Smart Part's Temporary Closure

[Splatzballz99]

From PBnation:

http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=3291634Smart
Smart Parts Temporary Closure

Smart Parts Inc., undergoes temporary closure for restructuring during the month of January 2009.

Loyalhanna, PA – January 6, 2010 – Paintball manufacturer Smart Parts, Inc. is temporarily shutting down all manufacturing and sale operations in order to facilitate a corporate restructuring. During this time, the company will not be able accept or process orders, ship or receive products or perform repairs. The restructuring process is expected to be completed by the end of January 2010.

“It is important that people do not send equipment in for service during this time,” said company Vice President, Adam Gardner. “Our buildings will not be staffed during the restructuring, so there will be no one there to receive packages. They will automatically be refused and returned to the sender.

“To the players, field owners and store owners, please know that we appreciate your support and are looking forward to a fresh start for the 2010 paintball season. We apologize for any inconvenience this short closure may cause, and hope to make it up to you in the future.”

Smart Parts, Inc., is a leading developer and manufacturer of equipment and accessories for the sport of paintball.

[WhiteRiverPB]

Hopefully they open back up soon.

[housefull]

“It is important that people do not send equipment in for service during this time,” said company Vice President, Adam Gardner. “Our buildings will not be staffed during the restructuring, so there will be no one there to receive packages. They will automatically be refused and returned to the sender.

[speedy2k4]

The Gardner brothers have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the descendants of Benjamin Franklin, claiming that in fact they were the first to discover electricity in its modern application.

Smart Parts, inc. shall remain closed until this case has been resolved.

[pntball sniper]

Wow. Asking not to send returns is a way to disenfranchise current owners and not get any new ones. maybe not expecting a resurgence.

[Donnachaidh]

The Gardner brothers have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the descendants of Benjamin Franklin, claiming that in fact they were the first to discover electricity in its modern application.

Smart Parts, inc. shall remain closed until this case has been resolved.



LOLOLOL!!!!!!!

[RipcurlSurfJosh]

Lmao Wowww

[AccessTime]

I hope you do realise that when a company goes bankrupt or insolvent, it's not like their IP (patents, trademarks, etc.) goes into the public domain. Typically it is given to creditors or liquidated; the new owner can then choose to continue or start new litigation based on that IP if he wishes. Smart Parts is probably gone and never coming back, but that does not necessarily mean that their style of aggressive litigation is a thing of the past.

[brickdoctor]

I cant belive that there people that are happy about ANY paintball company going out of buisness. That cannot be good for the sport or the future of pb. More companys around helps keep the prices down. Even if you hate smart parts they where a big or giant part of pb, I will miss them.

[speedy2k4]

if you want to look at it from that perspective, smart parts are the ones who tried to assassinate several smaller paintball companies, because that competition would lead to less sp profits. a lot of great things came from sp, but i dont think the sport will be any worse off without them.

[lotus_esprit5]

if you want to look at it from that perspective, smart parts are the ones who tried to assassinate several smaller paintball companies, because that competition would lead to less sp profits. a lot of great things came from sp, but i dont think the sport will be any worse off without them.

This.

Normally I'd agree that a paintball company closing up shop is a bad thing even if you're not a fan of them. But when it's a company that, IMO, hurt the sport more than it helped it, then good riddance. The Gardner brothers are intelligent guys, it's a real shame that they also happen to be a couple of underhanded crooks who enjoy making false advertising claims, sham products with iffy quality and materials (Magic Box, anyone? How about spiral porting? Or the .50 cal fiasco?), plus the lawsuit issues. They brought some good ideas to the sport, but then executed most of those ideas very poorly to the detriment of customers. That's not something I'll miss.

[Coenen]

You're just mad b/c of the ICD thing. Also, I like how you worked "fiasco" into that post. :P

Seriously though, I have to disagree with you man, losing SP is a bad thing. If only because of all of the teams and leagues that they offered financial support to...even if it ran them into the ground. They didn't have to sponsor every team on planet Earth to shoot the Shocker, they didn't have to blow mega-money on their TV show/series, they didn't have to bring out guns like the Ion, Vibe, etc. that made performance markers more affordable for the end user, but they did. Despite being raging D-bags, which is a point I will not dispute, the loss of their significant, substantial and consistent support for the game in general will be missed.

