Author Topic: Translucent Microswitch Buttons www.fxbuttons.com (Read 93473 times)

Quarters · « **Reply #400 on:** May 18, 2005, 09:18:24 am »

Those look incredable! I'm dying to see what a red led in the orange button would look like or a yellow led in the blue.

I need prices! I think my credit card has cooled sufficently

AmericanDemon · « **Reply #401 on:** May 18, 2005, 09:21:32 am »

on that note, I would like to see a red led in the Blue button to see if it turns out purple.

markrvp · « **Reply #402 on:** May 18, 2005, 09:55:35 am »

These are great Shawnzilla. I'm down for a couple of panels worth. I would prefer Cherry switches. I think a lot of people here feel that way, so it may be best to figure your pricing on the buttons and switches separately. That way you can order minimums in buttons and not have to carry as large a stock of microswitches. You can always order those from Happ easily.

As far as the legal question, IANAL, but isn't HAPP reselling their buttons from the same manufacturer that Shawnzilla is having make these? Unless HAPP owns a patent on this button there is no legal question.

shawnzilla · « **Reply #403 on:** May 18, 2005, 10:01:50 am »

Quote from: markrvp on May 18, 2005, 09:55:35 am

These are great Shawnzilla. I'm down for a couple of panels worth. I would prefer Cherry switches. I think a lot of people here feel that way, so it may be best to figure your pricing on the buttons and switches separately. That way you can order minimums in buttons and not have to carry as large a stock of microswitches. You can always order those from Happ easily.

As far as the legal question, IANAL, but isn't HAPP reselling their buttons from the same manufacturer that Shawnzilla is having make these? Unless HAPP owns a patent on this button there is no legal question.

Just a quick note about this. They created a new product specifically for me, based upon an existing product in their line (that they sell to other people besides Happs). My guess is that the patent lies with the manufacturer.

I will probably get the buttons without the microswitches. It'll allow me to carry the largest inventory before having to re-order.

tetsujin · « **Reply #404 on:** May 18, 2005, 10:29:31 am »

Quote from: shawnzilla on May 18, 2005, 10:01:50 am

I will probably get the buttons without the microswitches. It'll allow me to carry the largest inventory before having to re-order.

Sounds good to me. Microswitches aren't hard to come by.

Now, to order!

whammoed · « **Reply #405 on:** May 18, 2005, 10:34:00 am »

Wow, what a difference between the old and new blue. I thought the old blue looked way too much like a regular button. With this new set of samples I am definitely on board. Red and Orange definitely.

shawnzilla · « **Reply #406 on:** May 18, 2005, 11:26:36 am »

Good news! I will be placing my order today! So, I will most likely be ready to open shop the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Start your engines!!!

UndeadMeat · « **Reply #407 on:** May 18, 2005, 11:27:23 am »

That shot of the clear with the blue LED made my heart skip a beat. Maybe I could put a thousand clear ones in a grid and light them with color changing LEDs and create a complete lighting experience in my game room.

Well, I'll take a dozen to start with.

Quote from: shawnzilla on May 18, 2005, 11:26:36 am

Good news! I will be placing my order today! So, I will most likely be ready to open shop the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Start your engines!!!

Prices, give us prices!

-UndeadMeat

shawnzilla · « **Reply #408 on:** May 18, 2005, 11:42:52 am »

BTW, since initial interest in the green seems to be lower than the other colors (clear seems to be the color of highest interest), I will only order a small amount in the beginning. I will probably carry an inventory of 50 to 100 green. I will order more if there is demand.

I'll stick a light into one of the greens tonight. That may spark more interest.

Chris · « **Reply #409 on:** May 18, 2005, 11:50:27 am »

Quote from: shawnzilla on May 18, 2005, 11:42:52 am

BTW, since initial interest in the green seems to be lower than the other colors (clear seems to be the color of highest interest), I will only order a small amount in the beginning. I will probably carry an inventory of 50 to 100 green. I will order more if there is demand.

I'll stick a light into one of the greens tonight. That may spark more interest.

I'm willing to bet that the greens are awesome lit. With no yellows, a Neo-Geo panel is out of the question...

