Soon you will be supporting Smart Parts when you buy a Quick-Release feedneck...

[JesseB]

I have not bothered to read everything.

The patent paending is for the lever action feed neck. Which we were the first to have one. It debuted on the nerve. The patent is not trying to cover ALL clamping style feednecks.

Hybrid had one come out at the same time as well. We have prior art well before everyone else with ads of the nerve with it on there. Remember the marketing of the nerve was a year before it came out.

We do not make patents a big deal as well. It is the public who reads into things too much or too many "conspiracy" theories going as well. Would you rather have the technology patents going to people who are making the products outside of the US? All of our Q-locks are make in house. We are firm believers in trying to make as much of our product here in the US as well. We have even moved things back to the US such as the electronics.

BTW... I really like the Smiles on here

Yeah I would rather see anyone but Smart PArts get any Patent for anything. Smart Parts bullyed too many good companies out of making too many good guns. There is no respect for them. A clamping feed neck? are you serious?? is there enough revenue generated in the clamping feedneck industry where that is necessary?

Conspiracy theories? Like what? The crack pot theory that ICD, AKALMP, and AGD were served with cease and desist order for making electronic guns? There is no reason anyone should pay Smart Parts to make an electronic gun. It was a very lame move.

Also Smart Parts products have been declining in quality since 2003 when the recycled beer can shocker came out.

If you made good products and someone was legitimately knocking them off (not just using a microswitch in their gun) then I would say that Smart Parts is a decent company. But you make low quality guns using the cheapest materials and screwed the competition so that you are the only game in town. I'm glad Eclipse, APS(wdp), Macdev, and Dangerous Powers are still making guns though so there are still quality markers available.

[Smart Parts Sean]

I never said that this was about royalties, it's about eliminating competition via patents like they did with the barrel kit. What they'll do is use C&D letters which are cheap, or they'll include this part in a bigger lawsuit again, like the barrel kits. They'll force people to stop making them, and profit off having the only lever locking feednecks on the market.

Should we not defend our intellectual property? No one before used sleeves in a barrel kit. No one before used a lever lock. No one before even made an electronic gun... and so forth. If eveything was public domain, the paintball market would be even more over run with cheap knock off from China. Which in turn hurts the economy in the US and the end consumer by having low-quality parts. Heck, even Tippmann has not turned to China as well.


I used to work for KAPP, who in my opinion started the mass selling of many aftermarket products in one place in various colors... etc. We should have started to patent years ago. Which we did not. By the time the end came around, it was too late. We had everyone knocking us off left and right. Heck, even National was knocking off our product and selling it as a KAPP product. In this day and age, you have to defend your intellectual property.

[Smart Parts Sean]

Yeah I would rather see anyone but Smart PArts get any Patent for anything. Smart Parts bullyed too many good companies out of making too many good guns. There is no respect for them. A clamping feed neck? are you serious?? is there enough revenue generated in the clamping feedneck industry where that is necessary?

Conspiracy theories? Like what? The crack pot theory that ICD, AKALMP, and AGD were served with cease and desist order for making electronic guns? There is no reason anyone should pay Smart Parts to make an electronic gun. It was a very lame move.

Also Smart Parts products have been declining in quality since 2003 when the recycled beer can shocker came out.

If you made good products and someone was legitimately knocking them off (not just using a microswitch in their gun) then I would say that Smart Parts is a decent company. But you make low quality guns using the cheapest materials and screwed the competition so that you are the only game in town. I'm glad Eclipse, APS(wdp), Macdev, and Dangerous Powers are still making guns though so there are still quality markers available.

There was never a C&D letter sent to AGD, AKA, or ICD. There were letters to inform them that they were in violation of our patents. AKA was violating our original gun patent. So, is it a crack pot conspiracy theory that we sent them all C&D letters??? YES! Without a doubt. Because we did not. If someone is in violation of our Patents, then we have every right to defend it. And our Quality has been getting much better in the recent years. We learned a lot from the ion and now our Quality is much better along with our Quality Control. Tell me which of our current gun line is bad quality?? I am really curious.

[Ydna]

...But you make low quality guns using the cheapest materials and screwed the competition so that you are the only game in town.

Surely you're thinking of another company, being as the aluminum SP used for Shocker SFTs and Nerves actually cost MORE than standard grade aluminum.

Just because it's lower grade doesn't mean it's cheaper.

[flyingpootang]

Should we not defend our intellectual property? No one before used sleeves in a barrel kit.

Didn't OTP come out with the first inserts Yes they screwed in, but they still were sleeves...

