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200px-Nerf logo 1992 r This product has been discontinued, but limited stock may still be found in retail stores.
Big Bad Bow
BigBadBowbox1
Year Released:

1998/2000/2003/2004/2006/2011/2012

Available?:

Yes

Stock Capacity:

3 Arrows

Average Retail Price(s):

$19.99

Family:

Hyper Sight/Action Blasters/N-Strike/Promotional

The Big Bad Bow (commonly shortened down to just BBB or 3B) is a 1998 Nerf Hyper Sight blaster that can hold up to 3 Arrows. It comes with an instruction book, a set of bow-like parts that include gears and strings and an arrow storage on each side of the sight, 3 Arrows and the blaster itself. It is pushed forward to be cocked, and then pushed back into its initial setting. It was re-released as the Action Blasters Big Bad Bow in 2004 with very little differences from the first generation. The oldest model, the purple version, was released in 1998 and the newest, the N-Strike variation, was released in 2011, a 13 year time span. It got great reviews when it first came out, even though it is slowly, year by year, decreasing in popularity due to the Arrows becoming more and more outdated. It has been released in purple, red and yellow. The arrows included in this blaster were initially red with black fins, but in the new redesign in 2011 the arrows became yellow with black fins. Because of how easy it is to modify and how cheap it is, it has had very good reception and continues to sell well 14 years after its launch. In 2007 it was ripped off by Air Zone and titled the Scorpion Bow. In 2012 it was re-released as the Hawkeye Bow as a promotional blaster to the then upcoming movie The Avengers.

Generation 1[]

Big Bad Bow
BigBadBowbox0
Year Released:

1998

Available?:

No

Family:

Hyper Sight

This was the first generation. The wings on the top were orange, something that would change throughout the blaster's lifespan. This was also the only generation to have a commercial, as no new ones have been released since. It lasted from 1998 to 2000 before the new variation was launched.

Generation 2[]

Big Bad Bow
BigBadBowbox1
Year Released:

2000

Available?:

No

Family:

Hyper Sight

This generation was the second generation, it lasted from 2000-2003. It was the second longest running generation, after Generation 5, and was a part of the Hyper Sight line. It, along side the Lock 'n' Load, are considered the best in the line. It was advertised as a blaster that "Never before has a Nerf blaster fired this far with its own ammo!" It was unique because very little bow-like blasters featured a trigger, which helps steady the blaster to increase accuracy. The slogan for the blaster was "Feel the power".

Generation 3[]

Big Bad Bow
BigBadBowbox7
Year Released:

2003

Available?:

No

Family:

Action Blasters

This generation was the third generation, it was introduced during the year 2003. It was the shortest generation and the first to be part of the Action Blasters line. It was almost immediately succeeded by Generation 4, making this among the rarest boxes.

Generation 4[]

Big Bad Bow
BigBadBowbox2
Year Released:

2004

Available?:

No

Family:

Action Blasters

Generation 4 was the second shortest running of the six generations. It lasted from 2004-2005, an was basically a re-boxing of the third generation. This version was a Target exclusive that came with 6 arrows instead of the standard 3. The only difference from it and generation one are the top wings, which are now no longer red and have been painted yellow. This was the second of the three Action Blasters Big Bad Bows. This was also the only generation not to feature a child on the box apart from Generation 3.

Generation 5[]

Big Bad Bow
BigBadBowbox3
Year Released:

2006

Available?:

Limited

Family:

Action Blasters

This version was the longest running. It lasted from 2006 to 2010, succeeding Generation 4 and beating Generation 2's record for longest running generation. It was a different blaster because of its new red color scheme. This fit in very well with the Big Bad Titan and Unity Power System, however stuck out in the N-Strike line. It was discontinued in 2010 when Generation 6 was released.

Generation 6[]

Big Bad Bow
BBBNS
Year Released:

2011

Available?:

Yes

Family:

N-Strike

Generation 6 was the first blaster to be released in the N-Strike series. It was released in 2011. It featured a brand new black and yellow color scheme to fit in with the N-Strike blasters already released, and new black and yellow arrows. It is the only generation that is still sold with the exception of some Generations 5's.

Generation 7[]

Hawkeye Bow
Hawkeye
Year Released:

2012

Available?:

Yes

Family:

Promotional

Generation 7 was the first generation to be a Promotional generation, this time based off of the 2012 movie The Avengers. It had performance similar to the past generations. It featured a similar colour scheme to the first four generations with minor changes, such as a darker purple colour. It will probably be discontinued soon after release due to most Promotional blasters' lifetimes being rather short. It is the same as a Big Bad Bow just with a different name.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Despite the fact that it has been re-released several times, the name has never changed.
  • It is the second latest blaster to fire arrows. It was hoped that Nerf would make another arrow shooter, and they did, the Blazin' Bow.

External links[]

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