: A toy bow and arrow from their father while young girls receive a toy basket from their mother. In North African and Saharan cultural communities, gender plays a role in the creation of self-made dolls. While female dolls are used to represent brides, mothers, and wives, male dolls are used to represent horsemen and warriors. This contrast stems from the various roles of men and women within the Saharan and North African communities. There are differences in
1162-430: A variety of priming mechanisms for foam dart blasters, the two major ones are spring-powered, typically being manually powered, and flywheel, typically requiring batteries. 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. A flywheel blaster has a set of rapidly spinning wheels, that upon contact propel
1245-763: A wide range of other skills. One example of the dramatic ways that toys can influence child development involves clay sculpting toys such as Play-Doh and Silly Putty and their home-made counterparts. Mary Ucci, Educational Director of the Child Study Center of Wellesley College , has demonstrated how such toys positively impact the physical development , cognitive development , emotional development , and social development of children. Toys for infants often make use of distinctive sounds, bright colors, and unique textures . Through repetition of play with toys, infants begin to recognize shapes and colors. Play-Doh , Silly Putty and other hands-on materials allow
1328-767: Is prehistoric ; dolls representing infants, animals, and soldiers, as well as representations of tools used by adults, are readily found at archaeological sites. The origin of the word "toy" is unknown, but it is believed that it was first used in the 14th century. Toys are mainly made for children. The oldest known doll toy is thought to be 4,000 years old. Playing with toys is an important part of aging. Younger children use toys to discover their identity, help with cognition , learn cause and effect, explore relationships, become stronger physically, and practice skills needed in adulthood. Adults on occasion use toys to form and strengthen social bonds, teach, help in therapy, and to remember and reinforce lessons from their youth. A toymaker
1411-538: Is a popular line of water guns . Recently, Hasbro has released a line of Nerf-branded Super Soaker blasters. Lazer Tag, a popular laser tag toy line from the mid-1980s, is also currently part of the Nerf banner. The current generation of Lazer Tag blasters attach to iPhones or iPod Touch units for enhanced playability. In June 2013, Hasbro and Grammercy Products unveiled Nerf Dog, a line of Nerf-inspired canine retrieving toys made of rubber, nylon, and plastic. Nerf Dog
1494-413: Is facilitated by children through the use of toys to enact scenes recognizable in their community such as hunting and herding. The value is placed in a realistic version of development in preparing a child for the future they are likely to grow up into. This allows the child to imagine and create a personal interpretation of how they view the adult world. However, in other cultures, toys are used to expand
1577-490: Is generally not as looked down upon for girls to play with toys designed "for boys", an activity which has also become more common in recent years. Fathers are also more likely to reinforce typical play and discourage atypical play than mothers are. A study done by researcher Susan Witt suggests that stereotypes are oftentimes only strengthened by the environment, which perpetuates them to linger in older life. This stereotypical attribution of sex-typical toys for girls and boys
1660-408: Is gradually changing, with toys companies creating more gender neutral toys, as the benefits associated with allowing children to play with toys that appeal to them far outweighs controlling their individual preferences. For example, many stores are beginning to change their gender labels on children's play items. Target removed all identification related to gender from their toy aisles and Disney did
1743-518: Is isolated and independent of the social constraints placed on society leaving the children free to delve into the imaginary and idealized version of what their development in life could be. In addition, children from differing communities may treat their toys in different ways based on their cultural practices. Children in more affluent communities may tend to be possessive of their toys, while children from poorer communities may be more willing to share and interact more with other children. The importance
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#17327796517731826-428: Is key in the toy industry and to succeed one must create a 'wow' moment for kids by designing toys that have fun, innovative features and include new technologies and engaging content." In an effort to reduce costs, many mass-producers of toys locate their factories in areas where wages are lower. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world's toys and is home to more than 8,000 toy firms, most of which are located in
1909-403: Is no gender neutral section on their website. Those which are generally deemed for both genders more closely resemble what many would label "boy toys," as they relate closer to the stereotype of masculinity within play. Traditions within various cultures promote the passing down of certain toys to their children based on the child's gender. In Indigenous South American communities, boys receive
1992-555: 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. While there exists