[JesseB]

There was never a C&D letter sent to AGD, AKA, or ICD. There were letters to inform them that they were in violation of our patents. AKA was violating our original gun patent. So, is it a crack pot conspiracy theory that we sent them all C&D letters??? YES! Without a doubt. Because we did not. If someone is in violation of our Patents, then we have every right to defend it. And our Quality has been getting much better in the recent years. We learned a lot from the ion and now our Quality is much better along with our Quality Control. Tell me which of our current gun line is bad quality?? I am really curious.

I honestly don't have any first hand experience with any of your equipment since 2003 when I bought a shocker. It is the worst gun I have ever bought new or used. The anno began to rub off after a few weeks and then the vert asa slowly began to loosen and need tightening frequently. Eventually the whole vert asa blew off the gun stripping out the screw and the air inlet holes are so poorly designed they are too close to the asa attachment screw so it can not be rethreaded. I swore then and there never to spend another dime on Smart Parts equipment since it is sub-par, if someone was paying me I'd use it but I wouldn't recomend that anyone else paid their money to buy something from you.

Quality is getting better though? Well it's easy to improve from no quality to low quality congrats on making something that sucks a little less and catching a few problems before they go out the door. I bet if I sent my shocker in there is no way it would be repaired or replaced regardless of the warranty. But on the other hand one time I had a used mag with no stars (remember those?) in poor repair that even had aftermarket parts on it that wouldn't operate correctly I sent it to AGD and they repaired it and sent it back. All I was out was shipping costs. Smart Parts doesn't have the capability to do this kind of customer service because they would lose money!!!

Did AGD ICD and AKALMP stop producing guns as a result of this action? Yes. That's the point here. You started crying "OMG OMG our patents!" and started yelling about lawsuits. Perhaps I was wrong about a C&D but there was communication between Smart Parts that ended with Several manufacturers stopping production on many guns simply because of a broad and generalized patent. Smart Parts wanted to bully the competition and they did.

[sandfreestyle]

If I remember corectly, but could be wrong. Wasn't AGD the founder of powerfeeds, reactive triggers, adjustable HPA tanks, and using an "eye" in a paintball gun?

[JesseB]

If I remember corectly, but could be wrong. Wasn't AGD the founder of powerfeeds, reactive triggers, adjustable HPA tanks, and using an "eye" in a paintball gun?

Yup strange how Smart Parts never got threatened over using Powerfeed on the old school shockers, or any other tank manufacturer getting letters regarding their adjustable HPA tanks.

Tom Kaye is just to classy to resort to lawsuits to keep his company's ideas from making other people profit. I guess he figured you guys needed all the help you could get....

[insixdays777]

All the "x-files" theories, he said she said areall moot points. Simply undetail means to an end that we all can clearly see. No matter , what type of letter SP sent, did not send ect..does not mater.

What matters is the fact that the end actions of SP ETHICAL and MORAL choices about how they do business in OUR ( All Paintball PLAYERS) world has impacted us all. Directly or indirectly all are products in some way of choices SP has made.

They dont love the sport, they simply love the money. Long gone are the days when getting people to play PB for LOVE. Its all about the $$, no matter what the moral or ethical cost are.

Speaking from my AGD heart, Tom really loved this sport, way more that he loved money. It was a passion. His PB carrer echoes this in everything he has done. I mean making a consious moral and ethical decision not to push the powerfeed and HPA patents for the good of the paintball community and Tom was not the only one of PB great fore fathers that did things to ensure the sport grows.

WOW what a contrast to SP.

[DevilMan]

Also the ARADUS barrel had a "sleeve" in it. Though it's not changable like the freak kit stuff, it still was a barrel that sported a sleeve that you could adjust the bore size with.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the Aradus and the Freak are anything alike. But I am hard pressed to say that SP had the first ever electronic marker. Of course I could be very wrong here, but I do believe there were a few markers on the market that had batteries, switches and circuit boards in them.

As for the Leverlock... Is that not the same thing different name as the CamLock system on a bicycle??? or the Q Lock??

Please don't shoot me up too quickly as I have not fully read all the details and such, but to me they all look the same currently.

Oh well... On one last note... SP Sean... Glad to have you in here. I'm not much on SP stuff though, but good to have someone at least putting into view SP's side of the picture. I hate being uninformed.

DM

[Smart Parts Sean]

Didn't OTP come out with the first inserts Yes they screwed in, but they still were sleeves...

OTP did have a very short insert that screwed in reverse threaded. It was a few inches long. Most of the acceleration of the paintball is in the first 6 inches, hence the freak system. The OTP was a ball sizer meant mainly for cockers so that the ball would not roll out the end.

