It's hard to believe that Planet Eclipse already released their 5th generation paintball gun, the Ego 9. In 2004, the first Eclipse Ego debuted and captured the attention of most professional players and high-end gun users. Planet Eclipse built a gun around weight, air efficiency, size, ergonomics, and accuracy. Over the last 4 years, Planet Eclipse has been making some very aggressive moves in the high-end paintball gun market. The Ego came in and swept away "old technology" in paintball.

Right now the leading manufacturers in the high-end gun market are Dye/Proto (DM9/PM8), Smart Parts (Shocker), and Planet Eclipse (Ego). Say goodbye to WDP (Angels) and WGP (Autocockers), they will soon become antiques. The Eclipse Ego can be partially blamed for this but good riddance. Planet Eclipse has been building their guns around the same solid foundations of reliability, performance, light-weight'ness and simplicity. You can expect the same features, and more, with the new Ego 9.

MSRP: $1499.99 ($1,250.00)

Paintball-online is giving away a brand new 2008 Planet Eclipse Ego ($1,250). The giveaway only requires your email address to enter and nothing more. The winner will be drawn on June 30th, 2008 according to their giveaway page. All it costs you is a valid email address that you can opt-out of at any time (wait until after the winner is drawn though, of course).

You would think that giveaways like these are flooded with entries, but people usually glimpse over them when browsing the web in my experience. So why not enter - may as well be one of paintballguns.net's visitors that wins it . If you do enter and win, make sure you contact me so you can brag to all the other visitors that lost or didn't enter. Best of luck to you all. Below you'll find a short informational video on the 2008 Ego.

Believe it or not, WDP is slowly declining in popularity in the paintball world. Dye and Smart Parts are starting to dominate the paintball gun market with their very affordable and very reliable high and low end paintball markers. The battle between these major gun manufacturers revolves around bringing the end consumer (you and me) what we want. Right now Dye, Smart Parts, WDP, Planet Eclipse, and all other major manufacturers are struggling to bring the end consumer the fastest, most reliable, most affordable, and most efficient paintball marker in the world. The 2008 Angel A1 is WDP's stab at it. So far the gun is getting great reviews. But is it any match for the Dye's DM8 or the new PE Ego's?

WDP announced their new 2008 gun line at Huntington Beach in late March. Retailing at around $1,300, the Angel A1 caught the eye of many tournament ballers at the event for a few reasons. Of course just like every other WDP gun, the Angel A1 has one of the sickest designs on the market today. Also, WDP really stresses on its ergonomics (the applied science of equipment design intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue, safety and discomfort). So for example, ergonomics would involve designing a paintball gun's grip frame to fit the human hand as comfortably as possible. This is key for tourny ballers because weight distribution and comfort for the player can really obstruct the team's performance.

The A1 Fly has been getting mad reviews. WDP is expected to keep up with all the other major gun brands out there - the only real way to find out which one is right for you is to shoot them all! Personally, I have always enjoyed the "feeling" of WDP's gun line. Their guns operate at such low pressure (about 55 psi) you can barely feel any kick.

WDP also put out special Miami Rage and Joy Division Angel A1's since they sponsor them. Designer guns like these will cost you another $100 or $200 - and all you really get is different anodizing that the team agreed upon.

New features for the Angel A1 Fly:

• New Mini-reg with what appears to come with standard regulator threads; therefore, after-market regs such as AKA or CP can be put on without the purchase of an additional adapter.
• New Valve/Valve Stem/Ram dubbed the Magno Valve System
• New Milling which has reduced the weight of the already light-weight A1 (the most noticeable amount has been removed from the solenoid cover)
• 3 piece Eye Covers (these did not previously come stock with A1s)
• New Board Graphics, not necessarily a new board
• New Trigger
• New Milled/Slimmed down ASA
• New Grips with: "Fly Paper"
• New "Fly Paper" grip on the grip frame, grip, and regulator.
• New Milled/Slimmed down feedneck
• New Carbon Fiber Barrel Tip
• 6 Piece Barrel Kit is speculated to also come with the A1 Fly.

Planet Eclipse Ego 8

The much anticipated Ego 8 by Planet Eclipse has been announced. There have been some small and major changes from the Ego 7.

One of the main features of the Ego8 that has enabled the reduction in body/frame profile and allowed the rear of the frame to come closer to the barrel axis is the development of a completely new QEV assembly. - Planet Eclipse

Basically this means that Planet Eclipse made the Ego 8 more air efficient - a major plus to the gun.

There have been many "borrowed" technologies from their SL74 that are being used in the Ego 8. This isn't bad necessarily. Maybe they received positive feedback from their SL74 customers saying they were pleased with its technology? Or maybe PE just got lazy and didn't want to change anything.

Not many forumers have been saying positive things about the Ego 8 so far.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ego 8 MSRP: $1250

Released in October of 2007, the Planet Eclipse Ego 8 has made a pretty good impression on the paintball community.

The Ego 8's internal parts are almost completely different from the Ego 7. Ledz, from Planet Eclipse was interviewed by 68 Caliber (thanks Dale).

Ego 8 Pictures

Ego 8 Technical Specifications
All Weights and Measurements Include 14” Shaft II Barrel, On/Off/Purge System, Battery etc.
Full Set-Up Ready to Go:
Length: 531mm
Height: 216mm
Width: 26mm
Weight: 906g / 1.99 lbs

Ego 8 Features
Ultra-Lightweight Monoform Body
Deftek Offset Feed Tube
Flush-Fitting Eye Covers
Integrated Rammer Housing
Integrated FRM
Cure Bolt
Zick Rammer and Rammer Cap
Stepped Valve Chamber and Valve Guide
High-Flow Valve
Q-Block – New 1-Piece Dual QEV block
Light-weight Aluminium Regulator Pistons
Superior Coil Spring Regulator Design
Dual Trigger Sensing Board
Duel Instrument Grade Ball-Raced Trigger
Magnetic Trigger Return
Skinny-Fit Co-Moulded Rubber E-Star Grips
T-Slot Rail Mounting System
Major Tournament Preset Modes
Capped and Uncapped Semi and Ramping Modes
9 Debounce Modes
Direct-Acting Solenoid
Black-on-White Transflective LCD Display
Swivel In-Line Regulator
Lever Operated Clamping Feed
Shaft II 2-Piece 14” 0.693” Barrel
On/Off/Purge System
Lower Cyclic Mass
Less Kick
Quieter Shot
Improved Efficiency
Low Profile Break-Beam Eyes
New Clam-Shell packaging
Tool Tube Hex Key Set

You can read the full press release for the Planet Eclipse Ego 8 here.