2075-424: Is the modern trend of children moving through play stages faster than was the case in the past. Children have a desire to progress to more complex toys at a faster pace, girls in particular. Barbie dolls, for example, were once marketed to girls around 8 years old but have been found to be more popular in recent years with girls around 3 years old, with most girls outgrowing the brand by about age 7. The packaging for
2158-470: Is the name of someone who makes toys. Toys and games have been retrieved from the sites of ancient civilizations, and have been mentioned in ancient literature. Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization (3010–1500 BCE) include small carts, whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys that could slide down a string. One of the earliest examples of children's toys is a set of three stone balls found in
2241-399: Is the use of meta-analysis , which provides a way to assess patterns in a systematic way, especially relevant for a topic such as gender, which can be difficult to quantify. Nature and nurture have historically been analyzed when looking at gender in play, as well as reinforcement by peers and parents of typical gender roles and consequently, gender play. Toy companies have often promoted
2324-429: Is tracked in young infants, infant girls show a visual preference for a doll over a toy truck (d > 1.0). Boys showed no preference for the truck over the doll. However, they did fixate on the truck more than the girls (d = .78). This small study suggests that even before any self-awareness of gender identity has emerged, children already prefer sex-typical toys. These differences in toy choice are well established within
2407-740: The American International Toy Fair in New York City . In 2014, the Nerf Zombie Strike Crossfire Bow won the award for "Best Action Toy" at the 2014 U.K. Toy Fair. In June 2010, Hasbro sued Buzz Bee Toys and Lanard Toys for patent violation of its Nerf and Super Soaker brands. The lawsuit stated that Buzz Bee and Lanard infringed two U.S. patents for the Nerf N-Strike Disc Shot blaster, while Buzz Bee infringed on
2490-577: The Hello Kitty brand and the Disney Princess franchise. Boys have shown an interest in computer games at an ever-younger age in recent years. Certain toys, such as Barbie dolls and toy soldiers, are often perceived as being more acceptable for one gender than the other. The turning point for the addition of gender to toys came about in the 1960s and 1970s. Before 1975, only about two percent of toys were labeled by gender, whereas today on
2573-746: The Meta Horizon Store .The game was shut down and subsequently delisted on August 31st 2023. April 2023, they collaborated with the game Stumble Guys to add a Nerf-themed mini game to their game. In 2011, the Nerf N-Strike Stampede ECS was awarded "Boy Toy of the Year" and the Nerf Super Soaker Shot Blast won "Outdoor Toy of the Year" at the 11th Annual Toy of the Year Awards, which is held at
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2656-611: The Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province . 75% of all toys sold in the U.S., for example, are manufactured in China. Issues and events such as power outages, supply of raw materials, supply of labor, and raising wages that impact areas where factories are located often have an enormous impact on the toy industry in importing countries. Many traditional toy makers have been losing sales to video game makers for years. Because of this, some traditional toy makers have entered
2739-585: The PlayStation 2 , Nintendo DSi , DS Lite , 3DS and the Wii . Visionary Media, Inc. released the first-person shooter Nerf Arena Blast (or NAB , sometimes Arena Blast ) in 1999. EA Games , in association with Hasbro, released the 2008 video game Nerf N-Strike and its 2009 sequel Nerf N-Strike Elite . Both games feature the Switch Shot EX-3 , which doubles as a functional dart blaster and
2822-625: The Tonka Corporation, which itself was purchased by Hasbro in 1991, which then became the owner of Nerf. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Nerf brand served under the subsidiaries OddzOn and Larami before Hasbro took full control of the brand. Nerf released the first foam dart blaster in 1992. Over the years, Nerf has continued to expand the line, adding new looks to existing products, with later lines of Nerf products ranging from sport balls and foam dart blasters to video games and accessories. In February 2013, Hasbro announced
2905-498: The kaleidoscope , invented by Sir David Brewster in 1817, and had sold over 200,000 items within three months in London and Paris. The company was also able to mass-produce magic lanterns for use in phantasmagoria and galanty shows, by developing a method of mass production using a copper plate printing process. Popular imagery on the lanterns included royalty , flora and fauna , and geographical/man-made structures from around
2988-548: The "must-have toys" of the 1940s ), Mr. Potato Head , the Barbie doll (inspired by the Bild Lilli doll from Germany), and Action Man . The Rubik's Cube became an enormous seller in the 1980s. In modern times, there are computerized dolls that can recognize and identify objects, the voice of their owner, and choose among hundreds of pre-programmed phrases with which to respond. The act of children's play with toys embodies
3071-445: The 1750s, including A Journey Through Europe . The game was very similar to modern board games; players moved along a track with the throw of a die (a teetotum was actually used) and landing on different spaces would either help or hinder the player. In the nineteenth century, Western values prioritized toys with an educational purpose, such as puzzles, books, cards and board games. Religion-themed toys were also popular, including
