When Andrew Ho purchased his first airsoft gun—a Tokyo Marui M4A1—about 10 years ago, he had no idea that he would eventually immerse himself fulltime into his new found hobby and even become a driving force behind the growth of airsoft in the United States. Today, Andrew is among those behind the success of Airsoft Extreme or AEX—the California-based airsoft retail chain that is considered to be one of the more popular and respected in the United States.

Popular Airsoft: How did AEX come about?

My partners and I had always been into guns and we used to go target shooting regularly with our fathers when we were kids.  Growing up, we had our requisite arsenal of toy and bb guns that we played with.  Naturally, as we grew older, we got our own real guns.

My partner first discovered airsoft at a local gun show back in 1998 where he bought his first airsoft gun, a Tokyo Marui Steyr AUG Military, which cost him $600!  At the time, I was actually looking to get back into playing paintball.  After learning about airsoft from him, I went and bought my airsoft gun.  It was Tokyo Marui's newest release at the time, the M4A1.

We became obsessed with our new airsoft hobby.  We were always looking for the latest and greatest airsoft products.   We became regulars in some of the earliest online airsoft community forums and we found small groups local to us that played airsoft at local private land or paintball fields. Back then getting 15-25 people together for a game was a phenomenal turnout.  Almost everyone knew each other in the airsoft web community or at the pickup games and we all welcomed and got to know the new people that joined in the hobby.

While we were getting to know fellow hobbyists, we made some key friendships in the airsoft world in Asia.  Since my partners and I were of limited financial means at the time, we started to broker airsoft items locally and online to support our personal airsoft purchases.  The business quickly mushroomed through our continued interaction with the online and local airsoft communities and through word of mouth referrals.  A bit over a year later, we went "legit" and opened our first store.

How would you describe the growth of your company since 1999?

The growth of our business was beyond our goals or expectations.  Honestly, we were only selling to support our own airsoft needs.  My partners and I had regular jobs but, with the economic downturn at that time, a couple of us got laid off from work.  This inadvertently allowed us to spend more time playing and selling airsoft while we were looking another "real" job.

We had not intended to start a business.  Because we had built up a decent reputation for service and dependability and we were personally very active with the online airsoft community, our airsoft business kept growing.  It took a year or more before we realized that we could make a go at a full-time airsoft business and it was way more fun than any potential "real job."  We built up our Website and opened one of the first full-service airsoft stores in the US in 2000-2001.  Since then, we have grown to five stores.

What were the challenges you have to face before you could reach this stage?

The challenge of our company at any stage is ensuring that we provide our customers the best experience and service.  It has been difficult at times and is still a struggle sometimes to ensure that our service levels meet our own standards.  It is something that we are always working on.

What are your plans for AEX?

We always have plans and the plans always change.  We are currently working rigorously on improving our Website services and back end inventory management.  Unfortunately, our management systems did not evolve fast enough with our growth and store expansion and our business is very labor intensive.  We intend to further broaden our product line-up and expand our stores.  Other growth plans are being considered at this time also but they're still in the brainstorm stage so it would be presumptuous to mention them.

AEX prides itself as a company run by players for players. How have you contributed to the growth of the airsoft community here in the United States and how do you intend to contribute to its future growth?

We made airsoft more accessible and more affordable to the American enthusiast given what resources existed at the time.  We were the first US dealers to offer full technical services and a warranty and we developed a reputation of excellent service that made many new buyers more comfortable with entering our hobby.

We opened the first fully stocked airsoft shop in the US.  We certainly inspired many of our competitors, many of which have come and gone, though a few are now admirable rivals.  We have, since our beginnings, selectively supported airsoft groups and event organizers around the country through sponsorships, discounts, and raffle give-aways to encourage participation in organized events and to help good local airsoft leadership take root and grow.

Our company's' mission is always focused on the player and our continued support for the player will help nurture continued airsoft growth in this country.

AEX is one of the biggest supporters of John Lu's Lion Claws series. In addition to his events, what other major events do you sponsor?

We supported John from his beginnings because we saw his potential ability to contribute to the sport and we knew him already as a personal friend.  His is the best known event but we have, even before John started his events, supported many groups and events around the country.  Some of these game series are almost as old as Lion Claws.

I've never formally tracked all the events we have sponsored so I can't provide a complete detailed list—there have been too many over the years.  We have supported both established events and groups and smaller/local events in Texas, Washington, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee, just to name a few places.  We support teams and event organizers local to our stores.  As a matter of fact, to help me track some of our sponsorships, I created a new section in our web gallery a few weeks ago specifically for our sponsored events that we cannot personally attend.

As of one of the pioneers and perhaps the biggest retailer in the country, demand is surely a major challenge. How do you cope with the demand? What other challenges are you facing in your efforts to meet the rising demand?

Previously, everything was purchased overseas and we had to buy in very large quantities to reduce the chances of running out of stock on items since our bulk order turnaround takes a while to process.  Supply has gotten easier in some respects over time with the establishment of local US wholesale resources.  Still, we source our goods as directly as possible.  The tough part now is there is so much stuff on the market from so many different resources that it's hard to carry everything yet it's also not easy to pick and choose the right things to carry.   We are currently performing critical process improvements including inventory forecasting to improve our services to our customers.

