Today's Review: Marshmallowville Marshmallow Shooter

A cafe just opposite a quay on Mersea island was the last place I'd expect to find a gun purpose built for firing mini marshmallows, but find it I did. Now, I'm not a man who can clap my eyes on a marshmallow gun and not buy it, so I grabbed that sucker off the shelf. Some of my company at the time felt my purchase was frivolous and unnecessary, but all I was reminded of was this extremely apt scene from Parks & Rec:

The premise is simple, you put marshmallows in the tube, and then you shoot them. It's pretty easy to load, you just pop the tube off and shove in some mallowy goodness. It helps to keep them the right way up, so some finesse is required, but all in all it's a pretty easy method. Once you pop the tube back on, you're a few pumps away from raining tiny marshmallows upon whatever you desire. As long as it's not someone's face though, the box makes it very clear that you should never aim it at someone's face or mouth, and there's even a target provided to ensure you've got something better to fire at. But I posit this: If you're not supposed to fire this at peoples' faces, then why does the logo on the gun itself depict a guy with marshmallows in his hair?

Firing is simple, but it's not perfect. My first attempt with this was at work, where all I could rustle up were some fairly stale marshmallows that had been sitting in the cupboard for a while, and the results were less than satisfactory. But on the way home I picked up a bag of fresh ones, and I'm pleased to report that they're much more effective. It may still take a few pumps to get one to come out as opposed to the rapid fire I was hoping for, but I can still fling marshmallows across the room at will, and firing it at mouths is lots of fun, despite the inherent risks. Sometimes the marshmallows come out more than one at a time, making this more like a marshmallow shotgun instead of a rifle, and that's always cool. So while it doesn't fire after one pump 100% of the time, this is still an effective launcher of mini marshmallows. Maybe I just need practice, and one day I can be like this:

My rating: 4/5