3154-488: The 1990s, is "It's Nerf or Nothin'!" . Annual revenues under the Nerf brand are approximately US$ 400 million . Parker Brothers originally developed Nerf, beginning with a 4-inch (100 mm) polyurethane foam ball. In 1969, Reyn Guyer , a Minnesota-based games inventor, and Minnesota Vikings kicker Fred Cox came to the company with a football game that was safe for indoor play, and after studying it carefully, Parker Brothers decided to eliminate everything but
3237-471: The 19th century. In 1903, a year after publishing The Tale of Peter Rabbit , English author Beatrix Potter created the first Peter Rabbit soft toy and registered him at the Patent Office in London, making Peter the oldest licensed character. It was followed by other "spin-off" merchandise over the years, including painting books and board games. The Smithsonian magazine stated, "Potter
3320-469: The American Earl L. Warrick inadvertently invented "nutty putty" during World War II . Later, Peter Hodgson recognized the potential as a childhood plaything and packaged it as Silly Putty . Similarly, Play-Doh was originally created as a wallpaper cleaner. In 1943 Richard James was experimenting with springs as part of his military research when he saw one come loose and fall to the floor. He
3403-624: The Disney store's website, considered a dominating global force for toys by researcher Claire Miller, all toys are labeled by gender. The journal Sex Roles began publishing research on this topic in 1975, focusing on the effects of gender in youth. Too, many psychological textbooks began to address this new issue. Along with these publications, researchers also started to challenge the ideas of male and female as being opposites, even going as far as to claim toys which have characteristics of both genders are preferable. A milestone for research on gender
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3486-456: The English lawyer Angelo John Lewis , writing under the pseudonym of Professor Hoffman, wrote a book called Puzzles Old and New . It contained, among other things, more than 40 descriptions of puzzles with secret opening mechanisms. This book grew into a reference work for puzzle games and was very popular at the time. The Tangram puzzle, originally from China, spread to Europe and America in
3569-599: The Nerf community. Nerf Rival blasters are targeted towards an older target market than Nerf's better-known dart blasters. In 2017, Hasbro released the Nerf Nitro line, which consists of blasters that fire foam cars into obstacles and stunt ramps. Released in September 2019, Nerf Ultra (branded as ULTRA) blasters fire a new, proprietary dart design that is marketed as "THE FARTHEST FLYING DART EVER. Darts can travel up to 120 feet." The new Ultra darts are constructed from
3652-461: The U.S. It was estimated that in 2011, 88% of toy sales was in the age group 0–11 years. Toy companies change and adapt their toys to meet the changing demands of children thereby gaining a larger share of the substantial market. In recent years many toys have become more complicated with flashing lights and sounds in an effort to appeal to children raised around television and the internet. According to Mattel 's president, Neil Friedman, "Innovation
3735-628: The Western World. At this point, name-brand toys became widespread in the U.S.–a new phenomenon that helped market mass-produce toys to audiences of children growing up with ample leisure time and during a period of relative prosperity. Among the more well-known products of the 1950s there was the Danish company Lego 's line of colourful interlocking plastic brick construction sets (based on Hilary Page 's Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, described by London's V&A Museum of Childhood as among
3818-465: The archaeological record. Small figurines and models found in tombs are usually interpreted as ritual objects; those from settlement sites are more easily labelled as toys. These include spinning tops, balls of spring, and wooden models of animals with movable parts. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome , children played with dolls made of wax or terracotta : sticks, bows and arrows , and yo-yos . When Greek children, especially girls, came of age, it
3901-469: The building of working models and mechanical devices. Dinky Toys pioneered the manufacture of die-cast toys with the production of toy cars, trains and ships and model train sets became popular in the 1920s. The Britains company revolutionized the production of toy soldiers with the invention of the process of hollow casting in lead in 1893 – the company's products remained the industry standard for many years. Puzzles became popular as well. In 1893,
3984-427: The child by the age of three. Another study done by Jeffrey Trawick-Smith took 60 different children ages three to four and observed them playing with nine different toys deemed best for development. They were allowed to play with the toys in a typical environment, a preschool classroom, which allowed for the results to be more authentic compared to research done in a lab. The researchers then quantified play quality of
