So, what happened with Tom's new ShoeBox compressor?

[manike]

Not's not already patented??

In the modern world you are looking at a minimum of 2 years to get a patent, more likely 3 or more. If you wait that long before releasing a product you may miss the boat.

The much smarter approach is to cover yourself with patent pending and an application, and get moving.

First to market is very important.

I am excited to get my compressor. Really looking forward to it. I think this is an important step in making paintball more accessible. That to me deserves a .

[MAGpie]

I am excited to get my compressor. Really looking forward to it. I think this is an important step in making paintball more accessible. That to me deserves a .

Even known anything Tom does not to promote paintball? I eco your sentiments though!

[punkncat]

Thanks for being so forthright Tom. I mentioned before that I think the product is very innovative, and I hope that it continues to be popular and successful so that any issues and problems with the unit are dealt with and corrected in later revisions. With your continued experience with the item both from a usage and manufacturing standpoint, it is bound to only get better.

I completely understand the pricing vs quality/warranty issue, you discussed it in previous threads concerning the unit. I really hate you had to make a decision to compromise your standards in order to compete with the jones and this economy, but at the same time...you are and have been doing this, and I am just some Joe on the computer screen.

Best of luck.

[Beemer]

Any reviews? How is it lasting? How frequently do the buyers actually use them?

1. reviews. read below.
2. Lasting...........It dont last for crap. I filled six EMPTY 70ci 4500 psi tanks in two and one half hours each. Thats zero to 4500PSI. Dont know why it failed on the seventh fill. I only greased the pistons once. I sent it back and got my money back.
3. I used mine for about two weeks to do six fills. See number two above.

Otherwise, no, I am not a huge fan of this item yet, and why I chose not to purchase one myself. I think the concept is great, and I think that if, further down the road, it is designed in such a way that the manufacturer would stand behind it with a warranty then I would, and others I know, pursue aquiring one of them. This product is unlike anything TK has ever put his name out there for in that one regard (that I know of), and very much "unlike" the public image of him that I have "known" all these years.

First I have to produce the best product I have ever made at the lowest price I ever have. Its an interesting challenge, wish me luck!

Tom

I completely understand the pricing vs quality/warranty issue, you discussed it in previous threads concerning the unit. I really hate you had to make a decision to compromise your standards in order to compete with the jones and this economy, but at the same time...you are and have been doing this, and I am just some Joe on the computer screen.
Best of luck.

NOTE....Post removed by user so I cant quote it.


My review..................The shoebox blows dont buy one. That feels better then saying the Mag SUCKS.

The frame. Very nice and heavy duty[thickness] to support all the hardware. Has a very good[heavy duty] shop image powder coating, makes me think Craftsman tool boxes. All screws to hold hardware to frame are stainless steel. No rusting here, nice touch. Comes with a Dayton 1/3HP motor. Plenty of torque and power to blow the burst disk from what I have read on the ShoeBox forum.

Looks good with the cover on. Take the cover off and its all raw and machined aluminum and metal. Looks fugly, I want some ANO. Fine with me. Keeps my price LOW and anyway Form follows FUNCTION. On this note it does do what it says it will and under rated at that. Fill my 68 or 70 or whatever CI paintball pressure vessel to 4500 PSI. [FULL FILL] every time.

Some folks are topping off their scuba tanks even though that is not what it is sold to do.


Not OTS[off the shelf parts] From what I see. Two designed and machined and tooled cylinders. One designed, machined and tooled air block. Two cut and worked pistons. One designed machined and tooled piston block with bearings and spring arm for pressure shut off. One custom made spring for pressure shut off. One custom made jack shaft housing. One custom made shaft guide and support bracket.
Special made delrin tubes and spacers for inside the cylinders.

Holy crap batman thats a lot of not off the shelf hardware. The good news is ALL the ware items are OTS off the shelf or bin parts. Gears bushings chains AND orings. AND it still comes with a THIRTY day MONEY Back WARRANTY.

If you cant change your own oil or plugs or dont know what snap ring pliers are you can always send it in for repair. OR you can do it yourself for CHEAP and keep the 4500psi flowing. And there is a ShoeBox site to help with any issues. http://shoeboxcompressor.com/

AGD sucks, the Mag sucks, but the ShoeBox really BLOWS. I tell him every day. Ask him.

[punkncat]

NOTE....Post removed by user so I cant quote it.

It was pointless to try and argue, that is why I removed it. It doesn't matter what my opinion is, it is obviously wrong and worthy of jest, insults and patronization.

I mean, that IS what you are doing, right? Belittling me and my opinion with your little fake rant? Not exactly the kind of trolling I would expect out of a mod....but, you are special.

