Museum of the Game® & International Arcade Museum® Forums

Hey guys,

I've been lurking around on KLOV for years and years now, since 2001. I signed up in 2006, but I've kept my activity confined to PM's...until now. I've been watching the KLOV forums for so long, I feel that it's about time I finally chime in and contribute. I've been buying, collecting and repairing arcade games since before the arcade hobby even existed, so I have a lot of knowledge to share.

If you don't know who I am, I'm the guy who owns RAM Controls. I make all of those cool reproduction parts for Atari games that you read about. I'm also the guy who takes flak on the forums because I have not yet completed many of my ongoing reproduction projects over the last few years. Friz, this is your lead-in. :)

Nobody has ever argued the quality of my reproduction parts, to my knowledge. In fact, my repro parts usually get very high praise, starting with my Major Havoc roller controller and Atari button cones all the way to the 4.5" Atari trackballs and Star Wars yoke kits. I appreciate all the positive comments, too! So, thanks guys. However, I've been seeing a lot of negativity lately related to my incomplete projects, namely the Star Wars yoke. There's been a ton of "don't hold your breath" mentality going around which is understandable to a certain degree, I will admit. Granted, the Star Wars yoke project has been a long time coming, so I can understand the skepticism, but there's got to be a point where some slack can be given. If anything, I think I should get SOME slack for my past contributions which have been many up to this point.

Anyone who knows me -- even in passing -- knows that I'm very passionate about arcade games and, unfortunately, very busy as well. In 1991, I started up a contract manufacturing firm with a single lathe and a single milling machine. This firm quickly grew over a short period of time and more equipment was purchased outright. The edge I have over much of my competition is that I own everything, so I have relatively little overhead. You can see a picture of one of my buildings on my website. I figure since I make the parts using the machines at my main business, using pictures from my main business is appropriate. Anyhow, ever since the early 90's, one part of this business has been to accept contract jobs which take me offsite to client locations. The travel is awesome!! However, this one aspect of my business has had an unanticipated side-effect with RAM Controls. Each time I've taken on one of these contracts, my RAM Controls projects have taken a back seat and went on hold. This has definitely been a real issue I've been trying to compensate for. My initial solution is to not accept any contracts which take me offsite. As a result, I've been getting a lot of reproduction work done ever since making this decision.

RAM Controls was originally started up as a "hobby business" in 2005, with no other intent than to make some much needed reproduciton items for Atari games that I owned. I never planned to take it to the level it's at now, but it seems to be a natural progression given the fact that so many arcade parts are no longer available. Early on, I partnered up with a good friend who was good at handling the business side of things, leaving me to take care of making the repro parts which is what I was good at. All I had to do was make parts and everything else was to be handled. I was pleased with this arrangement and it seemed to work alright for awhile. We even pitched in to grab a small office in a storage unit facility which had store-front spaces in HB. There were definitely some hiccups along the way which made me realize things were not as smooth running as I had been lead to believe. In fact, I had to cross the line (from my job of just making the parts) more than once to try and oversee whatever the problem was. I should have realized at the time that things were going in the wrong direction and attempt to fix it right then and there. I did not, however.

Somewhere along the way, this partnership was mangled into something I didn't recognize any longer. Sometime in 2007, when I was away on a relatively short (4 week) contract job, some awful things were done which ultimately strained my friendship with my biz partner as well as my reputation in the community. I even lost a good arcade-friendship over the ensuing drama which actually bothers me more than anything else. So I did my best to suck it up and fix the issues as quickly as possible. Oh, and I did this while also trying to keep quiet about the situation and the internal problems with RAM Controls. The last thing I needed was for anyone to think I wasn't in control of the situation. Looking back, I think I should have vented and cleared the air right then and there instead of waiting to let it fester. Unfortunately, my actions to resolve the issue(s) at the time might have been too little too late as some people still refer back to that time and hold a grudge about it. I have nobody else to blame but myself because I had all the signs of trouble earlier on, but I did nothing to abate those issues. So, it all falls on me when you get down to it. It's really too bad because I'd like to think that I'm a good guy and have good intentions. I have no hidden agenda and I am always upfront with people.

