Museum

[No Mercy Ever]

So I called up PPS yesterday about a Blazer that I have. Now first off, I based what I thought that I knew from Vintage Rex, and it said that 1) Blazers were made from 94 on, and 2) that production numbers started at BZ 063. I have BZ 068. So after calling, and talking to Lorri (Is that how you spell her name?) I have some info that contradicts what you guys have on the VR page for Blazers. First off, Blazers were first made in 1992. Mine was made on March 28th, 1992. Second, that they started at BZ 001, and that Lorri has BZ 007, a regular production model. This would not only contradict the info on the page, it would also contradict the picture for the page that shows a Blazer and says that it is a prototype from 1994.

This would be worth checking out.

[Riddler]

Uhhh, not to argue with Lori, but she may have misspoken on that one. The gun definitely didn't come out until '96/97 and was in prototyping for a year or two before that.

[No Mercy Ever]

She was reading from the file about the Blazer that I have, when she told me that it had been made 3/28/92, and that it had been in twice for maintenance and upgrades in 2/98 (Got the Stabilizer) and 6/01 (Pretty much complete rebuild).

[Riddler]

I suspect that there was a typo in the build date file and she didn't catch it when she read it to you. Blazers simply were not in production until years later.

[No Mercy Ever]

Oddly enough, I may be getting a Typhoon, and I did some checking around. And another instance of a possible incorrect part to VR says that the Typhoon's came out in 1991.

Yet here: Typhoon / Stroker Manual Palmers Pursuit Shop

It says that they were first brought to market in February 1990, with a professional debut at the Bay City Open tournament that year.

This would possibly lend credence to what I am saying, from Lori, that the Blazer may indeed have been made in 1992, and not in 1994.

[Drum]

Very unlikely that Lori is wrong about anything related to PPS lore. Also, as a side note, Blazer sn 001 currently resides in the International Paintball Museum at EMR.

Side side note: BZ 012, along with Hurricane 12 and Pyre 12, reside here, with me. :-)


Thanks for the heads up on the discrepancy, NoMercy

[Riddler]

Again, I'm sure they were in prototyping for some time in advance of the release, but they didn't come out to the public till '96/97. I find it implausible that his marker was made in '92 as claimed.

A quick google search found a chat transcript from '96 in which Glenn stated that he was hoping to bring the marker to market that year:

WARPIG Hot Seat - Live Interview with Glenn Palmer

[Drum]

Near as I can tell, the first appearance of the Blazer in APG was the Dec. 1996 Paintgun Roundup. It was described as the "new Palmer Blazer" on the cover of APG 4/97 and the staff review of the Blazer did not appear until July, 1997.

Riddler's timing may plug in, but for political reasons, I still say Lori is right.

[No Mercy Ever]

Not to argue too fine of a point, but the link that I posted says that the Hurricane, the pre-cursor to the Typhoon, was made in 1988. Riddler's own link states that Glenn started making semi's in 1988. Potentially, as stated with the Typhoon, Glenn may have released the Blazer's in 92, but didn't advertise them, or anything of the like until 96. Which goes against the 1994 release date.

[Drum]

The 1988 date is somewhat misleading. At the end of 1988, Glenn made the first direct feed semi-automatic paintball gun. He called it "Camille" after that monster 1969 Hurricane. (the first Typhoon was actually a double barrel, nicknamed "Hugo" after the 1989
Hurricane.) Perfecting it over the course of the next year or so, he sold a few of the teams full stocked Hurricanes in late 1989.

In early 1990, PPS began offering Typhoons for sale.