The Angel is one of the first electropneumatic paintball markers. It was manufactured by Angel Paintball Sports (originally WDP) starting in 1997 and was introduced alongside Smart Parts' original Shocker.
The Angel was initially distributed in the United States by Brass Eagle as the 1455 Angel Semi-auto, advertised with a rate of 15Â balls per second. This deal was short-lived, so WDP then distributed the Angel independently; refining the marker and releasing new models. The last models released were the Angel A1 Fly SE, AR:K & SB, all markers based on the Angel A1 platform, featuring performance enhancements including a magnetic valve system, grip inserts, better tolerances, laser eyes, a redesigned bolt & with the SB and AR:K, the closed bridge (No Rotobreech like previous models) body.
The Angel paintball marker was designed by engineer John Rice, as an HPA-only marker. Rice considered CO2 a dirty gas, so the Angel used miniaturized components that could not withstand impurities in the air or the cooling effects of CO2.