Original Robotron Joysticks?

D_Harris

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I'm about to put some Robotron Joysticks up for sale, and wasn't sure if they were original or reproductions.

I had an original set, but I may have had a repro set also.(I have a lot of digging to do).

So I wanted to ask if the originals had any "seams" on the ball or that little "collar" where the shaft attaches to the ball.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
I'm about to put some Robotron Joysticks up for sale, and wasn't sure if they were original or reproductions.

I had an original set, but I may have had a repro set also.(I have a lot of digging to do).

So I wanted to ask if the originals had any "seams" on the ball or that little "collar" where the shaft attaches to the ball.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.


Darren,

I'm pretty certain my Robotron is 100% original (except for the monitor). The joystick balls on my game have the "seams" running horizontally all the way around; and they do have a tiny little collar where the shaft attaches to the ball. I hope this helps.
 
Darren,

I'm pretty certain my Robotron is 100% original (except for the monitor). The joystick balls on my game have the "seams" running horizontally all the way around; and they do have a tiny little collar where the shaft attaches to the ball. I hope this helps.

Thanks.

The ones I have do not have the "seams" or the "collar".

In fact I also have this Robotron CP I'm about to sell and it also does not have the "seams" or "collars." So I'm assuming it is not original either.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/...Arcade Stuff For Sale/RobotronCPJoysticks.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Arcade Stuff For Sale/RobotronCPBottom.jpg

The part of the shaft(which can obviously use some cleaning) in between the CP top and ball-top bottom is 7/8ths of an inch, but I'd have to take a joystick assembly off to accurately measure the length.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Thanks.

The ones I have do not have the "seams" or the "collar".

In fact I also have this Robotron CP I'm about to sell and it also does not have the "seams" or "collars." So I'm assuming it is not original either.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/...Arcade Stuff For Sale/RobotronCPJoysticks.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Arcade Stuff For Sale/RobotronCPBottom.jpg

The part of the shaft(which can obviously use some cleaning) in between the CP top and ball-top bottom is 7/8ths of an inch, but I'd have to take a joystick assembly off to accurately measure the length.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Well, I learned some things today then. I had no idea about, and never noticed those "seams" before. I'm amazed at all the little things that go along with this hobby.
 
I just purchased a set of 4" NOS joys for my restoration. There is no seams on the ball and there is no collar below the ball. Hopefully some other Robotron owners can chime in and try to solve the mystery.
 
Not necessarily. The fantastic no-sheeples repros from way back had no seams on the red balls. However, with the amount of pitting on those shafts, I'd say original.
 
You should get a good chunk of $ for them on eBay. I'm looking for a set of bases only if you happen to come across any...
 
Just checked mine, no seams no collar. And they are 100% original.


Not starting an argument, just trying to get to the bottom of it all. How do we really know ones with or without the seams are original or not? The joystick shafts on my Robotron have the usual 25 year old rust that everyone else's seem to have. I'm willing to bet they are original, and they have the seams and the small collars. I wonder if Williams had both kinds of joysticks that they installed at the factory? Does anyone really know for sure? I don't really care if my joysticks are original or not, I just want to know the accurate truth.

And if mine really are not original, sorry I threw you off Darren. Mine sure look original as does every other part of the game.
 
If I recall correctly, seams and collars were typical on the originals. Wico used an injection molding process to produce the sticks and seams in the plastic was common. Now, after years of play and wear the seams could be worn off. If the game was ever serviced the collars could have been misplaced or the tech just forgot to put them back on.

The high quality repros that were made several (5+yrs?) years ago used a stainless steel shaft and hand cast resin knobs that were polished smooth. Great pieces.

I would think that true NOS sticks would have a seam on the knob, but if QC was on the ball at wico, maybe the mold was tightend up and no seams produced. Maybe. Did I that help?
 
If I recall correctly, seams and collars were typical on the originals. Wico used an injection molding process to produce the sticks and seams in the plastic was common. Now, after years of play and wear the seams could be worn off. If the game was ever serviced the collars could have been misplaced or the tech just forgot to put them back on.

The high quality repros that were made several (5+yrs?) years ago used a stainless steel shaft and hand cast resin knobs that were polished smooth. Great pieces.

I would think that true NOS sticks would have a seam on the knob, but if QC was on the ball at wico, maybe the mold was tightend up and no seams produced. Maybe. Did I that help?

Nah, still confused. :confused:

By "collar" I mean the part of the actual ball top that seems to go over the shaft. It's only about 1/16th of an inch thick/long.

I have a set of repro black and a set of repro blue for my custom Robotron project and they seem to actually be made better. The shafts disappear into the ball-tops cleanly, where as my NOS reds are a tiny bit sloppy if you look hard enough.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
I just received a pair of red topped leafed Wicos with new replacement sticks (according to the seller) included for $32.00 shipped via eBay!!! And I do know I got a killer deal.
So I just looked, and the old sticks have a seam and the collar, the new sticks have the seam, but no collar.
 
Nah, still confused. :confused:

By "collar" I mean the part of the actual ball top that seems to go over the shaft. It's only about 1/16th of an inch thick/long.

I have a set of repro black and a set of repro blue for my custom Robotron project and they seem to actually be made better. The shafts disappear into the ball-tops cleanly, where as my NOS reds are a tiny bit sloppy if you look hard enough.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Yep, mine have the tiny little collar; not meeting the shaft smoothly. Maybe the molds back then had shabby tolerances compared to the repro ones made years later. I guess I still don't really know if mine are original...I suppose they are. I'm no expert by any means on this subject.
 
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Those don't look high enough above the CP to me to be original Robotron sticks. So I'd agree that they're replacments but that does not mean repro.

That panel has nothing to do with the stand alone original sticks that I have.

If you have a Robotron. how far above the panel are your sticks?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Original Robotron sticks were 4" from the collar to the point where the shaft was reduced. Most Wico's were 3.5". The 3.5's sit just a little lower and reduce the moment you can get on the leafs, so they play a little harder than the 4" shafts.

ken
 
My Robotron has microswitch joysticks installed (though I have bought a set of original sticks for it), so I can't tell you how far above the CP they sit, sorry. But this picture is perhaps the best I've found illustrating how they should look installed.
 

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