Article: Opinionary and Review by Gen. Taloneer

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Jadefalcon09
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Article: Opinionary and Review by Gen. Taloneer

Post by Jadefalcon09 » Thu Dec 30, 2004 12:24 am

This is an article I have released, I wrote it after discussing the 2005 lineup with NiborDude. This article was written for review and opinionary on my part for the new lineup, and things to come for us here at Soakerdom. If you don't want to read the review, skip down to the last section. This topic is not open to criticism. Thanks and enjoy reading!

Article: Opinionary and Review by Gen. Taloneer


Introduction


Ever since the new millennium, the world has seen many events come and go, some good, some bad. For Soakerdom, it was no different. We have seen members come and go, and emotions flying faster than any CPS 2000 could shoot. Members left disgusted at some newer blasters, and others stayed, and endured a hardship of low performance and cheap marketing skills on Hasbro’s part, some would say. However past these dark times, there is new hope with the 2005 lineup.


EES

For 2002, Hasbro released the Max-D series line, debuting the 2000, 3000, and 4000 pistols along with the 5000 and 6000 rifles. For many this was an unexpected turn, but fair in judgment. The lack of power in 2002 from the power of the 2001’s Monster XL was blamed on a slight slump in business, the CPS 4100 and CPS 2100 kept most of Soakerdom in good favor. There was a predicted “CPS 4500” to come out, but it was mere speculation, and had no proof from Hasbro. Many high command Generals like General RAK predicted a fresh, new line of CPS guns. However it was not to be so.

In the winter months of 2003, Hasbro previewed their 2003 lineup to the world: introducing the EES Sonic, tempest, and Turbine. Small and cheap looking, Soakerdom was devastated. Tests by our members also revealed that their performance was poor. The 2003 line was aimed obviously at a younger audience, all the trinkets; bells and whistles were included, especially in the Turbine model. For hardcore soaker users, they proved of little use. However the economy of America was changing, young kids wanted a water gun under 20 dollars for parents to afford, the didn’t care how it worked, just as long as they had it, because it looked cool. A lot of people decided that this was temporary, and would give their beloved Hasbro one last chance for the 2004 season.

Because of weak blasters, prices for older models like the 1998 line and Monster XL soared to an all-time high on auction sites like Ebay. At one point, the Monster XL was in so much demand; it was up to at least $210.27 at the end of one auction. It was a race to nab the best blasters, and only the people with no lives at all or the very rich could afford the hefty prices of Ebay. Soakerdom came at a standstill that winter, summer activity for 2003 died down significantly. Soakerdom felt that they were being alienated from Hasbro, for the next couple of years, not one letter was ever given to Soakerdom, and it was ignored, so to say.


SoakerTag

The idea for the SoakerTag line was where targets were applied to clothing, and created a sticky mess when shot off the clothes/skin/clip-on. To Soakerdom, the 2004 soaker-line preview was a disaster, especially when news of “AquaSquirtz”, an even younger, brattier version of Super Soaker, was released with an action figure. This did it for a lot of people. After this, we saw less of Commander Bob, General Rak, WetMonkey442, and a lot of other past Soakerdom fanatics. However there was praise for SoakerTag that it was a step up from the EES line. ChrisReid, the owner of the largest water gun collection in the world, commented that he loved the Triple Aggressor the premier top blaster of the line. In my personal view, I did not care much for the 2004 lineup. However Hasbro did re-release the CPS 4100 in 2004, shortly before Toys R’ Us filed for bankruptcy. For who were left, their was a huge discussion about converting to homemade weaponry. Soakerdom once again held its breath, awaiting the 2004 line.


Water Warrior Enters the Fray: Buzz Bee Toys

I was also the first in Soakerdom to report in about a new manufacturer of water guns: Buzz Bee Toys, with the Water Warriors Lightning. When I got the blaster, I was overly enjoyed with it. A few months later through testing, Isoaker commented about the “Hydro-Technology” that it uses, an alternative to CPS that Hasbro was using. For many left, Buzz Bee Toys brought new hope for newer, more powerful soakers. We are all satisfied that a company is coming to the fanbase, and a HUGE thread with over 22 pages was created to offer suggestions for improving their blasters. We were all excited that Super Soaker, the king of the water gun market, now had competition. The Water Warriors guns were great, but could use improvement.


