If you're not fussed about the function/action of the gun, it's never gonna be for you. If hitting people vs the experience of the firing is all you're fussed about, just ignore it and stick to £150-250 AEGs, sorted, have a nice day.
This thing has been around for years now, in many people's hands for a good part of that, yet people are talking like it's only just shown up. PTWs (which are out of production know AFAIK) cost as much and don't deliver on a fraction of the realism. Apart from the AAF gun, the GBLS is as close as you'll get to GBBr function with an electric power source and that took a heck of an effort to bring to market by some clever blokes in South Korea (hence their slightly-off English, how good's your Korean?). And if you're about to blurt "well for that much money everything about the gun and the company should be literally perfect" you have 1. No technical understanding of the real economics of the airsoft market and the notion that the economies of scale are massively at play here and 2. this isn't for you anyway so just stick to guns that shoot as well but cost 10% the price, easy as that. And I mean that genuinely.
The TM NGRS line is so popular because is bridges the gap between cheaper AEGs and PTW/GBLS, providing about the same down range performance as anything else with some recoil, bolt-lock on empty, blowback etc so the only thing you're really gaining with the GBLS is the need to pull the charging handle when making ready, a more realistic feel when operating the charging handle, a bit more recoil and the fact the piston functions as an open bolt so the trigger response is as fast as they come (at least for 1 shot, subsequent cycles have a lot going on). I'd absolutely agree that those points are not worth an extra grand over a TM, but if you do want them you have to pony up the cash because this is pretty new tech that's not been around much before in the airsoft market and airsofters despise buying in to innovation while complaining at the lack of it, at least in the UK anyway not quite so much in Japan and the US.
I could maybe afford one if I saved up for a good long while, but right now I think the AAF is actually going to be the better option long term if it turns out to be reliable because it uses AEG mags and I really don't want to have yet another mag type in my collection on top of AEGs, TMs and LM4.
