so i cant get an e-bolt for my a-5? whats going on with the paintball companies?

jeep 98 custom wrote: ^^^Or a whole new gun.

Hmm... I've heard this before..  Interesting, we'll see I guess. 

Apparently the E-bolt is being phased out.  It was too expensive of an upgrade, and not reliable enough to bear a Tippmann name/ roots. Most electropneumatic markers are currently programmable, and come a lot more advanced than the E-bolt. It may be that the influx of sales from 98C's to A-5's have put E-grips on the top of the sales- they are much easier to deal with.

This could also be a market signal that the 98C's days are beginning to become numbered. Tippmann may put out an E-grip for the 98C, just to satiate current 98C owners, but I'm starting to see more and more A-5's popping up at the field. Crap, the pro-shop I go to had 13 A-5's before I got mine, then the next day all of them were gone. I noticed that all summer. 98C's are still selling too, but these are going mainly to new players with limited money or to younger players whose parents are the monetary source, and upgrades for them will be very limited. Not too long ago M98's appeared in Wal-mart. That's definately a sign that something is shifting.

I'm not saying a super-cool gun is being R&D'd, but it is quite possible. At this time the investor group may be trimming down co**edited**l products that don't return any profit, and increasing the amount of circulation of the products. The E-bolt is a very co**edited**l product, and may not be returning significant profits and has too many callbacks or repairs done under warranty. The fact that Wal-mart is selling M98's shows that money is needed for something. I'd imagine they're doing what they always do- take a gun and improve it. Not a completely new one with it's own score of unforseen problems, but more along the lines of the 98 family and carbine pro-am generation. The M98 -> 98C -> A-5 and the combination of carbine 68 and pro-am for the pro-carbine. I'm pretty sure they're doing research on an improved Cyclone system, and working out all the problems with the current "new" gun, the A-5. All in all, the next line of Tippmann guns is going to be a great improvement.

tippmann still sells the gta ebolt tho becuz its still on the tippmann site or soon maybe not..........

sorry but i totally disagree about the 98 days soon to be over its the easiest gun to mod, cheap, tons of options, and good performing my friend has an a5 and i think it isnt the greatest i dunno but one day he had to manualy push the button thing on the cyclone for it to feed and yes it was a full co2 but then the next week it worked fine but to me it feels like the cyclone almost makes it shoot slower for some reason, i dont know why

Tippmanneffect, no sorry I can't. I only know where to find basic Tippmann parts.

I'm not saying 98C's are going to disappear off the planet, but I'm saying it's working it's way off the forefront. It's kinda like BE Stingrays- they were on the market for quite some time, every n00b had one, then they were phased out. The Talon still exists (ugh- why?!?) but the Stingray was pushed. I'm saying that someday good 'ol Wal-mart (one of the forerunners of American degradation) will stop selling M98's for use with cheap "power packs" but will be replaced with 98C's. Every gun has its grand days, then it phases out due to age.

Heh, the Cyclone makes it shoot slower? You'll need to actually use an A-5 for a few days of play. Many straight 98C's on this forum used an A-5 for the elephant and ended up buying one to replace their 98C. Plus, just about all the upgrades from the 98C will transfer over (except hoppers, stocks, and the vert adapter, and the paintjob). Front bolts, x-chambers, regs, sight rails, and a few other miscellaneous things bolt right onto the A-5, due to its similar design.

The 98C has a large, sluggish shape to it. The oversized foregrip, the large body, even the trigger frame looks "slow." As an architect I can pick up on these things, as shapes/ designs in buildings make my entire career. The A-5 is smaller, more slender, and gives a much more mobile look to it. The hopper even gives a unique tinge of mobility- it's shape creates motion, but also dulls the motion on the ends for more of a medium paced design. The A-5 is also directly designed like an MP5, an easily recognizable gun. The 98C is pretty mundane, and with certain things on it it can look like an M-16. Plus, the A-5's versatility has sparked much more upgrading options than the 98C. Look at http://www.opsgear.com - http://www.opsgear.com and http://www.proteamdirect.com - http://www.proteamdirect.com and compare the 98C products to the A-5 products- surprisingly, you'll find more A-5 products.

Now, as to why Tippmanns are selling to Wal-mart- MARKETING. Most new players start off having their parents but a nice cheap gun. We all know it usuallt starts with the Brass Eagle, or the JT/ Viewloader modified BE's. BE's now are very closely resembling to Kingman Spyders, so most n00bs who get experience with their BE's in the game will upgrade to a gun they're familiar with, a Spyder. Most Tippmann users are either drawn by it's look of a "real gun," or the steadfast resiliency of the "Iranoveritwithmycarandthrewitonthehighwaywhereasemitruckhit itanditstillworks" rumor, which is very true but some stories get wild. I've heard some n00bs claiming that Tippmanns were made of titanium. And some, as of now, are getting drawn to Tippmanns by some guy on the field who had an awesome Tippmann. The field I play at is dead center between a rural city, and a suburban city. Lots of players double as avid deer hunters. I'm constantly hearing n00bs in the background (even some not-so-n00bish) talking about how cool my gun looks. Then I get on the field and use 6 years of experience with a "cool" looking gun, and the n00bs think that by having my gun it automatically makes them a better player. I try my best to inform them of simple things, like consistency, ball bore, etc. to improve upon the paintball community around my area. I am starting to see slowly that they're learning. I base most of it in part from when I started- I had no internet, and no one at the field that knew what they were doing would ever share "paintball secrets" with anyone.

Wow, winded post. Kinda went off-topic... no, I went completely off the original topic, but I'm hitting on the current topic.