If I wanted to summarize the history quickly the highlight real would look like this: had an idea at Carls Junior, started selling guns out of the back of my car, moved to a store location, and the rest was history. It sounds simple and poetic, but not quite the whole picture. The reality is that what you see today at Fox Airsoft was 10 years in the making.
It started with a passion - I love to play airsoft - especially large scale events. There's something special that comes from participating in a weekend long event and having multiple challenges thrown at you. Now, that I've expressed that passion, I'm going to do something I promised I would never do...
I included a picture below of little Matt at his first major operation in the year 2000. The name of the event was Airsoft 2000, or AS2K for short. It was one of the largest national events at the time - we had about 100 people from all over the country come to play this multi day event.
*The guys from Fox at Operation Airsoft 2000 (AS2K) - this was their first National Multi Day Event
This event really gave me a solid desire to pursue these types of games in the future. They brought such a level of challenge and satisfaction that I attended many more over the next few years. Some of the major events at the time were: Iron Angel, Crimson Dunes and Hac Bao. Hac Bao 2 was a turning point - it was our first exposure to the Operation Lion Claws series events. This set the tone for the next decade - over that time we participated in over 40 national and international multi day events.
*The guys from Fox at Operation Hac Bao 2.5 in 2005
Now on to the creation of Fox Airsoft....
My team mates and I had just finished playing our weekly Saturday game and were sitting down in Carl's Junior having lunch when we had the brilliant idea to start an airsoft business. That's all of the thought that was put into it at the time - I wish I could say there was more, but that was the beginning.
*Fox Airsoft operating out of the back of a Jeep at a local game in 2006 - this was our first shop
We decided to pool together some money and begin selling equipment at some of our local games that we hosted in Colorado - we started off in the back of a Jeep and made some makeshift retail display stands to display the products. This is how it all began, and this is where we actually started our long journey of learning how to do this well. In my next article, Part 2, I'll talk about the early years as a shop and some of the challenges we faced.
About the Author:
Matt is one of the owners of Fox Airsoft and actively participates in national and international airsoft operations. He also enjoys: flying, running, hiking, and anything that challenges him personally.