Toy of the Day 12/3
Today's toy of the day: Nerf N-Strike Rayven (and N-Strike Elite Rayven)
The Rayven was a revolutionary dart blaster when it was released in 2012. Prior to the Rayven, the only motorized blasters Hasbro produced were either large, heavy beasts like the Stampede, weren't compatible with standard magazines like the Barricade, or a combination of both like the Vulcan. The blaster's bullpup configuration (magazine and firing mechanism behind the grip and trigger)made it compact and maneuverable, but the longer barrel decreased the muzzle velocity causing drag on the dart.
In 2013, the Rayven received its first major revision(s) with the N-Strike Elite Rayven (above). The Elite Rayven, unlike many other Elite versions of N-Strike blasters, did not receive an increase in muzzle velocity. The electronics across the two blasters remain the same, with only the livery and nameplate changing between the two. The Elite Rayven got a paint variant, the Stinger Rayven (pictured below, credit Nerf wiki). This version of the Rayven was exclusive to Sam's Club stores in the USA and as such remains relatively rare today. This version of the Rayven is, unfortunately, absent in my collection.
The Stinger Rayven was the first release of this blaster to not come with the Nerf Firefly Magazine, an 18-dart stick mag with a battery pack on the side and a pair of Ultraviolet lights in the feed lips.
The final Rayven version, the 2017 Rayvenfire (pictured below, credit Nerf wiki), was another retailer-exclusive release. Being released at Kohl's stores in the USA, Toys R Us stores in Canada, and Big W stores in Australia. The 10-dart magazine, molded in white and clear, is exclusive to this release of the Rayven. Like the Stinger, the Rayvenfire is unfortunately not a piece in my collection.
The Rayven, much like other bullpups, was widely overlooked for a conventionally laid-out alternative. In this case, the N-Strike Elite Stryfe. A common mod when both of these blasters were in production was to take everything to the rear of the grip on the Rayven and graft it on to the Stryfe, disabling the Rayven's dart-firing capabilities and turning it into a fixed stock for the carbine with integral magazine storage. This mod was so common it was given the title of "Strayven".
