Planet Eclipse A1R - Airsoft/Speedsoft

[Magmoormaster]

https://planeteclipse.com/airsoft/model/a1r/

I peeked into speedsoft a couple years ago (made a thread here on MCB about it) and one of the things that really held me back was that gear was really subpar compared to paintball. I wanted to poke Jack Wood with a stick and get to make an EMF100 that would shoot airsoft bbs. Looks like he was already on it. This is going to CRUSH everything in the speedsoft market. And I imagine a more tactical version will be out later.

Also very telling as to the state of paintball.

[vijil]

Speedsoft seems to be growing a lot recently.

I think it's pretty lame - as in, you think cheating is bad in speedball, speedsoft is a whole new level. Even the small amount of airsoft I played I'd say 40% or more of hits were ignored. And that's with people who were trying to play honestly. It's those "hmm I felt something but I'm not sure, I'll just continue" moments. In speedsoft I imagine it's closer to 50%.

That said, if I were into speedsoft, this is it. This is peak. It's a gorgeous design.

In terms of the state of PB, honestly airsoft is on the same trajectory, just a few years behind. While we often complain about competition from gaming or whatever I think it's hard to overestimate the impact that social media giant content policies have had, actively suppressing content they judge to be about firearms.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I imagine it's a lot like paintball it's all about the company you keep.

[Jonnydread]

Interesting, good for ol' Jack. I’d I were to play airsoft of any kind it would definitely be speedsoft

[RPP]

I love the design, but airsoft/speedsoft is not for me... not even a little bit.

[Brandon]

This Paintballgun Shoots Airsoft BBs

[Reflex0283]

I like this project a lot, but he won't share the files or anything online so that's probably the only one we'll ever see

[tyronejk]

He said in the video he used a "Polestar unit" so basically in paintball terms, built a gun out of an ion body. It's not that innovative.

[Chuck E Ducky]

How long before Softers ban this thing for being to function over form you think.

[Reflex0283]

Speedsoft guns have looked like this for a long time, but usually they're based around the m4 upper geometry for parts compatibility and so on. According to my friend that plays a lot more airsoft than I do, running this at an outdoor scenario field will probably result in slurs being thrown your way but it's right at home at speedball fields.

[martix_agent]

they might get called slurs, until they get roped in the face repeatedly.

[iamthelazerviking]

Pretty cool and I'll never try airsoft but does look neat. Gameplay clips at the end:

[Chuck E Ducky]

I wonder how much you can shoot on a 9ci. Because a 9ci with a buttstock off the back of that thing would be Ruthless!

Speedsoft or whatever they call it looks like a blast with the right people I bet it’s cheap and good clean fun. I don’t have anything around me other than your typical try hard gravy seal big ego type players unfortunately.

[Dennis]

I think Aartwood said he gets about 1300-1400 shots on his 13ci tank, but i can't find the post where i saw it.

[RPP]

Mass is your friend in Airsoft.

[The Jayster]

https://planeteclipse.com/airsoft/model/a1r/

I peeked into speedsoft a couple years ago (made a thread here on MCB about it) and one of the things that really held me back was that gear was really subpar compared to paintball. I wanted to poke Jack Wood with a stick and get to make an EMF100 that would shoot airsoft bbs. Looks like he was already on it. This is going to CRUSH everything in the speedsoft market. And I imagine a more tactical version will be out later.

Also very telling as to the state of paintball.

As someone who splurged a few weeks ago on an ASG Scorpion CNC Ultimate edition, only to receive a faulty unit which was then replaced by another faulty unit, I think 'subpar' is a gross understatement. Ours are bona fide sporting equipment, whereas airsoft is still within the realm of toys, despite the advances that have been made in the last 10+ years. I watched the PE release video with Jack Woods and they diplomatically said as much. It actually took a paintball company to show the airsoft industry how true quality and innovation is done. Yet truth be told the vast majority of airsoft players I've encountered seem to care more about the cosplay aspect than the sporting aspect of the game. Many seem to care more about if replica X has the correct markings than the quality of the internals. Since I decided to return to airsoft a few months ago I've not been impressed by the bulk of the players or by the shop side of it. But I'm digressing...

