Agreed. Something that has been bugging me, along the same lines, is that many of the boys picked to model for Nerf packaging and advertising are clearly supposed to look like they are cool older dudes. Like, 17 – 19 year old guys. Or, as you put it, just super-aggro, super-douchey 16 year-olds, tops. It’s almost as weird as those catalogs for elderly people’s home health devices, where all the models are clearly around 40 years old, but wearing white wigs.
Now, I realize that boingboing might not be the place to cast aspersions on people who play with toys beyond the “normal” age range associated with them. Hell, I played with Lego – and played imaginative games – well into my early teens, myself (when most of my peers had moved on from such “baby” things, onto activities like sports or video games). That said, I would be amazed if your average 17 year old guy would be caught dead running around, scowling, and shooting his friends with Nerf guns. They are more likely to be getting laid, or at least lying about it.
In other words, there may be some pumping action involved, but they ain’t shootin’ foam missiles…
