English
It's 8 a.m. Sunday morning in Berlin Tegel. I've just arrived at the airport with my girlfriend and I already have to say goodbye to her. Today I'm headed towards Washington DC . to the international paintball trade fair Extravaganza 2019 .
After about twelve hours of travel time, with a connection via Frankfurt, I land at around 3:30 p.m. at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. In the never-ending queue for passport control, I meet Karl from Paintball Sports. He landed one plane ahead of me, so he's a fair bit ahead. After about 2 hours I can finally set foot on American soil. Karl is waiting with a Starbucks coffee in his hand. Together we take an UBER taxi to our hotel.
Sightseeing. Since we don't have a rental car yet, we continue to use the local UBER taxis. Washington DC has a lot to offer. In addition to the White House, we visit the Washington Monument and marvel at many imposing buildings that we otherwise only know from movies. In the evening we go to the fair again, where we have to register for the following day. Since this is a trade fair, access is reserved for a select audience.
At 10 a.m. the gates to the sacred halls open. There are countless new products to admire. An incredibly beautiful sight. If it weren't for the "LSD carpet", which is very reminiscent of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". But never mind, close your eyes and through. Staring at the ceiling, I make my way to the Planet Eclipse booth. The brand new GTEK 170R , the revised version of the successful GTEK 160R, will be on display there. Actually! Man, they've really changed quite a bit: The battery has moved to the new front grip, and the Air Transfer Tube has finally been dispensed with. The regulator and solenoid are now housed in the easily accessible handle. Overall, the marker is very easy to clean. The ball detents, battery, eye cover and gamma core bolts can be disassembled without tools. It couldn't be easier! For around €830, this marker is an announcement to all high-end markers and is clearly worth every cent. But Planet Eclipse has another ace up its sleeve: the EMEK MG100 was introduced at the World Cup in Orlando last year, but this is the first time I'm seeing it with the new airstock.
With the MG100 Planet Eclipse enters the MagFed market for the first time and has produced a really solid marker! The MG100 is supplied with paintballs via DYE DAM magazines and can also be optionally equipped with a PAL hopper. Planet Eclipse breaks new ground in the design of the shoulder rest and creates a closed system that encloses the HP bottle on the ASA connection of the handle. In addition, the position of the buttstock has been moved downwards, saving the need to add a visor elevation. This makes aiming with a paintball mask much easier. It should come onto the market at the end of the year and will certainly find many fans.
One stand further I meet Scott from First Strike. Next to him is a prototype sniper rifle based on an all-new body, announced for December 2019.
He also introduces me to the new FSC: A compact paintball gun that can be upgraded to an impressive submachine gun with the help of attachments. I see myself in tournament play, but these markers look really impressive.
The brands Valken, Exalt and Virtue also present their innovations: new paintball pants, battlepacks and lots of goodies for the ambitious player.
Innovations that have already been published, such as theVIO mask in the new matt color combinations, can also be admired here. At GI Sports I also discover the SYX: a descendant of the famous Empire mini-series in the 6th generation. In the meantime, however, it is no longer so small, fits well in the hand and convinces with appealing technical data. The chunky ASA of the previous models has gotten smaller because the regulator is now in the handle. The joystick for setting the board has been replaced by two buttons, which significantly simplifies control in the menu. The bolt has also been completely redesigned. As a result, the SYX is now even gentler on paint and uses significantly less air than its predecessors. I'm curious to see whether the SYX can assert itself in its new price segment of the €700 marker. In my opinion, the main reason the Mini was so successful was that its low price compared to other models made it a good choice for newcomers.
Conclusion: So what is my conclusion of this trade fair, which is only open to dealers and field operators? The entire fair, with almost 30 exhibitors, is quite interesting, but a bit too small to spend three full days there. I find that most of the really exciting things happen behind the classroom doors. In addition to tech classes, marketing training and field reports, the Extravaganza is primarily a meeting fair. However, most of the new marvels were previewed at the NXL World Cup four months ago at the end of the paintball season. In any case, the trade show in Washington DC is an interesting experience for me.
If you want to learn more about the Karls and my visit to the Extravaganza, then visit the Paintball Channel YouTube channel. We published a video diary of our trip there, in which we show you all the products and impressions of our trip again.
