freshest best paint from online retailer?

[Cunha]

I prefer not to buy from ANS

But I'm wondering if any of you geographically challenged ballers have ordered and received good paint from anywhere lately.

Really looking for the roundest biggest stuff I can get just like everyone else is.

Really looking for somewhere that carries the good paint seen at major tournaments.

There's an ancient box of nelson paint at my local big 5 I am so tempted to buy. If it was the higher end kind I would get it but its what was their low grade.

[Hellion360]

I am interested in the answer to this as well,
Especially if there is a ball available larger than .680

[PumpMan10988]

HK Army sells paint direct from their website... If that is somehow less morally gray than ANS in your eyes. Probably still small, but it should be "fresh."

[Cunha]

HK army is just one brand ans has harmed online retail in a meaningful way. I'll check hks website. Thank you for that.

Any others?

[Drcemento]

HK had a winter fill that I used at Dans game last year that was phenomenal, and on the larger side - .684. I just bought some and while it shot very well it was small again. empire's evil has been solid and .682 the last couple cases i got. it did come from ANS . I wish I had a better answer. Proshar has been well received as being good, but teeny weeny

Paintball jungle was selling some great paint a couple weeks ago, but it came in white box and valken bag but wasn't valken - It might have been DXS which may have baught valken and was using up bag stock? - it was a hot mess.

so sick of it.

did someone take over Valken or buy their equipment? what ever became of all that Things were going up for auction last i heard?

[trashcollector]

I have always considered HK as hype garbage. I have not tried their paint. In time, I guess.
The Marbs from ANS did not seem fresh but I’m not sure what impact a 3-day shipment across the country in the heat had on it. I did not see any breaks and it shoots straight but it is small. I made another post about the size and I can’t remember exactly, but I believe it was smaller than 0.680. I’ll give the Evil a try next go around.

[Fouts1323]

HK paint has always been fresh when ordering directly from them. That's my experience anyways.

[Hellion360]

The HK I have been getting shoots good, nice and round, but is small as hell. Like rolling through my 675 inserts

[Fouts1323]

It is super small. The first case of HK I bought I picked one out and it even felt tiny so I grabbed a 677 pwr and it rolled straight out 🤣 then I grabbed a 675 Freak and it was just tight enough but rolled out as well. I typically overbore anyways so it is what it is. The only paint I've found that is close to a true 689 is that cheap ass ZAP at Walmart and it actually shoots really good for what it is, just not consistent which is expected. I use it when I'm tinkering at home anyways. Really wish manufacturers would get back to the bigger balls.

[Magmoormaster]

I have always considered HK as hype garbage. I have not tried their paint. In time, I guess.

HK does come across that way, and they've had some whiffs for sure, but a lot of their stuff is actually quite nice. And their paint is consistently very good. The store I used to work at switched exclusively to them back in 2017 I think? and I don't recall having a bad batch. Always an above-average ball for the price.

Re: paint, you should pay less attention to what brand you get and more attention to where it ships from. Any brand of paint will be decent if you can get it genuinely fresh with a short ship time. Avoid anything beyond 2-3 days and order at the beginning of the week so it's not sitting over the weekend.

[Chappy]

Hot take: fresh paint sucks, properly aged paint is vastly superior. The catch is the properly part.

I have had great luck buying cheap HK 2 star from ANS. One broken ball in 7 or 8 cases. I’m not a fan of Ans, but I have to be picky about price versus quality and it hits the sweet spot for me.

[StaticShocked]

I agree with your hot take and i am actually experimenting with that concept. Aging in different conditions and humidity levels (not a scientific endeavor at all... more seat of the pants with a few temp/humid sensors). Results are promising. I am beginning to think of modern paintballs as bananas, picked pre-pre-ripe so they arrive pre-ripe at the store. Just a little humidity exposure to ripen them.

[RPP]

HK does come across that way, and they've had some whiffs for sure, but a lot of their stuff is actually quite nice. And their paint is consistently very good. The store I used to work at switched exclusively to them back in 2017 I think? and I don't recall having a bad batch. Always an above-average ball for the price.

Re: paint, you should pay less attention to what brand you get and more attention to where it ships from. Any brand of paint will be decent if you can get it genuinely fresh with a short ship time. Avoid anything beyond 2-3 days and order at the beginning of the week so it's not sitting over the weekend.

Yeah I second this take. HK gets alot of crap, but they are a rising powerhouse in this industry and are doing overall good IMO.

[smul]

I bought a few cases of the HK watermelon from Lone Wolf which turned out to be the winter blend. It shot phenomenally, was decently sized, and seemed to break well enough. I need to order more paint soonish and will probably just roll the dice with lone wolf again. I would rather buy local but my normal field is $70/case of garbage stored even worse.

[trashcollector]

I must have missed something. Why do others prefer not to order from ANS?

[smul]

I must have missed something. Why do others prefer not to order from ANS?

Personally they've made mistakes on so many of my orders that I just don't want to deal with them.

[Cunha]

Just not the most community minded business practices and poor customer service. I didn't mean to make this a thread about ANS just looking for good paint retailers that are smaller scale.

Buying from HK direct is looking like a good option.

[RPP]

I must have missed something. Why do others prefer not to order from ANS?

I hear they mess up alot of orders. Ive never had anything wrong with any of my orders, but I maybe order from them 1-2 times a year. Deffiniatly not a frequent orderer. But also, like Cunha said they have had some "interesting" or poor buisness practices over the years.