G.I. Milsim in 2010

I realized a little while ago that it had seemed like forever since we had heard anything from G.I. Milsim, or their FM50. My regular forum and blog haunts yielded no new information, so I decided to go straight to the source.

Here are some questions I asked Richmond Italia, and his responses:

Will Smart Parts' current difficulties affect the future of G.I. Milsim?

G.I. Milsim and Smart Parts are separate companies.  Smart Parts’ financial difficulties do not directly or indirectly affect the day-to-day running of G.I. Milsim.

However, when any large company within a small industry like ours hurts, it affect us all.  G.I. Milsim wishes Smart Parts continued successes and a quick restructuring.   Our industry needs innovators like the brilliant minds behind Smart Parts in order to drive paintball forward.

When will the FM50 be released?

The FM50 is available now for players in the UK.  US players will see the FM50 in stores just after Paintball Extravaganza (February 9-11, 2010).  For more information about your area, email info@gimilsim.com . 

Any hints as to what we can expect to see from G.I. Milsim in the near future?

G.I. Milsim will be continuing to launch new products over the coming year, including loading systems, barrels and more new clothing.

When we launch a new product, there will be an official statement on our website at www.gimilsim.com. 

You can also keep up to date with all the news about G.I. Milsim, as well as contests, on our social networking sites www.twitter.com/gimilsim and www.facebook.com/gimilsim.  Please be sure to fan or follow us. 

Will G.I. Milsim be running/sponsoring any events in Canada this year?

G.I. Milsim is looking forward to becoming a main sponsor of the NAX league and supporting players participating in the CXBL in Canada. 

Any advice for teams as to how to go about obtaining G.I. Milsim as a sponsor?

Our focus this year is .50 caliber paintball and bringing these products to the market.  We strongly believe that when a company sponsors a team -  a relationship of constant communication and involvement is needed for all parties to benefit from the sponsorship.  Currently, with our focus on the products, it would be difficult to forge these building blocks    We will revisit the potential for team sponsorship opportunities for the 2011 season. 

G.I. Milsim is always interested in hearing from teams and players – update us, tell us about your team, share your successes with us.  Start a dialogue today, email us at teams@gimilsim.com. 

A few things I found interesting about this exchange include how G.I. Milsim (a joint venture between Italia, and the Gardner brothers) is seemingly unaffected by the failings of the Gardner Brothers' company (Smart Parts), and that the FM50 has already been released in the UK. This is a bit suprising as G.I. Milsim is based out of Montreal.