** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **
Stretch Armstrong was a BIG hit with all my friends as a kid growing up in the late 1970's and early '80's. This muscle bound character in a speedo could be contorted and stretched in all sorts of manners but the toy would always return to its original shape. Stretch Armstrong hit store shelves just as professional wrestling was seeing a boom in popularity adding to the appeal of the toy. The character had the appearance of someone who would be jumping in the ring to take on the likes of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, or Ricky Steamboat and kids could have fun imagining some great bouts that resulted in Stretch Armstrong being tied up in knots. It really was a lot of fun to see how far you could stretch the toy out (our neighborhood record was five feet) or bend the figure into different shapes without breaking it.
Now Super Impulse Toys is bringing back Stretch Armstrong to entertain a new generation of kids. Super Impulse has made a reputation for taking classic toys that were big hits and reproducing them in miniature form with their World's Smallest toy line. While the World's Smallest Stretch Armstrong is reduced in size from the original toy, small enough to hold in the palm of your hand actually, it still has the flexibility to be wrapped up like a giant pretzel or have its limbs tugged really far apart. Just like the original, once you are done stretching the toy it amazingly returns to its normal size and shape.
My son and daughter have really enjoyed tugging Stretch Armstrong in a variety of shapes and directions. It really kept their attention for awhile when we first gave it to them and they've brought it back out several times to play with. My son thought the toy was so cool that he snuck it to school one day and said all the boys were in a frenzy to take a turn with it on the playground at recess.
Because of its small size, the World's Smallest Stretch Armstrong makes for a great item to amuse children while traveling on a family vacation. It is also just the right size for an Easter basket gift or stocking stuffer at Christmas. It can also be a fun gift for an adult who likes to keep a few toys at the office as it is just to right size to tuck away in a desk drawer. While Super Impulse's Stretch Armstrong may be small there is no limitations to the fun you can have with it!
Other retro toys that Super Impulse has made tiny working versions of include Hot Wheels, Etch-a-Sketch, Silly Putty and Rubik's Cube. For more information, visit superimpulse.com/our-brands/worlds-smallest
** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **
Being able to be the most accurate at flicking a rubber band the longest distance with the hardest impact at each other and various targets around the class room was an ongoing challenge among my friends when I was a kid in school. Back in those days launching a rubber band was all about the various styles of flinging it from your hand. The rubber band launcher has evolved for a new generation with the Precision RBS [Rubber Band System] from Super Impulse. The Precision RBS allows today's kids to launch rubber bands further and with more precision than you could ever do with your hand.
We put the Precision RBS to the test with a target shooting competition between my son, daughter and I in the backyard. Taking aim from 12 feet away at the cardboard targets that came with the HYPERION Precision Rubber Band Systems, that Super Impulse sent our family to try out, we challenged each other to see who could tally the highest score. The pressure was on this dad not to get usurped by his kids in this rubber band launching competition.
I started out with a strong score, but the ease of aiming and using the Precision RBS allowed my twins to provide some fierce competition. Nocking the launcher is a simple process and the mechanics of the Precision RBS combined with its ammunition of rubber bands that are sized just the right length to provide plenty of umpf! allow the HYPERION to hit targets from as far away as 50 feet. The HYPERION comes with rubber bands manufactured specifically for use with Precision RBS products that also include the mid-range CHIRON and the short range TALOS launcher. We found the HYPERION had more than enough Precision RBS ammo included with it for plenty of fun, but the long-range purple rubber bands, medium-range orange ones, and a yellow short-range variety can also be purchased separately if you do need to restock.
A nice feature of the HYPERION is that it allows for multiple rubber bands to be nocked at the same time and released one by one with a rapid action trigger so loading the launcher doesn't become tedious. Either six long-range rubber bands or eight mid-range ones can be loaded at one time. Plus there are ammo storage cleats to hold rubber bands conveniently located on the frame of the HYPERION to allow the Precision RBS to be quickly reloaded. There is also a burst feature that allows for 14 short-ranged rubber bands to be loaded and spray out all at once. The flexibility of the HYPERION also includes the ability to separate the launcher to create a smaller TALOS Precision RBS launcher which can be held in one hand providing its own variety of play options. All the nice features on the HYPERION Precision RBS make it a real dandy of a toy to have fun playing with.
I discovered the Precision RBS toys while at the 2016 Blogger Bash event in New York City and had the chance to meet its twenty-something inventor Benjamin Stack. He had been making rubber band launchers as a hobby since middle school and during college designed the Precision RBS for a thesis project while pursuing a degree in Industrial Design at Philadelphia University. His hand-made prototypes won the university's prestigious senior design competition catching the attention of school alumnus Alan Dorfman who as the president of Super Impulse worked with Benjamin to bring the product to toy store shelves. A Geek Daddy asked Benjamin a few questions about his invention during our conversation at Blogger Bash:
Do rubber bands have any advantages compared to foam darts and other projectile toys?
Rubber
bands are safe because they aren't rigid, so they collpase and
distribute their energy along their entire length. Rubber bands are
plentiful because of how easy
they are to make and versatile they are in application. And finally,
most importantly, rubber bands can use the Lariat and Magnus effects of
physics to both float with a flat trajectory, and have far more accuracy
than foam darts or ball shaped projectiles.
Precision RBS is precisely optimized for the most accuracy and range
you can possibly get from a rubber band.
Any special tips or tricks you can share on how to use the Precision RBS?
Precision RBS
launchers are jam packed with lots of hidden features and to get the
best performance, I recommend watching our tutorial videos. There is a
special technique
for launching bands with the MOST accuracy that everyone should learn!
All our tips and tricks can be found at Precisionrbs.com and on our YouTube channel as well.
What advice would you give to aspiring inventors like yourself on how to turn their ideas into real products like you did with the Precision RBS?
The most
important thing is showing your passion. People
generally want to be excited, and your genuine passion for your ideas
is your greatest asset. For critics, you always need your short list of
reasons your product is not just better, but how it fits into the
market. Make sure you anticipate every possible
way your project can fail and have an answer for every one of them.
What is one thing you would like everybody to know about the Precision RBS?
Precision RBS
was designed to be the safest, most accurate, highest performance, and
affordable toy projectile launcher. After a lifetime of play and
research, we've finally
made it real!
So now you know a bit more about the Precision RBS, I'm sure you're still wondering who won our backyard target shooting competition. After a bit of practice, the twins became quite adept with the Precision RBS and were knocking down targets here and there. I was beginning to fear they might actually show up good old dad and beat me in this contest. Can you imagine the grief I'd get from them teasing me about their victory if that occurred?! While I was impressed by watching them knock down targets a bit of sweat emerged on my brow for every one they knocked down.
In the end, A Geek Daddy emerged victorious winning by 300 points as I'd knocked down a few more of the higher point markers than they did. It was a slim margin of victory though and I'm going to have to watch Benjamin's online tutorials and get some practice in before the rematch my twins are demanding. In all seriousness though,we've had a very enjoyable time playing with the HYPERION Precision RBS and it has provided hours of fun. If you are looking for a unique toy that will maintain a child or teen's interest and promote outdoor play, pick up one of the three models of Precision RBS launchers from Super Impulse.
