BIG BOY TOYS

Even when they're all grown up, men still like to play

By KATHY FLANIGAN of the Journal Sentinel staff

Friday, April 12, 2002

It started innocently enough. Jeff Christbaum, 33, was on a work outing when he discovered Paintball Dave's in the Third Ward.

Life was cheaper before Paintball Dave's. Before the $1,000 semi- automatic, fully-electronic paintball gun. Before the special mask. Before $250 worth of gear and paintball clothing. Before the $80 lifetime membership. Before the $20 a week for three hours of non- lethal gunslinging. Before the $75 supply of paintballs that will last, oh, enough for two visits.

Before all that, the salesman might have had other hobbies. Christbaum, an Oak Creek resident, can't remember them anymore. He also can't afford them anymore.

Boys and their toys; men and their must-haves. Some seem hard- pressed to pass up a chance at a second childhood, even if it's expensive. If it's not a toy gun ('cause as fancy as these are, they still only shoot paintballs), then it's a toy car (keep reading for more on those).

The list could be endless, and you don't have that much time. So we've narrowed the field with a few examples of where and what attracts the minds and wallets of the male of the species.

PAINTBALL DAVE'S, 203 N. Broadway (414) 271-3004

It wasn't always this way -- expensive guns and masks with fans in them. No way, says Tim Glidden, who has been with Paintball Dave's since the early days. Glidden was there in the trenches back in 1986 when the guns didn't have electronic loaders. Heck, they weren't even guns. They were pistols. And you wore shop goggles to keep paint out of your eyes. And you felt lucky if you had a couple of paint tubes in your pocket to help you get through the trees and weeds because back then, paintball was a game of survival.

"Now it's a fashion show," said Christbaum, his cobalt blue semi- automatic gun at his side and a pod strapped to his waist ready to load another gazillion "bullets" when necessary.

On Friday nights, regulars meet at Paintball Dave's -- a three- story brick warehouse turned playhouse. For instance, squint and you can almost see what they call Western World on the third floor. That plain wood front over there? It's the bank. That drab slab of plywood over that way? It's the hotel. Of course, that paint-splattered piece of wood with a slatted window is the jail.

And that trio of guys with scarves on their heads and masks on their faces? They're three amigos who shoot it out here once a week.

The three -- Christbaum; co-worker Russ Waarvik, 36, of Franklin; and Dave Dallmann, 23, of South Milwaukee, can be found here so often each has a lifetime membership. That cuts the cost of a three-hour outing from $40 to $20 and allows for discounts on paintballs.

Each has at least one gun.

Each is into the paintball hobby for hundreds of dollars.

Dallmann discovered paintball on a trip with his college swim team three years ago. Now he has five guns ranging in price from $75 to $1,700. He shows up three or four times a week. Waarvik came once then immediately bought his own gun. "You get comfortable with it. You shoot faster, more accurately."

He also needed a mask -- $20 to $110 -- with a little fan inside to keep him cool outside in the heat or without fog inside.

"It's like advanced tag," Dallmann said.

It's like expensive tag.

And it would be so much cheaper if they could just keep from falling prey to the display cases where the Piranha titanium 200- round loader rests next to a $189 price tag. Or the Angel and Angle Air gun with its $1,699 asking price, justified by the fact that it will hook up to a computer and allow the owner to download diagnostics.

"As guys play more seriously, they want a more serious gun," said Dave's indoor manager Craig Jansen.

Guys is the key word, according to owner Dave Rudig.

"Eighty percent of our people are male," Rudig said. If you're talking regulars, then it's 90%. Paintball Dave's hosts a lot of bachelor parties, and that's the kind of stuff that has made it a mainstream entertainment venue, the owner insists. Dave's hosts up to 10 bachelor parties on a single Saturday.

(At first, Rudig allowed strippers at the party, but the swearing and shooting men tended to stop swearing and shooting -- "the dancer comes, and everybody kind of stands around and gawks," Rudig said.)

Even the gumball-sized paintballs come in different prices. The most expensive are those called "Slam Paint." Not that you can read it as it's coming at you, but each little ball of paint carries a message.

None of the sayings are meant to be nice.

But that's not why they're more expensive, Jansen said. They're more expensive because they're a higher grade of paint.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday and Thursday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; and noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Dave's outdoor field opens Sunday. See www.paintballdaves.com.

STOCKY'S FAST TRACK, 6405 Stockhausen Lane, West Bend (262) 306- 0100.