--Chris

markrvp · « **Reply #410 on:** May 18, 2005, 12:00:45 pm »

Quote from: shawnzilla on May 18, 2005, 11:26:36 am

Good news! I will be placing my order today! So, I will most likely be ready to open shop the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Start your engines!!!

Roger, roger. Delaying multipanel project until 2nd or 3rd week in June.

NY_in_TX · « **Reply #411 on:** May 18, 2005, 12:34:35 pm »

man I really want green, do you have a green LED?

if you do then could you light the green with a white LED and then try a clear lit with a green LED? that would show some comparison. I think green is pretty popular, just not that shade you have.

thanks for doing all this.

ny

RayB · « **Reply #412 on:** May 18, 2005, 12:42:03 pm »

You're placing an order without taking pre-orders? That's brave. What if demand is higher than expected? What if demand is lower?

I'm REALLY curious if these buttons will suddenly show up at other IL distributors (like Happ).... Hmmm!

(fyi, I'll probably be ordering 16, in a variety of colors).

Regarding switches. I don't care about brand, unless the "clicking" is different or more stiff than Cherry. If it's exactly the same, then I don't care. All I want is to have switches with the buttons when I order.

wakerlet · « **Reply #413 on:** May 18, 2005, 12:51:12 pm »

I'm in for about 4 of each color for now. I have plenty of switches so I'm glad you went sans switch for the order.

FYI for anyone who needs switches, I think I paid ~$0.70 per for Cherry switches from Betson...and I got .250 tabs for my minipac needs too.

-Todd

Flinkly · « **Reply #414 on:** May 18, 2005, 12:56:06 pm »

i think you need to ask for a new green. it looks ok as it is (kinda like your first blue) but not good enough. these buttons are going on our control panels for a long time (unless some even cooler kinds of buttons come along), so i think we would all like the best looking buttons to start with. also, i think a few more colors might be in order, since it seems like demand is gonna be pretty high, at least to begin with. and as for microswitches, i'm with everyone else when i agree that cherry is the only way to go. just order them through ponyboy in a huge amount and then both of you guys will get a good deal (ponyboy with the buisness/profit and you with a lower than happs price).

pointdablame · « **Reply #415 on:** May 18, 2005, 12:57:59 pm »

I think its a great idea to get the buttons minus the microswitches. As people have said, most of us will probably be converting existing panels. If not, they are super easy to come by anyway.

I wish you had a yellow too for a NeoGeo setup, but that's just being picky. You will definitely see an order from me.

EDIT: I really like the green.. I bet people will change their minds after seeing one lit up.

Tiger-Heli · « **Reply #416 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:10:51 pm »

Red-Orange-Green-Blue wouldn't be too bad for a LIGHTED Neo-Geo panel.

Agree with Shawn that Green may just not photograph well. Hard to say without someone else getting these and seeing them.

Then again, since they modified the blue, perhaps they would change the green if you requested it.

BTW, Shawn - do you have an exclusive agreement with them? Rayb's comments about Happ worry me a little bit.

Patent Doc · « **Reply #417 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:36:20 pm »

Shawn

Great job on the buttons. I bet the green will actually look great when lit. When you take the pictures of the lit button. Do one with a green LED and one with a white LED. Maybe a white LED will lighten the color enough to quiet the naysayers. Also, would you take a picture of the clear buttons with various lighting situations (blue, green, yellow LEDs)? I'm trying to figure out how many of each color I want, and I clear could increase a lot in number.

Anyway, great job.

Patent Doc

vib_ribbon · « **Reply #418 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:37:52 pm »

the lit blue button reminds me of TRON...

UndeadMeat · « **Reply #419 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:40:09 pm »

Quote from: vib_ribbon on May 18, 2005, 01:37:52 pm

the lit blue button reminds me of TRON...

Yes, yes it does, which is why I must have them for my Tron inspired cabinet.

-UndeadMeat

MrSaLTy · « **Reply #420 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:45:04 pm »

New samples look awsome! I'm down for about 40 I think.

