Joystick grommets.. Midway, Taito, Stern, Sega... All the same grommet!!

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Joystick grommets.. Midway, Taito, Stern, Sega... All the same grommet!!

So all these years I was told and read that there was a difference between midway joystick grommets and taito ones.. Midway used their own sticks or used wicos, taito used only wicos that I know of.. Also stern and Sega/Gremlin also used wicos.

Well guess what? I just took apart a few mrs pacman sticks and the grommet hole is the exact same diameter as all of the above mentioned companies.. So short and long throw wico sticks use the exact same fricken grommet! Only difference I noticed was a couple of the midway grommets only have (2) mounting holes, Eventhough there are 4 holes drilled into a mrs pacman joystick base. So all these years and everything I've read is incorrect!

I'll post pictures of both grommets later on, to help prove my findings. Am I the only one who figured this out?
 
So I ordered a Ms. Pac grommet literally a half hour ago, when I could have just pulled one out of a wico base? Grrr.

So all these years I was told and read that there was a difference between midway joystick grommets and taito ones.. Midway used their own sticks or used wicos, taito used only wicos that I know of.. Also stern and Sega/Gremlin also used wicos.

Well guess what? I just took apart a few mrs pacman sticks and the grommet hole is the exact same diameter as all of the above mentioned companies.. So short and long throw wico sticks use the exact same fricken grommet! Only difference I noticed was a couple of the midway grommets only have (2) mounting holes, Eventhough there are 4 holes drilled into a mrs pacman joystick base. So all these years and everything I've read is incorrect!

I'll post pictures of both grommets later on, to help prove my findings. Am I the only one who figured this out?
 
Wico's are significantly wider than Bally/Midway's if you're talking all original. Not sure where you're seeing they are the same diameter at all.

B/M are quite thin. Wico's are closer to a Suzo-Happ/IL size.

Bally/Midway:
images


Wico:
images



Not sure about Taito and others. But these two are CLEARLY different.




Bally/Midway are .267" diameter:
grommet2.jpg


Wico sizes are .375" diameter:
WicoGrommets.jpg
 
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Ok, well your kinda right.. but not what I was trying to explain.

Your right, but that's not what I said.. Here, I'll make it a bit more clear.. I'll make a second post with the photos I took after I'm done cleaning this one up..

Wico's are significantly wider than Bally/Midway's if you're talking all original. Not sure where you're seeing they are the same diameter at all.

Yes, I'm talking about original equipment.. I have plenty of used and nos to pull from.
That's cause Wico made a couple different sizes.. Here, I'll explain..


Wico .267" Grommet:

images

Bally/Midway/Taito/Stern/Sega

Wico 3.5" Grommet:
images

Used in Robotron, Simpsons, Many Atari games...
3.5" length wider shaft and 4" too..



Not sure about Taito and others. But these two are CLEARLY different.

Yes, they are different.. as these are the larger diameter grommets for larger sticks..
Not used in Bally/Midway/Taito/Stern/Sega..



Wico .267" diameter
:
grommet2.jpg


Wico .375" diameter:

WicoGrommets.jpg


These are all for larger 3.5" and 4" sticks.. Not for Midway, Taito, Stern, Sega.. My next post will show which sticks go with which grommet.
 
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Here is my proof..

Ok, the photo of the sticks..

On the left side are two Wico Taito/Sega/Stern nos sticks. To the Left of them are (3) grommets I pulled from Midway cabs. Look, the Midway grommets and Taito/Sega/Stern grommets are the same diameter!

On the right side are larger 3.5" and 4" Wico sticks. They use a larger diameter grommet.. It's not the same size as Midway, but I never said it was..

What I was trying to prove is Wico Taito/Sega/Stern grommets are the EXACT same diameter as Bally/Midway.. This whole time I thought that Bally/Midway used a larger or smaller diameter grommet..

The three grommet image is just a closeup of the ones I pulled from Mrs Pacman and other Bally/Midway joysticks.. all the same size as Wico Taito/Sega/Stern ones..

So.. Wico made (2) different size grommets.. One for smaller diameter shafts and one for larger diameter shafts.. Well, they may have made more than that but thats for a different conversation.
 

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So, you're saying......the smaller Wico joystick ( a la Jungle King) and the Bally/Midway joystick (a la Pac-Man) use the same grommet? I'll be.....
I always thought the Pac-Man type was a little bigger than the small Wico, and a little bit smaller than the big Wico.......I never honestly compared.

I'm pretty sure Wico actually made those joysticks for Bally/Midway, so this does kind of make sense.

Edward
 
Yep, that's what I'm saying :)


So, you're saying......the smaller Wico joystick ( a la Jungle King) and the Bally/Midway joystick (a la Pac-Man) use the same grommet? I'll be.....
I always thought the Pac-Man type was a little bigger than the small Wico, and a little bit smaller than the big Wico.......I never honestly compared.

I'm pretty sure Wico actually made those joysticks for Bally/Midway, so this does kind of make sense.

Edward
 
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