Today marks the 40th anniversary of Nerf, invented by intrepid toy creator Reyn Guyer. In lieu of an actual Nerf battle (although it’s tempting), we’ve rounded up some of our favorite ads by the foam gun manufacturers. They weren’t always in the arms business, though, as you’ll see with the first couple entries in our listicle of 11 Killer Nerf Commercials.

Nerf Sports (1986)

They were so wholesome before getting into weapons development.

Nerf Flying Colors (1980s)

Nerf or Nothin’ (1993)

Nerf Slingshot (1992)

With Seth Green!

Nerf MaxForce

“Half gun, half creature,” and perfect for shootouts in a sculpture garden?

Nerf Disc Shot

New millennium Nerf, with wireless remotes and everything.

Nerf Dart Tag

Nerf Arrow (1993)

With Devon Sawa!

Nerf Recon

A touch too much like an actual weapon, maybe?

Nerf CyberStrike

Tragically, we later found out that they don’t actually make laser sounds.

Nerf NB-1

We got pretty bad bruises from that Nerf gun.