Blast from the past, SHOT Show 1987 with airsoft.

When I say I have been into airsoft for a long time, 

I really mean a looooooooooooong time.

Just dug up some pictures from the first time airsoft guns were shown at the SHOT show.

Now, back in 1987 , the SHOT show was a whole lot smaller than the behemoth it has become,

here are some pic's taken from the over-walk in the Riverside center in New Orleans.

 Realtree has a 10ft inline booth, Federal really stepped up with a 20x30

 You can see Safarilands 20x20 end cap booth, 

Crosman had a huge display, of course no where near today's size.

That was just about the entire show, I have not been able to find how many vendors were there, but it was not a huge number.

Now here was our booth, Airsoft, brought to you by Command Post

No aeg's ( they had not been made yet), some "Classic" ( now days) MGC guns.

Lots of spring TM's and such.

On the left side is the Para Ordnance Model 85 paintball sub gun, yes para got into the bizz by 1st making a primer propelled full auto paintball gun, a few years later they had the idea for a double stack 1911 frame, and the rest was history .

That is Laurence ( Larry) Lee Littlefield in the monkey suit.

The founder of Command Post and  a hell of a guy to work the trade shows with.

How about that display? 

The paint was still wet when we loaded it into the suburban to drag it to New Orleans.

You have to love the magic marker signs, made up just for SHOT

We were right across from a 10x10 booth that was selling some strange looking knives,

Spyderco, I think the name was, I don't think they ever caught on.

Me in Jackson Square after set up, yes, I was young once.

Now some pictures of Command Posts command center.

We started in a two room office, moved to a house that had been converted to a law firm and then ended up in a three story old department store on the main drag of Crestview FL.

This was the sales center, we put the money into inventory and computers,

not so much in ambiance.

My office, 1987 and yes, in 2011 my desk at home looks just like that, in fact I am using the same computer! 

I wish I remembered what model those were, I know that they cost us and arm and a leg back then.

If you expand the pic and look close, you can see the stacks of Tokyo Marui springers in the black and silver boxes. The daisy boxes in the foreground are part of the huge amount of "soft airs" that we had.

Daisy only marketed them for a year or so, we bought all of their inventory when they shut down the line.

I think it was about two box cars full, yes we had a train spur at the back door and got a lot of our freight via railroad, not kidding about this, it was a lot cheaper way to ship.

We used to get paintball by the boxcar from R P Shear, 

man that was a mess if the boxes had shifted during travel.

I will try and get the catalog scanned after the North Atlantic Airsoft Expo is over,

Will be updating from the Expo each day, 

I know I said that when I went to SHOT, but this one is close to home.

Just a couple more pic's to suffer thru, hey old men like to reminisce.

 Massad Ayoob ( Google him) shooting a Para Ordnance model 85

Paintball subgun at the Trail Glades range in Miami in 1987 during a LFI 1 course.

Ernie Franco (great knife fighting instructor and a super guy, RIP) 

Lynn Thompson (Founder Cold Steel knives) and I at Epcot center Pre Opening in Orlando

 in 1982 (I think).

Ernie could cut you six ways from Sunday before you could even blink,

 I learned a lot from that man, he was truly a super guy that died too early.

Lynn was a trip then, and if you have seen any of his you tube Cold steel proof vids, 

he still is now.

Man, was I ever that young.

See you tomorrow,

And remember,

Stay Thirsty My Friends.

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More Licensing issues with Airsoft, Lawsuits, or worse, to come?

Madbull just released this out to the Airsoft Community
Nov 20th 2010

( Bold is my addition)

Dear Airsoft players and manufacturers,
We are proud to announce that Madbull Airsoft have been granted official licensing from Troy Industries, PRI (Precision Reflex Inc.), Surefire Suppressors, Lancer Systems, Reset Inc. (U.S. Army future soldier systems), KelTec, and Viking Tactics (U.S. Retired Delta Force). Many more are currently in the works too!
Madbull Airsoft will also begin to work with more than 20 US Firearm companies for “Operation Copycat” an international operation to combat all unauthorized copies from Asia. This large scale operation will be run by several law firms, Customs Agencies, and local law enforcement.
Most unauthorized copies are 1:1 scale which can be easily applied to a real firearm. This poses a problem because whereas they are 100% visual copies they are not constructed by the same materials and do not possess the same build quality. This is a huge risk to any end user since it’s highly probable that the copy will malfunction and cause serious damage to both the weapon and user. Many of these firearm companies receive damaged returns which turn out to be an unauthorized copy that has failed but bare all the correct trademarks but were manufactured in Asia. Note that all these copies were imported illegally and that any product baring unauthorized trademarks or trade dress is against the law.
But it’s not all bad news; some good news is that a few Asian manufacturers have given us their full cooperation with our efforts. A notable mention would be, Tokyo Marui, a highly reputable company.
We at Madbull highly encourage other airsoft manufacturers and players to support legal, authorized, and officially licensed products. This is a win-win for all; licensors (who respectively pay to use trademarks), real steel manufacturers (for all their hard work and countless hours developing these products), and players who get to enjoy 1:1 scaled airsoft only authorized replicas. All the royalties paid is motivation for real firearm companies to continue to create more great and exciting products. This benefits both the real gun industry along with the airsoft industry and ultimately you the airsoft player.
Any questions or inquiries, feel free to contact our license department: info@isgk.org
Sincerely,
Madbull Airsoft

Sounds to me like if you are waiting for a shipment from Asia of some "Grey Markets" parts, the chance of them getting here has just gone way down.

I need to put some more thought into this subject before I jump in with a rant.

While I do totally agree with Licensing, and have even worked with people in that area for a company,

(not airsoft), I can also see the other side of this issue.

I had a very prophetic conversation with a long time airsoft journalist at the 2010 SHOT show.

My stance was that all of us in the industry had to become more professional and convey a better image.

I had met many airsofters that week that projected the "skateboarder" persona 

and I thought it was detrimental if we ever wanted to be "taken seriously"

( In my defense, I am old and started this fight in 1986, 

long before 99% of the people in airsoft now were born).

His stance was that we had to keep it more underground, that if more of the "suits" found out about us, it would ruin airsoft.

Looking back today, I think he was right.

Airsoft is growing up, the days of enthusiasts opening companies to sell to like minded players are ending.

MBA are running airsoft companies now, 

with P&L statements and some with even shareholders to answer to.

I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that five years from today 

( if the world is here after Dec 23 2012, that is)

Airsoft as we know it will not be airsoft as we know it now.

Systemic change comes to every industry, it has to if it is to survive.

Are we finally seeing airsoft grow up?

Or did Madbull just jump the shark.

Till Tomorrow,

Stay Thirsty my friends.