heavy sixer joystick question?

[homerwannabee]

OK, I have heard people talk about orignal heavy sixer joystick for awhile now. My question is how do you know if you have a plain old woody,vader,jr joystick or a heavy sixer joystick?

[CPUWIZ]

The hex disc on top of the joystick is not flat, the inside stick is black and the button/stick are springloaded. The circuit board is also screwed against the top piece of plastic as opposed to just wedged in.

 

The stick feels rather mushy compared to the later version.

[bjk7382]

The stick will move in all directions about 1/2 inch and it will feel all sloppy. This is because of the springs inside. Also most of them will have a hole in the top from the small hex disk that always falls out. It was a little metal disk with either atari or sears on it.

 

The joysticks are pretty rare and usually go for over 20 dollars on ebay for one.

[CPUWIZ]

The joysticks are pretty rare and usually go for over 20 dollars on ebay for one.

 

Indeed.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...gory=41009&rd=1

[bjk7382]

Yeah, I said some of them have the hole in the top, but some of them (yours) look like they were just glued. I wonder which ones came first, seems like the ones with the peg would hold longer.

[CPUWIZ]

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3065539762

[CPUWIZ]

Actually while we are on this subject, is there such a thing as heavy-sixer paddles ?

[bjk7382]

The only more rare paddles that I know of are the ones with Sears on them instaid of paddle. Or maybe it was the sears driving controller I am thinking about. I know there is a sears variation of one or both.

[MrRetroGamer]

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3065539762

 

That's the guy who sells the Atari Orange paint (your bidder there), maybe you can get him to pay you in paint?

[CPUWIZ]

The only more rare paddles that I know of are the ones with Sears on them instaid of paddle. Or maybe it was the sears driving controller I am thinking about. I know there is a sears variation of one or both.

 

Actually, I found out that there is indeed heavy sixer paddles, they have a different sticker. Instead of "Paddle" they have the Atari logo on them.

 

@MrRetroGamer: LOL, that guy paid before I could even send the invoice.

[BassGuitari]

The only more rare paddles that I know of are the ones with Sears on them instaid of paddle. Or maybe it was the sears driving controller I am thinking about. I know there is a sears variation of one or both.

 

Actually, I found out that there is indeed heavy sixer paddles, they have a different sticker. Instead of "Paddle" they have the Atari logo on them.

 

I've never seen any personally, but early Atari cataloges also show driving controllers and keyboard controllers with an Atari logo in place of their respective labelling. I own a pair of "Heavy Searser" paddles though.

[the 5th ghost]

 

Here's a picture of my "heavy sixer" controllers. I only have one joystick with the Atari hex disk, about 7 other ones missing the hex disk.

 

Doug

[D.Yancey]

Hey 5th Ghost,

 

Those are some awesome controllers! Can you get 999,999 on Kaboom! with all the versions of the paddle controllers?

 

Yancey

[the 5th ghost]

Hey 5th Ghost,

 

Those are some awesome controllers!  Can you get 999,999 on Kaboom! with all the versions of the paddle controllers?  

 

Yancey

 

As long as the paddles are in top working condition, I can get 999,999 on any set

 

One thing is certain though, speaking of paddles. Of all of the early version paddles I've come across, the ones with the Atari logo instead of the word "Paddles", I would say 99% of the time they all work perfectly. They are the ones I use all the time and never had a problem with them.

 

On the other hand, the more common version with the word "Paddles", seems like every set I find has the "jitters". I rarely find a perfect working set of this version of paddles. I would say like 1 out of 30 sets work properly.

 

I guess the moral of the story is that the paddles must have been built better at first when they were manufactured in Sunnyvale. Somewhere along the line when they were being produced in huge quantities later on, some quality was sacrificed.

 

BTW Yancey, what's your current top Kaboom! score these days? What other Activision games have you mastered recently? I still haven't sent in my tape yet with my 34.49 on Sky Jinks Race 1

 

Take care,

 

Doug

[bjk7382]

I never seen how anyone could get 999,999 on kaboom. I can't get over 3,000 after about 40 games in a row. And that is with perfect paddles. I guess I just don't have what it takes.

[the 5th ghost]

I never seen how anyone could get 999,999 on kaboom. I can't get over 3,000 after about 40 games in a row. And that is with perfect paddles. I guess I just don't have what it takes.

 

Well,

 

I did have lots of practice!

 

I got the game for Christmas when it first came out. It was my first Activision game. My two brothers and I each got one Activision game for Christmas that year and each following year. (Does anyone else remember a Christmas tradition like this?)