SoakerTag Elite

We believe that SoakerTag Elite was planned by Hasbro in response to the new Water Warriors line of guns. It was first discovered by Doom on the United States Patent Site, all we found was “SoakerTag Elite”. Recently we got an information leak from a Star Wars message board on a “Wookiee Blaster”. With that picture, in the lower left-hand corner, were a few of the 2005 Soakers from Hasbro. A first their was speculation, but now Soakerdom is proud to say that we have hope for the 2004 line. Despite speculation, there is hope; we know this is a huge improvement over the 2004 lineup. Whether they will be CPS, Air Pressure, or Piston, for once they all, except the Vaporizer and Liquidator rehashes (we assume they were hot buys in 2004) look very promising. To me, the Arctic Shock looks like it may have a Balloon type CPS bladder of some sort, for the Flash Flood, that far back part behind the nozzle could be a new breed of Cylindrical CPS bladder. However, we cannot give a full opinion without tests. We know one thing: 2005 with Water Warriors and SoakerTag Elite will be very interesting, both offering supposedly large rifles and backpack cannon, which Soakerdom commented on wanting. Only time will tell, this may be the year we were looking for. I have hope for all these newer blasters, only field testing will tell if the performance lives up to the looks. Stay tuned to Soakerdom for more details. After all, Isoaker did receive the message: "CPS is not dead!"

Edit: A few spelling errors. ;) ~Doom
Edit: huh? I thought I ran it through spell-check :mellow: ~Jadefalcon09
Edit: There can only be one WetMonkey442 :P
Edit- Edited for future Reference, thanks Isoaker!

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:13 pm

Nice article overall. I love the length, longer in-depth articles are the way to go! Good that you mentioned the fact that everyone thought 2002 was bad and Hasbro would "make up for it." Accurate depictions on the past. The only real problem I see was that Buzz Bee Toys made the Hydro-Power line, not Hydro-Technology.

If you ask my opinion, Aqua-Squirtz never was an issue because Super Soaker always had smaller guns meant for little kids. What the problem was that it was being showcased much more.

Plank
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Post by Plank » Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:40 pm

Whats with you people and spelling errors?. Gawd, get over it you obsessive compulsives. Mellow out.

OMG SPELLING ERRORS. QUICK, TO THE EDIT MOBILE SO PEOPLE CAN SOMEHOW UNDERSTAND MY ALREADY LEGIBLE POST BETTER.

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Forceuser
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Post by Forceuser » Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:27 pm

Originally posted by Plank@Jan 7 2005, 02:40 PM
Whats with you people and spelling errors?. Gawd, get over it you obsessive compulsives. Mellow out.

OMG SPELLING ERRORS. QUICK, TO THE EDIT MOBILE SO PEOPLE CAN SOMEHOW UNDERSTAND MY ALREADY LEGIBLE POST BETTER.
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I refer you to the Board Guidelines:
1) Spelling must be acceptable. Spelling does NOT have to be perfect, we all make mistakes. However, if you obviously are lacking in this aspect, you must change. We now have a spell check feature on our forums. It will be hard to have a real spelling mistake other than a careless error if you use it. Spell check is required unless you are an English professor, typist, or have perfect spelling all the time no matter what (not likely). Prepare for a plethora of people to take note of your ignorance. This time around it is fairly hard to spell incorrectly.
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Neuro
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Post by Neuro » Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:50 pm

[at]Plank
The last time I made fun of admin powers on a forum/CS server (I forget) I got banned. You are D A M N lucky that we're very leniant on that kind of thing (we shouldn't be IMHO).
"I used to care, but now I take a pill for that."

You can pretty much ignore the times on that, I rarely ever have Xfire on when I play. I should, though.
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Godzillasoaker65
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Post by Godzillasoaker65 » Sat Jan 08, 2005 3:21 am

I don't think that the ebay part is true because you can get good guns for decent prices so you don't have to be rich. That was fun to read. ^_^
Soak, or be soaked that is the question!

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Commander_Gaunt
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Post by Commander_Gaunt » Sat Jan 08, 2005 4:26 pm

I think it is a brilliant article! And I didn't know about the agreement between Commander Bob and hasbro, the idiots.

But I think that finally hasbro has recognised the threat Buzz Bee toys poses to its' monopoly and as a result is stepping up its game, now they are worried about losing customers through competition rather than through extortionate prices for low class tat.

However the gimmics are still there. I personally regard the arctic shock as an insult to soakerdom (my opinion only) and the wookie blaster is just trying to expand their customer base. Incidentally that won't work, when I found the wookie blaster image on the star wars site, they thought it was a load of rubbish.