AmericanDemon · « **Reply #421 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:50:45 pm »

I know I will be the minority here, but I personally prefer the milkier blue color. However, the clear buttons when "fogged" may fix my issues if the colored LEDs make them look great. Once someone gets the product in hand and does that, then I'll reconsider. As it is now, I think they are just too transparent.

As was displayed earlier in the thread a standard button can be lit using an ultrabright LED. Not trying to sway people from your product Shawnzilla, but I feel that the initial sample was better. Thats just my opinion though heh.

Franco · « **Reply #422 on:** May 18, 2005, 01:51:44 pm »

Quote from: Chris on May 18, 2005, 11:50:27 am

Quote from: shawnzilla on May 18, 2005, 11:42:52 am
BTW, since initial interest in the green seems to be lower than the other colors (clear seems to be the color of highest interest), I will only order a small amount in the beginning. I will probably carry an inventory of 50 to 100 green. I will order more if there is demand.

I'll stick a light into one of the greens tonight. That may spark more interest.
I'm willing to bet that the greens are awesome lit.

Tiger-Heli · « **Reply #423 on:** May 18, 2005, 02:18:30 pm »

Quote from: AmericanDemon on May 18, 2005, 01:50:45 pm

I know I will be the minority here, but I personally prefer the milkier blue color. However, the clear buttons when "fogged" may fix my issues if the colored LEDs make them look great. Once someone gets the product in hand and does that, then I'll reconsider. As it is now, I think they are just too transparent.

As was displayed earlier in the thread a standard button can be lit using an ultrabright LED. Not trying to sway people from your product Shawnzilla, but I feel that the initial sample was better. Thats just my opinion though heh.

I totally disagree. The purpose of this project (IMHO) was to create a microswitch pushbutton with the appearance of the transparent leaf buttons. The new sample does that admirably.

If that's not the look you want (when unlit) then certainly you can illuminate a standard button with the superbright LED's. The problem with the first sample was that it looked too much like just a deeper shade of blue standard pushbutton, where these look like the true transparent leafs.

Just my 25 cents . . .

AmericanDemon · « **Reply #424 on:** May 18, 2005, 02:26:39 pm »

Tiger-Heli, I agree with you.

Just not my cup of tea I guess.

Tiger-Heli · « **Reply #425 on:** May 18, 2005, 02:42:09 pm »

Quote from: AmericanDemon on May 18, 2005, 02:26:39 pm

Tiger-Heli, I agree with you. Just not my cup of tea I guess.

Well, personally, I'm not sure I don't prefer the standard buttons myself (the standard buttons look better when both are unlit, IMHO). But if you wanted lit buttons or wanted to replace the buttons in a Multi-Williams or Q-bert or Sinistar, the new buttons totally rock!

brandon · « **Reply #426 on:** May 18, 2005, 03:11:45 pm »

Quote from: Franco on May 17, 2005, 02:01:56 pm

2) Will you be able to sell different colour combinations of the buttons and the button bezels?

Would it be possible for example, to supply clear buttons in blue bezels? That way they would still look cool when not lit (not that all clear ones wouldnt rock) and then would look even more incredible when lit.

ooh.. I like that idea too!

Grasshopper · « **Reply #427 on:** May 18, 2005, 03:37:26 pm »

They look absolutely awesome, far better than I expected. I'm definitely going to have to build a lighted panel now. Damn more expense!

With regards to whether you should sell them with microswitches or not, can you give us some approximate prices with and without before a decision is made?

I bought some pushbuttons from IL a while ago and they were extremely cheap and came with Cherry microswitches included. If I'd persuaded IL to sell me the buttons without microswitches I'd have saved a little money up front but probably ended up spending far more in the long run by having to buy overpriced microswitches separately from someone like Happ.

cholin · « **Reply #428 on:** May 18, 2005, 07:40:41 pm »

Man you just sold me with that clear one. You really do need to light up the other colors too though. It's kinda hard to decide now because we've seen a clear one lit with a blue, but what about a blue lit with a blue, and what about a blue with a white? I suggest you take 3 pictures:

Picture 1) Buttons each with their respective LED (blue - blue, clear - white)

Picture 2) Buttons each with a white LED (see how they light)

Picture 3) 4-6 clear buttons, each with a different colored LED in it. This may sell the most of them. If the clear ones look as good with red LED's, Im sold.

