Originally, I was just going to post this under a "I WANT THIS GUN" type of thread, but it turns out there's a good deal of interesting history about this gun. There's also quite a bit of media on it, so I figured it would be nice for me to actually make a useful blog post for once.

http://www.airsoftgi.com/product_info.php?products_id=6859


Before I continue, here's the link to where a vast majority of this information was basically stolen from: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=175820&hl=Masada&st=0
Apologies for the irritating highlighted words, that was a result of my search for the right thread.

Here's what I know about this gun in brief:

The first Masada to hit the market was made by A&K (http://www.airsoftgi.com/product_info.php?products_id=6044). It was created without permission from either Magpul or Magpul PTS, and was made purely by using pictures as reference. It quickly went out of stock, not because it was popular (although it was) but because Magpul PTS had been making efforts to stop the Masada from being sold. As it turns out, they had their own Masada in the making and they didn't want anyone stealing the limelight. A&K and Magpul PTS have since worked out a deal. That's all I really have to say about the history, but I do recommend you read more in depth about it through my first link.

On the same day as the gun a bunch of upgrades are going to be released also. They're freakin' sweet:
-The barrel can be swapped out in a handful of seconds, without tools. Check out the video at the end of this for a demonstration. Released separately from the gun will be an optional 11.5", 14.5", and possibly an 18" barrel. The hop-up is attached to the barrel assembly, so there's no wiggling to get the barrel out of the bucking.
-A railed aluminum hand-guard can replace the polymer one, although I don't think I would want to.
-Quick Swap lower assembly. The entire lower receiver can be quickly switched out to accommodate for either M4/M16 or AK mags.
-Quick Spring Swap. I'm guessing it's similar to Ares' system. No taking apart the gearbox to change springs.
-GBB. It won't come out with the other accessories since it's still being developed, but later you will be able to take out the entire gearbox of the Masada and slip in the GBB system.

In terms of performance, all I know is that it goes 350 fps and has an amazing ROF (check out the end of the video at the bottom of this post). It costs $450 to preorder. It comes out 10/29/10, so I have some time to save my pennies. It is about $750 to get the Masada with all of the stuff above. Just think about it, you'd have every single gun you would ever need...in one quick swappable gun. You could go CQB with the 11.5" barrel and a M100 spring, or go DMR with the (maybe) 18" barrel and a M120 spring. Then from there you can have AK mags or M4 mags. Or make it a Gas Blowback.

Despite the fact that I generally don't like getting guns that became popular because of Modern Warfare, I am seriously considering this. Besides all the stuff above, it's ambidextrous, has a design reminiscent of the SCAR, is lightweight and is made by Magpul. Pretty much the my idea of a perfect gun.