Their business practices, not so much. I have a feeling, we'll talk about this over beer at some point.

[Zofarr]

Their business practices, not so much. I have a feeling, we'll talk about this over beer at some point.
:wink2:

I have to agree with Coenen, looking at it from a support of the sport perspective there couldn't be many things worse than losing such a massive company, especially when they offer such entry level markers that keep feeding the sport as players in that 20-30 Year old range are OBL'd.

[speedy2k4]

the ion was the greatest thing smart parts did because it started a positive trend, many other manufacturers are putting out high-end designs for around $300 now. but like everything else, it was to make money. their sales were simply dropping off in the high end range.

as for their support of pro teams, i agree they had a huge impact on making competitive paintball more mainstream. especially with nxl. but again, they saw nxl as dollar signs, and would be content to own every pro team in every league if they could afford it. i personally think that all pro teams wearing sp jerseys and shooting shockers would be pretty stupid.

i play at paintball adventure park, where nasty and tremor originated. ive been to the all american park in greensburg. ive seen a lot of smart parts operations first hand. and i retain my previous statement that a lot of great things came from sp, but as of late they havent been helping and wont be missed.

[killertip212]

Im just hoping I can buy one of the few prototype legion shockers that were never released :)

[lotus_esprit5]

You're just mad b/c of the ICD thing. Also, I like how you worked "fiasco" into that post. :P

Seriously though, I have to disagree with you man, losing SP is a bad thing. If only because of all of the teams and leagues that they offered financial support to...even if it ran them into the ground. They didn't have to sponsor every team on planet Earth to shoot the Shocker, they didn't have to blow mega-money on their TV show/series, they didn't have to bring out guns like the Ion, Vibe, etc. that made performance markers more affordable for the end user, but they did. Despite being raging D-bags, which is a point I will not dispute, the loss of their significant, substantial and consistent support for the game in general will be missed.

Their business practices, not so much. I have a feeling, we'll talk about this over beer at some point.

They didn't do that stuff out of charity. They did it because they wanted to dominate the world of paintball and make millions of dollars. This is a business venture we're talking about here, not an investment purely for the love of the game. Was it a positive thing that they invested lots of money in pro teams and tournaments? No doubt. But if it hadn't been SP doing it, other companies probably would have picked up the slack. And we probably would have had more companies, and more importantly more companies with more money, out there to do so if not for SP's legal buttmunchery. SP used legal action to put themselves in the most advantageous position to blow money on all this stuff, because PE, NPS, and Dye, the three other major players, all have their profits chipped away by paying royalties to SP. Oh hey, SP is spending the most money on teams and tournaments, big freaking surprise!

Yes, a large part of the reason I dislike SP is the ICD/AKA thing. But that doesn't change the fact that they have been a company built on scam products from day one. The All American barrel in 1989, with spiral porting that was supposed to improve accuracy? Scam. And they've been making it for over 20 years now. They created the barrel system concept, which was good, but then spent 10 years producing the Freak, indisputably one of the WORST barrel systems out there with some of the worst quality control, which pretty much defeats the whole purpose of even having a barrel kit. Scam. The Magic Box? Scam, they didn't even try with that one. The Impulse? That gun was intentionally designed to be a money pit out of the box! Oh hey let us sell you a tapeworm, delrin bolt, and trigger so it'll actually work like a paintball gun should (hence why anyone with half a brain bought a PL version). And .50 cal is clearly a scam, complete with false advertising claims to give it that special SP touch. There's no defending that.

The Ion was a good thing overall, as was the creation of the barrel kit and both the original Shocker and the Shocker SFT. But in my mind those things don't excuse the rest of the company's shortcomings. There are tons of companies out there that have contributed a lot to the game without causing the controversies and harm SP has. If SP goes down the tubes, that means more worthy companies will be getting a bigger slice of the pie.

