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The Top Historical Paintball Product Innovations, P
paintball competition around the world.
Laurent Hamet went on to lead a team,
the Ton Tons, to world success on the
seven-man stage and was awarded for
his success with the Sup Air Ball format
with a Lifetime Achievement Award at
the International Amateur Open’s Industry Conference.
and Billy Gardner of the All Americans
and Smart Parts.
In the end Aftershock and the All
Americans took first and second in the
professional division, and the entire
industry embraced the Sup Air Ball
format for the numerous advantages it
brought to competitive paintball. In a
momentous occurrence, the Mayor of
the city of Toulouse himself handed out
the prizes, showing an acceptance of
paintball far beyond anything thus far.
Paintball Games International’s Peter
“Robbo” Robinson played the event
with Aftershock, and stated that the
event was “one of my most enjoyable.”
In their October, 1997 edition, Paintball
Games International stated that “A revolution is upon us...we find ourselves
looking toward the French...as the new
contenders for inspirational gurus of
Paintball extravaganzas.” They had no
idea how correct they would eventually be proven, as inflatable fields swept
across the landscape of paintball, eventually showing up in the United States
at the most prestigious events in the
game like World Cup and the International Amateur Open. Eventually, entire
events would be built around inflatable
fields until all other types of paintball
disappeared into paintball’s past and
Air Ball was the accepted standard for
January 2015
dECEMBER 2013
“We needed something that could be
set up on sand as well as on snow or
on a football field without damaging the
environment” stated Laurent Hamet
in 1997, who continued “We’ve taken
down four fields in six hours, and set
up the equivalent of one field in three
hours. It is possible to install a field in
a stadium, for instance, for just one
day. Since they remain clean, they
make a very good advertising support.
People will be able to print the logo
of their own sponsors on them. Just
on Sunday, we counted 1,300 people