For the app, see Lazer Tag (app).
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Lazer Tag is the non-dart equivalent of Nerf blasters. It was first produced in 1986, and it was pretty hefty of a price for a blaster. In 2008, Lazer Tag was brought under the Nerf name. The line was revived in 2012, with a new blaster available for use. The new blaster lineup includes the blaster with an accessory to mount one's iPhone on via an application, meaning this blaster is iPhone friendly.
History
The first Lazer Tag blaster to be released was the StarLyte Pistol by Worlds of Wonder in 1986. It also included a StarSensor, which was used for taking hits. The toy became very successful, which led to it's appearance in pop-culture, a poorly-received TV series, and a few video games[1]
However, it wasn't without controversy. In April 1987, 19-year old Leonard Falcon was shot and killed in Rancho Cucamonga, CA by a sheriff's deputy after witnesses saw him and several friends playing with it, mistaking the toys for real guns. The deputy who shot him quit his job soon afterwards. Later, Worlds of Wonder filed for bankruptcy.[2]
The brand was later licensed to Tiger Electronics in 1997 and released the Striker, a blaster with an integrated sensor. Tiger made four new taggers the very next year, and the brand discontinued.
In 2004, Tiger Electronics created a new series of blasters, called "Lazer Tag Team Ops." The blasters featured very advanced features, such as locking on, and hosting complex games. Hasbro purchased the brand in 2006 and decided to discontinue all taggers excluding the upcoming Phoenix LTX. This tagger was then put under the Nerf brand and the series was changed back to "Lazer Tag." The popularity of the Phoenix LTX made it available on Amazon, which is still available to this day.
In 2012, Hasbro announced the Lazer Tag Augmented Reality tagger, which utilizes an iOS device as a HUD. But due to it's poor marketing and timing (such as not telling that the blaster can be used without an iOS device, compatibility with only iOS devices, and the release of the iPhone 5,) the tagger was discontuined. Tiger Electronics would eventually become defunct that year.[3]
In 2018. Hasbro announced and released Laser Ops Pro, which reintroduces the ability to host games through a smartphone. The blasters are no longer backwards compatible with previous iterations of the Lazer Tag series.
Items
- Worlds of Wonder
- See Early Lazer Tag Blasters (1986-1987)
- Also see Lazer Tag Promotional Products (1987)
- Tiger Electronics
- See Early Lazer Tag Blasters (1997-1998)
- Also see Lazer Tag Promotional Products (1997-1999)
Laser Tag Team Ops
- Deluxe (2004)
- Drone (2005)
- Tag Master Blaster (2005)
- Virtual Scope (2005)
- Thunder Pack (2005)
- COMM (2005)
- Hasbro
Nerf
- Phoenix LTX (2008, 2010)
- LTAR (2012)