VintageRex.com |

Navigation

Home Marker Exhibit Other Exhibits Exhibit Stats Search

Hello and welcome to VintageRex.com. The purpose of this site is two fold: too preserve the history of our sport, and to educate collectors and history buffs about the history and products that make up our sport.

The site was conceived by Painthappy and Mister.44. Both are rabid paintball marker collectors and enjoy learning about and appreciate the humble beginnings of our sport. While comparing notes on collections, and collaborating on acquiring more artifacts, it became apparent that there is a need for a well thought out site to archive information about the markers they were collecting.

So, they began to talk about it, and it turns out that Mister.44 is a web designer and has skills in site layout and informational architecture. He even has had the opportunity to work at not one but two museums in his life and learned the value of proper archiving. Painthappy, on the other hand, knows how to program in PERL and is a master at database manipulation.

They came to the realization that nearly every person who had more than a dozen relics in their collection would hope to someday open a paintball museum. And there are several collectors who have amassed awe-inspiring collections. There is even a physical paintball museum in New Milford, PA at EMR owned by Mike "Blue" Hanse. But where these efforts have failed is that they focus on acquisition as their soul directive. And while this is a huge part of any archiving effort, the history and background behind these items are just as important as the actual item.

With this in mind, an outline of what kind of data should be gathered and archived, as well as a primitive site map was drawn up. In only 9 days the skeleton was fully functional, with the layout finished and the database working (albeit a bit bare). But with the ground work laid, they could begin to archive data, scan advertisements and articles, and enlist the help of others and easily use and archive the data gathered.

A lot more work was put into the site past days, and it continues today. But they hope that the site proves to be invaluable to the collector community. They hope that the site succeeds in its mission to preserve and educate.

Why VintageRex?
Some people have asked where we got our name? Well, many of the obvious choices such as “paintballmuseum.com” have already been taken. We had some other ideas, but decided to break away from a more traditional (and a bit cheesy) name like “oldpaintguns.com”. We liked the word “vintage”, and in brain storming, “VintageRex” just popped out. We liked it, as it also sort of alluded to dinosaurs, like the relics we were collecting. And the rest, as they say, is history.