why no more new nelsons?

[SignOfZeta]

When you’re asking why a product isn’t on the market you have to imagine the place in the market where it would theoretically reside.

Phantom: The only Nelson you can easily buy more than one of at any given time. The new owners couldn’t make money at CCI’s prices so they raised the price, A LOT, and contrived unneeded complexity to justify the increased prices. The result is that the stuff is at once ruined AND overpriced. Today a person pays more than ever for the first Phantoms in existence that won’t run off CO2 and the owners just tell you the problems aren’t real. Hopefully they sell the whole thing off but I don’t know to whom.

Used Phantom: there were about 40,000 of these made, many many many still function and can be had for their original retail price or lower. The current best bet.

Gargoyle: While they do seem to work fine they are impossible to find and make even EV Phantoms look cheap.

JT ER2/ER2S: very good price! Terrible gun that is literally painful to use. Also out of production, I’m pretty sure.

Carter: gone/expensive

Nelson: gone

PMI: Gone

Line SI: Gone

Taso: gone

Rebline: gone


So…it’s a weird scene. You’d think there would at least be a Ali express clone or something. To me it’s weird that people would rather buy/make more complex snipers without auto trigger than make Nelson’s but that’s the way it is.

Where in this scenario does a new Nelson fit? Would it be US made? If not…I probably don’t want it. I really truly prefer US made stuff. Nova could offshore you a Phantom and you’d only have to fix three things out of the box but…why? Just to drive down the price of a used Phantom? And how long would the Novantom be on the market? That company is clearly flooding the market and won’t be doing in five years what it’s doing today. Not even GI/JT/Empire can support making that many guns at once, which is why you can hardly find Empire Snipers or ER2Ss at any price.

If it is US made then you have to at least match CCI quality with EV price. That’s possible for sure but not easy. To do it in a way where the gun stays on the market for years and years? I don’t know.

[Riot]

I just have just been lucky with my EV, but my phantom has been absolutely stellar since payment. I’ve heard things. However.

[Chuck E Ducky]

It’s just a cup seal issue the ones EV made are sticky when using CO2.

[coyote]

The Nelson platform has declined in the market as we moved away from CO2.

A Nelson pump was a fabulous platform for CO2. Today's pursuit of a sub 150 psi operating pressure runs counter to the Nelsons greatest strengths.

[Drunkscriblerian]

I was wondering the same thing, and then I looked at the market from a manufacturing/sales perspective. The answer is "the market is full already".

Between CCI's production of the Phantom (a lot), PMI's production of the Trracer (even more), how many clones of both came out back in the day, how these guns basically don't die (not much to go wrong that can't be solved with o-ring replacement) and how sneaky-snipey pump play is a niche hobby, well...between that and the Sheridan P-series modders/builders doing their thing, there are enough extant guns to satisfy the demand paintball currently has.

And if someone wants to get hardcore into making a pump gun competitive in a modern environment where stealth isn't a factor and rate of fire matters, a Nelson-style pump isn't what they're gonna reach for. I've used a Phantom; they're great for sneaky woodsball stuff but try and use them in a Hyperball/Speedball type environment and you're toast unless you're A: extremely lucky B: extremely aggressive and C: very much willing to run your ass off.

Plus as others have mentioned, making a new one (at least in the US) would cost a lot...to the point where you'd basically be competing with EV's Phantom reboot, only you wouldn't have brand loyalty/name recognition in your favor. So when I look at it like that I can see why no modern manufacturer has come up with a new one.

Simply put; paintball as a hobby would have to drastically and fundamentally change before producing a new Nelson-style pump would be financially viable. I won't rule out that happening, but that's what would have to happen before Nelson-style pumps would be produced again.