Field One Paintball Interview

[suicide]

It is official. We now all know Dynasty will shoot BLAST/Field One markers in 2017.

Eric Crandall purchased BLAST, manufacturer of the iconic Intimidator paintball guns, late last year (read the original thread here) but has been pretty quiet since. Eric broke that silence to confirm today that Dynasty would indeed be exclusively shooting Field One/BLAST paintball markers this year!

Eric sat down with us (along with some other notable members of Field One) and answered some of the many questions I had as soon as I heard the news.

Congratulations on signing the most popular professional paintball team of the last decade. I am sure it puts a large weight on you to know that the team now depends on your company and your guns to perform in 2017 and beyond.


First things first, do you prefer BLAST or Field One? Is the BLAST name being retired?
Field One is the new company name, so that's what we'll be doing business as. The company is focused on rebranding and already has such a strong product and name, so the Bob Long name will never go away completely, but BLAST is no longer the company name.


When will we first see the Dynasty shooting these guns?
Some of the Dynasty players have already been at clinics with them. Dynasty will be playing the UWL at SC Village with a limited edition Dynasty G6R Tactical on January 29th. Then Dynasty will be playing in the NXL Winter Classic in Orlando February 11th and 12th. Of course, you'll also see them in the NXL and many of our players guesting on teams in the Millennium Series and in other events around the world.


Are you back to being Dynasty's manager now that there is no longer a conflict of interest?
I never stopped working with Dynasty completely, I just removed myself from the sponsorship discussions. Obviously I couldn't be the one deciding if Dynasty would accept the sponsorship offer I was making. So yes, I am back fully involved with Dynasty.


Welcome back! What has the last 6 months been like? Any unforeseen issues you want to tell us about?
It's only been 5 months, but they've been exciting. I took over September 1st, and it's definitely been a learning experience and a lot of hard work. I believe we've been pretty successful in dealing with the issues we inherited, and we've also gotten set up in a new location with mostly new staff. Hopefully the people who have dealt with us since we took over have been happy with the level of service we've provided, and we strive to offer an excellent experience on every transaction. There have been tons of unforeseen issues, but that's life, and we've been dealing with them.


Are you going to keep making parts here in the USA?
The most challenging thing I've been dealing with is keeping everything made here is the US. We are ordering so many parts now that our current suppliers are having trouble keeping up. We're working hard to find more machine shops, but getting the quality and volume we need is challenging. We're trying to find more machine shops here, but it's easy to see why all of our competitors make their products in Asia. Hopefully we'll be successful keeping up with demand and still making our guns here in the USA.


I heard Dynasty will be playing a much larger role with Field One in 2017. Who all in now involved and what are their roles?
Dynasty is a great asset for us, as their years of experience playing paintball at a high level are invaluable. All the players on the team will have input in the design process, as well as R&D, and of course testing the products before production. Alex Fraige and Yosh Rau are here now on a full time basis. They are fixing guns that come in, building new guns, and of course working on the designs of our new guns.


Do any Dynasty players now have ownership stake in Field One?
Ryan Greenspan, Yosh Rau, Alex Fraige and Oliver Lang all have equity in Field One.


We've seen news of the new Field One Pinnacle Spool Valve marker. When will we get more info on it?
We are hard at work on the Field One Pinnacle, and will be debuting that in early 2017.


Will we be seeing a new Intimidator in 2017?
There are plans for a new Intimidator, but we are still working on a new spool valve marker called the Pinnacle and the next generation of the MVP. Once those are finished, I'll be able to come up with a target date for a new Intimidator, but it would be the end of 2017 at the earliest at this point, and could easily be 2018.


Any other sponsorship changes or roster changes for Dynasty in 2017?
Dynasty will continue to be sponsored by HK Army, ANS Gear, First Strike, Under Armour, and The Paintball Park at Camp Pendleton. We have another deal in the works that we are not prepared to announce at this point.


Are you sponsoring any other teams?
Field One Paintball will definitely be sponsoring more teams moving forward. There probably won't be a lot of sponsorship in 2017 as we are still finalizing our product line, but we will be sponsoring teams moving forward. Any teams interested in sponsorship should contact their home store or field and have them reach out to us.


Can you give us any hints if we will see something new at Paintball Extravaganza at the end of February?
We will be at the Paintball Extravaganza February 21, 22, and 23 in Washington DC, and encourage anyone with a paintball business to attend. We will be showing off where we're at with the next generation of MVP pump gun, as well as the new Pinnacle spool valve. Hopefully that means we have guns for people to shoot, but we'll be showing whatever we have.

[rehstreichler]

Timmmmäää!!! :rock: :rock: :rock:

[vnyzzm]

Do any Dynasty players now have ownership stake in Field One?
Ryan Greenspan, Yosh Rau, Alex Fraige and Oliver Lang all have equity in Field One.

Da bin ich mal gespannt wohin das führt!
Weg vom klassischen Sponsoring?

Versteh ich das richtig F1 ist der "Mutterkonzern" und BLAST der Markiererhersteller?

Bin mal gespannt was F1 noch so plant/geplant hat!