Paintball

[Jaccen]

Devil's Advocate:

At the risk of becoming a "black sheep," I'd also argue some people buy expensive guns just because they appreciate them. Much akin to why some people buy art.

Take, for example, one of the Airsmith's creations, Dukie, Avratech, etc.

Will buying one of these high end markers make you a better player? No.
Will buying one turn you into a snob? No........at least, I hope not as I'd like to get one eventually
Can a buyer purchase one simply because it's a fine piece of work that they enjoy playing with? I believe yes.

I believe the sword cuts both ways. If you like a marker and can legitimately afford that marker, buy it. Just don't expect magic skills or anybody to appreciate it other than you.

[Brother Jerry]

Yep, but price is not only it.

Cause really you could spend all you want on a pump marker as well.
The Empire Pump is a $400 marker
Even our own BST has a used CCM for $450.

Sure that is not $1500 out of box...but by the time you add everything else to it...you can push it up there. And for some rarer brass and such, or a custom job, even the pump marker can get up to or exceed some of the stock electro.

Spending that amount of money on ANY marker does not make one better. So if someone spends $1500 on a gun that fires 4000 bps or $1500 on a custom KP-1 it does not make them any better or worse than a person who spent $75 on their used Custom 98.

Me personally I like the high ROF markers....I like them to be on my team and laying down covering fire while I crawl up for the kill with my PMI.

[Falcon16]

The way I look at it with all the markers that are in the budget segment laying paint at roughly the same rate and assuming you buy a decent barrel being as accurate as each other "high end" is nothing more than price tag snobbery. Take for instance in the SC pump world. You have brass sheridans,palmers guns based off sheridan valves,snipers which are a sheridan derivative and then basically everything else is nelson based. when you look at what is "high end" in the SC world price tags seem to not matter to most. High end has a different connotation when you're looking at 12g effeciency and being very specific about bore matching and then you want features like an AT or the ability to convert feed systems or what have you. Honestly when I look at it that way a nicely put together phantom (which from parts you could throw together for under $300 and have it be to your taste rather than adding on aftermarket stuff afterwards) is just as "high end" as a buzzard or boxgun or redux. What commands the high price with a buzzard I would say is simply more machining and a flashier image. Then with a Boxgun or redux or a Loo Duck the pricetag is determined simply by rarity. I doubt a redux or boxgun is going to shoot any more efficiently than say a drop out phantom that's been tuned or a buzzard.

TL;DR look at it from another side of the coin and you really realize "high end" is nothing more than image.

[Cannon Fodder]

As long as people keep buying them they'll keep making them, applies as much to the $1500 creations on here as the latest eclipse super whatnot. I think it's loaders that we are really fooling ourselves with - I wouldn't pay the new price of a rotor for a marker, yet people who only play event limited to 10 bps still think its worth buying.

So what the battery life is longer - how many batteries can you buy for the price differance between a rotor and a revi? - just put new batteries in every time you play (maybe a bit extreme suggesting a revi, but a halo or a pulse or some such).

[Kmak]

Originally Posted by Cannon Fodder

As long as people keep buying them they'll keep making them, applies as much to the $1500 creations on here as the latest eclipse super whatnot. I think it's loaders that we are really fooling ourselves with - I wouldn't pay the new price of a rotor for a marker, yet people who only play event limited to 10 bps still think its worth buying.

So what the battery life is longer - how many batteries can you buy for the price differance between a rotor and a revi? - just put new batteries in every time you play (maybe a bit extreme suggesting a revi, but a halo or a pulse or some such).

Its kind of like cars

[Talfuchre]

Originally Posted by RusskiX

Unfortunately, in paintball parlance, "high-end" is determined by price tag only...

QFT!

The Axe is a beast and is one the best markers for the money today - IMHO.

TF

[gainman]

I agree with what all of you guys are saying and I never made a claim that the "high end" guns give you skill. Just using the Ferrari vs ford anology, a g6r does not have better build quality, more features, or higher performance than an axe. It is literally just the name and price. I just always thought the axe fit as a "pro tourny" marker so the post I read confused me. I chuckled to myself that he asked it thinking he was gonna get flamed but to my bewilderment people were agreeing with him lol.

[gainman]

Originally Posted by Talfuchre

QFT!

The Axe is a beast and is one the best markers for the money today - IMHO.

TF

I also agree with this. IMHO I think the axe is on of the greatest markers ever made. Not just because of the price but the performance and ease of use are fantastic. Set it and forget it, turn it on and go. Reminds me of a mag

[Bigtuana]

I had a T2 and I sucked... then I put over $1000 bucks of brass on it and then I was SuPeR sKiLlEd awesome skizlets laser tits to the MAX!

[artguy63]

I'll agree with some of the posters.

However, I think there is a difference in buying a $1500 Redux and a $1500 Ego/electrowizbang. If you're buying a $1500 Redux, you've probably been playing for a fair amount of time, and you may tend to appreciate the marker more. If you're buying a $1500 electro, chances are you're trying to outshoot someone or its what everyone else is using on the field. Or, in the case of my field, you're a 14 year old kid who cries to his mommy that he wants this gun so he doesn't get made fun of for having a model that was released a year or two ago. Granted, there are some exceptions to both cases.

Another thing no one has brought up in this debate though is resale. While that's not something I necessarily consider when buying a gun, it makes me glad I don't shoot electro anymore. The person who buys the Redux and decides to sell it will probably get at least 75% of their investment back. The person who bought the electro will probably get 25% back, depending on what new models are released. Again, there are exceptions to this as well.