New Tanslucent Ball Type Joystick with Translucent Buttons

[gl.tter]

It is bubbly inside the ball.

[ponyboy]

I have not.  I have just received my HotRod Control Panel last night.  I will put one in tonight and give it a try.

Ponyboy

[Stingray]

Looking forward to seeing the red ones. Hope they aren't too pink.

-S

[cholin]

I wanna see a blue one mounted.  I was scared that the red ones would be too bright, orangy, that kind of stuff.  They will be nice if they are just slightly lighter than the happs red buttons, or the translucent ones coming out.

[cholin]

Well the harness thing is easily accomplished.  Maybe you could place a mass order from Jameco or something for a ton of female headers (those are what the harness is right?) and just give out one header for every joystcik someone buys, so they can make their own harnesses with some wire and a solderring gun.  5 wires is no big deal, and giving out the headers wont kill your budget, they're only a few cents each.

Cant wait to use one

[tommy]

Im going to pass, thanks.

[oldsage]

Im going to pass, thanks.

I was thinking the same thing, but i would wait to see the clear ones first...

[gl.tter]

I was thinking the same thing, but i would wait to see the clear ones first...

Looking doubtful for me too.  Any particular reason for the higher price?

[Grasshopper]

Put it this way at $6.95 I'd chance buying one just to try it out. But at $12.95 I'd wait for some reviews first.

[ponyboy]

There was no firm price set.  I was trying for $6.95 but after all was said and done and the amount I can pull in at one time brought my purchasing price over the $6.95 mark.  Of course if I could purchase more the price go's down.  I would have to bring to the State's a minimum of 500 unit just to get my price at $6.95.  So the price will be $12.95 ea.  I already have contacted people to test these units out for me.  I kindly ask that the people that will be doing the testing contact me first on their finding before posting any info.  If the majority states that the stick is not worth the money then I will not even bother selling the unit.

regards,

Ponyboy

[Grasshopper]

Ponyboy, if you're considering importing joysticks from the far east then have you considered Sunbetty?

http://www.sunbetty.com.tw

I've got one of their "spain type" joysticks (no prizes for guessing what it's modelled on) and it's very well made. They also do ball top japanese style joysticks which I've heard aren't as good. But they might be worth checking out anyway.

Just a thought.

[RandyT]

I think Ponyboy may be running into the "shipping from Asia Sticker Shock" that I experienced, so ordering from SunBetty probably won't be a lot of help.

When it costs $4 or more per joystick to ship 100 of them from Asia, the cost benefits are nearly non-existent.

I feel for ya, PB

RandyT

[IG-88]

Ponyboy, if you're considering importing joysticks from the far east then have you considered Sunbetty?

http://www.sunbetty.com.tw

I've got one of their "spain type" joysticks (no prizes for guessing what it's modelled on) and it's very well made. They also do ball top japanese style joysticks which I've heard aren't as good. But they might be worth checking out anyway.

Just a thought.

How much was it?

[Grasshopper]

Ponyboy, if you're considering importing joysticks from the far east then have you considered Sunbetty?

http://www.sunbetty.com.tw

I've got one of their "spain type" joysticks (no prizes for guessing what it's modelled on) and it's very well made. They also do ball top japanese style joysticks which I've heard aren't as good. But they might be worth checking out anyway.

Just a thought.

How much was it?

Well I bought it second hand from someone on this board. However this thread might interest you.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,8161.0.html

[gl.tter]

Any news on these?  Anybody try them yet?  Pics of other colours?

[cholin]

Anything happen yet?  Get the shipment?

[ponyboy]

I have received 10 units for testing.  They made a mistake on my order and sent me the clear.  By the way the Balltop does screw off and it does include a harness.  I will post the other colors on Monday 5/9/05 in the evening.

Testers you know who you are.  Keep an eye on your Mailbox.

Thanks,

Ponyboy

[coorslight]

well if all the news that comes from the testers is good or at least OK I'll Put my order in for 2 clear ones right away. I would also love to see a picture of the clear one.

[melidian]

just got my test joystick in the clear version and it looks very cool and works great...not as cheap as some knockoff balltops i've used
i put it in a pacman multicade control panel for my home machine and it's very sharp looking!!  the little wire harness actually makes it easier to wire i think.

i can send pics to anyone looking for them but am not well versed at adding pics on this forum...i would and could easily pay alot more for this joystick.  the balltop can screw off so all you modders can have at it! 

this is totally unsolicited feedback and just trying to be thorough for the skeptics:) but ponyboy has done it again

[cholin]

Damn, that was pretty quick.  Its gonna take a little while longer for mine to come (Canada) but when I get it, Ill take a few shots of it, the wiring harness, etc....Ill see about the balltop, maybe add an LED for the modders   Can't add it to my control panel ATM though, so might just cut a hole in some other wood I have laying around, see how it all works out...

