Automag - becoming extinct?

[Mongoose]

Mags have an extroadinary reputation around here, if you go on a field with a Mag, normaly the ref smiles at you and waves you onward to glory. All the little kids look at the mag and go woooow... Mags are not dieing out, they're just becoming almost a cult gun. And honestly, Im in that cult.
Jeremiah

kids ask me what kind of shocker it is!!!

[Paintchucker]

I used to play down in the Marietta, GA area when I was based there. I was usually the only automag around. One time, I did run into a family (dad and two sons) who all had mags. That was a fun day. Wish I could remember the name of the fields that I would play at in GA. It was back in 2000-2003. The store was the basement of somebody's house and there were several fields around it in the woods. One had a huge wooden fort (plywood and bracers - I think 4*4s) in the center.

Sounds like maybe Arkenstone, a little north of Marietta in Acworth ???

[Desega]

New mags are hard to find, but at AO they are still worshiped, despite aging. Anyone remember chuff chuff

[Dark Side]

3 of the members of my team have Mags, but on that same note a kid last weekend asked me what my Xmag was. I'll never let go of any of mine, except in the passing of them to my children.

[Badmovies.org]

Sounds like maybe Arkenstone, a little north of Marietta in Acworth ???

That name rings a bell, you are probably correct.

[Cow123]

That name rings a bell, you are probably correct.

Yep, sounds like arkenstone for sure. What color was your hopper, just out of curiosity?

[RRfireblade]

Obvioulsy not extinct , there still alive in the hands of those who still use them.

But the population is losing ground to natural selection.

[Russ]

...It's sad to see what paintball has become, what with all the greed and distrust. It used to be a lot different, though those who remember it are the ones who are on their way to extinction. If the mag ever does really die out, at least it will do so with dignity.
Long live AGD!
Dan@Triggernomics

AMEN to that, Dan.

Mags are rugged and reliable. They are built to last, NOT to some low-ball, high profit price point. I'm in my fourties, and am a Tool & Die maker. I appreciate the engineering that is in the entire AutoMag line up. I'll be using a mag as long as I can keep playing paintball

[Badmovies.org]

Yep, sounds like arkenstone for sure. What color was your hopper, just out of curiosity?

Black. I shot a black classic-valve Automag back then, with a gas-through stock and the tank on my back. I had a sling for it. Heck, I just sold that old gal:



Quite often, I was there with some other Marines. We would wear old cammies. Underneath, I often had on an old team shirt (team meaning "a group of friends who played a lot") that said "Penguin Lust Paintball" and had a picture of Opus from Blood County with a paintball marker. Since I would take off my cammie blouse between games, you might have seen the shirt - others would get a good chuckle from it at times.

[RobOpel]

I got my mag this past summer, I was tired of my cocker goin down ('97 mini + 2 or 3 years w/out paint or air will do that to it...) and did some research on how mags work and basically just got excited over the simplicity and beauty of the operation. Kinda the same way I came to love the rotary.

Anyrate, the first day I played with it, it had an old glued sp all american, cf frame, vl grips, and bottom line. Simply put I was hooked. Now, probably 9 months or so later Ive got an iR3 framed xvalved pmag that gets me stares and questions like '...is that...a g7 frame on...is that a mag valve?' and thats from the ppl who have an idea of what they're looking at, most just kinda stare, or if I happen to end up talking to an older ref or store/field owner I get compliments and that far away gaze with statements like 'I remember back when everyone used those things...'

Whether I think theyre going anywhere or not...most people I talk to tend to respect the mag for what it is and where it came from, enjoy shooting it (yes Ive loaned my mag out before) but would rather not have to spend a fair amount of money or build their own system in order to get that all powerful rof out of a gun. That and the efficiency problem, which is funny, because IIRC my brother and I both get about the same number of shots/1000 psi and he shoots an ion with the dwell set to its lowest reasonable setting. So, from the looks of things, mags seem to be the gun for tinkerers, old timers, or people who just like a well designed no-nonsense mechanical operation. And if you haven't noticed, in paintball, those three seem to be in short supply.


Rob

[ProblemKinder]

You don't shoot one but you post on AO? That is a first.

no, that's not a first. far from it.

[Don Carnage]

Most of us can agree that AGD's sales aren't what they should be. The reason is still debated. Some believe it's because electro's rule the scene and people buy into the hype. Others, like myself, believe AGD should market more to the scenario/rec crowd (even going as far as to make Classic 68's with Tac One bodies).

However, the most effective thing any company can do is marketing. As a player, the best marketing you can do for mags is to use them, be friendly and talk to people at fields that ask. The second thing we ourselves can do for AGD is post reviews for others to see.

Say what you want about pbreview.com but thousands of players go there (especially newbies shopping for their first gun.) Many will read the reviews of multiple guns before deciding which one to get. When I wanted a reg for my A-5 a few years back, I read every reg on pbreview, based off that, I ended up with a Palmers and not one of the regs the local shops and magazines try to pimp.

So if you want to educate more players about AGD, visit one of the review sites, write an honest, educated review, and let shoppers find that. If you have a nice looking mag, post a pic for them to see. If there's aftermarket products that you have experience with, review those, post pics, educate new players to want a mag.

If more players buy mags, more people will make aftermarket parts for them, those people will advertise their accessories on mags and get more people to buy mags because they like the add-ons, this demand will encourage more shops to carry mags, which will encourage more people to buy them, etc...

Here's a few examples:
Tac One Body: only 1 review (2004)
Exile Body: 0 reviews, no pic
Pariah body: 0 reviews, no pic
Recon Rail: 0 reviews, no pic
Shadow Rail: 0 review, no pic
Splinter Trigger: 0 reviews
AGD Pro Classic: only 11 reviews
RPG Paradigm Classic: 0 reviews
RPG Paradigm Pro: 2 reviews
Devil Mag: 3 reviews
SpecOps Longbow: 5 reviews
Tunablade Trigger: not even showing
AGD TacOne Warp Body: not even showing
E-Tac: not even showing
Thrasher Rail: not even showing

If I was an uninformed shopper, just based off the low number of reviews, I would feel discouraged from looking into a mag or its accessories. This is something we ourselves can fix rather than complaining about AGD's lack of marketing or Smart Parts' lawsuits killing the X-mag.

[punkncat]

Although they are out of the mainstream and you don't see parts on "AV" doesn't mean they aren't lurking around. If anything I would say I have seen more around lately than ever. Most at scenarios, but quite a few packed in the speedballers gearbag as the backup to the backup.

[Corbet]

I love my mag but I just don't understand why AGD dosn't work on a new marker, obviously electric. Every other paintball company is.

[matteusz]

I know what we can do to boost sales (in addition to the very awesome comment on reviewing our stuff) . . . HOARD all the existing AGD stuff you can get your hands on. Then when someone wants to borrow something you will have nothing else to loan and will have to all the use of a mag despite your friends greasy fingers. Also anyone wanting to buy a mag will then have to go buy one from the source thus creating more used parts/ guns for you to hoard.

/no those are for sale threads
//I can't afford to but I wish