[Smoothice]

It was pointless to try and argue, that is why I removed it. It doesn't matter what my opinion is, it is obviously wrong and worthy of jest, insults and patronization.

I mean, that IS what you are doing, right? Belittling me and my opinion with your little fake rant? Not exactly the kind of trolling I would expect out of a mod....but, you are special.

People may not be taking "your" opinion seriously because it seems you are talking out of your ***. You don't own one correct?

All your "info" is what you are regurgitating from "someone" else. Have they contacted TK about their "problems"?

I would say your main problem was taken care of years ago in Tommy Boy:

Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted. Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.

Ted Nelson: Go on, I'm listening.

Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.

Ted Nelson: Yeah, makes a man feel good.

Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing]

Ted Nelson: [impatiently] What's your point?

Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.

Ted Nelson: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?

Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of ****. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

Ted Nelson: [pause] Okay, I'll buy from you.

Tommy: Well, that's...

Tommy/Richard Hayden: ...What?

[LinearGoose]

Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

...x2

[manike]

Mine arrived today!

The unit really is a fantastic size for what it accomplishes.

The build quality and attention to detail look really excellent too (I didn't expect anything else).

I need to build a fill line, and then get her up and running.

[Zone Drifter]

I'll say the one thing I don't care for on this product is the cover. I took it off when I first hooked it up and haven't touched it since. Maybe I can rig up a hinge or something so that I won't need to remove it completely.

[maniacmechanic]

I'll say the one thing I don't care for on this product is the cover. I took it off when I first hooked it up and haven't touched it since. Maybe I can rig up a hinge or something so that I won't need to remove it completely.

Mines been off since I got it , I also set up a fan to " cool " the comp & motor

[crboy]

Mines been off since I got it , I also set up a fan to " cool " the comp & motor

I took my screws out and replaced them with photo magnet. You know the kind that has tape on one side, put some on the main body and some on the cover. Now when I have to relube after 3 hours, I just pull it off and no longer have to reach behind to undo the screws.

[Aslan]

I want one

If it were $200 rather than $300, I would have had one for Christmas, or at least got myself on the waiting list and/or sent in a deposit.

The bottom line is, this is probably the most innovative product in paintball and one that if it sold for $200-$250 with a warranty and availability, would probably be one of the top selling products in the industry.

Ever since I switched away from low end markers, CO2 has become an afterthought. Unfortunately, the paintball popularity hasn't exploded to the point that most retail stores fill HPA tanks. You have to either find a scuba store that does it (the ones I tried did not) or you have to go to your nearest paintball store (which are disappearing). I've had t drive over an hour one way on numerous occasions just to fill HPA tanks.

The current alternative, is to get a fairly expensive set-up using scuba and compressed air tanks...which I've found does okay for 3000psi, but won't fully fill 4500 tanks.

With the explosion of free all-day air, filling HPA tanks has become less of an issue than it was 6-7 years ago, but there is a significant portion of paintballers out there that play outlaw ball or in backyards/woods. The players would line up around the block to get a shoebox that they could bring to the woods and hook to their car batteries to fill their tanks and their buddies tanks (for a few bucks). But even in it's current state (where it takes a great deal of time to fill one tank), there is one heck of a market out there for this product given the lack of facilities that fill paintball air tanks. And this isn't like other paintball equipment where the product is slightly different than another one or previous version. This is a product that simply does not exist presently...true innovation.

I think it needs more marketing, a price in the range of $200-$250, and a warranty before it will be a "huge deal"...not to mention it will need to actually be marketed at some point...but so far, SO GOOD! I love AGD, so maybe I'm biased. My only criticism...please market it better than the warpfeed. I don't know how many times I've gone to a field with my warp and all the players are totally blown away by it but have NO CLUE what it is or where to get one.

[Xceolite]

$200-$300? Do you realize what it does? Do you realize that the nearest competitor to this product charges $4000 for theirs? How much would it cost to fill scubas for a year, if you paid someone to do it? $400 is a steal. So...it is OK to spend $400 on a marker, but to pay that much so you can fuel many markers is too much?
Shoebox is a gold mine for the players.

[nalby]

It's not just for playing, I love to tinker, I buy messed up guns and bring them back to life. The only limiting factor I had before the shoebox was air, working on markers uses a ton of air and I never had enough. Now i'm good I have a scuba which is always filled and I can top up to 4500 when I need. I also use it for airguns ( I used to hand pump up to 3000psi, now that's a workout) I figured I've already paid for it in air fills and advil.

[Xceolite]

Sorry. The word players should be replaced with consumers.