The Angel™ was invented and designed by John Rice, who has a degree in metallurgy. He joined WDP's new product developments division in 1994 and became the Technical Director in 1995. WDP is located in Birmingham, England with a U.S. distribution center in California.
The first Angel™ prototypes began to be field tested in 1995 and were available to the public in early 1997. The original was named the Angel™ V6 partly because it was fed by a 6-volt battery but mainly because they thought the term would appeal to the American buyer. Eventually the V6 was dropped and it was simply called an Angel™. Once the Angel™ LCD was released, the original Angel™ began to be referred to as an Angel™ LED.
The Angel™ is a high-end electro-pneumatic marker that was initially marketed towards the top level paintball players at that time, but appealed to the average player as well, which caught them by surprise. About 80% of Angels manufactured are sold in the U.S.
There have been many models of Angels™ released by WDP since the original to include the LCD, IR3, Speed, Angel™ 4, Speed 05, Joy, Speed 06 & the Angel™ G7. WDP also offered C&C versions of the LCD & IR3 and Fly versions of the LCD, IR3, Angel™ 4 & Angel™ G7.
Angels™, like Cockers®, have been customized by multiple companies to include Warped Sportz, Cobra, Adrenaline, & Impact. Companies such as KAPP, 32 Degrees, Custom Products, & Shocktech make aftermarket upgrade parts for the Angel™.
Angel™ markers revolutionized the sport of paintball by producing an electronic marker capable of high rates of fire not to mention many debates about which marker was better, the Angel™ or Cocker®.
