Vintage 1994 NERF Ripsaw Blaster MIB with catalog and original Nerf ballistic balls

In good condition, box has slight edge wear. but is bright and shiny. The 4th picture shows slight crease on the side flap. Product catalog is in the box as well. The Ripsaw Blaster was still in the infancy of NERF's foray into its now-ubiquitous presence as a toy gun maker.

Here's the story. We now have two pre-teen boys in our chaotic house. NERF guns are huge. Next to LEGOs (many thanks to Ole Kirk Christensen), NERF guns are everything to our boys. So this got me wondering . . . when did NERF guns come out? We decided to explore this subject and put up some memories for everyone to reminisce and enjoy.

Anyhow, WE certainly didn't grow up with NERF guns. Born in 1972, I distinctly remember getting NERF foam balls in their little boxes and thinking this was amazing stuff. Then footballs, and basketballs, daaaaaaaaaam! We had no idea. The first NERF blaster was made in 1989 while I was filling out college applications, fully nineteen years after the creation of the humble NERF Ball of my youth. I missed the boat on the whole NERF gun thing til my kiddos now. But I have seen the light!

Anyhoo, the first NERF device to fire a round of any kind was the 1989 Blast-a-Ball, which fired balls by pumping the carrying handle forwards. NERF released a sequel blaster the next year, which held more balls than the Blast-a-Ball. Ball blasters became a staple of the Nerf arsenal at that point in time. We will have a number of examples, both boxed and loose, up on the site in short order. Back to the history . . . In '90 NERF introduced its first missile/non-ball firing toy, a Bow 'N Arrow set. (We'll have those up, too, along with some NIP arrow ammo).

The Bow 'N Arrow was a hit, so NERF went all in in '92 with the release of its first "gun," so to speak. The first NERF blaster to use a form of dart was the Sharpshooter, a 50s-sci-fi-looking pea shooter which fired foam darts with small fins on the ends. The Sharpshooter proved to be incredibly popular, and began NERF's production of dart blasters, or "guns" such as those over which I am constantly tripping all over our house.

Missiles had less of an impact on the product line in the early '90s. Very few NERF blasters, such as the Missilestorm, NB-1 Missile Blaster, and the 1994 Nerf Action Switchfire, were compatible with NERF's missiles. (We'll have examples of most of those up soon as well.) The majority of these missile shooters also received very negative reviews, leading to their demise in favor of arrow- or dart-firing blasters.

At the same time, NERF started experimenting with hybrids. '94 saw the release of this gnarly Ripsaw, NERF's first hybrid. They've made more since, but this is the original. Go kill NERF zombies!!!