Paintball Express

New Zealand paintball retailer and early online paintball business

Paintball Express was a New Zealand paintball equipment retailer active during the mid-1990s. Headquartered in Henderson, Auckland, the business also advertised operations 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. In 1996 it launched a commercial website at paintball.co.nz, through which customers could view products, obtain prices and place orders online.[2][3]

The paintball.co.nz domain was subsequently taken over by Rob Maddox, who redeveloped it as New Zealand Paintball Online, a community information and discussion website.[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 company also supplied equipment for magazine reviews. Contemporary articles credited Lukas Kruesi of Paintball Express with providing markers including the Kingman Spyder 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. Together with Adventure Quest Games, it provided equipment, advice and access to playing fields for Sydney HEAT.[6]

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

Electronic retail services

Fax-on-demand

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

This allowed the company to distribute updated information electronically 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 initially offered downloadable product listings.[2]

By early 1996, Paintball Express advertised the following material through its BBS:

• Price lists
• Product photographs
• Equipment information
• Other company material

The BBS and fax-on-demand service used the same Auckland number, with customers selecting either computer data or fax 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 paintball.co.nz as belonging to Paintball Express (NZ), Auckland.[7] The same association appeared in the directory in March 1997.[8]

These records establish that Paintball Express operated both the domain and a public commercial website by 1996.

Transfer to New Zealand Paintball Online

The paintball.co.nz domain was subsequently taken over by Auckland tournament player and writer Rob Maddox. Maddox redeveloped the site as New Zealand Paintball Online.[4]

Under Maddox, the website changed from the commercial Paintball Express site into a wider community resource. Its documented services included:

• Tournament reports and historical articles
• A national paintball-field directory
• The NZ Paintball Message Boards
• An online chat facility
• Equipment and technical information
• Material concerning paintball organisations and regulation

The later community website retained the paintball.co.nz address but represented a separate phase in the domain's history.

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 towards bulletin-board and internet services.

Several distinct electronic services were operating or being 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	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	PaintNet messages distributed through Usenet
New Zealand Paintball Online	Rob Maddox	Articles, field directory, message boards and community information

PaintNet

PaintNet was a free computer network operated by members of the Auckland tournament team Kamo Karzi. A 1995 article by Rob Maddox described the service as being used by tournament players, recreational players and people seeking introductory information about paintball.[9]

Its documented subjects included:

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

By the end of 1995, nine bulletin boards were regularly receiving PaintNet messages. The network also posted messages nightly to the OtherNet.PaintNet areas available through Usenet.[9]

PaintNet users could connect through participating bulletin boards, including Mordor BBS in Auckland. Maddox was listed as the contact for field operators, magazines and bulletin-board administrators interested in carrying the network.[9]

PaintNet also organised an InterBBS four-player stock-class tournament with assistance from Kamo Karzi members, Saints players and the operator of Commando One.[9]

Mordor BBS

Mordor BBS operated from Auckland and was one of the documented access points for PaintNet. It was available continuously through a dial-up modem connection and supported connection speeds of up to 24 kilobits per second.[2][9]

Paintball Express advertisements promoted Mordor BBS as a network operated by paintball players for paintball players.[2][3]

The Paintball Express BBS and Mordor BBS were separate services. The former distributed commercial product information, while Mordor carried PaintNet discussions and community material.

Relationship with PaintNet

Although Paintball Express promoted Mordor BBS and PaintNet in its advertising, the surviving sources identify PaintNet as an initiative operated by Kamo Karzi members.[9]

Paintball Express should therefore be described as a promoter of PaintNet rather than its owner. Its own documented electronic services were the Paintball Express BBS, fax-on-demand system and original paintball.co.nz commercial website.

Usenet and the wider internet

New Zealand paintball players also had access to international internet discussion groups including rec.sport.paintball and alt.sport.paintball. PaintNet extended this activity through its own OtherNet.PaintNet distribution areas.[9]

The emergence of these services allowed New Zealand players to communicate with other players, tournament organisers, equipment suppliers and manufacturers without depending exclusively on telephone calls, printed publications or meetings at commercial fields.

Products and industry activity

Paintball Express supplied equipment to individual players, teams and commercial field operators. Its documented product range included pump and semi-automatic markers, loaders, gas bottles, goggles, barrels, paintballs and accessories.[2][3]

The company supplied markers for independent magazine evaluation, including the Spyder and semi-automatic Sterling models.[5] Its Australian operation also stocked compressed-air equipment, including the Air America UniReg system.[10]

Paintball Express contributed a gift voucher to the prize package for an Australian one-on-one tournament promoted for early 1996.[11]

These activities indicate that the company participated in both New Zealand and Australian tournament paintball markets rather than operating solely as a local Auckland retailer.

Historical significance

Paintball Express represents an early documented example of online commercial activity within New Zealand paintball. Its information and ordering services developed through several stages:

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

The company was operating a public commercial website at paintball.co.nz by early 1996.[3] Contemporary domain records continued to associate the address with Paintball Express during 1996 and 1997.[7][8]

The later transfer of the domain to Rob Maddox connected two phases of New Zealand online paintball history: the early Paintball Express retail website and the subsequent New Zealand Paintball Online community resource.[4]

Alongside the independently operated PaintNet and Mordor BBS, these services document the development of electronic communication among New Zealand paintball players before web forums and social-media platforms became the principal means of distributing information.

See also

• Paintball.co.nz
• PaintNet
• Rob Maddox
• Kamo Karzi
• Mercenaries Star
• Paintball in New Zealand
• History of paintball in New Zealand

References

1. 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.
2. Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, Paintball Express advertisement.
3. Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, Paintball Express advertisement.
4. Historical information supplied to WikiPaintball research, October 2026. Records the transfer of paintball.co.nz from Paintball Express to Rob Maddox for New Zealand Paintball Online.
5. Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, equipment reviews acknowledging Lukas and Paintball Express.
6. Australian Paintballer, June–July 1995, Sydney HEAT team news and Paintball Express Australia references.
7. Mark Davies, "Internet Connected Organisations in New Zealand", nz.net.announce, 1 October 1996.
8. Mark Davies, "Internet Connected Organisations in New Zealand", nz.net.announce, 31 March 1997.
9. Rob Maddox, "Using the Net to Catch New Players", Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996.
10. Australian Paintballer, June–July 1995, Air America UniReg report.
11. Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, one-on-one tournament advertisement and prize listing.

External links

• Archived versions of paintball.co.nz
• 1996 New Zealand internet directory listing
• 1997 New Zealand internet directory listing