4067-595: The child places on possession is dictated by the values in place within the community that the children observe on a daily basis. Toys, like play itself, serve multiple purposes in both humans and animals. They provide entertainment while fulfilling an educational role. Toys enhance cognitive behavior and stimulate creativity. They aid in the development of physical and mental skills which are necessary in later life. Wooden blocks , though simple, are regarded by early childhood education experts such as Sally Cartwright (1974) as an excellent toy for young children; she praised
4150-478: The child to make toys of their own. Educational toys for school age children of often contain a puzzle , problem-solving technique, or mathematical proposition. Often toys designed for older audiences, such as teenagers or adults, demonstrate advanced concepts. Newton's cradle , a desk toy designed by Simon Prebble , demonstrates the conservation of momentum and energy . Not all toys are appropriate for all ages of children. Even some toys which are marketed for
4233-431: The children with each toy based on factors such as learning, problem solving, curiosity, creativity, imagination, and peer interaction. The results revealed that boys generally received higher scores for overall play quality than girls, and the toys with the best play quality were those identified as the most gender neutral, such as building blocks and bricks along with pieces modeling people. Trawick-Smith then concluded that
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#17327796517734316-627: The daily flux of making and consuming, of getting along. They had no autonomy, separate statuses, privileges, special rights or forms of social comportment that were entirely their own." As these ideas began changing during the Enlightenment Era, blowing bubbles from leftover washing up soap became a popular pastime, as shown in the painting The Soap Bubble (1739) by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin , and other popular toys included hoops , toy wagons , kites , spinning wheels and puppets . Many board games were produced by John Jefferys in
4399-473: The dark. Most Nerf blasters also have rails, known as tactical rails, which can accommodate different attachments, as well as special adapters such as barrel and stock adapters. The "N-strike" sub-line was launched in 2004, and is styled more like a real weapon than previous Nerf products. It was updated in 2012 as N-Strike Elite. Released in 2013, the Rebelle line was a series of blasters predominantly aimed at
4482-465: The development of a child's cognition in an idealistic fashion. In these communities, adults place the value of play with toys to be on the aspirations they set forth for their child. In the Western culture, the Barbie and Action-Man represent lifelike figures but in an imaginative state out of reach from the society of these children and adults. These toys give way to a unique world in which children's play
4565-520: The dolls labels them appropriate for ages 3 and up. Boys, in contrast, apparently enjoy toys and games over a longer timespan, gravitating towards toys that meet their interest in assembling and disassembling mechanical toys, and toys that "move fast and things that fight". An industry executive points out that girls have entered the " tween " phase by the time they are 8 years old and want non-traditional toys, whereas boys have been maintaining an interest in traditional toys until they are 12 years old, meaning
4648-608: The fact that they are relatively easy to engage with, can be used in repeatable and predictable ways, and are versatile and open-ended, allowing for a wide variety of developmentally appropriate play. Andrew Witkin, director of marketing for Mega Brands , told Investor's Business Daily that "They help develop hand-eye coordination, math and science skills and also let kids be creative." Other toys like marbles , jackstones , and balls serve similar functions in child development, allowing children to use their minds and bodies to learn about spatial relationships , cause and effect , and
4731-566: The female demographic , with similar internal mechanics to the Nerf N-Strike elite line, sporting pink, purple and teal colors. The Zombie Strike line was launched in 2013, and is geared for fans of Humans vs. Zombies games. All blasters have a distinct zombie apocalypse theme, with newer blasters featuring a DIY aesthetic. Nerf Rival blasters (branded as RIVAL) fire small foam balls referred to by Nerf as "High Impact Rounds", but usually referred to as “Rival Balls” or "Rival Rounds" by
4814-488: The field of electronic games and have even been turning audio games into toys, and are enhancing the brands that they have by introducing interactive extensions or internet connectivity to their current toys. In addition, the rise of distributed manufacturing enables consumers to make their own toys from open source designs with a 3-D printer . As of 2017 consumers were already offsetting millions of dollars per year by 3D printing their own toys from MyMiniFactory ,
4897-517: The first TV commercials for the balls were joint promotions with General Foods ' Kool-Aid drink mix, with Micky Dolenz , Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith of the Monkees playing with the balls on a living room soundstage (Kool-Aid sponsored the 1969–70 Saturday morning reruns of the Monkees' 1966–67 TV series ). The ball filled a strong consumer need and by the year's end, more than four million Nerf balls had been sold. The 4-inch (100 mm) ball
