Paintball Express

Paintball Express was a New Zealand paintball equipment retailer active during the mid-1990s. Headquartered in Henderson, Auckland, the business also advertised outlets in Wellington, Dunedin and Sydney, Australia.[1][2]

Paintball Express was an early adopter of electronic retailing within New Zealand paintball. By late 1995 it operated a dial-up bulletin board and fax-on-demand service, and in 1996 it launched a website at paintball.co.nz through which customers could view products, obtain prices and place orders online.[2][3]

The company also promoted the independent PaintNet bulletin-board network, which connected paintball players and teams before internet forums and social media became widely used.[2][4]

History

Auckland headquarters

Paintball Express operated from 1 Buscomb Avenue, Henderson, Auckland. An official New Zealand Gazette notice published in January 1995 records Paintball Express at that address as an applicant for tariff assistance concerning approved paintball eye-protection goggles.[1]

Contemporary advertisements described the Auckland location as the company's New Zealand headquarters. Paintball Express supplied markers, paintballs, goggles, barrels, air systems and other player and field equipment.[2][3]

The business also supplied equipment for magazine reviews. Contemporary reports credited Lukas of Paintball Express with providing markers including the Kingman Spyder and other equipment for evaluation.[5]

Regional and Australian operations

By late 1995, Paintball Express advertised operations in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney.[2] A South Island outlet in Dunedin was listed by early 1996.[3]

Operation	Documented address	Period documented
Paintball Express New Zealand headquarters	1 Buscomb Avenue, Henderson, Auckland	1995–1996
Paintball Express Wellington	312 Mitchell Street, Brooklyn, Wellington	1995–1996
Paintball Express South Island	19 Fitzroy Street, Dunedin	1996
Paintball Express Australia	Suite 3, 28 Langston Place, Epping, Sydney	1995

The Sydney operation was associated with Australian tournament player and field operator Welf Herfurth. It supplied equipment and provided support to Sydney HEAT, together with Adventure Quest Games.[6]

The surviving records do not establish the corporate relationship between the New Zealand headquarters and each regional outlet, or when the individual operations closed.

Electronic retail services

Fax-on-demand

Paintball Express operated a fax-on-demand service through its Auckland telephone system. Customers could call the service from a fax-machine handset and follow recorded instructions to retrieve current price lists.[2][3]

This allowed the business to distribute updated information without requiring customers to wait for a printed catalogue to arrive by post.

Paintball Express BBS

By late 1995, customers with a computer and modem could call the Auckland fax and data number to access the Paintball Express Bulletin Board System. The service allowed users to download product listings.[2]

By early 1996, advertisements stated that the BBS offered:

Price lists
Product photographs
Equipment information
Other company material

The BBS and fax-on-demand service used the same Auckland number, with callers selecting either fax or computer data access.[2][3]

Paintball.co.nz

A December 1995 advertisement stated that Paintball Express expected to establish its own internet website early the following year.[2]

By the April–June 1996 issue of Australian Paintballer, the website was operating at:

http://www.paintball.co.nz

Paintball Express advertised the site as providing prices, product photographs, equipment details and online ordering. The company used the email address pbexp@paintball.co.nz.[3]

An October 1996 directory of internet-connected New Zealand organisations independently listed the domain paintball.co.nz as belonging to Paintball Express (NZ), Auckland.[7] The listing remained in the directory in March 1997.[8]

The domain was subsequently associated with the community information website Paintball.co.nz, which published articles, field listings and discussion forums. The surviving evidence establishes that Paintball Express used the domain during 1996 and 1997, but does not fully document when or how it developed into the later community resource.

Early online paintball in New Zealand

Paintball Express operated during a transitional period in which New Zealand paintball communication was moving from printed catalogues, telephone calls and postal correspondence to bulletin-board and internet services.

Several distinct systems were operating or promoted by 1995 and 1996:

Service	Operator or association	Documented function
Paintball Express BBS	Paintball Express	Product listings, photographs, prices and company information
paintball.co.nz	Paintball Express during 1996–97	Online catalogue, product information and ordering
PaintNet	Members of Kamo Karzi	Player discussions, technical advice, team communication and event notices
Mordor BBS	Associated with Rob Maddox	Auckland access point for PaintNet
OtherNet.PaintNet	PaintNet	Nightly PaintNet postings distributed through Usenet

PaintNet

PaintNet was a free computer network operated by members of the Auckland team Kamo Karzi. A 1995 article by Rob Maddox described it as serving tournament players, recreational players and people seeking introductory information about paintball.[4]

Its documented subjects included:

General player discussions
Playing tactics
Technical advice
Team communication
Equipment and game advertising
Notices of forthcoming events

By the end of 1995, nine bulletin boards were receiving PaintNet messages. The network also posted messages nightly to the OtherNet.PaintNet areas available through Usenet.[4]

PaintNet users could connect through participating bulletin boards, including Mordor BBS in Auckland. Maddox was listed as the contact for fields, magazines and bulletin-board operators interested in carrying the network.[4]

PaintNet also organised an InterBBS four-player stock-class tournament with assistance from Kamo Karzi members, Saints players and the operator of Commando One.[4]

Relationship with Paintball Express

Paintball Express advertisements promoted access to Mordor BBS and described it as a network operated by paintball players for paintball players.[2][3]

However, the surviving sources identify PaintNet as a Kamo Karzi initiative rather than a Paintball Express service.[4] Paintball Express should therefore be described as a promoter of the network, not its documented owner or operator.

The company's own electronic services were the Paintball Express BBS, fax-on-demand system and paintball.co.nz retail website.

Historical significance

Paintball Express represents an early documented example of online commercial activity within New Zealand paintball. Its services developed in stages:

Printed catalogues ordered by telephone, fax or post.
Automated fax-on-demand price lists.
A dial-up BBS offering electronic product information.
A World Wide Web catalogue with online ordering.

The company was using the paintball.co.nz domain by 1996, while PaintNet was independently connecting players through a distributed network of bulletin boards and Usenet postings.[3][4][7]

Together, these services document the emergence of a New Zealand online paintball community before web forums and social-media platforms became the principal means of communication.

References

New Zealand Gazette, issue 2, page 82, 17 January 1995. Records Paintball Express at 1 Buscomb Avenue, Henderson, as an applicant concerning approved paintball eye protection.
Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, Paintball Express advertisement.
Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, Paintball Express advertisement.
Rob Maddox, "Using the Net to Catch New Players", Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996.
Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, equipment reviews acknowledging Paintball Express.
Australian Paintballer, June–July 1995, Sydney HEAT team news and Paintball Express Australia references.
Mark Davies, "Internet Connected Organisations in New Zealand", nz.net.announce, 1 October 1996.
Mark Davies, "Internet Connected Organisations in New Zealand", nz.net.announce, 31 March 1997.

External links