[Smart Parts Sean]

I honestly don't have any first hand experience with any of your equipment since 2003 when I bought a shocker. It is the worst gun I have ever bought new or used. The anno began to rub off after a few weeks and then the vert asa slowly began to loosen and need tightening frequently. Eventually the whole vert asa blew off the gun stripping out the screw and the air inlet holes are so poorly designed they are too close to the asa attachment screw so it can not be rethreaded. I swore then and there never to spend another dime on Smart Parts equipment since it is sub-par, if someone was paying me I'd use it but I wouldn't recomend that anyone else paid their money to buy something from you.

Quality is getting better though? Well it's easy to improve from no quality to low quality congrats on making something that sucks a little less and catching a few problems before they go out the door. I bet if I sent my shocker in there is no way it would be repaired or replaced regardless of the warranty. But on the other hand one time I had a used mag with no stars (remember those?) in poor repair that even had aftermarket parts on it that wouldn't operate correctly I sent it to AGD and they repaired it and sent it back. All I was out was shipping costs. Smart Parts doesn't have the capability to do this kind of customer service because they would lose money!!!

Did AGD ICD and AKALMP stop producing guns as a result of this action? Yes. That's the point here. You started crying "OMG OMG our patents!" and started yelling about lawsuits. Perhaps I was wrong about a C&D but there was communication between Smart Parts that ended with Several manufacturers stopping production on many guns simply because of a broad and generalized patent. Smart Parts wanted to bully the competition and they did.

ICD still kept producing guns. AKA and AGD both decided not to produce guns as a result of it. The royalties are pretty minimal when you consider how expensive those guns are. AKA was in more trouble than AGD and ICD because of the dual solenoids of our first gun patent. Smart Parts NEVER said "OMG OMG, OUR PATENTS." We were never public about any of it. The only thing we have been public about is the signing on of various vendors which is more recent over the past few years. We never went public with press releases about our patents. It was the public who made it public and various other companies going to the internet for support.

The Shocker SFT was also a learning curve as well. We learned alot and I stand by all of our guns 100%. Heck, I even refused to shoot an SFT myself because of small little issues I had. But then again, I am anal when it comes to the guns I shoot. More so then most people. It does not make the SFT a bad gun. The NXT fixed all of my small issues with the shocker. As far as customer service, it has gone up ten fold in the 4.5 years I have been here and helped with a lot of that change as well. If you see my at an event, and you still have an SFT, bring it over. And I will be ore than happy to take care of you.

[Smart Parts Sean]

Also the ARADUS barrel had a "sleeve" in it. Though it's not changable like the freak kit stuff, it still was a barrel that sported a sleeve that you could adjust the bore size with.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the Aradus and the Freak are anything alike. But I am hard pressed to say that SP had the first ever electronic marker. Of course I could be very wrong here, but I do believe there were a few markers on the market that had batteries, switches and circuit boards in them.

As for the Leverlock... Is that not the same thing different name as the CamLock system on a bicycle??? or the Q Lock??

Please don't shoot me up too quickly as I have not fully read all the details and such, but to me they all look the same currently.

Oh well... On one last note... SP Sean... Glad to have you in here. I'm not much on SP stuff though, but good to have someone at least putting into view SP's side of the picture. I hate being uninformed.

DM

The Aradus barrel came out after the freak. It is different and it would not fall under our patents. We did have the first electropneumatic gun. Before the PVI shocker, there had never been a gun to take batteries or boards. There were some prolites that a few people had made for fun, but nothing from a manufacturing standpoint that I can think of. Plus, they were servo driven using a paddle on the trigger as opposed to solenoids.

The Q-lock is similar to the lever lock on a bike. But we were the first to start using it in paintball. Everyone said "DAMN, that is easy. Why did I not think of that?" And the copying begins.

I am just here to inform the masses as SP's little banner boy.. lol.

[Smart Parts Sean]

If I remember corectly, but could be wrong. Wasn't AGD the founder of powerfeeds, reactive triggers, adjustable HPA tanks, and using an "eye" in a paintball gun?

The very first "eye" was a photo eye done by Sandridge on the F-5 cockers. I had one. Reative trigger and power feed was pro-team products I think. The Adjustable Air system was Air America.

TK did bring compressed air into paintball. True. Could he have patented something with it?? Sure. But why would he? The Automag shoots best on HPA. By having HPA more available in the marketplace, he is doind himself a favor on selling his guns.

[BREAD_DA_PAINTER]

Oh goodness... ..... all im going to say about ^^^^^