This has to stop... die Invert die!!!

[Spitlebug]

Simon, you gotta convince the guys @ KEE to stop producing bajillions of weird Minis.

I logged on the P*barf*Nation today to see that there is a new "Storm" Mini. Normally I could care less about who's producing what and why, but this just hearkens back to 2003 and the whole ION crapshoot.

You boys should really pickup bronc's offerings if Valken hasn't scooped them up or perhaps talk to Ed Evans and hammer out some kind of deal with his IP.

[Schven79]

After I saw the flame mini I died a little on the inside.

[Spitlebug]

That's a normal reaction as to what passes as "News" on PbNation as of late.

[L x]

It's not that bad. The flame mini though... that's a whole 'nother story..

I'd love to see a mini 2. I had a mini until recently as a loaner marker and it was awesome.

[Spitlebug]

I am not bashing anything technical about the Mini at all. It's got some interesting stuff going for it, plus I really love strange marker designs.

It's the whole "We just came out with the new, newer, newest, newestest, newestester LTD Mini" type thing.

[Pump Scout]

Nothing more than what Eclipse does, really. Not saying it's the right way for anyone to go. Personally I'd be far more impressed if there were true LE bodies being milled, not just colored in flashy/fancy/different colors and being called special. Color isn't special. Milling is. Just as good would be to see guns back on the market that held the option for milling at a third party. 02 and prior Cockers come to mind. Something with some meat, so a real team edition, or limited run, or just a special mill job, can be done on it. These days, everything is smaller, lighter, tighter, right out of the box, which doesn't leave much room for adding some personality to the gun.

[Spitlebug]

I agree with you Pump Scout. Why I don't see that happening because manufacturers make the bodies pretty much as sparse as possible in the ultimately futile sales pitch of "smaller, lighter, faster". Eventually you will get "too small, too light, too fast".

I am not sure where that wall will be, but looking at EGOs for example, the lower tube is smaller than the upper because paintballs are not getting smaller (to the same extent). It's almost as if they should go a little wider, and shorter.

[Jack Wood]

I agree with you Pump Scout. Why I don't see that happening because manufacturers make the bodies pretty much as sparse as possible in the ultimately futile sales pitch of "smaller, lighter, faster". Eventually you will get "too small, too light, too fast".

I am not sure where that wall will be, but looking at EGOs for example, the lower tube is smaller than the upper because paintballs are not getting smaller (to the same extent). It's almost as if they should go a little wider, and shorter.

Funny you should say that. Mini2 is being made larger beacuse the Mini was too....err....mini, and we are slowing all our guns down because they were too fast :)

Does it hurt to be right all the time??!!? :D

As for colors and LTD editions, well the truth is that these are what sell. You tell someone that they are in limited supply and they sell. It's as a trend that we have seen over the last few years. I know you hate the thought of paintball companies making money, but we're responsable for employing a not inconsiderable amout of people and you surely wouldn't wish to see them on the streets, would you? :(

[Spitlebug]

Oh Jack, you'd be tugging at my heartstrings - if I had any. I think you are actually way off base. I don't have a problem wih companies making money.

I do have a problem with companies making money where it goes against the interests of the general community (players, ProShops and Fields). More importantly, I advocate for consumers, which tends to be players, so you at least know where I stand.

Me being right all the time? Hardly. There has been a select group of people who have been saying this sort of thing for a long time that I can recall...

[JonoTwisT]

how exactly is it bad for the shops if the designs sell?
if LTD/LE/ SE/1of5/ however you decide to market the darned thing goes, by sticking to standard parts machining costs should go down. (correct me if im off base)

by offering that limited supply of something which really ist much more expensive to include in the package ie, anno, colors, ect, you still charge that premium to get whatever is limited even though its just a finish. so the manufacturers still make their bank and respectively reduce costs and still make their money. so shops could and should make more in margin while still selling something that to me seems to be in demand. again id like to be corrected if im off the mark. im not a marketing whiz and i dont pretend to be. i will at times pretend to be intelligent though.

im basing this on the manufacturers not raising the cost drastically for the LE, and that LE guns actually selling.

but Id like specialized machining to come back. pretty colors arent limited when the gun underneath is the exact carbon copy of thousands of others. so i would not protest if they were no longer considered 1 of x. rob here sums it up rather nicely. http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2832677

[Spitlebug]

I would have no problem if limited milling raised the cost of the body. I would gladly pay for that. A different anno batch, a decal or other such item? No way. Nope, nada.

[L x]

I suspect it's more to do with minimum orders on batches of markers..? Would be risky for a company to order hundreds of marker bodies as well as spend the design/engineer time creating them.

You'd also need to have an R+D department with nothing better to do, and with companies putting out several lines of markers yearly I don't see that being very common.

[Spitlebug]

^^ Says the Freelancer. :P