http://www.pbgossip.com/2009/09/02/smart-p...-end-of-an-era/

OH GOD NO I REALLY HOPE THAT'S A LIE AND THEY DON'T GO UNDER -.-'

My guy (not in SP, but is in the business pretty deep), says it looks like they really might drop sp. Drop guns/parts that dont sell well, and roll the rest into lux or some other name.

yeah now the rumor that sean supposedly confirmed was that SP was just laying off 90% of there work force.

DLX might be there lifeboat if they decide to declare bankruptcy. the garnders still own the electro patent, its not SP's patent i dont think, its the garnders.

truly is sad. Ive never owned a SP marker but i have used alot of the aftermarket stuffs. they have brought the sport alot of good.

let me put this way they got to big for one self and sued to many people. stuff sued over hardly ever used. they should took over viking and sold them and for get other bad stuff they made. so what happens to all freaks inserts now. will some else make them or are done for.

FSP :P




:D

Karma is a b!t@h. no tears are going to be shed over here.

In other news, starting Nov. 15th, AGD will be accepting pre-orders for the 2010 E-Mag.

As far as semis are concerened, Shockers are where it's at for me. This is nuts.

I called that one years ago. They invested too much. They didn't know how to save.

They knew how to make money but they also knew how to spend it!

JB.

They will just make garbage under a different name. Probably why they started up Lux to start with. They were planning it ahead of time and needed a place to jump to. I won't miss any of the crap they made. Unfortanatley they still have the patents to things they didn't even invent.

When you play with Big Business rules you have to realize that many of them die off by playing with said rules. Guess they weren't smart with their time and investments and squandered.

Oh well.

ain't going to happen.

They're alive and kickin.

Just downsized.

JB.

...And it goes full circle...

From the Smart Corps forum...

Despite rumors to the contrary, Pennsylvania based Smart Parts, Inc, remains open for business.

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." This famous quote often attributed to Mark Twain is also applicable to Smart Parts, Inc. The manufacturer and distributor of paintball products, now in its 20th year of operation remains in business, despite Internet rumors to the contrary.
Due to recent paintball industry contraction, widely believed to be linked to current economic conditions, Smart Parts downsized, laying off a number of employees on September 2nd. This staffing change has resulted in fast-flowing and incorrect rumors.

"It was painful to do," said company Vice-President Adam Gardner. "We are a family owned and operated business as well as a major employer in our community. Unfortunately current market conditions have forced this staff reduction upon us. The rumors that we have closed, gone into or are planning on going into bankruptcy, are completely false."

Smart Parts remains open for business, taking orders and shipping product as usual.

Smart Parts, Inc., is a leading developer and manufacturer of equipment and accessories for the sport of paintball. For more information, visit SMART PARTS.

Smart parts are like herpes....

wow, never thought this crap would make it to SCP.

Rumors, especially when online are just retarded to follow. For the last year SP has been laying employees off over time, however they are going no where.

Mainly what they did is laid off people who had a single responsibility in a department, and made people who are able to do multiple tasks in each department to keep up and work efficiently. The guy who makes the chigo pants was laid off last year. They are currently holding out on starting production back up on them due to demand of other products.

The sp1 is finally caught up they were backordered since march. And now the impulse is about a month or 2 backordered. SP is running at full speed and will be here to stay. I was told at tippmann extravaganza about the whole situation before any rumors had even surfaced. SP currently has 25 sponsored teams, and they used the example that they are looking to expand to 30-40ish teams next year and are already looking into what budgets fit best for what teams.

All these threads are is fuel for the haters to talk their crap.

Spoken like a sponsored player.. bravo.

