Australia Won’t Get Nerf’s Awesome New Rival Blasters

We like Nerf guns at Gizmodo. We really like Nerf guns. We love the look of the new Nerf Rival blasters, which shoot up to 12 golfballesque rounds — instead of darts — in rapid fire, at speeds of up to 30 metres per second. But we won’t get them in Australia, because our laws are a little too unforgiving.

After waiting several months for any news of the new blasters from Hasbro Australia — and all the while seeing post after post after post after post after post about how awesome they are — I reached out to the company’s customer service over email. (I’d done this before, but received no response.) Then, a reply:

Unfortunately there are no plans for the distribution of this product in Australia — it does not pass the safety standards required for Australia.

Boo! There you go. We’d suspected that the new Nerf rifles might be a little too powerful to be sold over the counter to the young children that might buy them; but this is Australia, where even low-impact Airsoft guns require a weapons importation certificate to bring into the country. There is some speculation that the Rival may be released in a watered-down, low-power version for Aussie enthusiasts.

So, if you were hanging out to get your hands on a shiny new Nerf Rival Zeus or Apollo for the next Zedtown shoot-out, you’re out of luck. We also suspect buying one from eBay would see it seized at Customs and probably destroyed. Better stick to modifying those classic old Nerf Slingfires and Strongarms. Or, you could just watch all these awesome Rival test videos. [Hasbro]