News Archives
IWA 2014
Cybergun Booth UPDATE
by Mad Badger Airsoft
The troops from Airsoft Odyssey hit the ground running at IWA to capture all the airsoft news and gossip – here is the 1st report from AO's special correspondents Maree & Keith – Cybergun an often talked about distributor more recently MIA in the UK market place, What’s the latest with them….
'It was interesting to catch up again this week with the boys and girls at Cybergun. Cybergun has always suffered from a colourful reputation in the UK. Part of this reputation is due to issues with supply. We have discussed previously all the other issues that players have had with Cybergun products, and the fact that Cybergun has gone to great lengths to appropriately address these, thus, this article is written to update players on the present situation with supply and also how we have arrived at the position where you see very little of Cybergun in the UK market today.
Where to start? Well, what UK players have not seen for a few years now is the increase in Cybergun quality, as Cybergun has attempted to demand higher quality from their contracted OEM manufacturers. The problem is that the UK player is, and has a right to still be, sceptical of Cybergun and their efforts due to the UK never seeing any of this increase in both the quality of the products and the quantity available in the UK. In our Shot Show reports we hinted at the massive supply issue in the UK of Cybergun products and kicked the UK contracted distributor hard due to never being able to get hold of Cybergun product. Well, there is a reason! What nobody is aware of is that Cybergun is in a bitter, hard fought legal battle with the UK distributor SportsMarketing of Colchester, in relation to attempting to end the contract with the UK Company has for distribution. This is due to the fact that the UK Company is simply not supplying the product to the market, and in fact has, as of earlier this year, no AEG products. The lack of will of SportsMaketing since their take over by Remington USA to distribute Cybergun has cost both the UK player and Cybergun in France a great deal.
As we reported from the Shot Show, there are some great pistols and new rifles that are available through Cybergun but not in the UK! It is such a shame that a UK business is illustrating such a lack of respect for UK players!
Cybergun Booth IWA 2014
Now to Cybergun and the growing UK Airsoft battle with RoHS. It is interesting to note that the French Government has a lack of concern and enforcement when it comes to RoHS. In fact, our Cybergun informant tells us that, while Cybergun is obtaining RoHS on many of its product line, one item at a time, the French Government has no interest in any of the testing or results. It was noted with a shake of the head, that the UK is vastly different from the line that the rest of Europe is taking! Anyway, all that aside, the news is that, once Cybergun can get out of its contract with SportsMarketing, which will take approximately twelve months, the UK Airsofter will start to see some of the new line of Cybergun product that so much impressed us at the Shot Show. In conclusion, I have to say, good on Cybergun for trying its best to bring their product to the UK, and curse on the present UK distributor for treating UK Airsofters like pawns!
Finally, to the rumour mill! Will Zero One become a major player in the Cybergun distribution world? Watch this space!'
Watch out for more IWA 2014 reports from Mad Badger Airsoft.
Reports logged in so Far! - click on the link
Cybergun Update - what's happening for Cybergun Uk wise?
Armex Booth Update - intel from Armex
King Arms Booth Update - New exciting GBB rifles from King Arms
G&G Booth @ IWA 2014 - G&G an Organisation on the MOVE!
Stering SMG - SL MK4 first look - Should you be getting one?
Why not follow Airsoft Odyssey on Twitter to keep upto date:
http://twitter.com/Airsoft_Odyssey
Checkout the Madbadger Airsoft website for a BIG choice in airsoft:
KEEP UP to DATE with Airsoft Odyssey via all these Multi-Media Outlets - please click the icons and Support the BLOG on:
1 Comment
There is a long story behind this one but we are holding off hoping that the matter can be resolved. All our interviews are recorded and this year we have concentrated on industry interviews that take say, a morning, to follow around an industry leader on their stand and get the story under the story that answers fundamental questions people are asking. Many stories contain legal aspects that need checking with a solicitor during the editing phase and thus it takes a while to get them up and published. In the case of Cybergun, we have followed the story as it has developed for the past two years. It will develop further during the year, but the real story in some cases like this is how large companies use Airsofters as the pawns in trying to make as much of a return as possible out of a low profit industry. One can speculate that to not bring product to market uses market pressure to extract something from the manufacturer or re-brander that helps to ensure maximum profit. The distributor in this case has now sold to an American firearms manufacturer, as the majority of income is not generated from Airsoft. The manufacturer/re-brander in a lot of like cases looses millions as they cannot get the product to market, and the player looses as there is a lot of good product out there that is not hitting our shelves in major retailers. Small retailers take the risk of small imports to fill the gap. Add to this a lack of warranty for retailers taking products from some wholesalers and you end up with the middle man squeezing the market to make money, generally because the middle man does not play or has had no involvement in Airsoft and it is solely a business venture (and nothing wrong with this of course). One up and coming article we have written illustrates a positive contribution or aspect of middle man involvement. In case case of Cybergun, Cybergun ends up with a bad reputation for only doing what ASG and others do, but it is compounded by the fact that the majority of good Cybergun product is only seen in other markets, or sold by Spartan Imports in Denmark. There are incredible pistols and some very good rifles, but none have ever reached our shores!
Posted on March 12, 2014 at 10:25 AM
Post a Comment