‘‘I was looking around the op shop and saw a huge box of Nerf blasters about to be thrown out.
‘‘I asked about them and they were happy for me to take them off their hands.
‘‘I knew I had a few lying in my wardrobe at home, and that’s when I thought of holding a Nerf Showdown to keep young people entertained in the district.’’
A Nerf Blaster is a toy gun made by Hasbro, that fires foam darts, arrows, discs, or foam balls.
Most are manually powered using pressurised air and have been a big seller with children and exponents of cosplay since 1992.
Many popular culture action movies and online games have tie-ins with Hasbro to make the Nerf blasters as merchandising.
‘‘I wanted to give the kids in the area something to do on the weekend while it’s wet and cold.’’
The young entrepreneur says his parents even thought the idea had merit, so he started planning for the day.
‘‘When I was younger, all I wanted to do was hang out with kids my age and have a fun day, this is a perfect way to have some safe fun on a cold day.’’
He scouted through other op shops and online as he assembled a collection of working blasters and lots of spare foam ammo.
‘‘My parents set up the play area in the dojo on my recent 21st birthday and we had a whole lot of friends there.
‘‘We all had so much fun so I thought it was time to extend it out into the community.’’
He says he made it an indoor activity, as a way to help young people get some exercise and to run around, helping to ease the stress of having lots of children stuck indoors because of inclement weather.
Amelia Rothschild-Stewart (10) says she had a lot of fun at the event, and the best part was shooting her friends with Nerf guns because they don’t hurt anyone.
Ryan says he will run the showdowns most Saturdays from 12 noon to 1pm. You can rent blasters or bring your own. There is some cost involved.
