Paintball Buyer’s Blog

NXe is probably my favorite company to enter the paintball marketplace in the last few years. They hit the ground running with high quality soft goods, ranging from very affordable entry level to high end harnesses and gear bags from the Marker/ Barrel Bag all the way up to the Executive Roller that’ll fit all your gear plus clothes for a whole weekend. As I mentioned in another post, I personally use the Elevation Series Harness and can’t imagine using anyone else’s. I met them at World Cup last fall and must say they are a great bunch of people and definitely stand behind their products.

Rolling into the warehouse today was their new Knee Shield and Arm Shield Pad which definitely impress. The Knee Shields are slip-on style, lightweight neoprene with velcro straps at top and bottom, guided by loops so they don’t slip off and dig into your skin. The backs are open so the back of your knee can breathe and prevent binding… I’ve used slip-ons before that would bind up so bad my leg would get numb and tingly if I stayed on my knees too long! Combine all that with cushy foam and these knee pads at $39.99 are worth considering.

The Arm Shield is Lycra on the underside, neoprene on the back with hinged foam running from wrist to above the elbow. You slip them on, through a Lycra cuff with thumbhole and fasten with a velcro strap around the bicep. With your thumb through the cuff the pad doesn’t slide up when hitting the ground and the bicep strap keeps them from falling down. Put them on and they stay on. A section of tough ballistic nylon lies on the underside of the wrist to protect the joints and not tear out when doing the Superman slide into the snake. Soft enough to encourage paint to bounce but firm enough for protection, you get as much and more at $34.99 than most $50 pads.

Word is that NXe will be releasing a line of jerseys and paintball pants soon. If these are like all of their other product then they will be bomb-proof AND stylin’ to boot! Of course, we will be among the first to get them so keep checking back…

Its a pretty crazy job at this desk… I sit down, look at my task list and think “Finally, some peace and quiet so I can get all this work done”. Then the phone rings and all those plans go through the window as I drop everything to jump on the latest special or product.

Take today for instance. I’m still catching up from running back and forth across the country when Proto calls me for first crack at the new Special Edition Proto Rail. These are Rails with the full range of color match parts including a 2 piece Proto Barrel with matching anodized back. To build a Rail with all these parts would cost over $700, but to pick one of these up ready to roll right out of the box will be $399.95 ! Machinegun performance, head turning looks and you save some money… doesn’t get any better than that!

These will be in our warehouse ready to ship by next week… if you’ve been thinking about stepping up to a Proto Matrix Rail for your next paintball marker these are hard to beat.

Added 6/5/2007 … The SE Rails are in house and ready to ship!

I was in New Jersey over the weekend at Kee Action Sports and was one of the few paintball buyers in the country to see all the new 2008 Empire and Invert gear. All I can say is “WOW!”… the entire line is some of the hottest looking gear I’ve ever seen! I’m dying to tell you every minute detail about what I saw and tried out, but unfortunately I can’t… was not even allowed to take pictures. Let’s just say that I was so blown away that we are carrying the entire Empire/ Invert range of jerseys, pants, gloves, harnesses, gear bags, backpacks, tank covers and other gear for 2008. Not only can you get it all in one place, you can get it earlier than everyone else because we will be among the first to sell them starting this September!

More accessories for the BT paintball markers are on their way to us, including the M16 Magazine, F.E. Stock and Folding Bipod. Plenty of options to turn your BT into a paint slinging intimidation machine!

Well, I’m off to New Jersey for the weekend to go to the Kee Action Sports Premier Dealer Day. This will be a preview of all the hot new paintball products from Vents, Halo, Empire, Evil, Invert and BT to name a few manufacturers. Its an opportunity to order early so we can be first on the list to deliver them to you. Check in next week, I’ll post what pictures I can without getting sued.

Smart Parts called today and offered a new color on the Epiphany…. Gold Titanium ! Of course, I bought as many as I could but they are limited in number so if you’ve been looking into a Smart Parts Epiphany and want to stand out from the crowd you better act fast. Also due in next week is the 7 DVD set of the Smart Parts World Paintball Championships which aired last year on ESPN. Only $99.00 for hours and hours of the best teams in the sport battling it out in X Ball style arena games.

Oh… team edition Shocker NXTs such as the Russian Legion and Naughty Dogs are now $995.00 !

Hello again, we got a special going on while supplies last for the Virtue Ion Board which will include a FREE Red EZON Power Button and Membrane Adapter. The board will turn your Smart Parts Ion into a paint slingin’ machinegun with adjustable ramping, burst, full auto, breakout modes or my personal fave, autoresponse (shot on the pull and shot on the release is sooooooo much fun!).  Free stuff is always good, am I right?

Also new in the warehouse are the Virtue Laser Breakbeam Eyes for the Shocker NXT. These eyes are useful upgrade because you can look in the feedneck to verify the eyes are clean and working.

If you need to dress up the walls in your house, we have two huge Virtue Banners featuring LA Ironmen superstar Ollie Lang and the powerhouse NXL team Boston Red Legion (aka Russian Legion).  These things are huge… 2′ x 5 1/2′… and let’s everyone know what you do on the weekends!

Thought I’d give a heads-up, the long awaited Hybrid Grips for the Dye Ultralite frame are on their way to us as I type! These slap the classic Hybrid look, texture and attitude onto your Dye DM6, DM7 or UL frame for PM5, PM6, PM7 or Rail.

Coming in as well will be other grips including the new Skull style for .45 frames, a selection of Hedloc Feednecks, more Skeletor Hoodies, and the infamous Hate Heaters arm wraps.

Update: The Ultralite grips are here and look sweeeeeeeet ! Skull, Gunslinger, and Hellcat models are currently available.