So no, I don't see a couple of corrupt scam artists going out of business as a bad thing.

Coenen, beer should be involved in this discussion, but it might get ugly. :dodgy:

[Coenen]

How can I argue with a man who can use "buttmunchery" in a sentence with such grace? That line was gold. I'm not professing any love for SP, here, so any beer based argument would most likely end in us agreeing. As long as you don't knock over the hookah on the porch at Summit's we're good.

I'm of the opinion that they were first class idiots, however, considering the state of paintball as a whole, they were at least USEFUL idiots. If this was 2005 and they were going under, I'd have no problem with it. However, with the industry hurting the way it is, losing a big time player isn't something I want to see. Their contributions to the game and individual teams and players will be missed. Eventually I'm sure they'll come back or someone else will come up to pick up the slack, but right now, them, and more specifically their pocket book being gone is not necessarily a good thing.

I will not argue that their products are crap, you've heard me rail against the SFT Shocker platform several times. The Impulse was a money pit? The Impulse was their practice run for the ION, which proved to be an even larger money pit, and clearly was so by design. At least when the Impulse came out the concept of an electro-gun was still new enough that growing pains and refinements were to be expected. Their barrels were always pretty good, but the selling point was bull. The Freak was crap, my friend had one and the ".679" insert was noticeably larger than the ".684" or something like that (I don't remember the sizing progression). Magic box, same thing. By now, any product with the word "magic" in the name should be raising huge red flags for ANY consumer.

To use a cliche, these companies shouldn't be worried about "getting a bigger piece of the pie," paintball to me is still in the stage of it's evolution where the primary focus should be on "growing the pie." We were in such a big damn hurry to grow up and go mainstream that we didn't form a solid base to stand on in case there was a downturn. Now a lot of companies, SP included, have paid for their lack of vision.

[lotus_esprit5]

How can I argue with a man who can use "buttmunchery" in a sentence with such grace?

I put that one in there just for you babe. ;)

Now a lot of companies, SP included, have paid for their lack of vision.

http://thousandrobots.com/blog/files/palpatine_02.jpg

[Coenen]

Now a lot of companies, SP included, have paid for their lack of vision.http://thousandrobots.com/blog/files/palpatine_02.jpgGooood. Goood.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/12/unlimited-power_opt.jpg

[speedy2k4]

paintball industry is turning the way of the auto industry. some companies are offering more features and better quality for the same price, and cash strapped consumers are noticing. smart parts is dying like general motors, regardless of how much of an impact they had in earlier days of the industry they have not been competitive in recent years.

GM owns so many resources and provides so many jobs that the government has to step in. if smart parts is truly gone, it would be interesting to see where their assets go. i picture the gardner bros living in a cardboard box and still trying to sue anyone who walks by.

[CamoDad]

I've tried calling them a number of times. Same recording from Christmas holiday.
I hope that there is some possibility that they can ressurect some part of the business. I have an SP1 and My sons have a Vibe and an Ion. We love 'em!

[di$TOrTed]

'Tis a shame. I agree with the other statements, their business practices were sketchy at best but they certainly helped the sport grow. They made affordable, performing markers, they got paintball on TV for all to see, they gave lots of sponsors and other things that helped rope more people into the sport......... I actually had good luck with their products too, however i have close friends that have not.

Oh well.

Don't worry, be happy.

[$ammyTheBull]

Thank god i didn't get the xe....

[dannier]

Thanks for offering much infos here.

[AmbushOrigin]

well still no official word onto if they are going to open to sell off stock or to call up RMA's for work/replacements. However the manufacturering is up and running doing OEM work for other companies.

[Lopez17]

It's wild though! Paintball is actually getting by and people are still playing without Smart Parts! CRAZY! I mean the end of the world scenarios and doom and gloom rumors didn't materialize for the sport. Other than a few pro team cuts, everything is still quite well in the world of paintball.

[lotus_esprit5]

It's wild though! Paintball is actually getting by and people are still playing without Smart Parts! CRAZY! I mean the end of the world scenarios and doom and gloom rumors didn't materialize for the sport. Other than a few pro team cuts, everything is still quite well in the world of paintball.

