2600 Fire Command Joystick by GIM Electronics

[k8track]

I won one of these things on eBay a couple weeks ago for a tidy sum. I received it quickly, but the joystick is stiff and unresponsive. I opened it up for a look and tried to see if I could loosen a nut or something, but the way that the stick apparatus is assembled doesn't allow you to loosen anything (there's a snug rubber piece that seems to be causing the stiffness, but it's set in there and can't be moved). I tried spritzing a bit of WD-40 in the edges to try and lubricate it just a bit (it didn't hurt anything, but didn't help much either). Was this kind of stiffness typical for this particular joystick? Were they all like this? I'm pretty disappointed, but don't want to give up on it just yet. For something so rare and expensive, I sure expected a much better quality controller. You can use it, but it's a chore.

[squirrelnut]

Ive never heard of GIM Electronics before but a quick google search of the name of the stick came up with Wico. IIRC Wico isn't that great. Remember, sometimes there rare for a reason.

[k8track]

Ive never heard of GIM Electronics before but a quick google search of the name of the stick came up with Wico. IIRC Wico isn't that great. Remember, sometimes there rare for a reason.

No, it's not WICO.

It's a moot point now; I've gone ahead and resold it to someone for whom the stiffness isn't an issue, and once he cleans up the contacts a little bit (which seem to have gathered a bit of oxidation), it'll work just as well as it ever has. John Hardie confirmed that the stiffness is indeed typical for this kind of stick. Some people don't seem to mind or even prefer a stiffer stick, but I don't like it myself. I hope he enjoys it and gets a lot of good use out of it! (It is pretty darned rare!)

[k8track]

Sure.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8221806820&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[SuperShark]

That is one sweet looking Atari 2600 controller, great arcade style, my fav (i dont yet have a good arcade style 2600 controller). Too bad it didn't work out well for you.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I'm the one whom k8track sold the stick to, I like the stiffness but will admit that it's almost too stiff at times but I can get used to it, it's so comfortable and sturdy which I love. It will probably break in more as I use it. I wonder how many GIM made, as me and John are the only two that I can think of who own one.

[digitalpress]

We had one of these traded in yesterday. We paid fifty cents for it, but that was mainly because it was a new guy doing the trade-in. Had I seen it first-hand my poker face would have been truly tested.

Thing weighs a ton!

[k8track]

I had completely, totally forgotten about this! It's still tough to remember. I can't remember how much I would have paid for it; it must have been a lot. It sure looks awesome, but I remember that I just couldn't use it, so it just wasn't useful for me, no matter how super rare it was.

Now, I wouldn't even think about trying to acquire something like that; I'd much rather spend the money on travel or food. This old post reminds me of how hell-bent I was to just keep expanding my video game collection (most of which I still have and am still proud of; I sold off a bit of it back in the fall of 2007).

My interest in video games has waned (though never will completely, it's in my blood), but my interest in comics has reignited in the last few years. In fact, I just spend a chunk recently when I bought four issues of Kramers Ergot.

Vintagegamecrazy, you still use it? Did it ever loosen up? Does it work well?

[diskoboy]

Ive never heard of GIM Electronics before but a quick google search of the name of the stick came up with Wico. IIRC Wico isn't that great. Remember, sometimes there rare for a reason.

WICO's sticks were (key word there is: were..) friggin' awesome... I had two, myself.

The one with the long red handle with the button on top, and the one with the red ball/button on top. Their early controllers could really take some abuse, and were built like tanks.

But around the 85 or 86, their quality began to slide dramatically - wires would come out... the shell holding the contoller would literally come apart... the buttons wouldn't work, no matter how hard you pressed them... The handles would snap right off... They weren't near the quality of their earlier builds, even though they were the exact same models.

Fortunately, the two I owned lasted well into the Genesis era.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I still have that stick, never use it anymore K8track. It was pretty unresponsive at best. I'll have to try it out again. Joe that's surprising that you got one of those. They seem to be insanely rare as of nowadays. Great find!