Interview with JJ Brookshire

[dartamon]

I am going to be speaking with JJ Brookshire, former BE employee who worked on the Raptor and Rainmaker launches, on Monday. Him and I randomly connected via a Facebook group and I have all kinds of questions for him. I'd like to be organized for this conversation, so if you have any questions - please post them here.

For example, he shared that the Raptors that came with a bottomline connected to the ASA instead of directly to the receiver was the result of a corporate mishap. They did not forecast the demand for vertical ASA vs bottomlines properly and had to come up with a bottomline kit to convert the manufactured vertical ASAs. Stuff like this is gold to learn.

Post away.

Questions that I am interested in:

1. When did the Raptor/Stingray/Rainmaker production actually stop vs. warehouse stocks? How did the transition to the Aegis platform happen.
2. Why did the vertical feed Raptor not take off?
3. What killed the Rainmaker?
4. What were all the colors produced for the various markers?

[Ecapnation]

There were vertical feed raptors?

[Jonnydread]

I would like to know why they never fixed the "dry-firing mushrooming the valve stem" issue

[RPP]

I don't have any questions, but I'm going to listen to it!

[dartamon]

There was a vertical raptor prototype, i have it

[Ecapnation]

Share with the class!

[dartamon]

Keep in mind that this will be a conversation on the phone, I don't know if he will want to be recorded.

[ATBen]

How did BE break into selling in big box stores?

I know their stuff mostly sucked, but the branding and packaging sure stuck out on store shelves and got a ton of my friends into paintball. They'd use their raptors or tiger sharks for a day, then go buy a Spyder or 98 custom the next weekend.

[Roger7pball]

What was the timeline/story behind Brass Eagle being the Angel distributor to that being cancelled?

[dartamon]

I would like to know why they never fixed the "dry-firing mushrooming the valve stem" issue

We'll start with this one - they did, but it never went into production because of extreme cost-consciousness. The solution is a thin buffer on the face of the valve, it solves the bolt overtravel.

[dartamon]

What was the timeline/story behind Brass Eagle being the Angel distributor to that being cancelled?

Distribution never actually happened, the deal was declined by BE's upper management. But it made its way into some marketing/catalogues and some BE employees demoed borrowed samples. This is all 1997.

[dartamon]

How did BE break into selling in big box stores?

I know their stuff mostly sucked, but the branding and packaging sure stuck out on store shelves and got a ton of my friends into paintball. They'd use their raptors or tiger sharks for a day, then go buy a Spyder or 98 custom the next weekend.

BE was a Daisy company in 1995, who already shipped products into Walmart and sporting goods stores. So, it was the very nature of the company.

[dartamon]

There were vertical feed raptors?

Prototypes, I have the picture of mine in the picture thread somewhere.

[dartamon]

1. When did the Raptor/Stingray/Rainmaker production actually stop vs. warehouse stocks? How did the transition to the Aegis platform happen.
2. Why did the vertical feed Raptor not take off?
3. What killed the Rainmaker?
4. What were all the colors produced for the various markers?

1. Unknown, this was after JJ left BE. However, manufacturing of plastic markers continue for a long time, Talons were produced into the mid-00s.
2. Work existed on vert feed Raptors, but by 2000 it was just old.
3. It was brought on to have a flagship marker, but sales declined due to better products from other manufacturers.
4. Unknown, doesn't seem like there was a consistent strategy year-to-year.

[Roger7pball]

Distribution never actually happened, the deal was declined by BE's upper management. But it made its way into some marketing/catalogues and some BE employees demoed borrowed samples. This is all 1997.

Thank you for the follow up. To think what that deal would have done for BE for the following 10 years or so.

[dartamon]

Yeah, it would have been crazy…