Overview

During my time with NERF, I served as Lead Project Engineer for the RIVAL Curve Shot segment. This two-blaster lineup features a rotating muzzle to allow for left, right, and downwards projectile path curving.

The blasters came out in January of 2021, just one year after the begin of the project cycle for the blasters. I kicked off development, worked through various design issues and changes, and ultimately handed the project over to overseas partners at the end of my co-op. Below are just some of the areas that I worked on for these products.

Design Elements

The claim to fame of both RIVAL Curve Shot blasters can be seen up at the front: a rotating muzzle that allows the user to select what kind of curve they want on their projectile. This technology was something that NERF had never done before, and it is unique to the RIVAL line because of the spherical ammunition.

The Flex XXI-100 is a single shot, breach loading pistol style blaster with a bottom plunger prime. The Sideswipe XXI-1200 is a single shot, 12 round internal magazine bolt action rifle style blaster.

Above the functionality of the Flex can be seen, and to the left the functionality of the Sideswipe. RIVAL style blasters are unique in that they are geared towards older consumers and are more performance based. They use a spherical projectile, which of course can be spun unlike a dart projectile and produce the desired effect.

These products were developed on a very aggressive timeline, and there were many roadblocks in the development of the blasters. It ended up being the top priority for NERF as a company for roughly 2-3 weeks as some of the bigger issues were addressed. From January 2020 to March 2020 I served as the lead project engineer for both blasters, spearheading the issues and leading efforts to create engineering workarounds and changes in design to keep the products on track. After March 2020, the pressing issues were solved and the products transitioned to a more stagnant phase, at which point I was moved to other products as lead project engineer and kept on the RIVAL Curve Shot team as a project engineer.

Final Products and Results

Final packages for both products

As seen in the above images, the final products came out great, I can confidently consider them a personal success.

The RIVAL Curve Shot Flex and Sideswipe came to market in January of 2021, and they have both been extremely well received on Amazon, Target, Walmart, YouTube and others.

Since completing my co-op at NERF, development on the Helix XXI-2000 continued, and the product was released in August of 2021. This is the third blaster in the RIVAL Curve Shot segment. While I didn’t do much design work on this blaster outside of the curve muzzle, I did complete various miscellaneous administrative tasks such as package design and developing the initial design specifications.

During this project, I developed a staggering number of skills and gained invaluable knowledge that allowed me to grow as an engineer. I honed my rapid prototyping skills when it came to the muzzle work-around, I developed project coordination skills working with different cross-functional teams, and I gained an amazing sense for product to market design. Seeing a product that I could call my own on the shelves of retail stores and reviewed online was a feeling like no other, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work on these products.