Been out of the game for 13 years, thinking of coming back.

[Dalep_rc]

Skinny jeans masquerading as paintball pants.... spit my coffee out when I read that!

[Nish]

Welcome back!

[Jonnydread]

Paint is small and mostly terrible. Pump has taken a slight backseat to mech. Poopoo masks from yesteryear are now worth $1,000. Cockers are back in vogue. Cosplayers like paintball too. Skinny jeans masquerading as paintball pants are a thing now. Space guns are spacier.

Do you have time to talk about our lord and savior Emek?

[JonM]

I know it may sound a bit like bandwagoning and fanboyism, but ditto on the Emek. Sure, Cockers and Mags are cool, but in all honesty I've pretty much sidelined mine unless I want to mix it up a bit. They're lightweight, efficient, shoot great, they're easy to maintain, and they can handle brittle tournament grade paint. Performance wise, they blow every other mech I have out of the water. Hell, I seldom even have to touch the velocity when starting the day. They're very consistent shooters with a good shot quality.

[Dalep_rc]

Came back a few months ago myself after around a 17 year hiatus, running ID and Freeflow autocockers.

[glaman5266]

The only real difference is the mechanical markers that the newbies are shooting now are WAY nicer than the mechanical markers we started with in the 90s. Lol. Emeks and eNMEy's are no jokes, and offer some serious firepower.

And have excellent shot quality at a fraction of the price of current high end markers. The PE Emek is possibly the best bang for your buck in paintball today.

I used to love my old markers, but I've come around to the fact (yes, fact) that current midrange and high end markers are above and beyond anything we've shot in the last probably 20 years in pretty much every department. Except maybe the "feel" of the shot. Nothing today feels like old brass or an older cocker. Inception is cranking out good, modern autocockers though & I'm personally a fan of the Empire Resurrection.

If you love your poppit markers, there is only one real option- the PE LV1.6. New poppit markers are virtually non-existent aside from that one, unfortunately. Most midrange & high end markers have gone to a spool valve setup.

Another thing to note- many low end & midrange markers are being made with GRN components & parts. Don't shy away from it. The stuff is tougher than most people gave it credit for when it was first starting to be used in midrange markers. Now it's commonplace.

[Brokeass_baller]

I came back after about a decade long hiatus, and felt completely at home at the field with my center feed automag, RF autococker, Flex mask, and old Smokin tiger stripe jersey.

It's pretty unbelievable. Paintball has come all the way back around to the early 2000s in regards to interest in equipment and playing style. Nobody laughed at my gear. Instead I got complements on my "og" flex, and a few "WOAH! That's a Mag/cocker!" type remarks, and EVERYBODY asked if they could shoot them. Really cool thing to experience.

The only real difference is the mechanical markers that the newbies are shooting now are WAY nicer than the mechanical markers we started with in the 90s. Lol. Emeks and eNMEy's are no jokes, and offer some serious firepower.

[Trbo323]

Welcome back. I'd definitely say go play at least once with either your old stuff (if you still have it).

One note, I would not trust a mask that's been sitting for that long. At a minimum get a new lens if not a whole new mask

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[Trbo323]

Go check out inception designs to see autocockers

Planet eclipse is doing some cool mag feed and mechanical stuff these days

Automag still has a loyal following and Luke's customs is building some pretty legit aftermarket parts and bodies

Ccm and cci still make some of the better pumps out there. Cocker pump kits have come a long way though

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[Toestr]

Welcome back. I'd definitely say go play at least once with either your old stuff (if you still have it) or a rental before dropping a ton of money on a new setup, and maybe run into the things that made you leave in the first place.

Recommendations for new stuff really depends on what type you're planning to play primarily. I think the Planet Eclipse EMF100/MG100 is a pretty good universal option. Magfed or hopper fed. Mechanical, but fast enough to keep up with electros pretty easily. Has multiple magazine and body options. Tactical body, but can be stripped down into a form suitable for airball. Super reliable out of the box. Definitely doesn't have the same kind of character more antiquated designs have, but you trade that off for excellent functionality.



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[moose]

What wasn’t I shooting would be a better question.

[Trbo323]

that just depends on what you want to do The two hot things these days are mechanical and mag feed



autocockers have made quite a comeback as well

13 years would have put you right around 2008 pretty much every aspect of the technology of the sports has made some advanced in that time what were you shooting back then?

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[moose]

So, what is the state of the game these days? Any recommendations for a new marker?