Precisely. And we have a few less unsavory businessmen in our sport.

Reminds me of when Jim Drew packed up his bags and left paintball, and now we're all better for it and no one misses him.

[speedy2k4]

I wonder if Smart Parts had a patent on the sock hat. If so, WTB that patent. Those things will make a comeback any day now.

[AmbushOrigin]

i believe PBJ has the patent to the sock hat. :P or else KAPP did.

[speedy2k4]

Oh well. Smart Parts still holds the patent on multicellular organisms.

[Lopez17]

Defective Equipment - They have a patent on that too. ;)

[AmbushOrigin]

Defective Equipment - They have a patent on that too. ;)

really? I thought WDP had that for the patent on the A1. I mean it was its best marketing. It drove the costs down to dirt cheap extremely fast, and raised resale of older models ;)

[Coenen]

The Impulse and SFT Shocker came first by a pretty wide margin.

[speedy2k4]

SP had the best jerseys in the business though. Jerseys with flames, jerseys with buzz saws, jerseys with barbed wire. On a whole new level of bad***.

[paingwin238]

cant forget the animated girls on there barrel condoms.

[Lopez17]

The Impulse and SFT Shocker came first by a pretty wide margin.

You forgot about the Nerve. It's fail was so legendary that one of the SP techs threw one through a wall in their chrono room out of frustration.

[lotus_esprit5]

SP is such an easy target that I'm just gonna respond to everything.

The Impulse and SFT Shocker came first by a pretty wide margin.
True dat. Only SP would make a gun that can't dryfire out of the box unless you buy their special upgrade which consisted solely of a metal cap and a plastic tube. Instead of the Tapeworm they should have called it the "Enema" since you'd have to bend over pretty far to get suckered into buying an Impulse.
SP had the best jerseys in the business though. Jerseys with flames, jerseys with buzz saws, jerseys with barbed wire. On a whole new level of bad***.
:laugh: I'm surprised they never did one with a screen printing of an F-22 made out of biceps, Powerthirst style.

Actually I might have bought that.
cant forget the animated girls on there barrel condoms.
I would say Max Flo girl was the hottest, but somehow the words "Max Flo girl" just don't sound right together. So instead I'll say Impulse girl was hottest, then All American girl, followed by Shocker girl (much better name than Max Flo girl), followed by Freak girl (also much better name than Max Flo girl).
You forgot about the Nerve. It's fail was so legendary that one of the SP techs threw one through a wall in their chrono room out of frustration.

One of my friends did not anticipate its fail and pre-ordered one brand new for $1200 or whatever it was. It kicked like a baby drowning in a bathtub.

Ok that's all I got for now.

[Algernon]

You can diss SP all you want as a paintball company. I don't like them either. One thing they did very, very right was their engineering. I gotta lot of respect for the impulse, ion and shocker. In each marker's respective era they were great markers. The impulse was out before most of you here were playing paintball. In 2000-2002 your options for electronic paintball marekrs consisted of either the $2,000 WDP Angel, a nearly $2,000 Intimidator and a $700 Impulse. I never owned any of those markers at those years, but I was playing the sport and I saw them on the field. Years later I have either owned or used all of those markers from that time in paintball. The Impulse was a very good marker for it's time and is one of, if the the best, values for its' time when it was introduced. They did maunfacture and sell the damn thing as "new" up into 05. That is no fault of the marker, that is a fault on the behalf of smart parts.

The Ion. Best bang for your buck in it's time too. It was designed to be very simple to manufacture and was sold with very little markup and produced in a very large volume. This is good. It knocked everyother marker company off their overpriced "i can charge as much as I want" high horse. You seriously want to spend over $2000 for a hunk of aluminum, wires, plastic and circuit boards? Had it not been for the BKO and other markers (ion in this case) following that same low-price high-performance design logic we'd still be paying 2 grand for mediocre products.

