Taiwan Paintguns, some look Strangely Familiar...

[FooTemps]

Originally posted by Dover
tack on superbolts I and II; and working in conjunction with Pro-Team Products on the Micromag series markers, Flatline series nitro tanks, and Warp Feed.

the superbolts, ptp micromag, flatline weren't really steps ahead though... the warp feed is though

[ezrunner]

innovators getting the shaft

I think the biggest travesty is that the true innovators in any industry get trampled in about a 6 to 1 ratio.

Every time these guys make something new and exciting, they get it to market, and someone rips them off and then capitalizes on their market.

This is what copyrights and patents are for.

AGD's warp....great idea. It paved the way for the HALO in many ways. People saw what a faster feed system could do for their play. Nothing has that profile on any marker now.

RT - well, this was a great way to get rate of fire from a mechanical gun. Too bad NPPL is giving it a hard time.

The micro's and the flatline tank I don't understand your point about? Many companies have other groups doing special runs of their markers. Proteam did mags and cockers.

The flatline tank is another high performance reg. There are many out there. I have nothing against it at all. I just don't see the huge innovation there.

The blowforward concept and the encapsulation method of the mag was great. The trigger actuating a valve directly? Who would have ever thought of that? (some hack named Tom Kaye)

His new guns apparently set off the need for faster feeders from the beginning. I have some friends who started shooting these in '92? They were there when the revolution came out and started feeding paint so they could shoot faster.

I'm not saying AGD doesn't have some of the better ideas about how to do stuff.

I just want to be able to justify statements about this type of thing.

The Mag is a hot topic, many people love it or hate it. There aren't too many in the middle of the stream on that one.

-rob

[FooTemps]

I think the biggest thing that basically revolutionalized the paintball world is that AGD did was getting people on the track of thinking of using N2.

[Star_Base_CGI]

Whoo hoo, I just cancled my spyder order and carded me a Auto-Mig. $49.95. Compatable with Automag parts.

Seriously though.

People want to know why Communism is so bad. If someone came out with an Auto Mig than everyone would be buying Automigs for $49.95 and complaining that they were crap. So people would be bad mouthing John Doe product and John Doe would lose money from sales.

Communism is bad and when peopel talk about free health care what we ought to be doing is taxing imports in this country and using the revenue to create decent jobs so people can afford health care!

Communism is bad bad bad.

[spantol]

Interesting. If a low-cost, lower-quality automag knockoff were to appear, the market would decide whether or not the trade-off was worth it. That's capitalism in action. Also, free health care is a socialist platform, not strictly limited to communist regimes. Last I heard, Canada hadn't gone red.

You managed to confuse communism with both capitalism and socialism all in one post. Impressive.

[Load SM5]

Originally posted by thecavemankevin

Tom, didn't you guys have a similar problem with this a number of years ago in Europe somewhere?

A European company made a mag knock-off called the Colonial. Tom started selling Automags packaged with Viewloaders in Europe, forcing the Colonial guys to lower their prices and lose money.

[j.t.]

Not only is it a cheap knockoff of good paintball markers but I think they tried to make a knockoff of a good website too.

[WARPED1]

Am I blind?I saw no cocker clone.Spyder clone yes.

[Load SM5]

Go to the warlord series, 3rd gun in the line.

[WARPED1]

I see it now,I like the Shogun.

[SlartyBartFast]

[GT]

Originally posted by AGD

There is huge pressure on us to lower prices though. Our parts cost for a basic gun is well beyond what the retail price is from overseas. Its going to be up to you to decide if your willing to pay more for products made by people dedicated to your sport.

This brings to mind the events of the 70's when the Japanese started importing cheap cars. The cry went out to "buy American" but mostly no one cared. Now the imports have a larger share of the market than the home growns.
AGD

[AGD]

Slarty,

Your argument is good IF the world was a level playing field. In reality it's not. Japan is a great example of a country that takes full advantage of its exports to us while NOT allowing us to go compete in their country.

Manufacturers in other countries dont have to worry about pesky things like product liablity insurance because its too expensive to go there and sue those guys. They also don't have to worry about envronmental concerns either, remember the Dow chemical plant that blew up in India?

You purchased those beautiful spanish tiles from Mexico because they are cheap. What they don't tell you on the back of the box is that they burn tires to fuel the furnaces. The plants are way out in the boonies so tourists don't see the plumes of black smoke rising into the atmosphere. How do I know this is true? Because you hunt for fossils out in the boonies and ask the locals whats going on with the smoke. Where did you think those millions of used tires went every year?

So it may well be given the short view, that exporting jobs overseas is part of the natural selection process and complaining about it is pathetic. But by your same reasoning its much smarter to buy stollen stuff from your local fence because his prices beat Wall Mart's.


AGD

[Star_Base_CGI]

The founding fathers gave the US government the power to authorize copywrites. In order to preserve industry.

Even though I think that Automags are overpriced and produced in restrictive quannities, the fact that AGD owns the copywrite Automags helps them make money to create better products.

If someone in Hong Kong can measure out a Automag they can produce a good clone for $50 and pay people $1 an hour to make em all day for 10 hours a day.

So who has to pay for all this. Well me for one. I went to college and got a 2 year degree but now Im out of work cause companies arent hiring. My degree was a waste of money cause American companys are failing. Comanies are hiring %38 percent fewer college Graduates. What Parant int heir right mind would send their kids to college if they arent goign to get a decent job.


If these guns hit the markets in big quantities that would force people like Tom to goto Hong Kong to get his Guns made, if he hasnt already. Its a viscious cycle and if it keeps up it will destroy the US fiat economy.

[spantol]

I hesitate to mention this, as I don't want it to look like I'm picking on you, but it's worth noting that copyrights have nothing at all to do with Automag production. Copyrights protect written works. An Automag manual would be protected by a copyright. You're thinking of a patent--a government-issued, temporary monopoly on a piece of technology. Various components of the Automag are, I assume, covered by patents.