Does anybody know what's new for 2008-09 by SS?

[DJIA305]

Everything we've seen until now from Super Soaker is stuff from '07.

Does anyone in the know have any clue what we can expect for '08-'09??? Like a sneak peek or something? At least a speculation???

[cantab]

Given water guns are (seen as) summer toys, and the main market is the northern hemisphere, saying '08-'09 is a bit off the mark.

The new soakers for 2008 were/are the Quick Blast and the Bottle Shot :-(. There is also the Incredible Hulk gun, which is a re-release of the Overload, only minus the backpack :-(

As for 2009 - well I think the Hydroblitz was successful enough that we might see another similarly-sized gun. However, I also think we'll see more piston pumpers.

From Buzz Bee, I think we'll see the end of their brief dalliance with bottom-mounted caps (Sting Ray, Orca). I also expect more motorised guns, the usual crop of piston pumpers, and more small stuff. Though I'm expecting a replacement for the Orca, since the version with the moved cap is a bit bodged really.

However, in the UK at least, the presence on the shelves has been neither Hasbro nor Buzz Bee, but Lanard. Lanard make mostly piston pumpers, and their air pressure guns are unspectacular. If 2009 is similar, that's a bad trend; I can see Hasbro almost completely pushed out (this year basically only Argos had them), and Buzz Bee having a weakened holding (mainly because they're cheaper). Marketing, not technology, is what sells.

[Ben]

It's rare that we know anything in advance. If we do know anything we'll certainly have something about it on the website and forums unless instructed otherwise by a manufacturer. At the moment no one has any serious contact with Hasbro employees aside from maybe iSoaker, but whatever information he's got from his contacts over the past few years has been very limited at best.

Judging by what Hasbro's been doing recently I doubt any significant changes will come to the Super Soaker line in 2008. They might introduce a new water gun but I think that would be the full extent of the changes. That's just speculation though. To be honest with you I have been surprised before and I'm sure I'll be surprised again.

[DJIA305]

It just strikes me odd that the companies don't give out sneak peaks or "leak" out any info.

I consider myself to be a huge sneakerhead, and what keeps people almost lusting after sneakers is that the companies leak out samples of sneakers, or leak out blueprints of a certain sneaker, therefore building a ridiculous amount of hype for certain sneakers, and upon release date, have those sneakers sell out in MINUTES.

Of course, it may sound a little far-fetched for something like water guns, but I would love to see this happen, because, at least in my opinion, water wars promote physical activity, and physical activity promotes good health. Plus, it's just so much fun! It makes us all feel like little kids again being able to run around and get drenched!

[Ben]

Well, things have leaked before, but Hasbro's been pretty tight. Sometimes a random new water gun pops up on eBay before it's release (this happened in 2004 with the 2005 line and last year with a BBT water gun). Sometimes an online store put information up earlier than Hasbro does. Generally we don't get inside information however so we have to go by what we can dig up.

Unlike consumer electronics no big hype is generated online and we probably only account for a tiny fraction of their sales.

Back in 2004 when the 2005 line leaked about a month early I emailed Hasbro's public relations people about it and I got a response that they'll send me more information soon... I'm still waiting.

I've tried some different tactics like searching Limewire for Hasbro related keywords hoping that an employee is running Limewire and has their entire hard drive shared, but I'm yet to find anything.

[cantab]

I think it's already been said that a part of the problem is that for Hasbro, Super Soaker is just one brand among many, and it's not a particularly big one. Thus, they don't seem to put seriously major effort into it.
Also, they're aiming at the younger market, in contrast to Nerf.

Even Buzz Bee have a number of things other than Water Warriors, though at least their main brand is that (I think). I like the way Water Warriors prominently display their range, capacity, and full weight. Also I think their range claims are actually based on testing, whereas Hasbro just always claim 35 feet for anything pressurised and 20 feet for piston pumpers. (OT: My cheap piston pumper does 30 feet, albeit in my adult hands, so anything lower would seem poor IMHO)

Plus, the seasonality of water guns means there's only a small window of time for "leaks", just before summer when the soakers actually come out.

Super Soakers since 2002 have been mostly about gimmicks. Some good (Flash Flood), others pointless (Aquashock Secret Strike). But either way, nothing's truly stood out as leak-worthy. Water Warriors have made real technological innovations, but unless they make another leap in performance it's still hard to see hype building. And remember, the bar for power was set pretty high way back in 1996. A gun is really going to need to be the largest, furthest shooting, highest capacity, or highest output EVER to build true hype I reckon.

[Ariz0na]

Lets build on hahaha.. since Ben has made a few, I can design the outside

[isoaker_com]

While I don't know what Hasbro has in store, knowing too soon isn't always fun since you end up spending the rest of the time either complaining that what is coming isn't good enough to too long waiting for things to come out to see if they are really as good as you're hoping. In the past,we end up finding out more about next year's soakers in December to January to February.

That said, I have a lot of high hopes for next year's stock water blasters!