[AmbushOrigin]

You can diss SP all you want as a paintball company. I don't like them either. One thing they did very, very right was their engineering. I gotta lot of respect for the impulse, ion and shocker. In each marker's respective era they were great markers. The impulse was out before most of you here were playing paintball. In 2000-2002 your options for electronic paintball marekrs consisted of either the $2,000 WDP Angel, a nearly $2,000 Intimidator and a $700 Impulse. I never owned any of those markers at those years, but I was playing the sport and I saw them on the field. Years later I have either owned or used all of those markers from that time in paintball. The Impulse was a very good marker for it's time and is one of, if the the best, values for its' time when it was introduced. They did maunfacture and sell the damn thing as "new" up into 05. That is no fault of the marker, that is a fault on the behalf of smart parts.

The Ion. Best bang for your buck in it's time too. It was designed to be very simple to manufacture and was sold with very little markup and produced in a very large volume. This is good. It knocked everyother marker company off their overpriced "i can charge as much as I want" high horse. You seriously want to spend over $2000 for a hunk of aluminum, wires, plastic and circuit boards? Had it not been for the BKO and other markers (ion in this case) following that same low-price high-performance design logic we'd still be paying 2 grand for mediocre products.

well... some people still are paying almost 2k for eclipse products :P sucks for them. I learned my lesson after dropping 1250 on my 06 I had

[Lopez17]

When was the Intimidator EVER at $2,000. Classic's were in the $1,000 range, GZ's retailed at $899 and 2K2's at $999. You're off by a G there...though I agree that Angels were pricey.

[AmbushOrigin]

if im not mistaken todd, the dragons retail was 1500. classic I believe was 1200

angels varied also they went from 1300-2k. I remember drooling over a 2k1 apollo I think it was, think was like 1699.99 or 1799

I didnt have any gun remotely expensive till I got my gen-e trix in 03 but only payed something like 340 for that, along with trade in on spyder,freak kit and hopper

[Lopez17]

Dragon's here were $1299 and Ironmen were $1199. (Both more due to the milling and because they came with WAS Equalizers). Classics were $1050 here.

[Coenen]

Many of the PL Gen 3 Timmies were 1500.

Todd, thanks for the reminder on the Nerve, I had forgotten about it, just like many people. All of that hype...and the majority of them ended up selling for like $400 dollars a year or two after the original release. I think I saw like two of them...ever. They did introduce ramping though!

Algernon, their engineering might've been good...ish...but their QC was atrocious. This led to all sorts of "lemon" guns out there. I knew plenty of guys who thought SFT Shockers were the greatest thing ever. I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion, because the majority of the time those guns were leaking or down for one reason or another. Most of the Impulses out there that were any good were the private labels coming out of custom shops.

Lotus, I was all about the original All American girl...but then when I ordered I got the updated one...she was still a cutie, but just not as good as the first one.

[Algernon]

Many of the PL Gen 3 Timmies were 1500.

Todd, thanks for the reminder on the Nerve, I had forgotten about it, just like many people. All of that hype...and the majority of them ended up selling for like $400 dollars a year or two after the original release. I think I saw like two of them...ever. They did introduce ramping though!

Algernon, their engineering might've been good...ish...but their QC was atrocious. This led to all sorts of "lemon" guns out there. I knew plenty of guys who thought SFT Shockers were the greatest thing ever. I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion, because the majority of the time those guns were leaking or down for one reason or another. Most of the Impulses out there that were any good were the private labels coming out of custom shops.

Lotus, I was all about the original All American girl...but then when I ordered I got the updated one...she was still a cutie, but just not as good as the first one.

I'd say their QC was a bit more than atrocious. I've seen some horrid SP products out on the field. My ion has been exceptionally good to me (aside from constant soldering on those damn battery supply wires) but the linear barrel I purchased years ago for it came out of the box garbage. On that barrel "flat black" was SP's idea of "mirrior honed". On the other had my stock ion barrel is excellent in all respects and my old fixed two peice all american (1999 i think) was the best two piece I have ever owned. Every marker has it's ups and downs upon release. I don't know how many PM5s went down with bolt stick and bad o-ring issues. ABS seemed to have fixed that, but then again I'm not a proto/dye guy.

