I'm waiting for 1UP to reply....

Heheh!
Personally I don't mind the texture. WTF, it's comfortable! What's wrong with that? I don't really think it's rubbery, just feels buffed to a matte finish. Not sticky at all (unless you're playing a lot of Fantasia...) I don't notice it at all once I'm into a good game of BattleZone! If it really bothers you, stick a buffing wheel on a Dremel and polish it to a shiny finish!
The switches are pretty loud. Theyr'e basically large microswitches with no enclosure. I'm sure you could hack some regular enclosed switches in place on the provided PCBs. Again, once I get into playing, I really don't notice it. Probably more bothersome to the leaf-switch crowd...

Now I wouldn't mind having a couple Tron sticks instead, but looks like no one wants to make the handles anymore.

For $9, I can't complain about the Raiders too much...