Airsoft toy guns have appeared as early as the 1980s. Due to the economic depression and the lack of applied technology at that time, there are few achievements in the industry, and the development is almost stagnant.
At that time, toy guns could only rely on compressed gas to achieve continuous shooting, the so-called Gas gun, a gas gun with a built-in gas chamber, but its efficiency was not as good as that of modern GBBR, and an external gas power source was required to end the game. It is HPA (high pressure air), users at that time needed to carry much larger high pressure gas cylinders than now, which looked like Spitfire. Later, due to safety concerns (fried cans), Japan banned HPA. At that time, the gas-powered toy gun had a fatal flaw, and it was difficult to work normally in a low temperature environment.
AEG system
It was not until 1991 that this situation changed when Tokyo Marui (TM), a toy company that only produced manual toy guns, invented a toy gun that used an electric motor and a gear to drive a piston cylinder, and called it the AEG system (Automatic Electric Gun).
This battery-powered alternative toy gun has a good market response and can be used normally in winter. (Not completely unaffected).
Strictly speaking, AEG is a TM system, and does not refer to all electric guns. At the same time, many manufacturers imitated or developed their own electric gun systems, but they could not compete with AEG in terms of stability or cost performance, especially the V2 and V3 gearboxes. After the box was launched, AEG's mainstream status in the industry was difficult to shake even Marui himself.
Today, decades later, AEG is still the most common stun gun system on the market, even if its structure and performance are not the best. As of 2020, TM AEG has developed a total of 10 different types of gearboxes.
Gearbox V1 (Ver.1)
The original work was a dedicated gearbox for FAMAS F1, but there were also cases where imitation versions were implanted in other AEG shells in the early days.
Gearbox V2 (Ver.2)
The gear box of the separate motor is adopted，and the generality has begun to appear. The V2 gearbox can be used for AR, MP5, G3 and other models.
Gearbox V3 (Ver.3)
The V3 gearbox has returned to the stable motor frame structure, which is more compact than the V2 gearbox, and the universal AK.MP5, AUG, SIG5XX, G36, and UMP are not completely universal.
Gearbox V4 (Ver.4)
The semi-automatic gearbox dedicated to PSG-1, the cylinder is the longest in the AEG at present, limited by the structure, the first shot of the V4 gearbox needs to be manually loaded by pulling the handle, which is also the first with Decocking/Springrelease (piston/spring manual release) functional gearbox.
Gearbox V5 (Ver.5)
Uzi special gearbox, because it is too unpopular, it is impossible to buy parts of this type of gearbox on the market.
Gearbox V6 (Ver.6)
It can be regarded as a V1 gearbox with a more compact structure. Currently, there are P90 and Thompson M1A1 using this gearbox.
Gearbox V7 (Ver.7)
Currently only M14 and Browning M1919 are in use for this gearbox.
EC SMG gearbox (for compact AEG)
Small gearboxes developed for models such as MP7, Mac, Vz61, etc. It is worth mentioning that the MP7 of VFC uses a newly developed special gearbox, which fills the regret of the insufficient performance of the V8 gearbox.
AEP Gearbox（Ver.AEP）
Miniature gearbox for various AEP electric pistols with very limited performance.
Ver.9/Nextgen
There is not much information about this gearbox, but generally speaking, it is an improved version based on the V3 gearbox, with a recoil function and a recoil module, the beginning of the next generation of TM.
Next Gen AEG
Although AEG has dominated the mainstream, TM does not seem to plan to stop there. Following the V9 gearbox, it launched a new next-generation electric toy gun product line in 2007. It is also the first time that TM has used metal as the main material of toy guns.
The next-generation products are relatively unpopular. Currently, they include major models such as AR, AK, G36, and SCAR. They use a brand-new gearbox design, built-in recoil module.
The standard new structure magazine of the next generation has an extended feeding function, which can finish all BB bullets in the magazine, while the use of AEG magazines cannot achieve on-hook and extended ammunition feeding.
PTW（Professional Training Weapons）
Systema was originally a Japanese company that made third-party AEG accessories. After accumulating certain technology and resources, it also launched its own stun gun system, namely PTW.
PTW is the abbreviation of professional training weapon. The market positioning focuses on military and police training equipment rather than toy guns. The trigger feel is as close to the real gun as possible.
PTW is also the first stun gun with built-in electronic fire control, which has more sensitive feedback than AEG mechanical switches, and can also program parameters such as shooting mode and rate of fire according to user needs.
There is a big gap between the gearbox structure and the AEG, and it is relatively more stable. The old version of the PTW still uses the AEG specification motor.
An auxiliary function of PTW is that it can split the receiver like a real gun and quickly change the cylinder to change the initial speed. No tools are required in the whole process. Because there is no tappet plate structure, the storage of the cylinder is relatively convenient.
PTW is not without its shortcomings. The most obvious is its high price. Systema has launched a kit called "Challeng kits", which is slightly cheaper than the finished product and requires players to assemble it by themselves.
Since PTW itself is fully compatible with real gun accessories, there are also some magical operations in North America to process real gun receivers into PTW.
At present, PTW series products include M4, MP5, and the rare 89 type.
The 2020 PTW infinity adopts a new design, cancels the AEG-like grip motor, can use a real gun grip, and the original factory is equipped with a double-sided gear (DSG), and the fire control adds a pre-cocking function.
