One of the most secretive and hotly anticipated Airsoft releases this year – and probably the one few have heard of – is Tokyo Marui’s Project Black. I was lucky enough to get in on the first pre-order; which for those who don’t know, was limited to just 25 examples.
Briefly debuted at IWA Germany in 2020, TM’s literature on Project Black was steeped in mystery and scant on, well, pretty much every conceivable detail:
“…black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.”
Yes, that really is the extent of it.
A spokesman for Tokyo Marui did however affirm the retail price would be coming in at a whopping $1799.00 USD. The price was derived from, quote:
“…years of comprehensive R&D into bold new technologies. The aesthetic is simply extraordinary.”
For the pre-release of Project Black, TM elected to limit orders to just 25 examples through a time-limited website. The web address of which was given out to approximately 2500 individuals. If you’re getting the sensation of sharks lining up for a feeding frenzy, you’re not far off the mark.
Despite the hit on my wallet, I could barely punch in my credit number fast enough on the website; my hands were shaking that much. A large red ticker on the center of the screen was steadily counting down from 25. The servers must have been hammered by this time because the site stuttered and crashed numerous times. It was worse than when Crye Precision releases a batch of M81’s on blowout.
By the time the system accepted my credit card, the number had dropped to 3. My brow was slick with sweat and my heart was hammering; I felt like I had just defused a bomb. I was then treated to a brief flash as the webpage dissolved into an abrupt pixelated flame. Unfortunately I was unable to set up my camera in time to obtain a proper recording of this entire process. Suffice it to say – and despite the strong mid-90’s era Anime vibe and requisite large bosomed female character emitting a giggling “Konichiwa!” – it did the part of making you feel like a secret agent about to embark on a deadly mission.
Fast forward to April, and my Project Black finally arrived via DHL courier, slapped in copious international shipping labels and customs stamps. Much to my dismay, there was a surprise “package transference fee” of $99.00! I was a bit angry about this charge, but since I was already buried into this gun a cool $1799, another $100 was just the cost of doing business. I figured I could always flip it for a hefty profit on HopUp due to its extremely limited availability in any case.
Unboxing Project Black
The Project Black arrives in a nondescript brown cardboard box. My example was wrapped in a thick layer of plastic shrink wrap – usually indicative of a customs inspection process. I had to tamp down a twinge of jealousy that some lowly customs flunkie got to see the Project Black before me. After feeling like I was skinning a deer, I finally got the box open and the innards were revealed.
Once again, my hands were visibly shaking the deeper into the box I got. I felt like a kid about to receive a toy for the very first time. I had to pause to collect my breath for a few minutes and calm my nerves. Then I decided it would probably be a good idea to grab a sweat-band for my forehead and don some latex gloves to prevent any errant beads of sweat and natural oils from my hands from damaging the contents. Latex gloves are worth almost as much as toilet paper in the age of Corona, so this measure was not taken lightly.
Finally, after setting aside an encyclopedia’s worth of Japanese newspaper adverts used as packing material, my breath caught in my throat and came out as a slow exhalation of a whistle as the Project Black was revealed to me. I felt like David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I struggle even now to find words to describe the awe inducing beauty of this box. TM has never been one to shy away from presentation, but this… this takes it to a whole new level.
No, that’s doing this box a gross injustice, really. TM has elevated the otherwise mundane packaging for an Airsoft gun and turned it into pure art.
What you have here is a sleek, smooth surface with perfect razor-edged angles. It’s like staring across the hull of an Executor-class Star Dreadnought. The Project Black box is darker than the midnight sun. It sucks the very light out of the room. It’s monolithic. It looks positively stealth. I’m halfway convinced if it could fly (can it?) that it would evade even the most comprehensive radar detection systems. I admit that I spent far too much time looking for the payload doors where the 2,000-pound GBU-27 laser-guided bombs might be concealed. Better hide your Scud’s, Saddam.
According to my spectrophotometer, this box is almost perfectly black, with a nearly 0.0001% reflectance value. The box has virtually no markings save for a small Tokyo Marui logo and a blood-red “BLACK” written in extremely hyper-aggressive font above. Even the sides and back of the box are completely devoid of markings, lending further credence to its stealth aspects.
Unfortunately, I was heartbroken to discover visible signs of damage on the exterior of the box. On the rear panel, there is a small 30.41mm indentation, presumably from striking a hard surface. I can almost visualize the value of this box vaporizing into thin air due to this damage. I will be writing a strongly worded letter to TM for their careless handling once I’ve collected my thoughts (and repaired the damage to my drywall from my fist).
One of the things you will really notice about the Project Black box is the sheer heft. Aside from the contents, this box has some real weight to it. I took the liberty of measuring the thickness and came away with an average of 10.85mm in most spots with a 0.01mm variance measured across 150 data points.
Using a rare-earth magnet, I was unable to discern any one part of the box that was metallic in nature. This too was measured across 150 data points. Strangely, the box had an incredible Rockwell Hardness value that exceeded the upper-end measurement capabilities of my machine! It actually cracked the gauge and bent the tower on my testing apparatus!
Project Black specifications:
Dimensions: 40x15x5″ (1016×381×127mm)
Inner Volume: 3000 inches3(49161192 millimeters3)
Weight: 70.5 lbs (31.97 kg)
Rockwell hardess: HRC 80+(?)
Summary and Conclusions
Wrapping up my review of the Tokyo Marui Project Black, I can only find myself at an utter loss for words in describing this Airsoft masterpiece.
Is it next-level? Yes.
Is it revolutionary? Yes.
Is it a quantum leap forward? Yes.
Does it have the magic Japanese fairy dust? Most definitely yes!
That this was even designed by human hands almost defies belief. The technological innovation contained here is frankly, astounding.
In fact, after much thoughtful analysis, I can only come to one inescapable conclusion:
