It's pink for girls now! Hasbro, on occasion, tries to take its boy brands and make a similar play pattern for girls. Beyblade became Dizzy Dancers, for example. Now we're seeing the Nerf N-Strike (and other) blasters pinkified as Nerf Rebelle, which is particularly curious as we're hot off Hasbro deftly deflecting a PR nightmare by introducing a gender-neutral Easy Bake Oven after a boy asked for one last year. (It probably won't sell too well and will quietly get discontinued or never make it to market, but hey, they can't say they didn't try.) Rebelle has the added benefit of pop culture like The Hunger Games giving it free marketing. The bows and arrows are quite strong, and were impressive to see shot across a room. I love this kind of a thing.
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I'm no gender studies student, but one thing I found troubling/odd were the darts. The pink blasters are basically what the American toy business is all about, with toys in blue for boys and pink for girls. Or pink for girls, and whatever else for boys. The darts really don't need to look like anything special, but they seem to appear more or less like lipstick with Rebelle flourishes printed on the side and pinkish, reddish tips. These sets won't likely get the same kind of distance of the darts launching as the recently enhanced N-Strike Elite line from the boy's side of the aisle, but it's a start.
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Will it be a hit? Maybe, if Hasbro doesn't lose interest. LEGO Friends is enjoying its second year right now, and it seems Hasbro has yet to get bored with the improving Kre-O line as well. There's a chance this might hit as long as Hasbro sticks with it and refines it, and hopefully doesn't drop it like a ticking package with an alarm clock. These will most likely be out by late Summer, if not sooner.
--Adam Pawlus
