Xploderz is a line of
toy weapon
Toy guns are toys which imitate real guns, but are designed for recreational sport or casual play by children. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns From Gilroy Gardens and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, price ...
s made by The Maya Group to compete with
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
's
Nerf Super Soaker line and marketed as a safer alternative to
paintball
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...
.
The concept is based on
Orbeez
Expandable water toys (also grow-in-water toys or grow monsters) are novelty items made from a superabsorbent polymer. They are toys that expand after putting them into water for anything between a few hours up to several days, depending on size ...
, a girls' toy line also by The Maya Group that uses
water-absorbent gel pellets, and hence is sometimes referred to as "Orbeez ball shooters".
When playing, a piston rod is manually pulled back against spring tension in a fashion similar to drawing a
slingshot
A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the pro ...
, allowing pellets to be drop-loaded from a top mounted
magazine. When the rod is released, the spring
elasticity drives piston to pressurize the
air pump
An air pump is a pump for pushing air. Examples include a bicycle pump, pumps that are used to aerate an aquarium or a pond via an airstone; a gas compressor used to power a pneumatic tool, air horn or pipe organ; a bellows used to encoura ...
behind the pellets, which in turn propels the pellets flying out forward.
The ammunition used is what the Maya Group calls "H2Grow Technology", wherein
superabsorbent polymer
A superabsorbent polymer (SAP) (also called slush powder) is a water-absorbing hydrophilic homopolymers or copolymers that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of a liquid relative to its own mass.
Water-absorbing polymers, which are cla ...
pellets (containing
sodium polyacrylate
Sodium polyacrylate (ACR, ASAP, or PAAS), also known as waterlock, is a sodium salt of polyacrylic acid with the chemical formula ˆ’CH2−CH(CO2Na)−sub>n and has broad applications in consumer products. This super-absorbent polymer (SAP) ha ...
,
sodium hydroxide and
colorings) grow into spherical
hydrogel bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...
s around 7 ~ 11 mm in size after being immersed in water for about three hours. Unlike
airsoft
Airsoft is a team game in which participants eliminate opposing players by tagging them out of play with spherical plastic projectiles shot with mock air weapons(usually powered by an electronic motor) called airsoft guns.
Although similar ...
and
paintball
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...
pellets, the hydrogel shots are quickly biodegradable, easy to clean off clothing, and will not cause any bodily injury due to their softness and readily tendency to fragment upon impact.
Xploderz.com - H2Grow Technology
See also
* Gel ball shooter
References
External links
Official site
*
Water guns
2010s toys
Products introduced in 2011
{{Toy-stub