It tickles me more than a mustache on a coin purse to know you own this game too.
Haha! I love it!! I do occasionally surprise people with what I have in my collection . . . or that I even have a collection!
I was lucky with my Robot Monsters joysticks -- they are both pretty good. Tight and sensitive. (I know I'm setting up some jokes there, but that's still the best way to describe them.) I, Robot is looser and less responsive. (Hmmm, not helping avoid the jokes with that one, either.) Replacing the ball and pivot on that joystick was a pain in the ass because of the design where you have to use a punch to remove the pins needed to fully disassemble that part, but it did help. That being said, I still can't get it as nice as my other hall effect joysticks. I, Robot was also acting a bit squirrelly, and after reflowing solder and trying everything else I could think of, it was finally replacing the sensors that did it. The game plays much, much better now.
Jim is in California this weekend so I can send a pair with him if you aren't in a rush, but they are pretty cheap and it might be a lot faster to just get some on eBay. They are the 3503s, and although I, Robot and Robot Monsters have different models for the joystick PCBs, my research revealed that the sensors are the same. Be warned that the replacements look nothing like the originals!

