page_title: Nerf
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nerf / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Nerf logo (1960s - 1990s)
context_page_description: Nerf is a toy brand formed by the Parker Brothers and currently owned by Hasbro. Most of the toys are a variety of foam-based weaponry, with other Nerf products including balls for sports like American football, basketball and baseball. The most notable of the toys are their dart guns that shoot ammunition made from Nerf foam. Since many such items were released during the 1970s, Nerf products often feature bright neon colors and soft textures similar to the flagship Nerf ball. Their slogan, which has been frequently used since advertising in the 1990s, is "It's Nerf or Nothin'!". Annual revenues under the Nerf brand are approximately US$400 million.
context_section_description: Parker Brothers originally developed Nerf, beginning with a 4-inch (100 mm) polyurethane foam ball. In 1969, Reyn Guyer, a Minnesota-based games inventor, came to the company with a football game that was safe for indoor play, and after studying it carefully, Parker Brothers decided to eliminate everything but the foam ball. In 1970, the Nerf ball was introduced as the "world's first official indoor ball", the name "Nerf" being a slang term for the foam padding used in off-road racing. Marketing slogans promised that one can "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people." Some of the first TV commercials for the balls were joint promotions with General Foods' Kool-Aid drink mix, with Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith of the Monkees playing with the balls on a living room soundstage (Kool-Aid sponsored the 1969-70 Saturday morning reruns of the Monkees' 1966-67 TV series). The ball filled a strong consumer need and by the year's end, more than four million Nerf balls had been sold. The four-inch (102 mm) ball was followed by a large version called the "Super Nerf Ball". Shortly after, in 1972, a basketball game called "Nerfoop" and the Nerf football (developed by longtime NFL kicker Fred Cox) joined the family, with the latter quickly becoming Nerf's most popular ball.
  The company continued to add to the Nerf line until they handed control to Kenner Products, a sister company, in 1991, when Hasbro acquired the Nerf line through the acquisition of the Tonka Corporation. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Nerf brand served under the subsidiaries OddzOn and Larami before Hasbro took full control of the brand.
  Over the years, Nerf has continued to expand the line, adding new looks to existing products, with later lines of Nerf products ranging from sport balls and foam dart blasters to video games and accessories.
  In February 2013, Hasbro announced the release of its "Rebelle" line, a sub-line aimed at girls, with its first products released in fall of 2013. 
  In November 2013, POW! Books published The Ultimate Nerf Blaster Book. Written by Nathaniel Marunas, the book highlights the history of Nerf and provides details on every N-Strike, Dart Tag, and Vortex blaster produced at the time of the book's release.
  In 2015, the Rival line of blasters was first released. The first products released were the Rival Apollo XV-700 and the Rival Zeus MXV-1200. These blasters fire a new type of ammunition, known as "High Impact Rounds", which are small foam balls that can reach a higher velocity than foam darts. The Rival line is targeted towards an older audience, with each product listing the age of 14+ on the box.
caption: Original Nerf (styled NeRF) logo (1969–1990)
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