Paintball

[spymongoose]

...untill kingman would run them out of that buisness...

ouside the cult following, the Illusion was just another sniper, and really at the time pumps werent doing so hot, especially stock class. the sentienel and diadem were just spyder clones (JABB's) and while the "electric spyder" was hot stuff at the time, they were too expensive to compete with spyders.

[Walking_Target]

that letter from WGP made me laugh.

clearly though, AM went down because of thier own internal issues, they could have represented themselves in court, displayed a few technical diagrams and WGP would have had it's case dismissed...

[custar]

It's not a clear cut situation. WGP was threatening a lawsuit for trade dress violation, not patent violation. Although it's not spelled out well in their letter, WGP was alleging the Illusion looked too much like a Sniper and was therefore infringing on the trade dress of the Sniper. AM didn't have the money to mount the fight, even if they were ultimately successful. Also, SP was throwing around their C&D letters regarding electros. AM was pushing their Diadem at the time, and SP would have eventually forced AM into a licensing agreement. Again, AM didn't have the money to fight SP on that issue. Add to those factors the reported intra-family problems at AM, and it was an easy decision to exit the paintball market totally.

I do take some issue with the comment the Illusion was just another Sniper. While they appear somewhat similar on the outside, the Illusion is superior IMHO where it matters; inside. Otherwise, AM markers were built to much higher quality standards than most of their competitors, and that meant the prices of the AM markers were higher than those of their competitors. AM was responsible for a lot of improvements in the "lower end" of the market (blade triggers stock on STBB's, stock delrin bolts, etc.), but ultimately those niceties cost them a cost-competitive edge.

custar

[Shane-O]

The Sentinal was the BEST built stacked tube blow back ever. But that caused the price to be much higher than the competion, so thats part of the reason. The Diadem was a funny gun, it had quirky looks, some performed well, and some came with issues. The SP thing was certainly on the horizon at that point, so I am sure that was a factor in the decision to close. Sad that they closed, but its the way tings are going these days........

[Brimstone]

if you have ever taken apart a illusion. you would realize it is not a sniper clone.

[Rayodder]

15 more minutes on a CNC machine, they could had gotten rid of the patent infringing backblock on the Illusion.

Illusion was just one of handful of guns that they produce, none of the other ones were any more original than what is already on the market, Too many people figure paintball is great way to make a quick buck by repackaging what someone else is doing.

[flyweightnate]

Eh, I feel like that's a little bit harsh. I adore the velocity adjustment on the Sentinels (and the Illusion I'll be getting soon!), as it just makes so much more sense then any other mech poppet's system. The Diadem, was it the first FASOR gun? Or was the BKO FASOR? But they all had great triggers, too. My favorite of anything short of the CCM hinge trigger that adorns my cocker, oh, and a few of the new ones that are very similar.

At this point, I feel like paintball IS repackaging. Spyder clones, cocker clones/ "custom" cockers, Nelson clones, Sheridan clones, Montneel clones, Sniper clones, spoolies (Matrix clones?), Egos (Intimidator clones?), Bushy clones, ... at least AM did some refinement to the designs before shipping them out. I'm planning to modify my friend's Spyder Extra to use a Sentinel-style adjuster, and I'm studying their triggers to figure out how to tighten his Spyder trigger. CCM is looking at dual-rod setups for their pumps, and Sanchez made a dual-rod kit or two. Was the Illusion the first to have dual rods? Far as I remember... but I'm young.

They made some nice stuff, they ran a mediocre business, they forgot to turn a profit. That's how I see it.