Imps are difficult to label as good or bad. They're old as dirt. Whitin a few years afer their release they were outclassed by better markers. Aside from ify maxflows and retarded eye logic they were decent, and very, very afordable used durring those aging years after their release. I've never seen one go down mid-game with a major issue that prevented it's use. I don't think I've seen ones vision system work for more than a few hours either, but that's the nature of that reflective eyed calculas text book sized beast.

No comment on the nerve. I've never iven seen one first hand. I hear they are junk and I believe it.

[Lopez17]

When the Ion came out, Pevs sent a bunch of employees to Latrobe to assemble guns and bring them back to the stores in VA. SP was in full production getting markers to everyone else so they cut Pevs a cost break, or so I'm told. While they were up there testing and chrono'ing guns, one of the SP guys came into the chrono room and got so PO'd at a Nerve that he threw it at the wall where it promptly went through while swearing that "These things never :censored: work."

There was also apparently an early ASA for the Ion that was cut too tight and would strip tank threads and grip them so tight it had the potential to remove your reg rather than unthread from the reg. Then there's the littany of other machining issues, mis-bored markers, poor honing, etc. Sad really.

[lotus_esprit5]

No comment on the nerve. I've never iven seen one first hand. I hear they are junk and I believe it.

They're not COMPLETE crap, but they're deceptively heavy and they kick a lot. I've never owned one so I can't speak to their reliability or how easy they are to tune. Basically there was nothing about the gun's feel or performance to justify the price tag or the hype. I think if SP had released it as the "Impulse 2.0" for $600 it would have done ok and people would have looked past its flaws a bit more. Instead they marketed it as the most innovative, amazing thing since the allen wrench, and priced it at double what it was worth.

lol at the SP tech throwing it through a wall.

[AmbushOrigin]

actually throwing at the wall yes that was true, I believe graham did it. However didnt go through the wall.

My captains Nerve is a great gun, has been since day 1. It was a failure though, simply bc SP wanted it to be their flagship gun but never was going to happen due to the popularity of the SFT at the time.

[blackdragundude]

I had an Imp and that was one of the best markers I've ever had and prolly will ever have! You ever says that SPs sucks is a compolete retard!

[Algernon]

I had an Imp and that was one of the best markers I've ever had and prolly will ever have! You ever says that SPs sucks is a compolete retard!

allready made that point for ya buddy. The imp was a savior back in the day but alas SP as company did lots of stupid stuff, one of which was selling the imp into 05 without any redesign or updates to keep it modern and competitive, bad QC on all makers, went on a law suit frenzy and backed this .50 cal nonsense under the GI Milsim constume. Bad SP!

[lotus_esprit5]

I had an Imp and that was one of the best markers I've ever had and prolly will ever have! You ever says that SPs sucks is a compolete retard!

Here is a dancing banana.

:banana:

To be fair though Algernon you do have a point, the Imp could be considered a much better marker back when it came out according to the standards of the time. It measured up pretty well back then, especially considering its cost. Although there were more options available back then than just the Shoebox, Imp, Timmy, and Angel (Tribal, Bushmaster, Matrix. I forget when Raceframes and Eblades came out, not too long after the Imp though. Excals and Vikes also were a little after the Imp). Regardless, the Imp certainly did have a heydey for the first 2-3 years or so that it was out. After that SP didn't update it, the design flaws stuck out more and more compared to the competition, and really the only reason it stayed popular after 2003 was the strength of the PL versions, some of which I will admit were pretty cool guns in their day. The Python milling was awesome and the Rat Jr. was a pretty decent value.

So I suppose I should be more specific. The stock Impulse had some pretty big issues were were easy to overlook earlier on in its production because the market was way different back then, but over time it didn't age so well. I still don't get how SP kept selling so many Imps all the way through 2004-05 purely on the strength of the gun's hype.

