Crawdaddy

The market for the C3 were the players that don't have ready access to CO2 or HPA fills the small propane tanks are available at hardware stores, grocery stores gas stations pretty much everywhere.
Propane is not more expensive than CO2 you can buy a 16oz one for $4.95 they come filled and one of these tanks will last for around 50,000 shots most woodsball/outlaw players won't shoot that much paint all year so for a couple of dollars your air source is covered for an entire season. The fact that many fields offer free fills is irrelevant since outlaw players aren't playing at a field.

I think you are entirely missing the definition of innovative by your logic even a hybrid car wouldn't qualify since diesel submarines have been using the same concept for decades. The C3 is the first marker to use propane therefore it is innovative just because it doesn't weigh less than an Ego that doesn't mean it wasn't a new idea and designing and manufacturing a propane powered marker is a new idea. Ultimately what killed the C3 was that most players don't want a pump marker and pump players have lots of other well established marker options like Phantoms, Sterlings, Buzzards, Superstockers etc. If Tippmann could get a semi auto version to market it would really shake the paintball world up.