But at last the monotonous monopoly held by hasbro has come to an end, and they definately won't be willing to lose the water gun race with out a fight. So really after what we have been given over the past few years the only way is up! We can only live in hope...
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Godzillasoaker65
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Post by Godzillasoaker65 » Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:14 pm

I think we should try not to talk about BBT making CPS tech because if Hasbro sees this place they would find out, and sue. Something that we wouldn't want to happen since we want CPS to live.

Well just a thought . B)
Soak, or be soaked that is the question!

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NiborDude
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Post by NiborDude » Sat Jan 08, 2005 7:58 pm

You're not entirely correct about the CPS thing. BBT makes CPS guns. But they're much different from SS class CPS. In the case of speed loaders, the tech was basically the same. BBT has made an alternative system that they, I'm almost certain, patented themselves. Plus, Hasbro doesn't check these boards. They don't like to talk to the fan base for some reason. <_<
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Jadefalcon09
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Post by Jadefalcon09 » Sat Jan 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Originally posted by Godzillasoaker65@Jan 8 2005, 02:14 PM
I think we should try not to talk about BBT making CPS tech because if Hasbro sees this place they would find out, and sue.  Something that we wouldn't want to happen since we want CPS to live.

                                      Well just a thought . B)
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No I think you mis-understood. Hydro-Tech is another method of achieving the "level of CPS power" that we all supposedly looking for, not an exact copy of the original form of CPS. Patented or not Hasbro probably would not win a lawauit, and if they did lose, and it went public, it would kind of make them look bad. I have no doubt that most water gun companies look to the Internet, then possibly to our forums for ideas. Just because they do not reply to us, doesn't mean they are not listening, it does not mean they do not care. Maybe they legally can't post here, I don't know. Sure I would like to see them interacting more with a community that is here, but I am sure they know we exist.

Godzillasoaker65
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Post by Godzillasoaker65 » Sat Jan 08, 2005 11:17 pm

Ooooohhhhh......I thought it was like exactly the same. Well at least I learned something from that.
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wetmonkey442
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Post by wetmonkey442 » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:23 pm

That was a very informative post. I thouroughly enjoyed reading it, and it made it easier to understand and overview the connections between the past couple year's lines of soakers. I also laughed when I was mentioned along side Rak and Commander Bob. It 442 however, not that it makes any difference :P . Good article.
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isoaker_com
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Post by isoaker_com » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:44 pm

there was an agreement between Commander Bob and Hasbro about an idea for a Target on a T-shirt that could be dissolved when hit with water.
This is not correct. There was no agreement made on those terms as far as I recall, even from Cmdr Bob's posts. Cmdr. Bob had proposed a colour-change shirt idea to Hasbro, but the agreement, if anything, was more along the lines of setting up an national/internation water warfare competition, not the targets.

Overall, 'tis a good article.

In terms of what Hasbro does and doesn't check, they know about ALL of online Soakerdom. How do I know? 'cos I've sent many a link to who I know at Hasbro about other sites apart from my own including this one.

B)
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Jadefalcon09
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Post by Jadefalcon09 » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:03 pm

Originally posted by isoaker_com@Jan 12 2005, 08:44 AM
there was an agreement between Commander Bob and Hasbro about an idea for a Target on a T-shirt that could be dissolved when hit with water.


This is not correct. There was no agreement made on those terms as far as I recall, even from Cmdr Bob's posts. Cmdr. Bob had proposed a colour-change shirt idea to Hasbro, but the agreement, if anything, was more along the lines of setting up an national/internation water warfare competition, not the targets.

Overall, 'tis a good article.

In terms of what Hasbro does and doesn't check, they know about ALL of online Soakerdom. How do I know? 'cos I've sent many a link to who I know at Hasbro about other sites apart from my own including this one.

B)
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That is absoulty correct Isoaker, you also pointed this out at your end of the forums (Isoaker.com). I guess I forgot to edit it here, thats under progress now. Glad it was good reading! :)

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Dark Elite
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Post by Dark Elite » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:08 pm

Very informative article, it helped to make everything a bit clearer.

I agree that Hasbro will not give up owning the soaker market, and what I think (hope, even... :) ) is that BBT will make a better soaker than any of Hasbro's current line, and then Hasbro will quickly bring out a better soaker. Then BBT will respond in kind, and so on. However, we've yet to see whether they think 'better' means a better soaker for us, or more money for them through useless gimmicks (*cough* EES *cough*)

Time will tell. Hopefully not too much time, though. ;)
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