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Thread: What Markers Changed the Game?

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  1. #1
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    Post What Markers Changed the Game?

    I was thinking about this recently.

    Obviously, if we go back to the "old days", we'll get to the first ever paintball marker, etc...

    But since YOU HAVE BEEN PLAYING....what markers have really changed the game (for better or worse)???

    For example, since I've been playing (1999), I'd say the battle is between:

    • Tippmann 98 Custom
    • Smart Parts Ion
    • Tippmann A5


    And I gotta say the 98C wins....they probably are in the order I have them listed.

    I mean, the 98C changed the game by making reliable, CO2 powered, easily upgradeable markers available for right $110 new. That was a huge deal. Before that, you'd have to buy Brass Eagle markers if you wanted to spend any less than $160...and those were mostly junk and hardly upgradeable.

    So...what do you guys think? Marker, when you started playing, and why...

  2. #2
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    In order...

    Nelspot 707

    NSG Splatmaster

    Sheridan PG/P (and variants)

    CCI Phantom

    WGP Autococker

    Tippmann 68 Special

    Sheridan VM68

    AGD Automag

    F1 Illustrator

    Kingman Spyder (and variants)

    WDP Angel / PVI Shocker (not gonna fight about dates & patents; they're equally important)

    Tippmann M98 (and variants)

    Bob Long Intimidator

    Airtech/Diablo Matrix

    Smart Parts ION

    Planet Eclipse Ego

    Invert Mini

    DLX Luxe

    ?


    Those, in my opinion, were the game changers. I find these to be the most influential because of cost, availability, popularity, functionality, evolutionary leaps in technology, trendsetting, and various other factors that can't be summed up in one word or two. Granted, some are functionally very similar, and most were cloned and cloned again to be released under different names.

    These are not my favorite markers, most are actually very low on my list of preferences; they're just the ones that have made very visible and tangible changes to the sport in my paintball career (with the exception of markers 1-4, which were released before I started playing). I realize there were a lot of cool markers out there that aren't on this list, but none so "big" in my eyes when it comes to their effects on the sport.

  3. #3
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    For markers that TRULY changed the game (for better or worse)

    My list is short:

    Line SI Bushmaster - took 007 mods out of the garage and put it into a slick package with a quick change CO2.

    CCI Phantom - Ditto but an under cocker

    Tippmann 68 Special - First dependable semiauto marker

    AGD 68 Automag - DUH, do I REALLY need to explain this one on THIS forum....

    WGP Autococker - Proved that advanced plumbing, could produce a dependable winning package. And due to it's hulking weight and ugliness brought about the aftermarket machine parts and customization market.

    Smart Parts "Shoe Box" Shocker - First "electro-pneumatic" marker......
    Last edited by Silverback; 03-04-2012 at 12:02 AM.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Silverback
    Smart Parts "Shoe Box" Shocker - First "electro-pneumatic" marker......
    I've seen paperwork to state otherwise, but let's call it a tie with the V6.

  5. #5
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    I started playing in 98' so my list looks like....

    1) Tippman 98: Rock solid. Low priced, pretty quick (for the time), pretty efficient, ran CO2 great, and is high quality. Perfect starting marker for a great price. The T98 opened the door to lots of people and really made it's mark on the scenario/rec side. 14 Years later and you'll still see them scattered across almost any rec field.

    2) Angel: I don't remember the exact year the angel was intro'd, but I know they were really making the rounds at around this time. To a new player like myself with a spyder compact 2000, an Angel was the last gun you wanted to see on the field. I know other electros came out before the Angel, but the only one I heard people talking about was the Angel. The Angel really set the bar for what was expected for the high end $1000+ market, and in the long run, created the competitive conditions for the much cheaper electros we have today

    3) Tie: SP Impulse/Bushmaster 2000: I never liked the Impulse, but both of these guns were the first successful "low priced" budget electros and they really established the beach head for that market. They were the poor man's Angel for a mere $400-450. In a way, they helped create the environment that led to the creation of other good budget electros like the Ions and Invert Minis.

    4) SP Ion: This gun (for the fields I went to), sortof heralded the end of the mechanical age of paintball. It was a very low priced electro with solid all around performance, eyes, lightweight, a small profile. In the past, newer players would gravitate toward spyders or T98's; after the arrival of the Ion, new players were starting off with tourney level firepower. A few months after this marker was introduced, I saw a very noticable change to how games were being played. There was a lot more spraying and praying going on and not as much movement as I was used to. After this marker was introduced, I've seen the technology sortof stagnant with minor tweaks here and there, but nothing game changing.

    It's a short list, but these are the guns that, for me, really altered how the game was approached, marketed and played.
    Last edited by dahoeb; 03-04-2012 at 01:49 AM.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Silverback View Post
    For markers that TRULY changed the game (for better or worse)

    My list is short:

    Line SI Bushmaster - took 007 mods out of the garage and put it into a slick package with a quick change CO2.

    CCI Phantom - Ditto but an under cocker

    Tippmann 68 Special - First dependable semiauto marker

    AGD 68 Automag - DUH, do I REALLY need to explain this one on THIS forum....

