iSoaker.net :: Soaking the world!

Having made a few trees already, I decided to make one larger overview tree page with links to the sub-trees. While I've not included the piston-pressure based systems, I'm torn whether or not to include the miscellaneous items as well on the trees. Not quite sure how well a Super Soaker Mr. Potatohead or Water Warriors Soggy Doggy would fit in with the rest of the blasters on there. Also on the pages are links to the full resolution Evolution Trees for those interested in seeing more detail.

The product evolution trees so far:

Super Soaker Evolution Tree Page


Water Warriors Evolution Tree Page


Enjoy and Soak on!

Hey, I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but this soaker history map (and iSoaker) have been featured in an article on Gizmodo. At the time of this post, it's received over 40 comments. Gizmodo is a pretty high traffic site, so it'll be interesting to see how that affects our visitors here.

Here's the link: http://gizmodo.com/5022149/evolution-of-the-super-soaker-watergun

Soak On

wetmonkey442 wrote:Hey, I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but this soaker history map (and iSoaker) have been featured in an article on Gizmodo. At the time of this post, it's received over 40 comments. Gizmodo is a pretty high traffic site, so it'll be interesting to see how that affects our visitors here.

Here's the link: http://gizmodo.com/5022149/evolution-of-the-super-soaker-watergun

Soak On

Wow! To think I just posted that article yesterday! Thanks for sharing the link. I'd expect another traffic spike soon, then, if not sooner! Of course, translating hits into new members is a tricky thing.

I read through the comments, and it seems there were 2 clear favorites among the visitors: The CPS 2000 and the SS 300.

Well, seems like a lot of people like the Super Soaker Product Evolution Tree page. Seems like after Gizmodo featured it, now getting redirects from other sites like Reddit.com, Boingboing.com, and a bunch of smaller forums that linked first to the Gizmodo article, then direct to the page.

On the bright side, the server has been holding up despite the traffic spike. Before the Fark and Gizmodo links, traffic was at a typically summer-time high, reporting ~1GB traffic per day. The past three days have shown a spike to 8GB, then 11GB, then 20GB total served just yesterday! Unfortunately, despite the spike in visitors, its another thing to get people to come to the forums, let alone join them.

That said, the interest in the page does suggest to me a latent interest in the public regarding water blasters and water warfare. The trick is how to better tap into that interest. Granted, if there were a sudden influx of members on these forums, it'd likely end up causing more problems than being a good thing. Need to build up Soakerdom, but somehow do it the right way as we build it together.

Statistical Analysis of Recent Page Views (last 7 days)

Top 50 Water Blaster Page Reviews Sorted by Page Visits
File Name | Page Views | Page Visits
/2007/aqsecretstrike.html 7,584 6,983
/1989/ss50.html 8,136 6,901
/1996/cps2000.html 8,535 5,935
/2007/hydroblitz.html 6,694 5,931
/1990/ss100.html 4,802 4,192
/2008/bottleshot.html 4,233 4,049
/2008/quickblast.html 3,683 3,476
/2007/arcticblast.html 3,909 3,439
/1992/ss50c.html 4,767 3,172
/1994/xp300.html 3,542 3,169
/1993/ss300.html 3,492 3,084
/1991/ss200.html 3,294 2,901
/1990/ss30.html 2,948 2,666
/1998/cps3000.html 2,944 2,535
/2006/oozinator.html 2,618 2,504
/2002/maxd6000.html 2,387 2,148
/2005/flashflood.html 2,405 2,124
/2002/cps4100.html 2,245 1,930
/1996/xxp275.html 2,125 1,799
/1994/xp250.html 1,966 1,794
/2005/aquapackdevastator.html 1,984 1,789
/1993/psjrcannon.html 1,835 1,787
/2000/sctriplecharge.html 1,770 1,683
/1999/scpowerpak.html 1,850 1,679
/2000/cps3200.html 1,863 1,651
/2006/mioverload.html 1,742 1,623
/1994/xp150.html 1,812 1,611
/2000/monsterxl.html 1,837 1,552
/1993/xp75.html 1,757 1,537
/2006/midefender.html 1,508 1,404
/1996/xppoolpumperblaster.html 1,452 1,370
/2002/cps2100.html 1,623 1,367
/2000/scbigtrouble.html 1,339 1,238
/1998/cps2500.html 1,450 1,237
/2005/tripleshot.html 1,342 1,235
/2005/arcticshock.html 1,334 1,230
/1999/xp90.html 1,283 1,209
/1993/ssmds.html 1,289 1,188
/2003/maxdsecretstrike.html 1,243 1,146
/1991/ss20.html 1,203 1,146
/2001/cpssplashzooka.html 1,252 1,129
/1998/ss50_10yr.html 1,145 1,077
/2007/aqsneakattack.html 1,164 1,069
/1998/cps1000.html 1,223 1,055
/2001/monster.html 1,138 1,004
/1996/xp105.html 1,098 997
/2000/monsterx.html 1,113 983
/1998/cps1500.html 1,170 980
/1997/xp85tripleshot.html 1,023 970
/1993/ss40.html 1,028 944

