#01 - It started with a quid.

Planet Eclipse celebrates 25 Years In The Game, so we thought we'd share 25 key moments from those 25 years with you guys. Right here. On our blog.

We managed to get the main men together and agree on a list of the 25 moments that we all agree stuck in our minds throughout our amazing 25 year journey. So each month we'll post a little story or two that will give you an insight into what we like and where we've actually been as a company, as paintballers and as people.

So, strap yourselves in for #01.


We thought we'd start our series of posts right at the very beginning. With our very first customer and our very first quid (fyi - a quid is one English pound in currency). The company was called Paintball Planet back then and we had a little shop on Deansgate Road in Manchester, UK. At the time (1991) paintball was full of weird and wonderful characters and I swear the shop saw all of them come through the doors. The shop was small and we tried to cram as much awesome paintball gear as we could to surround ourselves with the stuff we loved, stuff that we hoped the people coming into our shop would actually buy. So we could eat. And play paintball. And maybe, turn our obsession into a successful company.

I have no idea how we managed to save this quid. It was literally our very first sale as a paintball company and we could have bought quite a few tins of beans back then but nope, we kept it. That said, I am a bit of a hoarder of all things related to my/our paintball history (just wait until we get into Banzai Bandits history, I’ve got loads!).

Unfortunately none of us can decipher his signature nor remember exactly what he bought, probably a load of o-rings or maybe even a full set-up; a quid was pretty useful back then, but whatever it was this was the first ever quid that Planet Eclipse earned, and for that we’re eternally grateful. We’ve been pumping each quid we’ve earned back into the business ever since, to make better gear and keep the sport we love thriving.

And long may it continue.


Antony ‘Ledz’ Leadbetter.


P.S. If you still follow paintball and this is you, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.