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New Partnership formed to distribute Diablo Paintballs

In a press release dated Monday, January 4th, Diablo Direct LLC announced its arrival on the paintball scene.

In 1998, ProCaps entered the paintball market heralding itself as the first encapsulator to focus solely on paintballs.  Diablo brand paintballs began appearing at tournaments in late spring, and by the fall, a number of key distributors were lined up to convey the paint from the factory to fields and stores.

Diablo currently manufacturers Blaze, Inferno, HellFire, and Brand X paintballs, each with their corresponding quality and price level.

Due to the size of the contracts paintball encapsulators require to soundly manage their production schedules, most do not sell directly to fields or stores.  Instead, they sell to distributors who buy literally millions of paintballs at a time, and then parcel them out into appropriate sized shipments for the fields and stores which then sell to the retail customers.

Looking for a more efficient way to get fresh paint to the player without the rivalries of competing distributors, Procaps President, Richmond Italia began talking to his regional distributors who combined their efforts and  formulated the plans to create Diablo Direct, LLC (limited liability corporation).

According to the January 4th release, the formation of Diablo Direct is significant in that it is the first time a paintball manufacturer has taken part ownership of its distributor, allowing for fast and direct lines of communication, rather than an adversarial arrangement.  Paint orders can be fulfilled through any of the company's 6 North American warehouses.

The release lists the following partners:
 

• Craig Miller (Diablo Direct Headquarters) longtime Paintball Distribution veteran, leads Diablo Direct from the Company's Illinois headquarters, handling sales out of their New York warehouse as well.  After joining PMI/RPScherer back in '88 as National Sales Manager, he influenced their Sales, Marketing, and Advertising until November of '97, when he chose to leave.  He has visited with hundreds of fields and stores across North America, and is dedicated to supporting serious game field operators and retailers in the traditional Paintball Market.
• Paul "PGP" Bollenbach (Diablo Direct - Florida) founder of Atlantic Paintball, held the very first ProCaps distribution contract, and formed a strong customer base in the Southeast in only a few short months.  During his prior experiences as Pro Team Products' Operations Manager, Paul crafted many strong relationships throughout the Paintball Industry.  As captain of the Jacksonville Warriors, Paul led his team to back to back NPPL World Championships.
• Dan Bonebrake (Diablo Direct West - Oregon) has been a successful Indoor and Outdoor Field Operator, Retailer, and widely respected tournament series promoter (Great Western Series) and competitor (Team Avalanche, Phantom Force).  His college degree in International Business adds to his strong qualifications.
• Ed Poorman (Diablo Direct West - Rockies Region) has a vast background of success in building retail store chains, and in business management.  His promotional skills propelled his "Dark Angel" high-end Paintgun line to worldwide recognition in just over a year.  Founder of team Avalanche, he has a broad knowledge of the sport and business from many perspectives.
• Richmond Italia, President of ProCaps, Inc., is uniquely qualified to lead ProCaps/Diablo to excellence.  He has been "in the shoes" of every imaginable paintball customer, a recreational player, and a widely recognized pro player (Bushwhackers, Shockwave, Revolution).  He has a superb understanding of how a Paintball must perform, from every point of view.

Dealers and fields wishing to contact Diablo may reach them as listed below.