Disclaimer: This editorial is about ‘word on the street’ and public perception, not about what may or may not be the actual status of a company. All opinions expressed here are Dale Ford’s and his alone. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Ford Report or their advertisers.

This editorial is being written at the request of a friend of mine in Europe, who for the moment shall remain unnamed.

Now that I have that out of the way, let’s take a look at what’s going on out there, at least the ‘word on the street’ and what players, shop owners, and field operators are seeing. I’m not going to talk about every company out there, since there are still quite a few out there, and it’s impossible to keep up with everyone.

Across the board, it’s obvious that the realization has been made that the competitive/tournament side of the sport is in a tailspin, and that recreational/woodsball/scenario are the paradigm to stay alive in this current economy. The fact is that it’s always been the recreational/woodsball/scenario market that underpinned the industry, but it’s gratifying to see that the industry is now addressing that market effectively.

Paint

ProCaps/DXS: If you read the recent post on P8ntballer.Com by Pete “Robbo” Robinson, you would think that CEO Rob Molyneux has horns, cloven hooves, and a tail. Having met the man at the 2009 World Cup, I didn’t notice any of the above, but I admit that I didn’t put him on a lift and check out his undercarriage either. The recent dismissal of Frank Connell, Opie, and Paul Sattler were met with considerable outcry from the media, as evidenced by Robbo’s post. Aside from Frank Connell, I didn’t know either those dismissed very well, so the impact was significantly less for me.

It’s been explained to me in the past that ProCaps was a a tournament oriented company, staffed with current and former tournament players. The recent dismissals would indicate that this orientation is changing. Andy Potter was recently hired by ProCaps for their sales force, and his background as I understand it comes from the field operator/store owner’s side of things, which should give him a stronger insight into the grass roots portion of the game. With Opie and Sattler leaving the company, it appears to me that Brian Barno, who aside from being a character in a video game, has less tournament experience and more experience with Recreational/Woodsball/Scenario paintball will be calling the shots for the sales force in the future.

ProCaps is perennially hated in the industry, and their staff walks around with bulls-eyes on their chests. Rumors constantly abound about the company’s demise, and as yet it hasn’t happened. While Mr. Molyneaux’s recent decisions regarding Connell, Sattler, and Opie are unpopular, it’s obvious that he feels their dismissals were necessary for the continued health of the company.

KEE Action Sports: KEE has been very aggressive in 2009 and will likely continue to do so in 2010. With their RPS line of paintballs, and a well rounded selection of exclusive and popular brands under the KEE and Empire names, KEE can offer a lot to fields, shops and players.

Here in the south, Florida-based Paul Bollenbach has been extremely effective in getting business for KEE by showing up to scenario games, talking to players, and generally making an effort to participate in the game.

Valken: I often joke that Gino Postorivo must be feeding his sales force raw lion meat, an accusation that Gino hasn’t denied. Valken is a relatively new company on the paintball scene, but the reality is that this new company has some very experienced sales people on hand to service their customers.

Valken has the advantage that they came into the industry during the recent downturn in the industry, which meant they were able to tailor their product line to the core of the industry. They do have some high-end tournament clothing and paint available for those customers, but they’re very aggressively addressing the Recreational/Woodsball/Scenario market with their V-Tac line of clothing, and reasonably priced paint for field operators to use for scenario/big games. Their attendance and participation with large events like Command Decisions’ Fulda Gap game in North Carolina has served them well.

Guns and Accessories

DYE/Proto: Sales of the Rotor hopper kept things popping at DYE for 2009, and assuming the Rotor is still as good a loader as the early model one I own, they’ll likely continue selling the snot out of them in 2010.

Field owners and shop owners I’ve spoken with note that DM10’s and NT’s are staying on the shelves quite a bit longer than their lower-priced Proto brands.

Planet Eclipse: Field and Store owners have noted that Ego 10 and GEO sales are tepid, but they’re having a hard time keeping the Etek 3 on the shelves. The previous Etek 2 limited edition guns in various camo patterns were very popular with the recreational/woodsball/scenario player base and sold out quickly.

Ian and company are responding to the market as well, by sending Master Tech Gerry Bates and other top technicians to large scenario/big game events throughout the country to support the growing group of players taking both high end and mid range Eclipse products out into the woods.

Dangerous Power: DP hit the market with some great little guns, and DP is now recruiting recreational/woodsball/scenario players with their “DP Militia” to put more of their products out on the fields across the country.
People are genuinely excited about the upcoming Fusion X, and if sales are as strong as this excitement indicates, then DP will be sitting pretty in 2010.

Tippmann: Tippmann Sports is still the king of the woods, and with the introduction of the X7 Phenom, it looks like Tippmann users will be more accurate and smoother shooting in 2010.

Smart Parts: Smart Parts is currently in receivership, which means the bank owns the business. Rumors indicate that there is a heroic effort underway to refinance the business an save the company.

JT Sports: JT Sports is currently divesting themselves of their paint manufacturing facility in Neosho, Missouri. A recent press release put out on BallersCafe.com indicates that JT is looking to partner up with another company to weather the current economic storm with. Several companies are rumored to be in talks with them.

Custom Products: CP has been around for a long time now, and they’ve recently released their tactical line of products for recreational/woodsball/scenario players to sample. They still continue making their reasonably priced, high quality one and two piece barrels for the general market, and I don’t see this changing any time soon.

CP’s parent company has been very busy with non-paintball business lately which is why CP hasn’t been as aggressive as they have in the past.

Stiffi: My own schoolboy crush on Naomi Tirado continues, and despite rumors that Site Mfg was getting out of the paintball business, Naomi was more than willing to sell me barrels, which would indicate that they’re still in the game. Their “MF” (Metal Free) line of barrels offers a great way for a player to shoot a carbon fiber barrel without breaking the bank.

LAPCO: LAPCO is still around, and they’re still very popular with recreational/woodsball/scenario players for their high quality upgrades for the large portion of the market that uses Tippmann guns. In 2009 they released 30+ new products, and they plan on releasing even more in 2010.

Elisa Sheets is a new addition to the company, and conversations with her indicate that LAPCO will be very aggressive in 2010 in marketing to their core player base, and she hinted that they’d be branching out a bit as well into other markets.

Conclusions:

As I noted in my editorial “Looking Forward to 2010” , this year is going to be brutal. It’s my opinion that companies and individuals in those companies that actually get out there among the players and make themselves available to them will be the ones who survive and emerge from the current economic downturn stronger than before. Aggressively addressing the core markets will be the theme of the day.

As a former tournament player myself, I’m saddened to see the tournament side of things in the current state of disarray that they’re currently in. 2010 will likely be a ‘rebuilding’ year for the tournament scene, while the industry that supports them turns inward and fights to stay viable.

The Recreational/Woodsball/Scenario markets will be where the growth is in 2010, and those who effectively address these markets will be the ones who survive.