Monkey Business Sports Foam Strike Compound Bow

Updated review 11/21/2011 -- I noticed that the price seems to have gone up from $24.99 to close to $40. I wanted to buy a second one but I don't know if I'm so open at the higher price point. The product is good though but now slightly expensive. I purchased a toy bow & arrow set at the local toy store for my younger son's birthday. The thing broke almost immediately but he loved the idea of a bow set. So, I scoured the internet for a better version and found this one. 1. It can shoot extremely long distances depending on the strength of the person using it. 2. the design is pretty basic so it's very easy to understand the physics of shooting it far. 3. it's so basic that it's hard to really break. Both my sons have been playing with it and are really enjoying it. Now, the only problem is that I only bought one. I think we may have to buy another one so that they both have one to play with.

My 7year old LOVED this gift! His favorite by far...but we have had to reattach something ('tail feathers' /arrow tip) with super glue of each foam arrow (only 3 are provided and no refills that I can find easily thru amazon). That said, I did buy his older brother (10 year old) the Hunterz Z Curve bow at same time...and fortunately the arrows provided with his set offer refill packs and also fit with this Foam Strike compound bow (whew). The Foam Strike bow is MUCH easier for my little one to use (vs. Hunterz Z bow) so all is not lost. Would totally rate this a 5 star, put the arrows just really are not up to par for that.

As a mother of two boys, I have done my fair share of research on toy weapons... My older son is 9.5 yrs old and had asked for a bow and arrow set two Christmases ago. I found this compound bow on Amazon back then and put it on my Wishlist, but I was skeptical since I had never heard of the company Monkey Business before, and at that time, I would have had to pay $9.99 extra for shipping. So, I held off on making the purchase. With all of the excitement revolving around archery in the media this year, my son was thrilled when Nerf unveiled their Big Bad Bow - arrows fly up to 40 ft. Since most of the kids' battles happen out in our backyard with friends and neighbors, we decided to try out the Monkey Business Compound Bow because their arrows were supposed to be able to fly "over 100 ft". I'm very pleased to say, "IT DOES!" As soon as the package arrived, my son (who has never had any type of archery training) took his compound bow outside and after just a few tries, he was shooting arrows 80-90 ft across our yard! With a slight breeze behind him, his arrows can fly 100+ ft easily! The other factor that convinced me to make this purchase was that recently I found this Monkey Business compound bow available at a lower price, AND it was an Amazon Prime item = free shipping for me! Two days after I placed my order, the box arrived in perfect condition. I believe this toy is designed for older children - Age 8+, just as stated on the box. There are parts of it that require care in handling - make sure you explain that to your kids before letting them run off with their VERY SAFE plastic and foam TOY. The elastic bands are stretchy and should not be left outside exposed to the elements. The bands will lose their elasticity, become brittle and snap. Also, because the arrows are made of foam, the vanes or "feathers" at the back may come apart if grabbed roughly by impatient little hands. We have fixed plenty of foam rockets and bullets with a couple of drops of gorilla glue, so we'll have it handy for this toy as well. Have fun!

I thought I had reached the top of the Nerf Wars food chain with the purchase of my Longshot. The problem is that eventually all weapons lose their intimidation factor, and the hordes of people wielding little Mavericks were willing to take the hits to get in close so they have a chance to get me. Enter the Surefire Compound Bow. They advertise 100 feet, and this will easily deliver on that range and more. It hits with a resounding THUD when shot completely across the length of my office. In fact, my problem is that I feel a little guilty sometimes hitting people at triple the distance that their little guns can manage. It's good that I can deal well and quickly with guilt. The intimidation factor is back. It doesn't hurt that this bow is completely silent. No telltale sounds from loading the darts, or even when firing. People can't tell the shot is coming until they are being knocked over as if the God of Thunder himself has struck. A couple of practical points: 1 - The back string is useless at best and, at worst, hinders your aim. Fold it out of the way or remove it entirely. All the power comes from the rubber bands at the front of the bow. 2 - The arrows are made of foam and have a soft head. That being said, a hard shot at close range can yield yelps and whimpers from your opponents. DO NOT SHOOT THIS AT CRY-BABIES. You should also probably be careful of head shots. 3 - You get three shots, so make them count. There are 3-packs of arrows for sale, but they are always sold out. 4 - When going for distance attacks in an office, it helps to kneel when taking your shot. This gives you a higher arc range. 5 - If you are scared of hitting someone in the head at long range, aim in front or above of them. The fright factor from the noise of the impact is enough to reinforce your message of dominance. As far as durability, after a couple of months of regular use the elastic bands that provide all of the power begin to fail. This process happens slower if you don't use the full power of the bow. Once the bands fail, it takes a decent amount of time to repair using standard surgical tubing. If you are not particularly handy, just buy a replacement. When the arrow fins start to separate after a couple of months, a little Gorilla glue fixes them right up.

