I'm very lucky to have acquired this pristine promotional model from the original owner in the UK. He played on several UK paintball teams, some of which were sponsored by Planet Eclipse. It was actually a gift to him from "Big Rob" at First Call Paintball (he thinks First Call was located in Virginia, USA.) Any members familiar with Big Rob or First Call paintball, please let me know. This was around 2004-2005. First Call paintball was also one of his sponsors, I believe. He is one of a few who can confirm the provenance of this marker, per the original owner.
The most extraordinary thing about this transaction is that he shipped the marker first. He wanted to make sure I was absolutely satisfied with everything, and offered to take it back if I was unhappy. He said I could hold onto it for awhile to think about it.
The history of this marker is that it was the actual promotional model photographed in the original Planet Eclipse advertisements for the Nexus DC2. It was tuned by Jack Wood and Nicky Trutter to demonstrate the performance of the "new" E2 boards during press releases, and was used by a few Nexus team players in some European tournaments. This particular marker was once pulled during a game in Barcelona, when the Ton Ton Flingeurs of France accused the Nexus player of cheating. The refs tested the marker, and found no evidence of cheating.
The original owner stated the marker didn't get much use, as they soon switched to Planet Eclipse's prototype egos not too long after that. He did clarify that it was the most amazing autococker he ever played with in a tournament, and it outperformed other eblades. He was later given the very first Mantis Ego, and chose the green colour scheme that eventually made the retail shelves. He is very humble and forthcoming, and made it clear his days of paintballing are long gone. He now enjoys golfing.
Nexus was an english team that was created, named, managed, and owned by a veteran english paintballer known simply as "Robbo." There were sponsored by Planet Eclipse and Dye for a short period in time, before Robbo eventually sold the team to Dave Youngblood. They became London Nexus, and wore blue Dye jerseys.
Here is an early Nexus jersey he included with the marker, once owned by Jamie Abbott. The early Nexus players wore yellow first, before their famous blue. He was close friends with Jamie and Sam Telford of Nexus, and frequently played with and against them.
Here are some of his old team jerseys...
This promotional model also had 3 different barrels match anodized, with the Dye barrel becoming the final barrel choice for the advertisements. The other 2 barrels are a reverse threaded prototype ego barrel and a 4 piece empire barrel kit.
Actual wear is quite minimal.
It came with a Belsales Supercharger venturi bolt and correct bolt pin with sticker.
I know nothing about the early UK tournament paintball scene, and thank Dale for taking the time to give me a little history from his perspective as a player and as someone who worked behind the scenes.
Originally Posted by Nicodemus
Reply With Quote