 

I played the game constantly but I think it took me a couple years till I went for the million points. Back then I didn't take a picture of the screen but I did it recently and sent in the picture the Twin Galaxies

 

Don't give up, keep practicing! The more familiar you get with the bomb movements the higher your score will go.

 

Take care,

 

Doug

[bjk7382]

I never seen how anyone could get 999,999 on kaboom. I can't get over 3,000 after about 40 games in a row. And that is with perfect paddles. I guess I just don't have what it takes.

 

Well,

 

I did have lots of practice!

 

I got the game for Christmas when it first came out. It was my first Activision game. My two brothers and I each got one Activision game for Christmas that year and each following year. (Does anyone else remember a Christmas tradition like this?)

 

I played the game constantly but I think it took me a couple years till I went for the million points. Back then I didn't take a picture of the screen but I did it recently and sent in the picture the Twin Galaxies

 

Don't give up, keep practicing! The more familiar you get with the bomb movements the higher your score will go.

 

Take care,

 

Doug

 

I probly haven't played it nearly as much as you have. I play it every now and then, and I am proud of myself if I can get over 2000. It just seems like an unreachable goal for me.

 

I already have my Thrust tape and a high score for Joust 400/800 that I still have to send into TG. They are both already recorded, I just need to copy them and send them in. Mine will be the first entry for Thrust 2600 in the TG scoreboard.

[Chris-in-NJ]

You know, I've *never* seen a 2600 joystick with the hex disc before. Maybe I did in catalogs in the late 70s, but I don't remember! (I didn't get a 2600 until around 1980, though friends of mine had them earlier.)

[bjk7382]

You know, I've *never* seen a 2600 joystick with the hex disc before. Maybe I did in catalogs in the late 70s, but I don't remember! (I didn't get a 2600 until around 1980, though friends of mine had them earlier.)

 

The hex disks are *extremely* rare and there are only a handful of people known to own them.

[CPUWIZ]

The hex disks are *extremely* rare and there are only a handful of people known to own them.

 

And how would you know that ? You don't even know a tenth of the big time collectors.

[bjk7382]

The hex disks are *extremely* rare and there are only a handful of people known to own them.

 

And how would you know that ? You don't even know a tenth of the big time collectors.

 

So, I read things (there was a thread of people talking about who had them and who didn't)

 

I think my assumption was correct nonetheless

[CPUWIZ]

The hex disks are *extremely* rare and there are only a handful of people known to own them.

 

And how would you know that ? You don't even know a tenth of the big time collectors.

 

So, I read things (there was a thread of people talking about who had them and who didn't)

 

I think my assumption was correct nonetheless

 

Your assumption is what it is, an assumption.

 

Do you really think that all the people who collect Atari stuff post messages here ?

[Rob Mitchell]

The hex disks are *extremely* rare and there are only a handful of people known to own them.

 

I agree! There would be alot more if .. they didn't fall off and get lost easily .. I lost the two SEARS discs that I had in the late 1970's.

 

Back in 1998, I mentioned the Hex Discs to John Hardie .. and he said that he remembered them. But he didn't have one.

 

I think my disc is the only one that has ever been shown at a video game convention (Cinciclassic 1999 and 2000.)

 

BTW: The early 5 spring joysticks do not say "TOP" on them. The joystick orientation was to be determined by the presence of the disc.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Retro Rogue]

The hex disks are *extremely* rare and there are only a handful of people known to own them.

I agree! There would be alot more if .. they didn't fall off and get lost easily .. I lost the two SEARS discs that I had in the late 1970's.

 

Back in 1998, I mentioned the Hex Discs to John Hardie .. and he said that he remembered them. But he didn't have one.

 

I disagree. While indeed sticks with them still intact from 1977 are harder to find, the hex disks themselves are not rare. B&C still sells the original Atari logo hexs for the heavy sixer sticks in fact.

 

Here's a closeup of one of a pair I got at a thrift:

 

And here's the pair restored:

 

I think my disc is the only one that has ever been shown at a video game convention (Cinciclassic 1999 and 2000.)

 

 

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

Not quite. :wink: This was from the museum section of the last Midwest Classic (Now Midwest Gaming Classic):

 

[Retro Rogue]

The hex disc on top of the joystick is not flat, the inside stick is black and the button/stick are springloaded. The circuit board is also screwed against the top piece of plastic as opposed to just wedged in.

 

The stick feels rather mushy compared to the later version.

 

Also, the rubber guard itself is heavy duty rubber that's fit into the stick differently than the later versions. Likewise, the inside stick is not always black it can also be grey.

 

Here's what the underside spring area looks like:

 

Here's the contact board that the springs set in to:

 

And here's the actual pcb (contact side up). There are actually several revisions of the heavy sixer pcb, and I have a few different ones. This one is a revision 5: