Before the First Game Was Ever Played: 1970, The Nelspot Invented

The first game of paintball wasn’t played until 1981 but 1970 was surely a year that was important in the history of the game. That was the year the Nelspot, the first paintball marker was designed. Issued U.S. patent 3,788, 298 on January 29, 1974, the Nelspot later would become the the most used marker on paintball fields everywhere for the first few years of the game's existence.

The Nelson Paint Company, founded by Charlie Nelson in 1940, was approached by a northeast forestry group in the mid 1960s and asked to manufacture a paint-filled ball--one that could be shot from an air-powered marker for the purpose of marking hard-to-reach trees for excavation and other forestry uses. Read More

Why Now? Why Us?

The game of paintball is not even 30 years old, yet already its recorded history is thin. The game's early details are few and far between. Sadly there is so much misinformation regarding the history of paintball on the internet. Back in 1981 when that first multi-player game was held in the woods of New Hampshire there was no internet, there were no digital cameras, and no one thought to pack a video camera. So we knew it was time. Time to make preserving the game's history a priority. In the process of putting this website together we've interviewed many of the game's early players, including some of the first game's participants and those credited with founding the game.

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The Beginnings

On June 27 of 1981 twelve men walked into the woods near Henniker, New Hampshire carrying Nelspot paintball guns and wearing shop goggles and ready to play a game they referred to as a stalking game. What these men did not know was that they were about to create an industry, a sport, a hobby, and a way of life for millions of people worldwide. Less than a year after that first game was played, paintball guns were in commercial manufacture and playing fields were opening across the U.S.

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