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The above shows which Super Soakers appear either the most well known or the most popular. I'm not too surprised that the SS50 and CPS2000 were amongst the top 3 Super Soaker review pages viewed, but I was a little surprised to see the AquaShock Secret Strike getting more views. Then again, based on the look of the tree and seeing that many went to view the Air Pressure Tree the most, the AquaShock Secret Strike is the newest of the air-pressure-based Super Soakers so I presume many were just curious about that one (what should have been the pinnacle of Super Soaker evolution... ).

Not as many found their way over to the Water Warriors section, but for those that did, it appears that the Water Warriors Tiger Shark review (657 views) beat out the Orca review (643 views), even if only just by a bit.

As for these forums, links to them appeared at positions 66 (839 views), 72 (776 views), 98 (376 views), 99 (248 views), and 100 (184 views) of the top 100 pages visited. While some appeared to have wandered over here, I think most forums views were from already current members.

I just noticed that BBT has more piston guns than the entire history of Super Soaker. 0_o They seem to be more... "well rounded" and unlike SS's, they don't have a huge block of air pressure soakers. I'd imagine that the CPS line could approach the size of the air pressure block if Larami's streak of making awesome soakers could continue for just a few more years.

@C-A_99: actually, only sorta... as cannot be easily seen in the small pics, for the Piston section on the Super Soaker Tree, there are the words (incomplete tree). I know that Super Soaker made more models of piston-based water blasters than I have listed, but since I'm lacking names and pics of the missing models, they haven't been included yet. Perhaps I should add in some question marks (?) to spots I believe missing models are. That said, BBT is more well rounded in a sense, but then again, they've got a lot of history behind them, too. Of course, I have good hopes for the future, but what else is new?

C-A_99 wrote:I just noticed that BBT has more piston guns than the entire history of Super Soaker. 0_o They seem to be more... "well rounded" and unlike SS's, they don't have a huge block of air pressure soakers. I'd imagine that the CPS line could approach the size of the air pressure block if Larami's streak of making awesome soakers could continue for just a few more years.

I don't see what is the big deal with piston guns. They are easier to use for younger kids, so I can see why SS and BBT might produce one...or two... a year. But in Super Soaker's 2008 line, the only new blasters are piston-power. BBT on the other hand has produced several non-piston pressure guns, but their piston selection is relatively big (compared to other types)

Still, though, air-pressure is definitely superior to piston pressure. It is better in every way except that piston-guns are faster (no pressurization needed). "Well-rounded" to me is not a matter of blasters with different power, it is mainly size or function (i.e. long-range, short-range, fan blast, etc.) If there were a company that made, say, a bunch of air pressure water guns that all had the same power, but had different size, style, and nozzles, I would say that is well-rounded.

BTW, speaking of which, I really think WW would be more balanced with larger water guns. So far, their blasters haven't been very big, at least compared to Super Soaker. ok, enough of my ranting...

Pistons require more strength to get decent range/power, which air pressure and CPS don't demand as much. Example here being the Max-D 6000 which is very easy and very fast to pump but still gets better range than most pistons and the stream is pretty steady. I guess its because kids want constant, long shots and are unwilling to wait even just a few seconds to charge up a gun.

I still find it strange that SS's long history has less than half of the pistons that BBT made in what? 5 years? Perhaps its because SS started with air pressure and focused a ton on pre-pressurized blasters and looked at piston guns as a side sort of thing so they could sell some pool toys. Interesting to see that SS released even more air pressured soakers in the middle of the CPS age.