OTOH, the reality is that while as North Americans we're blessed with a decent paintball market, it is not the case for the rest of the world. In Europe for instance there are countries where paintball has been overtaken by airsoft, and by a huge margin. Hell, south of Rome in Italy you couldn't find a paintball park, but 20 minutes away from the village my dad came from (which is considered a remote and sparsely populated area) there's an airsoft league with 30+ active players. Even in major paintball markets like the UK, France and I believe even in the U.S. and Canada the airsoft market has outgrown paintball. Of course if we had better paint maybe paintball would do better...

[Glovebox Operator]

This is exactly what I've been looking for. I have an old Echo 1 mp5 that I've wanted to play with but I burned up the trigger using the wrong battery. I never cared for how loud and clunky it felt. I have been occasionally looking for something more compatible with the paintball gear I have and has the tank mounted on the marker. I hate being tethered with an airline, when I put it down I dont like to have to disconnect anything or awkwardly pull out the air tank too.

[mooman978]

If airsoft was my only option. I would use this because I know it’s a quality product. This has really raised the bar in terms of quality airsoft guns. Granted it’s way more expensive than other guns but I think it’s still worth it

[Reflex0283]

Honestly the price isn't crazy high in comparison to most other speedsoft guns, especially when you start to get into custom builds. I've seen guns that are around $1400 and still use glass reinforced nylon for some parts

[vijil]

Coming back to this with my marketing and comms manager hat on

I'm really not sure PE have handled the marketing on this well. They're brilliant engineers, and they're great at PB marketing because, well, they're paintballers.

But moving in on a whole new community is not remotely the same deal.

Online, in airsoft communities, the reception is frosty at best. PE's marketing strategy has basically been "airsoft guns suck and airsoft players have no clue what they're missing out on, let's show you how it's done".

Like, yes, all that is true, but that's not a marketing strategy unless your main audience is paintball players making the transition. And I dunno guys but I don't think that's meant to be the main audience. It's like a niche within a niche within a niche, and I can't see that being worth the RnD.

Speedsoft is niche. It may be growing, but it's niche within niche. Many airsoft players don't know it exists - it's much smaller in the world of AS than speedball is in the world of PB. The A1R is clearly a speedsoft gat, not airsoft. So there's that. I'm also not seeing any or much evidence that they really did the market research homework on this. The influencers they're working with are mostly PB players who also happen to airsoft occasionally. If they're working with major AS teams or clubs, I'm not seeing it.

The strategy imo would have been to create:

- a new brand to differentiate things a bit more "Planet softies" or whatevs xP
- a new mini website
(you just spent $x RnDing your platform, a basic website and brand is trivial)
- spend some money on putting it in the hands of speedsoft clubs and teams
- *also* advertise via your normal channels as they are, but lay off the "AS guns suck" and "we're going to revolutionise y'all" BS. People will figure that out on their own, and gen Z are practically allergic to that kind of marketing language anyways.

[martix_agent]

Coming back to this with my marketing and comms manager hat on

I'm really not sure PE have handled the marketing on this well. They're brilliant engineers, and they're great at PB marketing because, well, they're paintballers.

But moving in on a whole new community is not remotely the same deal.

Online, in airsoft communities, the reception is frosty at best. PE's marketing strategy has basically been "airsoft guns suck and airsoft players have no clue what they're missing out on, let's show you how it's done".

is PE saying that, or are people saying that about their product?

[vijil]

They're not directly saying it, but that's how the copy reads to me.

It's also just really generic boring low effort marketing copy.

[flyweightnate]

I was surprised there's no attempt to mil-sim it at all on release. Sure, they have an all black variant, but even a quad rail front end would have made a difference.