Sorry have no respect for a company that has done NOTHING for the sport. Last decent product they made was the Original All American Barrel. We are talking about a company that developed the first "cheat" modes for electros. (now accepted as tourney ramping). Also had velocity ramping modes in thier guns. (so much for promoting safety). They ran adds promoting cheating and shooting refs. (thats always good for the sport). And to top it all off they back doored the patten process and gained a patten for something that they didn't even invent. Then proceeded to rape every other company, driving up the cost of everyone elses markers. At the same time they produce cheap crap and tell people its not the player but the gun. And now they are trying to drive a new wedge in the sport with the .50 cal milsim crap. Sorry if they ever do shut the doors to that place I will not miss them for 1 minute.

they are one of the few companies that are made in america. Thats why I like them, and bc they offer products in all price categories. Saying theyve done nothing is being ignorant, seeing as how theyve put more money into putting paintball on tv to try and make it mainstream then any other company has. I mean I dont LOVE SP, but I dont hate them. Sponsored or not, Ive always owned a SP product since ive started 10 years ago. I own atleast 1 product from almost every company out there, Im not biased with any company. Each company has something I like and other stuff that I hate.

Im not going to bother getting into arguements on what a Business has done to continue Business. As thats all most people have to say towards it. Its alot like arguing about religion or politics, everyone has their opinion but nobody wants to agree to disagree.

I could give a crap less what shadey business SP has done as a company. They make some of the most popular and best barrels on the market and some of the best top end electro markers around.

What's done cannot be undone. Just roll with it, get over yourselves and remember that nobody likes a hypocrite next time you screw an AA barrel or Freak onto your gun.

This post is not directed at any one individual. Just the population as a whole.

PS - SP is not the first company to produce and/or promote .50cal paintball products. As a matter of fact they're not even doing a good job apparently because I didn't even know they were.

WOOHOO!!!!!

The Emag was the only electro I ever had that I liked at all. Ive had angels, ions, E cockers and a few more. The Emag was and is in a class by itself.

I'm hoping for a limited edition 6-Pack run. :lol:

E/X Mags are nice. But I'm a big fan of Hyper framed Mags. My father has used his ULE Hypermag for the past 3ish years. Thing shoots outstanding. The PSP ramp style "hyper" mode is capped at 10 too, so it's perfect for the new tournament cap.

Saying they've done nothing is, yes. But saying they've never INVENTED anything on their own isn't. ;)

And putting money for Paintball being mainstream and on TV? Sorry but I really could care less about that and I'm not going to give them a pat on the back for it. Not everybody necessarily likes/wants pb on TV or mainstream like Football. What happens with stuff that is popular? You get a flood of 'tards. That's a good thing? Oh sure for temporary sales, until the 'tards drive out the regulars, then get bored, leave themselves, and the industry (especially fields) is far worse off than it would've been if they just stayed at a constant instead attempting to balloon themselves up for the quick gimmick buck.

Paintball is not an Olympic sport, it's not an ESPN2 XGames contender, it's not Prime Time, not something made for Sports Center. It is a fringe hobby and will always be that way due to the nature of the game itself. We have no central focus point so it's impossible to do any actually good live TV broadcast. If there is 20 players then there's 20 focus points. That's the problem and all the suits just can't grasp that, hence the continuous attempt to televise it and the continuous napalm effect from the aftermath of that explosion.

Did anyone other than me think, when they read that SP had bought a manufacturing machine from an american car company that,

A: I wouldn't be advertising that to anyone
B: LOL the car companies are hurting
C: Some peoples are about to lose their jobs.

or does everyone here think that automation is the freind of the laborer for some god forsaken reason.

:P

well someone had to maintain the machine

went to world cup yesterday and smart parts did not have any representation. no trailer, no booth, not even an ez up with a table.

What about GI milsim?

...end of an error, maybe.

G.I Milsim was there and in full effort. Something tells me the/a reason G.I Milsim was there and Smart Parts was not was to try and push the whole .50 cal paintball thing on people. Though that is just my thought on why Smart Parts wasn't there.

I was truly hoping they would be there since I wanted to get some of the guns teched without the hassle of shipping my guns out.

well said.