Ah well. There’s always the option of a holiday in NZ.
I remember my nephew went over to Queenstown for a snowboarding holiday… found an airsoft shop down the main drag, so purchased a couple of manual pistols to pew pew with in their hotel rooms.
Left them on the coffee table when they packed up to fly home because they knew they couldn’t bring them home.
Yeah this is definitely why the Chinese Manufacturers never tried competing selling Gelblasters in Countries where Airsoft was heavily used, so concentrated on the Australian market instead
They will never gain as much popularity as Airsoft for sure, far from it, but there’s definitely still a huge market as their popularity grows as a cheaper/cleaner/safer/lower powered option for kids and adults alike
Then the most Woke place in the US went and banned it haha
Gel won’t take off in the US, I can tell by the interaction I had with TE and their foray into it when that US fella was asking for info. Some are interested but the main interest will always be airsoft and real ones. Airsoft has been around for 50 years lol
This is true, especially considering the high price of decent quality blasters, which puts them out of reach of the average young players and families looking to get 4 or 5 to run around the yard with.
The Splatterball/Surge/Walmart Brands are doing a steady trade with $20-$50 blasters, but the higher end of the market is struggling to sell more expensive brands that cost the same as Airsoft……. but without the performance
That’s always been the issue whenever I’ve watched airsoft vids.
I know they have to be biodegradable these days but that’s not immediate. Must be damn uncomfortable with all those BBs rolling around under your boot on a hard surface… not to mention taking a knee or going prone.
That going prone thing really hits hard, especially when experiencing many years of open field games in Paintball and later Gelblaster games, everyone can relate to the pain inflicted by a single little piece of gravel under the kneecap when dropping down to the ground under cover
One of my mates who lives over near Ipswich was saying the store over there was independent and not part of the franchise anymore or something, I guess like how Bottlemart is considered independent but they all unders the same banner.
Apparently the guy running it had a disagreement with the company and went out on his own or something.
This is all 3rd hand accounts thou so who knows.
Would explain why Ausgel is having that big discount sale too.
Ipswich is independent and branded as Gel Tactical. Happened a few months ago. Word is that the Ausgel sale is to finance a new better version of Elites that have better quality control