Paradisearcadeshop's import trigger/flight stick review

[H2obuffalo]

Greetings fellow Joystick Junkies.

     
     I have finally started my newest project, a four sided cocktail MAME cab.
side one has a dedicated 4way and a trackball for vertical fun.
The horizontal side has six buttons per player with 8way balltops.
The opposite horizontal will have 2 rotary LS32s for Ikari/Tank3/Heavybarrel action.
and the other horizontal gets the Trigger stick and Spinner for...TRON !

     After butchering a flea market pc joystick to hack onto an old happs super. I was dissapointed with the results.Too Tall for a cocktail CP and cheesy looking to boot. :banghead:The wires were exposed down the shaft and the drilled dust washer would creep up and down the trigger wire  during movement.
Another option was a very nice but pricy Sanwa flight stick. This one looked great but was out of my budget. Yet another choice was an original TRON Cocktail arcade stick. But "THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM" or at least a restoration project.

     Enter the Import flight stick. This was right on the money for my project, compact, and has 2 buttons top and trigger. Hello Discs Of Tron! Me Mum bought it  and some new buttons for me as a gift. Thanks Mum. Shipping was quick as usual and I got some lovely chocolates. Mahalo!

     The stick is very solid with a heavy hollow steel shaft and has the usual square gate for eight way movement. An interesting design feature is the pivot hub on the shaft. It has two wings lugs that fit into two cuts in the swivel joint above it. This prevents the grip handle from twisting more than a few degrees protecting the trigger wires from being twisted and pulled off. Nice.
     The switches on the base are very hard and loud . Really these levered switches require more force than any I have encountered. Unless they need the extra spring to keep it centered we shall see... Think I will switch them out with Zippys.
     
     The grip itself fits well into my ham fist and has a fine texture along with molded ribs down the back. It has no sharp edges and tight fitting parts. The buttons have a very light touch, big hands like mine might inadvertently hit the top fire occasionally. They had the telltale click of microswitches so I took it all apart to have a better look inside.
     
     Surprise! Cute little Zippy lightweight microswitches in the triggers. Hmm.I Wonder why they used the generic heavy ones on the base? Oh well. As you can see in the photo green is the common and yellow and red are the N.O. contacts. They give you a foot of wire for the buttons. This should be plenty for landing/soldering to your encoders.

     So in a wrap up. 
     Pros: Tough, comfortable, with top and trigger buttons.
               The compact design is great for a cocktail Cab
               Price is terrific $20 Hooray
     
     Cons: The base Microswitches are really heavy "Me no likey" 300 gram switches eew!
                I recommend spending another $3 and getting levered Zippys as an option.
                Metal control panels only. The short shaft will make for a ton of routing and reinforcing.   
     
      Thats it for my review. Brian is a Terrific vendor. Check out his stuff at paradisearcadeshop.com
       Cheers!
                H20buffalo


                 Brian is a terrific vendor. Always a pleasure to do business with.
                 paradisearcadeshop.com

[Well Fed Games]

Wow, thanks for the great review. Give us an update when you trade out the bottom switches. 

[Jumpman64]

Good info for sure, thanks for sharing.  I just ordered one of these myself but it hasn't arrived yet.  Once thing I didn't quite realize is how short the shaft really is.  My CP is plywood.  Am I going to have to flush mount a metal plate in order to put this thing in?

[H2obuffalo]

Thanks!

     Update! as My Wife has Forbidden me from buying more parts until after we do our taxes 
I dug through my parts bins and found a slightly abused older  joystick and took the levered switches out a test fit. These are much softer and quieter than the stock switches that came on my flight stick but not as soft as the new zippy switches. Ooooh...much better, the stick centers just fine and is a bit quicker. I had to tweak 2 of the the levers just a bit no biggie.

     I highly recommend a new set of switches with your purchase. I still need to get some orange push buttons so I'll be tacking on a few 4-packs of levered switches to my next order.

H2oBuffalo


     

[Gray_Area]

I have one of these, but need to re-build my cp with a metal top so I can put it in. Or perhaps have a longer shaft made......

Hell, if you think those switches were tough, try an 80s NOS flight stick. Sore wrist in minutes.

[Jumpman64]

You can mount these on plywood with a little prep.  What I did was route the underside of the panel down to about 1/4", maybe slightly less.  Then I used a countersink bit on the top to create a place for a flat head style machine screw to sit down flush, beneath the overlay.  It's a tight fit.  You can't see any of the metal shaft on my installation, but the stick moves fine in it's hole and it feels solid.

[Gray_Area]

You can mount these on plywood with a little prep.  What I did was route the underside of the panel down to about 1/4", maybe slightly less.  Then I used a countersink bit on the top to create a place for a flat head style machine screw to sit down flush, beneath the overlay.  It's a tight fit.  You can't see any of the metal shaft on my installation, but the stick moves fine in it's hole and it feels solid.

I'd be worried about that cracking over time....