Reproduction Star Wars Yoke grips- need input

[Stormy151]

Thanks to Tailgunner, I am looking into producing some reproduction Star Wars yoke grips for sale.  

This is just the grips, not the whole yoke.  

This yoke is also used on Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Roadblasters, Turbo Sub, and FireFox.

I am faced with a dilemma.  The original grips are made of cast metal.  I think reproducing them in metal would be best, as it would replicate the original feel and weight of the grips for those building their own yokes, as well as remaining authentic for those needing them for restorations of original cabinets.

However, it would be faster (and cheaper) to cast them in urethane plastic.  I am worried that these would feel cheap and flimsy, besides not being authentic.

These would be identical to and interchangeable with original grips, with a slight change inside so that they could not be passed off as NOS.  This change would not alter  the internal mechanics or the exterior look of the grips in any way.

A friend of mine works for a company that does metal spin casting, and thinks he can do these fairly reasonably, around 40-50 dollars a set.

Basically, I'm trying to gauge  if there is enough interest to justify the setup and tooling costs for a run of them in cast metal.

Please respond!  Thanks!

Mods- If you think this thread would be better placed in the For Sale forum, please move it.  Thanks!

[GamingGreg]

Would these grips include the buttons and switches? or would it be just the metal casing with holes for the buttons?

[Lilwolf]

actually... I would LOVE to get the trigger... but not for a starwars but for some t2 guns...  I wonder how close they are?

[unclet]

Knowing a person can get a complete working Star Wars yoke on Ebay for around $110, I would not be willing to spend $50 for just the metal grips.   Even for those people building their own yoke this seems too expensive since the amount of money you need to spend to make your own yoke plus $50 for your metal grips, it still seems better jsut to cough up another $20 to buy one on Ebay.    Of course the downside regarding Ebay, is that you must wait for a yoke to appear......

Just my 2 cents though....    

[Stingray]

Just my opinion, but that's more than I think I would be willing to pay. I'm sure my opinion would be different if I currently had the bug to build a SW yoke.

-S

[rdagger]

Yoke prices on Ebay keep going up.  I've seen garbage yokes sell for over $100.  However, you can buy replacement grips from Happ for $23 each with thumb switch or $14 without.  They are the newer STUN Runner style and not the classic Star Wars look, but I think they look OK and play well.  I have a thumbless pair on my yoke that I was considering replacing  because they have seen serious arcade use.  $50 is fair, but I believe the Happ grips come with the switches.

[GamingGreg]

Yoke prices on Ebay keep going up.  I've seen garbage yokes sell for over $100.  However, you can buy replacement grips from Happ for $23 each with thumb switch or $14 without.  They are the newer STUN Runner style and not the classic Star Wars look, but I think they look OK and play well.  I have a thumbless pair on my yoke that I was considering replacing  because they have seen serious arcade use.  $50 is fair, but I believe the Happ grips come with the switches.

BTW,  you can get those same grips from Bob Robert for $17 each with thumb switch and for $10 each without. That would be $34 and $20 for a set respectively.  (a bit cheaper than $50, but then again they're not as authentic looking)

[NoBonus]

For about a tenth of the price you could just get a PC analog yoke for flight simulation. SUre it wouldn't be arcade acurate as the up/down controls would be determined by pushing in and out on the yoke instead of twisting the handles, but it would still be more fun than using a mouse or trackball.  I've seen these things on eBay starting at $1.


NoBonus

[Stormy151]

Would these grips include the buttons and switches? or would it be just the metal casing with holes for the buttons?

They would include the buttons and trigger, but no microswitches.  They appear to take the standard Cherry microswitches (like for Happ pushbuttons) which attach to pads inside the grips.

Thanks for the input guys.  I'm going to check on some other options.

[Gamecab]

It would be nice to add these to the GameCab flight yokes but I would have a real hard time passing along the cost.  If you happen to mass produce these in plastic I would love to demo a set for the Version 2 USB Yokes (Still a prototype).