[Stingray]

Still waiting to see what the red ones look like before I order.

-S

[cholin]

Yes I wanted to see the blue ones, then I would order a red one, but with a clear one, I guess you have the basics.  Just imagine it tinted red/blue...just need to know the shade.  Also, you can see how well it lights up with LEDs with those "bubbles" in it.  Usually, edges catch the light, so that should make it pretty interesting...

[ponyboy]

All test units have been shipped.

Thanks for your support.

Ponyboy

[ponyboy]

New color posted * CLEAR *

Thanks,

Ponyboy

[ponyboy]

Test result in by Melidian.

Ponyboy

[cholin]

Still waiting for mine   Getting really excited about it.  Imagining these babies with translucent buttons

Just realized that the actual stick of the clear ones are yellow...might need a bit of paint....

[tommy]

I just got my test joy, i would have prefered a solid ball but thats just me, i do like the short stiff feel to them but sometimes i feel the corners too much, still a good stick.

[gl.tter]

Anybody brave an LED yet?

[cholin]

Anybody brave an LED yet?

Give it a week, Ill tell ya how it goes with a blue one.  When I get it that is.....Ill take a ton of pictures...

[gl.tter]

Give it a week, Ill tell ya how it goes with a blue one.

[Hoagie_one]

Just getting this thing out of the box.  I like the feel of it, really good little stick.  I like teh fact that it has a very low underside clearance.  Great for small cabs like bar tops.  This was a big deal with my last bartop when I used a wico 8way.  I didnt leave enough underside clearance.  This thing wont have that problem.

I'll update after I mount this to a box and play some streetfighter.

[ponyboy]

More testing results in.  Please check them out.

Thanks,

Ponyboy

[Grasshopper]

Is the joystick still usable if the plastic sleeve below the balltop is removed?

[ponyboy]

I will check to make sure.  If the response is good I will make sure that plastic piece is black.

Ponyboy

[cholin]

Is the joystick still usable if the plastic sleeve below the balltop is removed?

I asked if it could be changed black, because frankly, yellow looks horrible on a clear/red/blue joystick!  Ponyboy informed me already that the next run will be black.

[Grasshopper]

Is the joystick still usable if the plastic sleeve below the balltop is removed?

I asked if it could be changed black, because frankly, yellow looks horrible on a clear/red/blue joystick!  Ponyboy informed me already that the next run will be black.

Black would be OK but I'd prefer bare metal.

[ponyboy]

Grasshopper, I just checked it out.  Bare metal not a problem.  You can remove the sleeve and the stick operates with no problem.

Ponyboy

[oldsage]

I've just finished testing my unit, but I'm lazy so I'll just quote some of the things i wrote to ponyboy:

Okay, so now after testing the stick for real, i can say it works great, much more than you'd expect by the price or look. The one thing i didn't like was the cheap microswitchs, and the hard-to-figure-out restrictor plate (is that how you call it?). Other than that, i can pretty surely say I'll be ordering two of those for my next project (still in design...).

A few notes: I've used ipac to test the joy; The harness is annoying for people with insulated disconnects; The shaft color feels cheap and i didn't get how to remove it; The 4-way mode feels very unique (for the better); Throw could be a little longer, although still pretty nice; I only tested in 8-way, and 4-way games are less then ok in that mode; 8-way games work great in it; Why no red?; I mounted from above, and i do not recommend it; I should have recessed...

Thanks again, the joystick work great!

So, yeah... Cool sticks... They feel real nice... I don't know how to describe it, but it kind of feels like you would think it should... I'll punch myself later for saying this, but i liked it better than my T-Stiks, E-Stiks, and all happs joys I've played with (note that i didn't get to fiddle with a P360 for more than a few seconds), it's a real close competition between it and the E-Stik for me, but all that might just be because i expected less, dunno...

BTW - @ponyboy, how about a name? You can't stay with "New Translucent Ball Type Joystick" forever (NTBTJ? Nah...) - Maybe you should change it to "Translucent Ball Type Joystick" (At least TBTJ sounds better)?

[ponyboy]

I will have pic's for all colors tonight.

Ponyboy

[ponyboy]

All Colors Posted.

Ponyboy