Robotron joysticks with a RED base? Who has this

neopolss

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Ive been wanting to get new robotron grommets, but when i went to pull mine i was greeted with 8 way wico sticks with a red base. It is stock i think, bottom shaft has a nylon nut with red ball top. The grommet center shaft size is just slightly bigger than a midway one. I cant find any other photos. Anyone have a similar one?
 
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I can't find any Wico markings on them at all. It's also got a metal cup that fits over the top and bottom part of the grommet.The joystick is held at the bottom with a lock nut, the bottom of the joystick is threaded.
 
I've seen photos of them before. Probably not Wicos, but joysticks some other company.
It would be cool to dig up some documentation or catalog offering a glimpse of where they came from.
 
The plastic molding is pretty much identical to Wico, from the top you wouldn't know the difference.
 
The plastic molding is pretty much identical to Wico, from the top you wouldn't know the difference.


Honestly I've always wondered if the ones you are referring to are actually made by Wico. I haven't seen any documentation or catalog pictures of them, no wico marks on them, and they pretty much only shipped with Japanese games like Sega and Taito.

The ones with molded leaf holders have wico documentation and wico on the plastic.
 
Well now this mystery is starting to get interesting then. I agree that they probably are not Wico, but instead is a very VERY good duplicate. The actuator is conical, not like a Wico one. I am very confident though that these are original sticks. This machine was bought from a Showbiz and then stored at a barn until I bought it. Frankly, the soldering on the sticks is too good to be a replacement, and the wear on the sticks indicates that it was never changed out either.
 
I cant find any markings. I cant even find a picture of a leaf switch joystick with a red base.
 
I'm going to post some new photos of these today as I decided to tear it apart for a better look. For sure, the shaft is 9/32" where the grommet goes around it, then gets slightly smaller towards the bottom of the shaft where the lock nut goes. It looks like my best chance of fitting new grommets is to take either a midway or taito grommet and drill it a bit larger, but I don't have a drill press to do so.
 
Well now this mystery is starting to get interesting then. I agree that they probably are not Wico, but instead is a very VERY good duplicate. The actuator is conical, not like a Wico one. I am very confident though that these are original sticks. This machine was bought from a Showbiz and then stored at a barn until I bought it. Frankly, the soldering on the sticks is too good to be a replacement, and the wear on the sticks indicates that it was never changed out either.

I found this comment rather amusing.... Are you implying that any tech they hired to maintain the games would be some ape that was incapable of good soldering? :confused:
A Robotron in an arcade like that would have had the sticks replaced at least once. My money is on those not being OEM.
 
I am most definitely implying such. The solder is too clean, no evidence of resolder or wire stripping. Its also a matching pair. In my 15+ years of following up after techs, i have yet to see such an immaculate and clean repair. Thats a unicorn my friend. Plus i know the history of the cabinet, as coming from one of the first few showbiz locations. My goal at the moment is to find another set of joysticks that match these, as right now i have yet to see another of its kind. That makes me think its a prototype stick of sorts, or an extremely good wico knockoff. My thought is that if it was a knockoff, thered be lots of them out there.
 
I am most definitely implying such. The solder is too clean, no evidence of resolder or wire stripping. Its also a matching pair. In my 15+ years of following up after techs, i have yet to see such an immaculate and clean repair. Thats a unicorn my friend. Plus i know the history of the cabinet, as coming from one of the first few showbiz locations. My goal at the moment is to find another set of joysticks that match these, as right now i have yet to see another of its kind. That makes me think its a prototype stick of sorts, or an extremely good wico knockoff. My thought is that if it was a knockoff, thered be lots of them out there.

No need to resolder if they were replacement joysticks. As for the prototype talk, that is a huge leap and I'm unsure why people always make that step without any evidence. Same thing happens with NOS. I think we need a KLOV dictionary.

Like I said previously, I've seen those sticks before. Here is a link to a picture of the same exact stick that was for sale on this forum 5 years ago:
Red Base Joystick
 
I hate to break the news to you, but I've seen these sticks before too. Knock-offs have been around since the beginning. And I'm not surprised in the least that Showbiz would opt for the cheaper replacement part. I imagine they went through a lot of sticks....

Sure, we see plenty of operator and hobbyist hack jobs.... That doesn't mean there aren't/weren't competent techs out there that can/could replace a joystick without making a mess.
 
I don't think it's an extremely distant leap to think prototype. I didn't say it was for sure, merely speculation based on the factors that typically knock offs of most items in this market are plentiful, not hard to find, and secondly the fact that there weren't many people responding to the thread to say, "hey, I know what those are!" The last sighting was five years ago! I started the thread as a curiosity, because I really want to know more about these. The quality is actually really good, but the odd grommet shaft seems weird. I'm hoping there's some more floating around out there somewhere.
 
typically knock offs of most items in this market are plentiful, not hard to find

I sold a set of wico knock-offs that were labeled with a brand last year and could only find one or two threads where they were mentioned. There are undoubtedly a number of uncommon/rare knock-offs out there, but no one focuses on them so no one really talks about them or seeks them out.

Regardless, any thread talking about the greatest game ever made is AOK in my book :D. Thanks for sharing neopolss :)
 
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