Tom Kaye Retires from Paintball, AGD Under New Management

[AGD]

To all my friends on AO and in Paintball,

It has been no secret that AGD has been under financial stress for many years. With the recent downturn in the industry it no longer makes sense for me and my family to pursue a living from this great game. Effective today I will be retiring and moving on to other business ventures outside paintball.

Dave Zupan who many of you know as my vice president, has bought out our inventory and will be taking over running the company. For most people AGD will still be in business as usual and you will still be able to call and order product. Please give him the same respect and feedback you have given me for so many years.

It has been a privilege to watch an industry grow from a spark into a raging fire that covered the world. I am proud to have contributed in my small way. Most of all I was glad to know the people of paintball, especially my customers. AO has been my constant companion for years now and I never expected all the benefits, joys and sorrows that came from knowing you all.

I will still continue to promote and participate in the Shatner event but its unlikely that I will be attending any other events during the year. I certainly didn’t think it would end like this but I am the last of a long gone group of paintball founders that are not around any more.

I sincerely hope that paintball gets past its recent flurry of issues and comes together as the great game and industry we all know it can be. To all of the players I want you to remember that its YOU who control this game and this industry. Treat it wisely and vote with your dollars so your kids can play along side you some day.

I will answer questions in this thread, please start another one for general comments and I will sticky it.

Thank you all for being the greatest customers and friends that a guy could wish for!!

Tom Kaye AGD

[FutureMagOwner]

wow didnt see this coming

[LudavicoSoldier]

Woah! Good luck in your other ventures. Given the state of the industry today, I would retire too.

I truely hope that this is not the beginning of the end for AGD. That would be a sad day indeed. Again, good luck, and godspeed!

[DiSoRdeR]

So you are retiring from Paintball in gernal or just from the Buisness/Industry? And does this mean you will no longer be posting on AO?

[dynastyfan]

i can't say that i blame you one bit. but it is sad that you have to do this i wish that this didnt happen but i do not blame you in any way shape or form.

[Rift]

sorry to hear you go tom, i wish ya the best of luck to you and your family wherever you may be going, and i will always continue to shoot your great gun!

[Magaman]

You'll still play Shatner though.... Right

[sicones]

can someone explain whats going on, why is he quiting????

[MindJob]

We Shall Avenge You.............

[BobTheCow]

Sorry to see you go. You've done a great thing, with mags, and AGD, and AO, (and air tanks, and warp feeds, and barrel condoms and yadda yadda YA), and most importantly, the sport of paintball as a whole. Best of luck with your future endeavors, I hope you'll find happiness in whatever you choose to do.

**edit** TOM KAYE, good friend of ours... honor us with one last chat party before you go for good?

Also, will AO and irc.automags.org stick around?

[Kevmaster]

Holy ****!

[Glickman]

Really sad to see you go , youve done an awsome thing for paintball, and paintballers everywhere. Your still gonna pop back once and a while at Shatnerball right?


Congrats Dave, hope to see you on the forums!

Well Miss You Tom!

[LudavicoSoldier]

So is this officially the end of an era in paintball? It sure feels like it...

[Will Wood]

Pursue your new job with the same enthusiasm and you'll be all set

Probably was best that you left now before things could possibly get bad.

Good luck!

Paintball will always remember the contributions you gave to the sport.

[Eatem Alive]

tom,
i would like to thank you for an outstanding product and service that has lasted through all of these years. from my first mag in 1991 (#1496) to my x-rogue mag of today, thanks.

sorry to see you go,
cory

[quik]

Those goofy air tanks, they'll never catch on!


Have fun with the rest of your days.

[evan123]

Holy crap

[nerobro]

Tom, we will miss you.

[nato]

Thanks for letting us know and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your life.

N.A.T.O.

[mag88888]

wowwww. i thought that agd was getting more popular. i guess i didnt understand. well i hope that you succed in whatever you do from now on. good luck. ps:thanks for the great gun. its WAY BETTER than any of the others. GOOD LUCK.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

[trevorjk]

you said that you would answer questions in this thread. so here is one for you

can we still expect to see you out at some feilds occasionally, and i mean this as will you just wake up one day and be like, im going paintball today? and will you still be a father figure here on AO?

[RogueFactoryKid]

Oh Snap!

[BobTheCow]

you said that you would answer questions in this thread. so here is one for you

can we still expect to see you out at some feilds occasionally? and will you still be a father figure here on AO?

I have a feeling he'll always be a father figure for AO, whether he wants to or not.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

MR. KAYE MR. KAYE MY SYDARM NO WORKY! *waves sydarm around*

[AGD]

What will happen to AO?

I need to find a way to make AO pay for itself. If it can do that it can stay around forever. I will be selling banner space as a first try but if that doesnt work it might have to go to some kind of membership fee. Stuff like AO has to get paid for somehow and Dave didn't take over all the bills I have to pay.

Will I show up at events?

Maybe, maybe not. You have to understand how hard it is to come back as an unknown. You all know me but in a couple months I will be invisible to 99% of the paintball world. Thats just the way it is.

AGD

[FallNAngel]

You continue to expect that things will be the same but in reality the old days of paintball are gone forever. The general paintball public hasn't put it all together yet. They dont understand that AKA is done making guns forever. That Odessey who brought you the best loader ever is now hovering at bankruptcy. WGP just gave up the whole upper end marrket in favor of a spider clone. Glen Palmer is going to retire to another country. Tippmann is now controlled by the functional equivalent of a superpower and the best Bob Long can do is come out with a new look every month.

I suppose we should add Tom Kaye stepping down as President of Air Gun Designs to the list. Thanks for your contributions the the sport of paintball, you will be missed.

[magmonkey]

Tom,

first off, thank you so much for eveything you have done for the sport.
you and your company are the reasons I am in the paintball business .

I wish things were different, I kind of felt this was coming after talking with you at IAO, I was hoping things would get better.

I hope things change and someday we see you again, the sport needs more people like you not less.....


respectfuly
Alan
Destructive Customs

[trevorjk]

What will happen to AO?

I need to find a way to make AO pay for itself. If it can do that it can stay around forever. I will be selling banner space as a first try but if that doesnt work it might have to go to some kind of membership fee. Stuff like AO has to get paid for somehow and Dave didn't take over all the bills I have to pay.


AGD

ever try a donation thing? id gladly give money for AO

[Painthappy]

Tom:

As this may come to a huge surprise to me and 99.9% of the industry....

May I ask how long you have been planing this move? Or was this something that you just one day woke up and said "Enough"?

If it was me, I would see this as a decision that I would have to labor on for years.....


Anyhow....
God Speed, and good luck with your future ventures.


Carter
aka
Painthappy