And to blackdragondude, the Impulse is far from the reason why so many people don't like SP. It can be fun harping on the Imp's design flaws but I can certainly admit some good things about it, even though I'd never buy one myself. The real reason so many ppl bash SP is the lawsuits, the QC problems, the Freak kit (if anyone here had a good one, congrats, you were lucky), the Magic Box, spiral porting, over the top marketing, etc. During its lifetime the company had a lot of gaffs, some not so serious and others very serious. If you like Imps great, go shoot them, but there are MANY reasons to not like SP.

And I'm not stubborn enough to be beyond acknowledging that they did some things right. :P

[AmbushOrigin]

SP only backed .50 because Rich was pouring in money for them to produce the GI line for him because he couldnt get another company to make the stuff for him.

[Lopez17]

actually throwing at the wall yes that was true, I believe graham did it. However didnt go through the wall.

My captains Nerve is a great gun, has been since day 1. It was a failure though, simply bc SP wanted it to be their flagship gun but never was going to happen due to the popularity of the SFT at the time.

Um, no...it actually did go through the wall. There's pictures. I'll have to see who has them...granted they're like five or six years old now.

[davido83]

So is SP open again? I'm getting back into paintball and a little behind on news.

[BluShift]

So is SP open again? I'm getting back into paintball and a little behind on news.

Nope, not as of yet.

[AmbushOrigin]

depends who you ask. there are people doing repair work, as we got a big case of spare parts for our markers. They arent selling anything though, but if u can find someone to talk to for repair then theyll do it.

[koditue]

I hope you do realise that when a company goes bankrupt or insolvent, it's not like their IP (patents, trademarks, etc.) goes into the public domain.

[macrylinda1]

I cant belive that there people that are happy about ANY paintball company going out of buisness. That cannot be good for the sport or the future of pb. More companys around helps keep the prices down. Even if you hate smart parts they where a big or giant part of pb, I will miss them.
if you want to look at it from that perspective, smart parts are the ones who tried to assassinate several smaller paintball companies, because that competition would lead to less sp profits. a lot of great things came from sp, but i dont think the sport will be any worse off without them.

[Etek3baller]

Quote:
Originally Posted by brickdoctor http://www.pbreview.com/forums/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.pbreview.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4279989#post4279989)
I cant belive that there people that are happy about ANY paintball company going out of buisness. That cannot be good for the sport or the future of pb. More companys around helps keep the prices down. Even if you hate smart parts they where a big or giant part of pb, I will miss them.

if you want to look at it from that perspective, smart parts are the ones who tried to assassinate several smaller paintball companies, because that competition would lead to less sp profits. a lot of great things came from sp, but i dont think the sport will be any worse off without them.
__________________


I dunno I think the less Smart Parts Guns out there the better!! :| Aside for Luxe....... if Smart Parts goes out of business then Luxe will go with them and that is some seriously bad news for any Luxe owners:(

[AmbushOrigin]

they have filed bankruptcy. Last news was of a "unknown" company and buyers trying to purchase the building and assets from the bank.

The supposed and alleged buyers that were named does seem very feasible, as a couple of them were people that Sean mentioned last year when we had our meeting about the companies upcoming and now present circumstances.

your going to see the company back probably next year, but itll be under a new name and ownership.

[Lopez17]

They filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Their assets are now owned by PNC bank and they're being liquidated. They may resurface as another company but I doubt they'll be doing warranty work on their markers. SP as we know it is now out of business. Anyone wishing to buy the company's assets now has to deal with the bank. The bankruptcy court filing, assets, debts, liens, etc. are posted online.

[pballer934]

I really dont know how true this is but I was told sp is already trying something new an pushing the new 50 cal paintball.:eyes: :eyes:

[OWNAGE]

I really dont know how true this is but I was told sp is already trying something new an pushing the new 50 cal paintball.:eyes: :eyes:
They announced a .50 cal version of the Impulse, but that was before the bankruptcy and liquidation.

[lenco12]

“It is important that people do not send equipment in for service during this time,” said company Vice President, Adam Gardner. “Our buildings will not be staffed during the restructuring, so there will be no one there to receive packages. They will automatically be refused and returned to the sender.
The Gardner brothers have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the descendants of Benjamin Franklin, claiming that in fact they were the first to discover electricity in its modern application.