My 6, 8 and 11 year old have really enjoyed this toy. After several months the strings, which are made of rubber, get brittle and break rendering the set useless. It doesn't look like there is a way to restring it. Too bad - otherwise it would be a great toy.

I gave this 5 stars even though my son broke it in 2 weeks. He loved it. It is built well for the price. The arm bracket is metal and the remaining is hard plastic. My son broke the hard plastic from misuse. It actually shoots fairly far. I was impressed with how far and straight he could shoot it. It did not come with directions, so we did not have the rubber bands correctly aligned in the beginning. This caused the arrow to barely shoot, so make sure the rubber bands are correctly aligned, if it does not shoot correctly when you get it. They have to align a certain way for it work properly. I plan on buying another one to replace the one he broke.

I thought this would be great for my 7 year old grandson, they're always playing "guns" outside. This could be a great toy with some modification to the double bands that load the arrow. It's extremely hard to load the arrow between them and set the end in the single string to shoot. The double bands kept coming off the arrow end, it was frustrating, not fun. Shoots far when you actually get it loaded. The bow itself I think is designed well. The arrows are bent, they are foam and I don't expect much more. I do not recommend this product.

Bought this so that the younger children in our family would not feel left out, as the older kids have started taking up archery. It turned out to be a great introduction to the sport. Instinctive aiming came naturally to the 5 and 7 year old that tried it. It has amazingly good range for a rubber band powered toy. The foam arrows unfortunately will not stand the abuse of a toddler. The fun factor escalated when we had one person on a tire swing, essentially acting as a moving target. Learning wise, it does teach you applied ballistics in terms of projectile trajectory, and both fine and gross motor skills are engaged in aiming and releasing the arrows. Very fun toy, as long as the adults in the family don't mind getting pelted with a foam arrow or two.

Fantastic. Have had it for about a year now. Shoots far and the arrows hit with a WHUMP!

This bow is good, but it is only suitable for 7-year olds and up. I can make the arrows really fly (50 feet). My eldest, 7, can get them to go about 15 feet. The design is a little odd: the rear string does very little, maybe nothing. There are two elastics on the front of the bow that you put under hooks on the arrow. The bands are ever-so-slightly too far apart, so stringing the arrow isn't quick. You have to really pay attention to get them to grab the hooks. The foam tips seem to make the arrows quite safe. I don't live in fear that she's going to shoot and mount her brother.

I just noticed that there are 2 versions of this product; one with a single notch in the arrows and a single bungee in the front part of the bow, and another where the arrows have 2 black notches that hook onto 2 bungee cords. I received and am reviewing the latter 2 hook arrow set. I bought this product with the intention of using it for Humans vs. Zombies and for being able to compete with the Zing Toys bow and arrows, and I was completely disappointed with it. - upon unpackaging, the wrist-stabilizing metal bar fell out and was poorly glued into the toy - several fins on the arrows were poorly glued, and would most likely will fall off or rip off with prolonged use - arrows tend to veer in unpredictable direction at full draw (this might be my fault/a learning curve since I only spent about half an hour using it) - back drawstring on bow is useless (most of the power comes from the front bungee cords) - difficult to hold the back end of arrows when bow is fully drawn, which caused ends to warp when squeezed (there is no traction between the fingers and the smooth tape on the ends) - stickers on front of bow were extremely off-center (easily fixed by carefully peeling and re-sticking) + quite aesthetically pleasing + fun to use* + slight value added from providing an arrow holder + much safer than Zing bows because the arrows do not fly as straight or hit as hard I ended up returning this product on the same day that it arrived. * Don't get me wrong; this toy IS fun. It just didn't meet my needs for what I intended to use it for. If you would like to order something fun for your child, by all means this is definitely a toy to consider, but if you are planning on using this for HvZ or Nerf war-related activities, steer clear and purchase a Zing bow instead.