We all have our misgivings about airsoft replicas manufactured in Mainland China, which we call ACMs. Issues of quality, performance, and even intellectual property violations are some of the things that we moan. Nevertheless, a great number of airsoft players still patronize their products, as they are cheaper than the more branded replicas. One thing that we credit to ACMs that they helped in a big growth in the number of airsoft players worldwide, making airsoft, which initially was an expensive hobby, into a very accessible one, due to their low prices, even if quality is something that's usually an afterthought.

Another thing that ACMs also brought to the market is that they made the branded competitors always on their toes, creating their own value-line airsoft replicas (usually called "sportline models") for entry level players, and for veterans looking for a cheap base gun to build their own personalised custom replicas. Furthermore, the branded ones either are co-opted to being OEMs, or have to differentiate themselves with even more innovation.

Among airsoft companies in Mainland China, only one really stands out among them. Real Sword, whilst they conduct sales from Hong Kong, are really a mainland Chinese company and they are also known to be related to Norinco, the Chinese arms company which is a main supplier to the People's Liberation Army (PLA). This relationship can be noticed with the uncanny resemblance of Real Sword airsoft guns to the real steel  ones made by Norinco and of course they are the only airsoft company making all these PLA airsoft replicas made by Norinco. Apart from that the quality and detail of their products are considered to be the best quality coming out of China.

But with success of their initial products such as Type-56, Type 97, and SVD, it seems that they have somewhat been stuck to these products. Before you comment that they also have some products in line, such as their AR AEGs, Type 88, and the SVD GBB (an M4 GBBR is also in the works some say), the question is, where are they now in their product development stages? These products have been announced way back, and we have seen them on display at SHOT and IWA & Outdoors. They have actually created interest in the airsoft community. Still there are no news about these products after these events.

One thing that consumers love, and it's not in airsoft but also in other industries, is that any  announcement of a product should be followed through after creating a buzz in their target markets. Even if the production will take longer than the planned, providing regular updates should placate customers. One example is the KWA KRISS GBB, which even if it's a long time in coming, the interest on it is very high given that KWA is more adept at providing news about its progress. Forget that, you earn the ire of customers or risk being forgotten and being called a "has been".

Supply of existing products of Real Sword is also one area that the company also is not progressing as it's been hard to find stocks of the Type 97 and SVD AEG according to players with one player commenting at their Facebook Page "I'm starting to lose faith in Real Sword, it's been so long since they showed the T88 and their AR line... What its worst is that now is pretty difficult to find their products in America.."

If Real Sword continue with this, they will soon be overrun by their competitors that can offer almost the same level of quality. LCT Airsoft is considered to be the best AK quality manufacturer in terms of detail, and operating from Taiwan where they have a faster and efifcient process of innovating and releasing to market.

Also, the news of Izhmash getting into the airsoft market, it will be the biggest worry of Real Sword, especially in terms of design detail and quality. Real Sword can be safe with their modern bullpup Norinco-PLA designs, but in AKs, Izhmash will be the company that many airsoft players will be looking at and there's a huge portion of AK users in airsoft.  Many airsoft players, apart from having AR-type airsoft guns, have an AK somewhere lying around, followed by HK and FN Herstal airsoft guns. Given that many PLA rifles are based on Izhmash designs, the company can lay claim to originality. With the new designs coming out of Izhmash, even under bankruptcy protection, they have a momentum going into the airsoft market, provided that they learn the lesson of Real Sword. Izhmash also has a good presence in the U.S. market, being their largest market in terms of their civilian products, so they do have something going for them.

Will Real Sword continue with their pricey and high quality airsoft line? We will not know if they sit uncomfortably with their existing product lines, or ramp out the release of their announced products. They have to protect their share of the airsoft market, even if it's a small one, or else a very much admired outfit from the former Soviet Union would eat it.