I bought a Fart Blaster: Can this $30 must-have toy trump a pro smoke machine for photographers? (2024)

The 'Despicable Me 4: The Ultimate Fart Blaster' is supposedly one of the must-have toys this Christmas. But before I let rip, you’re probably wondering: “Mike, what the heck has this got to do with photography? This sounds like an excuse to come up with a ridiculous headline and article about a childish toy...”.

Okay, okay, you got me. I’m pretty darn childish – it’s not every day I get to write about farts. Y’know, toots, parps, guffs, botty burps. But there is a genuine link between The Despicable Me 4 Ultimate Fart Blaster and photography – if you’ll allow me to follow through…

You see, the popular children’s toy is essentially just a handheld smoke machine. And since I reviewed the excellent PMI Gear SmokeNinja, I couldn’t help but wonder if this $29.99 / £29.99 toy that you can pick up at your local Walmart could possibly be a suitable alternative to a pro-grade smoke machine, designed with content creators in mind.

I’ll cut the cheese – ahem – I mean cut to the chase. It isn’t. It isn’t even close. On the sphincter… I mean Richter scale of photography-capable smoke machines, The Ultimate Fart Blaster is merely a love puff.

This whole article, then, is the journalistic equivalent of a fart in a colander. A low point in a career that began with a dream – investigative journalism for a national newspaper – and wafted its way toward the reality of specialty online journalism in 2024. Typing “fart” into the Urban Thesaurus and finding any excuse to include the synonym “flatulus antiquitus”. There, I did it…

Anyway, I digress. What makes the PMI Gear SmokeNinja so darn good is that it can replicate three distinct types of smoke, which it calls Fog, Dryice, and Steam. These can be used to create some truly cinematic effects. It’s accurate, too, allowing you to position the smoke exactly where you want it. This is ideal for delicate miniature scenes, such as the Lego setup I photographed (above).

PMI Gear also prides itself on the SmokeNinja’s safety, thanks to its Coil Protection System. That said, toy company, Moose, has a page dedicated to product safety, stating: “Our testing makes sure each toy meets the global industry’s strict requirements for toxicology, lead, phthalates, heavy metals, and microbiological contamination.”

Another huge advantage of the SmokeNinja is its rechargeable battery. The Ultimate Fart Blaster takes a whopping six AA batteries to work. And while PMI Gear’s aftermarket Cloud Formula liquid is readily available, I cannot find an official refill formula for the Ultimate Fart Blaster.

So, does this toy do anything better than the SmokeNinja? Well, the two bottles of ‘fart fluid’ smell like popcorn (supposedly the fart smell) and banana. Although, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of either. And of course, while the SmokeNinja will set you back $249 / £299, the Ultimate Far Blaster only costs $/£29.99 (not including batteries). Even at that price I still don’t really recommend picking it up just for photography.

However, if you happen to have a little Minion in your life who’s gassing for The Despicable Me 4: The Ultimate Fart Blaster this holiday season, then you could probably put it to reasonably good use once it’s inevitably forgotten about the day after Boxing Day.

The Ultimate Fart Blaster comes with some handy operating instructions. You simply fill the reservoir halfway with your chosen liquid, and flick the on/off selector. The first position is off, the second position only activates sounds (no smoke) and the third position activates sounds and smoke. It’s a shame you can’t activate the smoke without sounds because the fart noises – that will initially have you sniggering like an immature schoolboy – get old real quick.

You press the trigger to turn on the heating element and once the green light is illuminated you can press and hold the pump lever to create smoke. The instructions suggest holding it for two to four seconds and this is perhaps the most useful application for photography. The end of the Fart Blaster begins to smoke and you could conceivably position this alongside your chosen setup to fill it with fog. However, it’s only really useful for small scenes, such as small product or toy photography shoots. There isn’t enough smoke for a portrait shoot, for example.

When you press the trigger, the Fart Blaster fires rings of smoke. This is actually pretty neat and something you’re unlikely to find elsewhere. Videographers may find a use for this and when fired at a toy, the expanding puffs of smoke could be used to create some pretty interesting effects.

Remarkably, The Despicable Me 4: The Ultimate Fart Blaster does have its uses for photography. Sure, it pales in comparison to the SmokeNinja. But then again, it is just a toy.

So there you have it. I’ve managed to waste a few minutes of your time and an entire morning looking up windypop synonyms.

Sadly, we must now parp ways…

Interested in toy photography? Check out the best LED light panels for photography and the best backdrops for photography.

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