Heijoshin

It's the opinion of that old and wise veterans what I was seeking for when I joined the forum, so thanks for help me man. Yep, I think that I'll take the CYMA path. We are almost on July and If I wait a couple of months saving money for the E&L/LCT the summer will pass, and here where I live (North of Spain) from mid-September onwards it rains almost daily, and all the airsoft camps (except a CQB one) are outdoor. So would be nice to have fun with my brand new AK while the sun still shines. Also, I can spend all that extra money in an uniform, a vest or any other cool stuff. About replicas I'm between CYMA CM.045C and CYMA CM.076A. Probably I'll end taking the first one because I love the mix between the classic back and the modern front and the fact that just replacing that tactical handguard for a wood one (which is around 30€) I can get the full guerrilla look if I want to.

As title says, I am new to this airsoft thing and I'm on that stage where between each game played with rented gear, I spend an incredible amount of time browsing airsoft online stores while cursing being poor. Well, apart from salivate in front of my screen, I have done my homework and checked forums and youtube reviews, but I have tried to absorb so much information in a short period of time that I have more doubts now than one week ago. So here I am. I love all AK types so I don't discard anything, but I feel more comfortable with the short versions like 74U or 47 Spetsnaz. I also like both looks, the classic USSR/guerrilla wood+steel and the modern one with all that tactical stuff. My estimated budget for the AEG is between 130€/145$ and 230€/260$, but if it really is a long-term improvement I could save money and go up to 330€/370$. I give priority to external components instead of internal ones to have a solid base to upgrade on the future if I want to (as a newbie I would have a bad K/D ratio even with the best gun anyways, so let's prioritize don't break my first one too soon). At first sight there was a clear option for me and many other beginners who love AK's: CYMA. But the more I read about their AEG's, the more doubts I have due to the the "poor steel" and "calamine exteriors" critics. On my local airsoft groups everybody said me that the best option is save money and go for an E&L. So that's all? There isn't a third option about this matter? I know that there isn't any magic solution that will end with me having the best AK when my budget is on the mid (or even mid-low) range, but the price on the same replicas (CYMA CM.045A and E&L A104 for example) have differences over 100€ when both are described as "full metal" AEG's with steel and wood. And on the long AK versions the differences are even higher, so I have to ask... is this +100€ investment really worth in terms of hardness and external components? Also, I have read good things about some re-brands of the 1st E&L generation (ForceCore and Meister) that seems to fulfill what I am looking for. They are out of stock on every store I checked, so I guess it was just a temporary thing for sell all that remaining replicas while they went full involved into manufacture the 2nd generation. So no magic alternative for us anymore. Is there any other option that I don't know? What are your opinions about all that CYMA/E&L thing?