    WGP Autococker - Proved that advanced plumbing, could produce a dependable winning package. And due to it's hulking weight and ugliness brought about the aftermarket machine parts and customization market.

    Smart Parts "Shoe Box" Shocker - First "electro-pneumatic" marker......


    Excellent list.

    Guys, if you're going to pretend to answer the question, give exactly why the marker changed the game.

    Just spewing a mindless list is... mindless.
    "Accuracy by aiming."


    Definitely not on the A-Team.

  7. #7
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    I played my first games renting in 93. Everything in my area was pump. Until a vm68 showed up at the field. Man playing against that changed our tactics. We all slowly got prolites to compete with the VM. A spyder or 2 showed up. But the rugged use didn't compare to the prolite. Then some of us went to mags. And others to cockers by the end of 94. There really wasn't another change here until the angel. The shocker may have existed. But it was big. Ugly. And not real reliable. The angel showed what potential electro had in the industry. The rt came out and agd showed a mech could keep up with the angel. But our agitator and shreader hoppers couldn't begin to keep up with the reactive trigger of the rt. So in my area the biggest gun game changesrs were....

    Vm68 changed people from pump to semi. And a more shoot first and aim second play.

    Prolite and spyders. Gave a mid priced long lasting semi auto. Spyders could be upgraded with all kinds of springs and valves to up the rof. Lighten trigger pull. And minimalize shoot down. The prolite was just rugged.

    Automag/cocker. Bumped up ROF and style of play to more of what we call speedball. Cockers could be tuned even more if the player took the time. Or turned in to an expensive pile of junk. Mags were fast and reliable and last forever.
    Angels just flat showed what electronics could do for the gun.

    Intimidators and impulses. These I am adding because they put the idea of electronics that the angel showed to be out there in the hands of every 12 year old at my field by 2000-2001. And let them piss away multiple cases of paint in a day I might add.
    Last edited by blackdeath1k; 03-21-2013 at 12:57 PM.

  8. #8
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    Nelspot 007

    NSG Splatmaster

    Sheridan PG/P (and variants)

    Tippmann 68 Special

    Sheridan VM68

    AGD Automag...Emag...Xmag

    Invert Mini

    3357 spotmarker

    Tippmann SMG-60

    the WGP Sniper (as well as the WGP Ranger *pump gun*) and all the nifty aftermarket autococking add-on systems.

    Line SI Bushmaster

    And yes...these were all commonly available new in the time I have been playing.

  9. #9
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    I would say the one I think changed things was the Ion.

    Before that a gun that performed like it was expensive thus limitting there use, after the ion everyone coould afford something with that performance.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by cougar20th
    I would say the one I think changed things was the Ion.

    Before that a gun that performed like it was expensive thus limitting there use, after the ion everyone coould afford something with that performance.

    To add to that it also killed the value of every other gun on the market and changed how the entire financial landscape of paintball worked.

  11. #11
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    Post Ion

    I had the Ion #2 on my list behind the 98C just because the Ion didn't have the longevity of the 98C as was eluded to in another post; you can still see 98Cs EVERYWHERE on rec fields and scenario fields. By adding the response trigger, that marker went from being a step towards an A5 or X7....and became a force in and of itself.

    I'll also add that is NOT my list of favorite markers. I HATE Tippmanns....and an Ion owner is one half step higher than a Cocker owner in arrogance and idiocy.

    BUT....those markers changed the game like nothing ever has. The flood of participation in the 90s and early 2000s was almost entirely due to the popularity of the 98C and Ion.

    I added the A5 because that marker "may" have saved paintball by expanding the mil sim market. Speedball is dieting. It's too expensive, a bad spectator sport, ramped with cheating, and the developmental leagues are chaotic. Rec players that want more are starting to actually "play war" again...and as the Afghan and Iraqi soldiers return....that's only going to increase in popularity. More magazines and vendors are focusing on mil-sim....and the A5 started that where the 98C left off. The speed, the cyclone feed, the cosmetic upgrades...that marker became a standard that other markers that followed would be compared to.

    As for my "favorite" markers...I LOVE MAGS!! I don't think there is a better made marker on the planet. The technology and amazing performance...all packed into that valve...it's just a work of art. Cockers aren't just ugly....they are 200 moving parts...one away from breaking down. The mag can be thrown out of a tree and still have above average performance. I wish the Tac One would have made the Mag more of a player in the mil sim market...but it just couldn't compete with Tippmann's cost ratio.

  12. #12
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    Smile yup

    Quote Originally Posted by Sniper Steve
    To add to that it also killed the value of every other gun on the market and changed how the entire financial landscape of paintball worked.
    I actually LOVE this because I could have never afforded a Mag, or Matrix, or Minion if it wasn't for this. I'd still be shooting a Spyder.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sniper Steve
    To add to that it also killed the value of every other gun on the market and changed how the entire financial landscape of paintball worked.
    I loved that part. Alteast the first half. Cant believe I forgot about that. I went on a very serious & expensive buying spree when the prices tanked thank to the Ion. Loved watching prices get cut in half or more on guns I wanted.

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