I just realized, Im gonna have a sweet panel! Translucent joysticks, most likely lit the color of the player; Clear buttons lit red or blue, as per the player; My lighting plan where if a joystick is pressed up, a light turns on an up arrow kinda thing;

OMG I CANT WAIT!!

Zakk · « **Reply #429 on:** May 18, 2005, 09:23:03 pm »

I just saw a pic of these babies, and a tear came to my eye. BEAUTIFUL!

Tahnok · « **Reply #430 on:** May 18, 2005, 10:06:53 pm »

Very cool! I think I may have to replace the buttons in my standup cab with some clears lit blue (like nobody will be doing that!). I may also have to get a clear trackball to go with them.

I think the best option mentioned for the micro switches is to buy the buttons without and order a bunch of switches at the bulk rate.

Whether I buy around 15 (standup cab) or 3 (bartop cab) will depend on how much these things cost.

JODY · « **Reply #431 on:** May 18, 2005, 10:55:02 pm »

I'll be in for at least 20 of various colors including green.

JODY · « **Reply #432 on:** May 18, 2005, 11:01:25 pm »

Any chance of additional colors on top of the ones prototyped?

Crazy_Mack · « **Reply #433 on:** May 18, 2005, 11:39:40 pm »

Count me in for around 40 buttons as well.

I had been trying to devise a way to combine short translucent buttons with the cherry microswitches, but option is far more realistic! I'm glad I discover this thread before I dove to far into my experiments.

THESE BUTTONS LOOK AWSOME!!!!!

shawnzilla · « **Reply #434 on:** May 19, 2005, 12:01:30 am »

Thanks for the great feedback everyone.

I will see about making more colors available in the near future. But, I'd like to go ahead and order now. To get new/different colors, we'd have to go back to the prototyping (i.e. for every color I want, they have to go to the trouble of making me a prototype, which takes them a long time).

More lighted pics will be coming in the next day or so.

RayB makes a good point and I am now creating a new thread for pre-order requests. I want to make the order within the next day or so...so, please post on that thread.

Kremmit · « **Reply #435 on:** May 19, 2005, 12:05:40 am »

I agree that yellow is conspicuously absent. Purple's nice, too, but I'd expect more demand for yellow.

Also agree with the comments about the green. It looks about like the old green translucent leaf buttons, but they were an ugly shade in the first place. Hardly ever saw 'em on a game, I think because nobody liked them then, either. Maybe that's why the interest is so low now.

Prefer the buttons without switches or with Cherry switches.

*edit - Shawnzilla's post came in while I was typing, but I think I'll leave my opinion here, anyway*

scooter · « **Reply #436 on:** May 19, 2005, 06:56:00 am »

Quote from: shawnzilla on May 19, 2005, 12:01:30 am

RayB makes a good point and I am now creating a new thread for pre-order requests. I want to make the order within the next day or so...so, please post on that thread.

Link is here.

shawnzilla · « **Reply #437 on:** May 19, 2005, 08:54:27 am »

I'm talking to the manufacturer about the possibility of yellow and changing the green. They will need color samples to pull it off. So....

Post any color swatches here that you would like to see (please stick to yellow, green and purple)

If I end up using your swatch, then you just might get a couple freebies of that color! Think of this as a contest of sorts.

Chris · « **Reply #438 on:** May 19, 2005, 09:04:57 am »

Can we see the green lit up before you go looking for a new one? It's hard to tell when it's dark...

shawnzilla · « **Reply #439 on:** May 19, 2005, 09:07:19 am »

Quote from: Chris on May 19, 2005, 09:04:57 am

Can we see the green lit up before you go looking for a new one? It's hard to tell when it's dark...

Working on that today.


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Author Topic: Translucent Microswitch Buttons **www.fxbuttons.com** (Read 93473 times)

Franco

Author Topic: Translucent Microswitch Buttons www.fxbuttons.com (Read 93473 times)