4980-555: The foam ball. The inventors' in-house name for the ball was the " falsie -ball," referencing the sculpted padding for bras used to create the appearance of larger breasts . Parker Brothers instead chose the name "Nerf," taken from Nerf bars , the protective tubing used to avoid minor collisions during off-roading . In 1970, the Nerf ball was introduced as the "world's first official indoor ball." Marketing slogans promised that one can "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people." Some of
5063-535: The late 18th and early 19th century, many families needed to send their children to work in factories and other sites to make ends meet—just as their predecessors had required their labor producing household goods in the medieval era. Business owners' exploitation and abuse of child laborers during this period differed from how children had been treated as workers within a family unit, though. Thanks to advocacy including photographic documentation of children's exploitation and abuse by business owners, Western nations enacted
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#17327796517735146-584: The online platform Roblox . In August 2022, developers Secret Location under licence from Hasbro released the Virtual reality game multiplayer shooter titled NERF Ultimate Championships for the Meta Quest 2 platform.In February 2023 Secret Location announced on a now deleted developer update on the Meta Horizon Store listing that the studio was shutting down, meaning that support for NERF Ultimate Championships will soon end it will be delisted off
5229-540: The pieces. In Iran , "puzzle-locks" were made as early as the 17th century (CE). Toys became more widespread with changing Western attitudes towards children and childhood brought about by the Enlightenment . Previously, children had often been thought of as small adults, who were expected to work in order to produce the goods that the family needed to survive. As children's culture scholar Stephen Kline has argued, Medieval children were "more fully integrated into
5312-450: The primary influencer on the gender roles of their children. Parents, siblings, peers, and even teachers have been shown to react more positively to children engaging in sex-typical behavior and playing with sex-typical toys. This is often done through encouragement or discouragement, as well as suggestions and imitation. Additionally, sons are more likely to be reinforced for sex-typical play and discouraged from atypical play. However, it
5395-461: The release of its "Rebelle" line, a sub-line aimed at girls, with its first products released in fall of 2013. In November 2013, POW! Books published The Ultimate Nerf Blaster Book . Written by Nathaniel Marunas, the book highlights the history of Nerf and provides details on every N-Strike, Dart Tag, and Vortex blaster produced at the time of the book's release. In 2015, the Rival line of blasters
5478-519: The same for their costumes. The Disney store is an especially prevalent example of gender in play because they are a global identity in the toy world. A study done regarding their website found that though they have removed gender labels from their costumes, the toys online reflect more stereotypical gender identities. For example, toys depicting males were associated with physicality and females were associated with beauty, housing, and caring. Though Disney promotes their toys as being for both genders, there
5561-410: The segregation by gender in toys because it enables them to customize the same toy for each gender, which ultimately doubles their revenue. For example, Legos added more colors to certain sets of toys in the 1990s, including colors commonly attributed to girls such as lavender. It has been noted by researchers that, "Children as young as 18 months display sex-stereotyped toy choices". When eye movement
5644-425: The study encourages a focus on toys which are beneficial to both genders in order to create a better balance. While some parents promote gender neutral play, many parents encourage their children to participate in sex-typed activities, including doll-playing and engaging in housekeeping activities for girls and playing with trucks and engaging in sports activities for boys. Researcher Susan Witt said that parents are
5727-401: The supply to meet this rising demand. Intellectual emphasis was also increasingly being placed on the importance of a wholesome and happy childhood for the future development of children. Franz Kolb , a German pharmacist, invented plasticine in 1880, and in 1900 commercial production of the material as a children's toy began. Frank Hornby was a visionary in toy development and manufacture and
5810-400: The tomb of a four-year-old girl at Xi'an Banpo Neolithic site. The earliest toys were made from natural materials, such as rocks, sticks, and clay . Thousands of years ago, Egyptian children played with dolls that had wigs and movable limbs, which were made from stone, pottery, and wood. However, evidence of toys in ancient Egypt is exceptionally difficult to identify with certainty in
5893-536: The toys that are intended for girls and boys within various cultures, which is reflective of the differing roles of men and women within a specific cultural community. Research on the repercussions of gender in toys suggests that desegregation of the genders can be achieved by encouraging more gender-neutral play. Researchers Carol Auster and Claire Mansbach have argued that allowing children to play with toys which more closely fit their talents would help them to better develop their skills. In terms of parental influence,
