Tom Kaye Retires from Paintball, AGD Under New Management

[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

[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.

[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*

[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.

[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

[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

[WenULiVeUdiE]

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.

Well, the other 1% will never forget what you did for this game. You have changed this sport in a way that no one can and ever will say is bad. Good luck with the rest of your business ventures. I will never forget what you have done for this game.

[hitech]

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.

I think you underestimate you contributions. I think many, many people will know who you are.

Are you not going to play paintball (save Shatner ball) anymore? I always got the impression that you liked to play. Maybe it will be more enjoyable now that the pressure is off.

Good luck. I hate to see you go. This place had come to feel like home.


P.S. Am I the only one not surprised?

[Magaman]

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

Not if we have anything to say about it...

[goat]

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

Tom, I dont ever think that could happen, I met you at Ultimate madness a few years ago and your personality is one that shines above others, Above that the Contributions to the Game of paintball are invaluable. Sad to see you go.

I tip my hat to you and wish you the best in your future endevors,

you will be missed,
Goat

[georgeoffrey]

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

I know I'm late on this, but maybe it will assist in making a point. I'm just now getting into the mag scene, having been in paintball for over 7 years, but you can rest assured I knew who Tom Kaye was before my recent interest spawned. In the world of paintball, the entire generation that grew up knowing Tom Kaye is going to have to die off before you'll be an unknown. The people at AO may know you well, but the rest of the paintball realm has undoubtedly felt your wake. From the WGP forums on PBR, to barrel reviews, to all the research you've done in and for the industry, you've left a mark in every facet of paintball that won't be washed off just because you're no longer the president.

If you show up at a field, people may not know your face, but if they're serious about paintball, they'll know your name.

Don't be a stranger; to us you never will.

[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

[AGDlover]

No Tom dont do this to us we promis to be better COME BACK TOM!!!!

[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

[evildead420]

wow, no way. have a geat retirement, nuff said

[ShatterStar]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vonort]

Tom you will be greatly missed. Once again we loos another class act in the sport of paintball. Damn.. now I have to get me another mag.. hmmmm.

[AGDlover]

BTW to all when my e-mag gets sent out for anno it will be in Dedication to TK so if anybody has anything like slogens to anno or lazer ingrave into it IM me AGDlover04 or PM me

[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.

[PBX Ronin 23]

The Titans are gone. Long live the Titans!

With the recent acquisition of Worr Games Product by K2, Bud Orr is slowly but surely easing into retirement from the game. With Tom’s announcement, the Paintball Community has lost its last Titan.

Many of the younger players now will probably not remember who these two men were and what it was that they did for the sport. Many of us are too busy tweedling with our guns trying to make them bounce and make them perform in ways that a lot of people use to say only a few years back to be impossible.

What Bob Gurnsey and Hayes Noel started, Tom and Bud took to the next level. In the hay days of these men, paintball wasn’t so much an industry as much as it was a community. To those that followed them then, all the things made and actions taken were for the love of the game. With the recent environment that has befallen paintball, men concerned with the community are now replaced by those whose only concern is the bottomline. In a capitalist society, there’s nothing wrong with that. But capitalism wasn’t the motivation or the catalyst for the explosive growth of the sport. It was the players, the people who led the community and their collective love of the game.

Let’s face it, if Tom was all about greed, he would have been in the position to greatly capitalize on many of the things that he created. From the first recorded use of an electronic trigger on a paintball gun to the introduction of the use of compressed air, he was in the thick of things. He knew that if he was to fully exploit the commercial potential of his work, he would stifle the growth of his community. He chose instead to do what was best for all.

Today, I express my sadness because one of the game’s last remaining titans is departing. It is with a great deal of fondness that I say Thanks and Farewell to Tom. Whatever heights we reach as an industry is only possible because you allowed us to stand on top of your shoulders for a very long time.

Best regards,

[Garwin]

The Titans are gone. Long live the Titans!

With the recent acquisition of Worr Games Product by K2, Bud Orr is slowly but surely easing into retirement from the game. With Tom’s announcement, the Paintball Community has lost its last Titan.

Many of the younger players now will probably not remember who these two men were and what it was that they did for the sport. Many of us are too busy tweedling with our guns trying to make them bounce and make them perform in ways that a lot of people use to say only a few years back to be impossible.

Glenn Palmer, Colin T. (Lapco) and a few others also has been around as long as these two gentlemen. They are Titans and has helped push the industry in the old times.

BTW, K2 decided to hold onto the cool 10 mil from Orr because of intellectual rights to the autococking "patent". You know who owns that "patent". K2 just gave Orr enough money to pay off his debts. That's all the juicy news I'll give for today.

[Enos Shenk]

As far as im concerned the last "industry leader" that i can honestly respect is gone. And thats a damned shame.

Good luck with whatever fate takes you to Tom.

[AdmiralSenn]

I know I never post on here, but this is too significant to miss.

I've never had a mag, never even held one, but I have done a bit of reading on some of the stuff you've put into the industry, Tom. (I bet you don't remember, you answered a question about patents for me a few months back).

From everything I've seen, you've been one of the very few likable human beings in the industry. Tippmann is great, I love them, but it's a company. Tom Kaye = AGD in a lot of people's minds.

As everyone's said, this is the end of an era. I sincerely hope this doesn't mark a change in the way AGD is run, or the quality of its innovations and markers. I still want one.

Tom, you will be missed by so many people.. I don't think even you really know how many people respect you.

This is just saddening.

Good luck, Tom Kaye. Guess this is goodbye.

[rkjunior303]

WOW...

First time on AO all day and I get blindsided by this... Talk about a SHOCK..

Anyways, TK... Good luck in your future endeavors (digging, I presume) to you. The industry has certainly lost a great force. They say that, "all good things must come to an end," and I suppose that is correct. Here's to you and all that you have done for this industry. My first marker was a mag and I will always remember the joy it gave me.

Good luck!

[thecavemankevin]

wow, didn't really see that comming.

glad i had a chance to meet you when i did.


good luck to you and the new president