Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

General water gun discussion.
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JuchTurtles
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Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by JuchTurtles » Fri Nov 20, 2009 12:56 pm

Have you noticed some soakers are weirdly shaped recently.

Post them here:

FF
AB
Hydroblitz
Bottle Shot
The name's Juch, just Juch.
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cantab
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by cantab » Fri Nov 20, 2009 6:50 pm

The reason is twofold. Firstly, it's product differentiation. Water blasters really differ from each other in two ways - looks and performance. The customer in the shop can't test performance, so all they have to go on is looks.

Secondly, there's a trend towards less gun-like designs, because of parents not wanting such designs.

Some unusual shapes actually work quite well. The Aquashock Secret Strike feels very balanced when holding it. The Flash Flood style works well for fitting quite a bit in a small space.
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DX
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by DX » Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:15 pm

Juch, you would have loved guns like the Larami Uzi:

http://www.isoaker.com/Armoury/Analysis ... i_uzi.html

Obviously you can tell why they don't design water guns like that anymore. Point that at non-players and see what happens. Not even going to go into the police repercussions.
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JuchTurtles
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by JuchTurtles » Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:33 pm

Ya, it's true. It's a little sad that the guns are turning into weird "box-shaped" guns. I mean, I know there are the concerns about the gun looking guns, but I would choose a gun looking soaker over a box-shaped one. O well, I guess it's something that's not gonna change.

BBT is still making traditional shaped guns, though. And they're more powerful as well.
The name's Juch, just Juch.
Also known as Commander JuchJawsTurtles, commander of the C0BALT TiDE team in The Ocean Volcano Union.
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C-A_99
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by C-A_99 » Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:06 pm

My only complaint on the FF's shape is it's fairly small foregrip. Still, it is one of the better guns out there in terms of ergonomics, with sufficient handle space for your firing hand and a trigger guard.

The worst gun grips ever designed would have to be the majority of the Max-D's as well as some BBT guns. Restricting space for your firing hand is the worst, while having no trigger guard or other way to prevent the trigger rubbing against the middle finger is also pretty bad. Sometimes this is inevitable but at least, for the Max-D 3000 for example, they could've given some more space to the hand.

The FF and HB are not unusually shaped at all. They have an interesting sci-fi design around them. The AB is what's weird, along with guns like the CPS 2700.

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cantab
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by cantab » Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:55 pm

The Tiger Shark's grip is kind of weird. I mean what's with that bit behind the actual trigger handle? It just seems to get in the way.

The Flash Flood and the Arctic Blast have the same basic shape; a top section and a bottom section, connected by two uprights. This is also shared by the Arctic Shock and Max-D Secret Strike. I would call all or none of them unusual, the differences are not great. It's true that in the Arctic Blast the front 'uprightr' is very bulky, but I still see it as the same basic design.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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JuchTurtles
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by JuchTurtles » Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:36 pm

The size of the Max-D line's handles are terrible. A five year-old wouldn't be able to fit their hand in there!

I agree on the CPS 2700's weird shape. It looks like some kind of - I don't know what.
The name's Juch, just Juch.
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cantab
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by cantab » Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:38 am

Yeah, the 2700 is screwy. The front looks like some sort of flower. The (original) colouring makes think of flowers too. The pump location really makes one ask 'WHY?', and the only answer I can see is aesthetics - a tracked pump like on the 2500 would ruin the look. Not that the look is good to begin with.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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C-A_99
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by C-A_99 » Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:53 am

The AB appears to have inferior handling to the FF due to the bulky design and lack of a single finger trigger guard. Plus it's front has no foregrip, though the FF's foregrip isn't even that useful since most people keep their supporting hand on the pump.

The 2700's handling is fairly decent, though the angled pump is a bit awkward. Removing the purple flower and replacing it with nozzle labels is a good idea.

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JuchTurtles
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by JuchTurtles » Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:16 am

A lot of guns (like the Vindicator) don't have a trigger guard. It seems to be becoming a trend. Hopefully we'll see some better designs soon.

The CPS 2700 was just weird in general. It's like a messed up 2500.
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Also known as Commander JuchJawsTurtles, commander of the C0BALT TiDE team in The Ocean Volcano Union.
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VAJMH
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by VAJMH » Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:02 am

I really cant see designs getting much better given market trends. No one wants to risk doing something different in this economy. I think the 2700 was pretty dumb too, though its based on the 15/1700 chassis rather than the 25, at least I think so.

The only 3 recent modles that have really gained my interest are the Helix, Arctic Blast and Devastator. Everything else, from coloring to shape really looks too much like a toy.

Let's not forget though that Larami tried the toy idea once before with the EES line of supersoakers. T he difference though is that that sort of cartoonish toy design is now the rule rather than the exception.
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JuchTurtles
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by JuchTurtles » Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:52 pm

Ya, and we won't see any changes for a while, or at the earliest at the end of the bad economy (which you never know when that's gonna happen).

In fact, I think we'll probably see the same models with a few new but similar soakers.
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isoaker_com
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by isoaker_com » Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:22 pm

JuchTurtles wrote:A lot of guns (like the Vindicator) don't have a trigger guard. It seems to be becoming a trend.
I'm curious, but why do you think a blaster of the Vindicator's shape need a trigger guard?

IMO, trigger guards are needed on pistol-class blasters as well as blasters with straight grips that have otherwise fully-exposed triggers. Not sure what the Vindicator would gain from an additional guard.

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JuchTurtles
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by JuchTurtles » Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:14 pm

I think it's more comfortable in my opinion cause I have suffered small blisters from getting pinched in-between the trigger and handle.

The handle's also a little small, and Equilizer's handle is tiny.
The name's Juch, just Juch.
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C-A_99
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Re: Weird Shaped Recent Soakers

Post by C-A_99 » Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:09 pm

Trigger guards are the best way to prevent the trigger from rubbing against the middle finger, though designs like the Oozinator and Nerf Longshot are also effective at doing that. Still, trigger guards have a better feel, and of course, they also look better.

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