5976-575: The traditional toy industry holds onto their boy customers for 50% longer than their girl customers. Girls gravitate towards "music, clothes, make-up, television talent shows and celebrities". As young children are more exposed to and drawn to music intended for older children and teens, companies are having to rethink how they develop and market their products. Girls also demonstrate a longer loyalty to characters in toys and games marketed towards them. A variety of global toy companies have marketed themselves to this aspect of girls' development, for example,
6059-418: The values set forth by the adults of their specific community, but through the lens of the child's perspective. Within cultural societies, toys are a medium to enhance a child's cognitive, social, and linguistic learning. In some cultures, toys are used as a way to enhance a child's skillset within the traditional boundaries of their future roles in the community. In Saharan and North African cultures, play
6142-637: The world. The modern zoetrope was invented in 1833 by British mathematician William George Horner and was popularized in the 1860s. Wood and porcelain dolls in miniature doll houses were popular with middle-class girls, while boys played with marbles and toy trains. The golden age of toy development occurred during the Industrial Era . Real wages were rising steadily in the Western world, allowing even working-class families to afford toys for their children, and industrial techniques of precision engineering and mass production were able to provide
6225-462: Was also an entrepreneur and a pioneer in licensing and merchandising literary characters. Potter built a retail empire out of her "bunny book" that is worth $ 500 million today. In the process, she created a system that continues to benefit all licensed characters, from Mickey Mouse to Harry Potter ." In tandem with the development of mass-produced toys, Enlightenment ideals about children's rights to education and leisure time came to fruition. During
6308-857: Was announced. Initial products included the Hyper Rush-40, Hyper Siege-50, and Hyper Mach-100. Hyper rounds are similar in design to Rival rounds, but are smaller and made of a thermoplastic elastomer material that is more rubber-like than the foam used in Rival rounds. Nerf's most popular product type are Nerf blasters, which are toy plastic guns that shoot foam darts . These darts have different-style tips, including Velcro -tipped in order to stick to Nerf vests (typically shipped with Dart Tag blasters), suction cup darts designed to stick to smooth surfaces, streamlined darts to fit into magazines (referred to as clips by Nerf), and darts able to whistle in flight. Darts may also have different colors, such as colors that reflect certain sub-lines, camouflage, and glow in
6391-683: Was created in response to the growing number of third-party darts, including exact knockoffs from China, available for N-Strike Elite blasters at a much lower cost than Nerf-brand darts. In 2024, Nerf Released the Nerf N-Series, which featured a new N-1 dart, similar to the Nerf Ultra darts. These new blasters were only compatible to said dart. Hasbro plans to phase out the Elite dart with the N-1. Originally owned and marketed by Larami, Super Soaker
6474-421: Was customary for them to sacrifice the toys of their childhood to the gods . On the eve of their wedding, young girls around fourteen would offer their dolls in a temple as a rite of passage into adulthood. The oldest known mechanical puzzle also comes from ancient Greece and appeared in the 3rd century BCE. The game consisted of a square divided into 14 parts, and the aim was to create different shapes from
6557-598: Was first released. The first products released were the Rival Apollo XV-700 and the Rival Zeus MXV-1200. These blasters fire a new type of ammunition, known as "High Impact Rounds", which are small foam balls that can reach a higher velocity than foam darts. The Rival line is targeted towards an older audience, with each product listing the age of 14+ on the box. In 2021, the Hyper line of blasters
6640-411: Was followed by a large version called the "Super Nerf Ball". Shortly after, in 1972, a basketball game called "Nerfoop" and the Nerf football (developed by longtime NFL kicker Fred Cox ) joined the family, with the latter quickly becoming Nerf's most popular ball. The company continued to add to the Nerf line until they handed control to Kenner Products , a sister company. In 1987, Kenner was bought by
6723-489: Was intrigued by the way it flopped around on the floor. He spent two years fine-tuning the design to find the best gauge of steel and coil; the result was the Slinky , which went on to sell in stores throughout the United States. After the Second World War , as society became ever more affluent and new technology and materials (plastics) for toy manufacture became available, toys became cheap and ubiquitous in households across
6806-520: Was launched at Walmart stores, and debuted at pet specialty stores in Fall 2013. Based in Secaucus, N.J., Gramercy Products, Inc. is the manufacturer of Nerf Dog products. The Nerf Dog Tennis Ball Blaster mimics traditional Nerf blaster designs and shoots a ball up to 50 feet in the air. The toy uses special softer balls to reduce the risk of injury. Nerf has also produced video game accessories for
6889-402: Was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the twentieth century: Meccano , Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys . Meccano was a model construction system that consisted of re-usable metal strips, plates, angle girders , wheels, axles and gears , with nuts and bolts to connect the pieces and enabled
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