Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: OSCAR on October 31, 2003, 08:17:43 pm
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I apologize for the duplicate post, but I originally had buried this question in another thread.
Does anyone recognize this replacement handle? I have a couple NOS ones but I'm not really sure what they go in and it's starting to bug me... They look almost like a Joust stick, but the skinny part on the shaft is too long, for one. For scale, that's a standard long Wico stick next to it. Original Pac maybe, but the actuator is wrong. Those are the two actuators that came in the kit shown next to the green stick.
You can see on the instruction sheet that says it is 4 1/64" long, but that is from the top of the ball.
(http://www.oscarcontrols.com/tmp/wico-unknown.jpg)
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Could it be from the Wico Red Ball handle joystick referred to on this page?
http://members.shaw.ca/pcollard/conrolrs.htm (http://members.shaw.ca/pcollard/conrolrs.htm)
http://members.shaw.ca/pecollard/wicofam.jpg (http://members.shaw.ca/pecollard/wicofam.jpg)
This is just a guess, but since it's so small, It could be from a handheld controller like this, I guess.
I'll keep looking...
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Yeah, good chance it is for the 2600 controllers.
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It had crossed my mind that it may be for a console stick, but see how short the fat portion of the handle is? It's only 7/8" long, and the skinny portion is the standard 1-7/8" long which is the required length to fit through a standard leaf base and doesn't leave any room for a spacer. Which, btw, I've never seen on a Wico leaf stick, the turned down portion of the handle normally rests against a washer directly above the bushing in the rubber gromet.
This means the bottom of the ball would only be about 1/2" above a metal control panel, and that seems way too short for one of the 2600 controllers to me. I could be wrong, but I don't think it is for a 2600 controller.
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It sure looks like a Pac handle to me, but you might want to look at the specs for a two way stick as well.
APf
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Yeh but it says "replacment kit for "WICO" 2-4-8 way joystick assemblies. I dont think Wico made the sticks for Bally/Midway games. I'm pretty sure Bally/Midway had their own controls dept. which was later purchased by Happ. If it said "replacment kit for 2-4-8 way joystick assemblies" (leaving out the name Wico) then I would assume that Wico made a replacment kit for Midway joysticks but the key here is that it says that it is a replacment for their own joysticks. So my personal opinion is that its not a Pac stick but maybe a stick for a game from another manufacturer that DID use Wico sticks for their games. I could be wrong but weren't there other games out there that weren't made by Midway but did use extra short 4-way joysticks with the smaller ball similar to the Pac stick but made by Wico ?
I dunno.. this is really puzzling me because while I do remember playing many non Midway 4-way games with the shorter Wico balltop but never with the smaller pac style ball. They were short like a pac stick but always had the typical large Wico ball. One exception was manufacturers who used the black ball Monroe joysticks ie early Konami games. These had balltops roughly the same circumfrence as a Midway pac stick but obviously this is clearly a Wico stick so I'm LOST ! >:( ???
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Yeh but it says "replacment kit for "WICO" 2-4-8 way joystick assemblies. I dont think Wico made the sticks for Bally/Midway games. I'm pretty sure Bally/Midway had their own controls dept. which was later purchased by Happ. If it said "replacment kit for 2-4-8 way joystick assemblies" (leaving out the name Wico) then I would assume that Wico made a replacment kit for Midway joysticks but the key here is that it says that it is a replacment for their own joysticks. So my personal opinion is that its not a Pac stick but maybe a stick for a game from another manufacturer that DID use Wico sticks for their games. I could be wrong but weren't there other games out there that weren't made by Midway but did use extra short 4-way joysticks with the smaller ball similar to the Pac stick but made by Wico ?
I dunno.. this is really puzzling me because while I do remember playing many non Midway 4-way games with the shorter Wico balltop but never with the smaller pac style ball. They were short like a pac stick but always had the typical large Wico ball. One exception was manufacturers who used the black ball Monroe joysticks ie early Konami games. These had balltops roughly the same circumfrence as a Midway pac stick but obviously this is clearly a Wico stick so I'm LOST ! >:( ???
So, you feel my pain... :)
The other curious thing about these is that the large diameter on the shaft is 5/16", and the turned down diameter is 1/4". This means that the rubber grommet for the joystick base these sticks were meant to fit had a smaller I.D. bushing than the "standard" Wico leaf joystick, and I believe the Pac sticks used a larger 3/8" diameter shaft. I don't have an original Pac stick to compare it to, but I'm pretty sure it had a larger shaft. Check out these pics, the first one shows a pretty hefty shaft under the ball.
original Pac top (http://www.quarterarcade.com/GamePicture.aspx?c=All.Parts.JoyBut&g=485&o=1&m=0)
original Pac bottom (http://www.quarterarcade.com/GamePicture.aspx?c=All.Parts.JoyBut&g=485&o=2&m=0)
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Yeh, and also I could be wrong but I don't think the original pac sticks had that little molded collar on the bottom of the ball where it meets the shaft. Looks like I'm gonna have to do some investigating on the web and see if I can find more info. The answer is out there somewhere. ;D
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They look like the handles of some 4-way joysticks that I bought off Ebay. Here's the original thread about them:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=8423
The bases look like the bases of the Wico clones sold by Centsible amusements. I'm very surprised that they were made by Wico because the plastic is of a lower quality.
The handles came in two lengths and the shorter ones are very short indeed, even shorter than the Ms Pacman/Galaga handles.