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This article has to do with Super Soaker.
XP
XP
Year Released:

1994-2001

Available?:

No

Family:

Super Soaker

XP (abbreviation for Xtra Power) is a highly successful Super Soaker series that was introduced in 1994. The series consisted of 28 blasters, the highest out of any vintage Super Soaker theme. The line started in 1994, where four blasters were introduced, all of which had good reception. More and more blasters came out as the years went on, with every consecutive year having a new XP blaster. The series even went on to spawn a sub-series known as XXP. After 2001, no new blasters were produced, and some of the older XP blasters made a shift to other lines. One blaster, the XP 215, is still being sold today under the Nerf Super Soaker branding.

The series had no less than four different styles of logos during its run: the original 1994-'95 "silver" logo, the '95-'96 logo that looked like the X-Files font and had a shadow, the '96-'99 "eXtReMe NiNeTiEs" style of logo that the early CPS models shared, and finally a clean but boring "boxy" style from 2000 onward (the CPS series switched to a "bulge" logo during the same time). The XP series can also be organized into four generations based on year of release, engineering principles, and aesthetic features. However, the logos do not strictly correspond to particular generations, so some XP soakers were printed with multiple logo styles over their lifetimes.

FIRST GENERATION: consisted of the XP 75, XP 95, XP 150, XP 250, and possibly the XP 300, replacing the Super Soaker 50, 60, 100, 200, and 300. The major defining characteristic of this generation was the experiment with quick-twist tanks that fed from the bottom, rapidly improving refill times and eliminating the need for a feeding hose in the tank. This generation is also quickly identifiable by its "gray in back, color in front" color schemes and by its pump handle tracks, both of which were pioneered by the Super Soaker 300. The pump handles on the Classic super soakers wrapped around the barrels, allowing the handle to bang directly against the nozzle during pumping and sometimes break it off. The SS 300 used a different system wherein the pump handle slid along a rail mounted under the barrel. This proved successful enough to incorporate into all of the first XP generation.

SECOND GENERATION: Consisted of the XP 15 Mark I, XP 35, XP 55, XP 65, XP 85: Triple Shot, XP 90: Pulse Fire, XP 105, XXP 175, and XXP 275. Beginning with the 35 and 55, which were a "half-generation" update, the second gen was distinguished by an epiphany regarding barrels: on a real gun, barrel length matters because longer barrels give the expanding gunpowder gases more time to act on the bullet, increasing its speed and power. In a watergun, this is an irrelevant consideration, and the barrel served no purpose except to guide the pump handle during pumping. The second XP generation detached the pump handle from the barrel completely, greatly shortened or eliminated the barrels, and allowed the pump handles to be extended far past the nozzle. Nozzles were brought in line with the water tanks rather than being placed below them. The big exception to this rule was the XXP 275, which retained the first generation's sliding track. Additionally, the first generation's experiment with quick-twist water tanks was mostly abandoned, having proved prone to “flying tank syndrome” (where the tank shot off like a water rocket when overpressurized ) when used in models that directly pressurized the tank rather than using separate pressure chambers. Traditional bottle-style reservoirs became the standard again, although they were fitted "backward" compared to the Classic soakers. This design philosophy was first seen in the Super Soaker 20 mark II. The only second-generation XP soaker to retain the quick-twist system was the XP 105. Color schemes also went back to looking more like they did in the classic lineup (less gray; front half was same color as back half). Most of the model numbers from this series were derived by taking a Classic super soaker model number and adding 5, so the XP 35 was derived from the SS 30, the XP 65 derived from the SS 60, and so on. The exceptions were the Triple Shot and Pulse Fire, which were not derived from any Classic models, and the XXP 175 and 275, which were derived by subtracting 25 from the SS 200 and 300.

THIRD GENERATION: Consisted of the XP 15 Mark II, XP 20, XP 40, XP 70, and XP 110. This generation's breakthrough was that it got rid of removable water tanks and replaced them with fixed tanks were refilled via a tethered cap fed from the bottom of the tank, replacing the feeding tube of the XP 65. This approach had previously only been used for very small soakers (like the Super Soaker 10) and very large ones (like the XP 250 and XXP 275). It finally achieved most of what the first generation's bottom-feeding quick-twist tanks had tried to do, but without any risk of blowout. Unfortunately, the XP 15 Mark II took the opposite route of the XP 70, and gained a feeding tube. Aesthetically, this was when soakers started to get an "atompunk" or "raygun gothic" sort of look, with water tanks shaped like V2 rockets. Model numbers from this generation were once again mostly derived by taking model numbers from the previous generation and adding 5, so the XP 65 became the XP 70, the XP 105 became the XP 110, and so on. However, the XP 15 Mark II and XP 20 were both derived from the XP 15 Mark I.

FOURTH GENERATION: Consisting of the XP 215, XP 220, XP 240, XP 270, and XP 310. No actual engineering improvements were made to this series, but they did sport larger water tanks than their predecessors, and fewer models than ever used feeding tubes. Aesthetically, this was when some soakers started to look like Vorlon ships from Babylon 5, while others started to look like plasma pistols from Halo. Model numbers were derived by taking model numbers from the previous generation and adding 200, which was also done to the CPS series in the same year.

Blasters[]

Picture Name Year
XP105 XP 105 1996
XP110 XP 110 1998
Xp15 XP 15 1996
XP152000 XP 15: 2000 Edition 2000
XP150 XP 150 1994, 1998
XP20 XP 20 1998
Super-soaker-xp-215-single-geel-nerf XP 215 2001
Xp220 00 XP 220 2000
Xp240 XP 240 2000
Xp250 XP 250 1994
Xp270 00 XP 270 2000
Ss300 XP 300 1994
XP310 XP 310 2000
XP35 XP 35 1995
XP40 XP 40 1998
XP55 XP 55 1995
XP65 XP 65 1996
XP70SoakerTag XP 70 1998
Img3682xt XP 75 1994, 1998 (with bigger reservoir)
OrangeXP85 XP 85: Triple Shot 1997
Xp90 XP 90: Pulse Fire 1999
XP95 XP 95 1995
SuperSoakerXPBackFire1b XP Backfire 2001
XPPPB XP Pool Pumper Blaster 1997
Imgres-6 XP Pool Pumper Cannon 1997
XPTriplePlay XP Triple Play 2001

Trivia[]

  • The last XP blaster to have been discontinued so far is the XP 220, which made its final appearance in the 2008 series.
  • There have been two controversial blasters in this line; the most of any line, the XP 75 and the XP 90: Pulse Fire. The XP 75 could forcibly eject its tank if pumped too much, while the XP 90's tank could explode if pumped too much.
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