General Backstory:[]
The Nerf brand has been around since 1969, and the products have changed drastically since its introduction, whilst still being centered around the titular Nerf foam.
Pre-Blaster Era: 1969-1988[]
In this period of time the Nerf foam was more associated with sports toys than blasters or projectiles. While there were a few foam launching products, they would not become a staple until the next era. There are no real distinct sub-eras, and the only notable nerf blaster of this time period is the Nerf Stomp Rocket, released in 1976 and currently the oldest foam-launching toy to date.
Vintage/Experimental Era: 1989-2003[]
All blasters of this era are generally regarded under the same umbrella term of 'vintage', as their aesthetics are largely different from any future generations of blasters, although they can generally be split into three distinct sub-eras:
Introductory Sub-Era: 1989-1993[]
In this time period, while there was some experimentation, ammunition types and blasters were more often introduced than experimented on. The ammunition types introduced in this sub-era were the Ballistic Ball, Arrow, Missile, Sharpshooter Dart, Mega Dart, and the infamous ZapSnaps Rocket, which was one of two failures/flops during this time(the other was the Hydro series).
The Experimentals Sub-Era: 1994-1998[]
During this time period, the most notable features were the experimental ones, as well as some new ammo types. During this time, there were many blasters which were successes as well as several flops, with the majormost two being the Switchfire in 1994 and the entire Aero series in 1996/7. Many different series, ammo types, and priming/firing methods came and went during this period, as well as the Larami company being acquired by Hasbro. Along with this era came several rare blasters and ammo types, including the Switchfire, Sonic Stinger Bow 'N Arrow, Glider Launcher, Aero Gliders, Gear Tooth Arrows, and yellow-fin Cyber Stryke Arrows.
The Great Divide/Y2K Sub-Era: 1999-2003[]
During this time, a large divide was becoming clear between the air-powered blasters and all other types of Nerf blasters, as when the AirJet Power series debuted in 1999, it quickly overshadowed every other series under the Nerf brand. This caused a four-year period of time where any blaster that wasn't air-powered to flop and get a short shelf life, quickly making many blasters instantly rare. While experimentation still took place, the glut of rare/undesirable flops is what stands out most about this era. In 2000, the Bungee Blaster and Motorized Disk Launcher were released and became instantly rare, while the Counter Strike and the Double Blast were cancelled entirely. In 2001, the AirJet Power Stinger(the only notable exception to the air-power rule) was released and flopped, as well as one of the rarest ever Nerf blasters in history, the Slingfire DX400. In 2002 the Air Tech series debuted, which brought in the start of standardization, which would be further exemplified in 2003 with the released of the Unity Power system, the first N-Strike blasters. Notably, the Cyclotron was one of the last 'vintage' style blasters to be released, and also flopped.
N-Strike Era: 2004-2011[]
The N-Strike Era is mainly characterized by two series: the N-Strike and Dart Tag series. Both saw major success for a number of years, and thus became the two major series to dominate an entire era of seven years. This time period saw many major innovations, including the Clip System, the Streamline Dart, the Whistler Dart, the Dart Tag Dart, the flywheel system, slam fire, and even the Vortex Series in 2011. Both series would become major successes after the lagging sales of the previous sub-era. While this era saw major standardization, Streamline Darts and Dart-Tag/Whistler darts were not cross-compatible. This era also saw the introduction of color sub-series.
Modern Era: 2012-2019[]
This era saw one major change, as the Streamline and Whistler/Dart Tag dart types were merged to create the Elite Dart, a version of the streamline dart with a shortened dart post/stem. Elite darts could be used in all blasters due to this shortened dart post. These Elite blasters also saw a large performance increase in velocity, going from an average of 45 fps to 70 fps. Other major series were introduced, such as Rebelle, Zombie Strike, Mega, and RIVAL. It can generally be split into two sub-eras:
N-Strike Elite sub-era: 2012-2015[]
During this sub-era, many series were introduced as listed above, and generally still had very high quality and original designs. Ammunition introduced during this time period is Mega Darts, RIVAL balls, Rebelle Arrow/Bolts, and the Elite Missile. During this time the historic Ballistic Ball, streamline dart, and Arrow were discontinued, as well as the Dart Tag series.
Late-Elite Era: 2016-2019[]
During this time, sales were starting to drag in the Elite, Zombie Strike, Rebelle and Mega Series, while the RIVAL series was still new enough to warrant great sales. Several sub-series were introduced, as well as the Accustrike series, and the Rebelle series was discontinued. As it got closer to 2019, sales dragged more, and it was beginning to get harder to make originals blasters for some of the series. In 2019, two major steps were taken towards the next era as the Alpha Strike series was introduced at a reduced price, but greatly reduced quality, and the Ultra Series was introduced with proprietary ammunition.
Postmodern/2nd Experimental Era: 2020-20??[]
During this time period, drastic changes were made over the course of all four years as Hasbro experimented with a great number of new ammo types and ways to cut corners in order to keep the blasters the same price in a failing economy. This led to the introduction of the Elite 2.0 Series in 2020. During this time, the Ultra Dart was kept, the Hyper Ball, Gel Ball, Mega XL Dart, and N1 Darts (AKA N-Series Darts) were all introduced, and the Zombie Strike, Mega, Elite, and even the N-Strike series were discontinued. The N1 Darts appear to be what Hasbro and the Nerf Brand are trying to make the new standard ammunition, due to the declining sales of elite darts caused by the intense popularity of Dart zone waffle tip darts, and to a lesser extent, X-Shot darts.