How do you see the airsoft market evolving in the coming years? What is the impact of cheaper China-made AEGs on the market? Will we see less expensive AEGs and other airsoft accessories hitting the market in the future?

Airsoft has grown by leaps and bounds well beyond our initial beliefs and expectations.  Each year, when we think it can't get any bigger, it does.  I have given up on making predictions.  Part of the phenomenal growth is the availability of the cheap China guns that are more affordable to the masses.  Airsoft is no longer a niche hobby.  I doubt guns will get any cheaper due to rising raw material costs and we've certainly seen a huge growth in availability of guns and accessories already.

The cheap guns have changed the value perception of airsoft for the consumer.  It has emboldened some manufacturers to step up on their innovation to stand out from their competitors.  However, the lower profitability has discouraged some of the more innovative legacy brands from taking the time and money to continue to invest in creating unique products as opposed to just copying products.

What are the hottest selling items?

Accessories sell well but the tried and true products are always the basic AEGs like the M16 gun family.  The Classic Army Sportline models that we recently started carrying have held up very well in spite of their significantly lower prices when compared with the other Classic Army guns.  We have surprisingly had virtually no warranty claims on these guns.

Why should a customer patronize AEX? What makes AEX different from the other airsoft retailers in the US?

We have a highly professional staff with a wealth of airsoft experience.  We have a proven legacy of customer service.  We have full time technical staff at every one of our store locations.  In our Torrance store alone, four of the staff members have nearly 40 years of combined airsoft experience.  We have fun!

Tell us more about your airsoft experience. When did you start playing airsoft? Do you still have time to play? How often do you get the chance to play?

I started playing only a few weeks after I bought my first airsoft gun back in either late 1998 or early 1999 where there was a small airsoft group playing already in Los Angeles that eventually became SoCal Airsoft.  My partner even flew to LA from San Francisco for a weekend with his gun to play an airsoft game since he hadn't yet found anywhere to play near him.  I used to play every single weekend all over Los Angeles and San Diego.

For a couple of years, I'd be one of the first to show up at a field with my friends and one of the last to leave.  The same night I come back from a game, I'd clean all my gear, my gun, my boots, launder my uniform, and set everything up for the next weekend immediately and spend the rest of the week thinking of the next weekend.  Sometimes, I and a few friends couldn't wait for the next weekend so a couple of us would drive up into the mountains around LA to play a quickie game in the middle of the week…at night.

As the company grew, I had less time to play and now rarely play except for a small quickie pick up game here and there with a few long time friends and staff.  It's bad enough that I have my staff and friends chasing down my old ass to kill me for their sick personal satisfaction and mockery.  My playing at some games is like the last Dodo bird (kinda slow, kinda dumb, kinda ugly) that every shooter wants the bragging rights of killing.  It's no fun to be hunted all the time.

You started when airsoft was at its infancy in the US almost 10 years ago. How would the present airsoft player compare with the airsoft player of that particular milieu?

Early airsoft players were more serious hobbyists.  They research, buy, tinker, improve, accessorize, and learn about their hobby in depth.  Price was less than a consideration than quality.  Although such hobbyists certainly exist today but because of the mass market that airsoft has become, many newer players are more casual consumers seeking convenience and superficial appeal sometimes at the expense of quality.

How has airsoft impacted on the paintball market? Do you think it will grow as big as paintball?

Paintball is a huge market.  The airsoft market size is only a fraction of that market.  I don't think airsoft will ever have that mass appeal image that paintball has created itself to become.  However, I have been way more wrong than right with my predictions of airsoft so far.

Airsoft certainly has taken some players away from paintball and paintball fields operators are obviously acknowledging that by being more open to allowing airsofters onto their fields than compared with a couple of years ago.

I believe airsoft has influenced the recent resurgent interest in woodsball/scenario paintball among paintball players and companies.

To what would you attribute the growth of airsoft in the United States?

America is a gun culture.  If we aren't hunting, playing cops and robbers or even tag or hide and seek, video games, or watching war movies, we're playing airsoft.  I think the war has also inspired many players to emulate the heroes serving in today's armed forces.

How much does the average American airsofter spend for his airsoft stuff?

I don't know.  Never took a survey.  I have friends and staff that have enough guns, gear, and uniforms to buy a nice car with.  The last time I added up what I spent in 2002, I was up to $6,000 as was one of my store managers.  One of my staff is at about $20,000 in guns and gear at last count.

What are the challenges confronting the airsoft community here in the US?

Safety education is even more important than before now that airsoft has entered the general consumer's consciousness.  For many individuals and families, airsoft is their first exposure to guns.  Without proper gun safety awareness education, poor safety habits can be formed with catastrophic results that may increase calls for local or regional legislative intervention (ban) against our hobby.  The only people that can screw up this hobby is those of us who act irresponsibly with our toys.

Do you see a further growth in airsoft despite restrictions in a number of areas?

Absolutely.  The entry of established companies like Daisy into this market shows that airsoft has arrived as a legitimate business and consumer commodity.