I love arcade games and I want our hobby to prosper for as long as possible. Being in the position I am as a capable manufacturer, I've tried to apply my talent to help keep the hobby alive and well. Most appreciate my contributions, but I've also noticed that a few take any opportunity to take a stab at me and attempt undermine the work I've been trying to accomplish. By doing do, these people are also potentially hurting people like mylstar, acadeshop, jbuck, mspaeth and others I supply with parts. These people are staples in the community -- and I'm part of the bedrock they depend on. Given the fact that I have completed many reproduction parts already, I believe that I've earned a certain level of credibility regardless of my lengthy wait times for current projects. And since I also fully take responsibility for any past issues with RAM Controls, I don't see the problem. Wouldn't you like to keep someone like me around who'll go to great personal expense to make these parts available? It's unlikely that anyone else would take on many of the projects I've started up if for no other reason than the big money it requires. I'm not releasing just single-part reproduction projects, I'm working on projects that are comprised of dozens of parts....and that takes time, money, patience and a whole lot of commitment. That said, the best part is that if you don't want to buy it from ME, you can go to any one of my vendors which I supply with reproduction parts. In the end, we all win.

The Star Wars yoke was my first complicated reproduction project. Overall, 90% of the parts were easy to make. However, the powder coating turned out to be a nightmare. First, it was powder coating on the frame components and the handles. I was eventually able to resolve the powder coat issues on the frame components, but the handles remained an issue no matter what I tried. Turns out that the alloy I was using for the handles would "out gas" when baking the powder coat on. The resultant finish was much less than desirable. Back to the drawing board over and over and over again, I finally came up with the solution....machine them from solid aluminum. Time consuming and expensive - yes. However, the parts actually turn out better looking than the originals because of the process. Cast parts are anything but perfect. Look at two or more identical CAST parts and note the flaws between each part when compared. The machined parts are within .0005" of each other in every dimension, so tolerances are incredibly tight. The cool part is that the handle halves match up perfectly. If you guys had any idea of how much money I've dumped into this project, you'd think I was crazy. Now spread that across, oh I don't know....12 similarly tedious projects! Yeah, I am heavily invested into this, so you can fricken BET that I will do everything in my power to complete every last one of these projects if anything but to cash out of them once completed!

Anyhow, I have set hard dates for several reproduction items I've been working on which are all mentioned on my website. I'm around full time now, so I won't be taking off to travel to distant contract jobs or vactioning in the Bahamas. Being around full time, I will get projects done more quickly which should be apparent already. If you have not noticed, I've released several items of consequence in the last few months. Everything from 1.5" Star Wars cockpit t-molding and 2.25" MajorHavoc/720 t-molding to 720 controller shafts and FoodFight controller shafts. All of the large projects listed up are only 1 or 2 parts away from completion.

This is something I do on BYOAC on occasion, but I'll give it a try here.

The first 10 people to respond to me can have (choose ONE):

- a reproduction 720 control stick (shaft and ball knob)
- a reproduction 4.5" ball and 2-shafts (used on missile command, atari football, etc)
- 11' length of 1.5" Star Wars cockpit t-molding
- 8' length of 2.25" Major Havoc/720 t-molding
- 5 tall black button cones
- 5 short black button cones
- 5 short silver button cones
- Atari logo stick/hall effect stick/assault stick PLUNGER AND PIVOT BALL
- Standard Lunar Lander rebuild kit

No shipping charge, no money, no strings. Just FREE PARTS!


I'm looking for a few more people that wouldn't mind accepting free evaluation parts and providing me with an honest review of the item(s), either publicly or sent to me via email. I already have people lined up for this, but I could use a few more.

Happy gaming everyone. Let the flames commence!

David Adams
RAM Controls
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