Smart Parts, inc. shall remain closed until this case has been resolved.

[speedy2k4]

Quotebots, the newest form of cyber terrorism.

[wabango$]

Gardner Bros. now sell LUBE!!!!!1111!!!!!111!!1

[custar]

Gardner Bros. now sell LUBE!!!!!1111!!!!!111!!1

Under their new reported trade name, "Gog". The unknown company that was rumored to be buying SP assets is/was White Hats, LLC. It seems like the announcement of the purchase was premature and no sale has been completed.

[pntball sniper]

Thanks for the updated info

[zee7891]

well still no official word onto if they are going to open to sell off stock or to call up RMA's for work/replacements. However the manufacturering is up and running doing OEM work for other companies.

[zee7891]

Nice post it is, its really an admirable work done
Thanks for sharing

[daviddwilson]

They didn't do that stuff out of charity. They did it because they wanted to dominate the world of paintball and make millions of dollars. This is a business venture we're talking about here, not an investment purely for the love of the game. Was it a positive thing that they invested lots of money in pro teams and tournaments? No doubt. But if it hadn't been SP doing it, other companies probably would have picked up the slack. And we probably would have had more companies, and more importantly more companies with more money, out there to do so if not for SP's legal buttmunchery. SP used legal action to put themselves in the most advantageous position to blow money on all this stuff, because PE, NPS, and Dye, the three other major players, all have their profits chipped away by paying royalties to SP. Oh hey, SP is spending the most money on teams and tournaments, big freaking surprise!

Yes, a large part of the reason I dislike SP is the ICD/AKA thing. But that doesn't change the fact that they have been a company built on scam products from day one. The All American barrel in 1989, with spiral porting that was supposed to improve accuracy? Scam. And they've been making it for over 20 years now. They created the barrel system concept, which was good, but then spent 10 years producing the Freak, indisputably one of the WORST barrel systems out there with some of the worst quality control, which pretty much defeats the whole purpose of even having a barrel kit. Scam. The Magic Box? Scam, they didn't even try with that one. The Impulse? That gun was intentionally designed to be a money pit out of the box! Oh hey let us sell you a tapeworm, delrin bolt, and trigger so it'll actually work like a paintball gun should (hence why anyone with half a brain bought a PL version). And .50 cal is clearly a scam, complete with false advertising claims to give it that special SP touch. There's no defending that.

The Ion was a good thing overall, as was the creation of the barrel kit and both the original Shocker and the Shocker SFT. But in my mind those things don't excuse the rest of the company's shortcomings. There are tons of companies out there that have contributed a lot to the game without causing the controversies and harm SP has. If SP goes down the tubes, that means more worthy companies will be getting a bigger slice of the pie.

So no, I don't see a couple of corrupt scam artists going out of business as a bad thing.

Coenen, beer should be involved in this discussion, but it might get ugly. :dodgy:
I will not argue that their products are crap, you've heard me rail against the SFT Shocker platform several times. The Impulse was a money pit? The Impulse was their practice run for the ION, which proved to be an even larger money pit, and clearly was so by design. At least when the Impulse came out the concept of an electro-gun was still new enough that growing pains and refinements were to be expected. Their barrels were always pretty good, but the selling point was bull. The Freak was crap, my friend had one and the ".679" insert was noticeably larger than the ".684" or something like that (I don't remember the sizing progression). Magic box, same thing. By now, any product with the word "magic" in the name should be raising huge red flags for ANY consumer.

[Lopez17]

By now, any product with the word "magic" in the name should be raising huge red flags for ANY consumer.

Except Magic Hat. Good Beer. Mmmmm.

[dwai]

no smartparts dont go

[AmbushOrigin]

Smart parts ia back. GOG paintball SA. Just as I said I think earlier in this thread. They would be back as a new name, change name of some products and be operating out of south america. This is exactly what I was told in aug of 09 by sean and graham when we had our last team meeting and sponsorship talks with sp.