RecycledGamer

gliptitude, on Sat May 26, 2012 2:23 PM, said:

No problem at all! Like I said, I love getting feedback and making my controllers better if I can.

I will respond to your PM momentarily.

Chuck

Hi everyone,

Chuck here - the maker of the RecycledGamer modified controllers for Vectrex. Rick Weis was kind enough to point me over to this discussion.

I definitely appreciate getting feedback on my controllers. I'm a huge Vectrex nut and love making these controllers as a hobby so it's nice to hear commentary, both positive and negative. Hearing from users is the only way I can make them better.

I'm working on getting the prices down and have lowered them quite a bit since I started making modded controllers for Vectrex. I charge what I do because I use only the best condition donors and completely disassemble, clean and reassemble them. The labor for each controller is substantial. The SNES controller is my most popular and each one requires a SNES controller donor, a Genesis controller donor for the cord/connector, and a few dollars in parts.

Incidentally, thanks to all of the Pacific Northwest folks who have been collecting donor controllers for me! Such a great community of collectors up here.

Gliptitude mentioned that the buttons are not as responsive as he would like. This is a known issue I have where the button contacts on my boards sometimes oxidize because they don't have enough tin on them - especially of they don't get used much. What AX said is true about the existing boards being perfectly good and I have, indeed, already changed my manufacturing to simply modify the existing board by adding on a small daughterboard instead of making a whole new board myself. On the SNES controllers this means that the buttons use the original carbon button contacts and the Genesis controllers are split between gold and carbon contacts depending on when and where they were manufactured. The labor to do this, however, is actually substantially more than just making my own boards. Reliability on these new controllers is much higher.

Glibtitude - PM me your address and I will ship you out one of the SNES Vectrex controllers that uses the existing board. If you like it better, just ship back the old one so I can use it for a donor. This goes for anyone else having issues with one of my controllers - contact me and we'll work something out.

If any of you will be at CGE this year, I will be introducing several different types of arcade sticks modded for Vectrex. I have some Sega and a few other types on my site now, but I was able to secure several lots of new old-stock controllers that I will be selling in Vegas. One of sticks I will have is the Sega Saturn Virtua Stick - there was a warehouse find and I will have a bunch of those, new in box, modded with special RecycledGamer labeling. The Virtua stick is quickly becoming my favorite controller for Vectrex. That and the Interact Pro-Shock sticks.

Thanks again for the feedback. Feed free to toss out any questions you have and I will monitor this thread.

Chuck

PS: You will have to talk to my sister Lucy for psychiatric advice.

Curious Sofa, on Sun May 6, 2012 10:58 PM, said:

We'll put a bird on it for you!

I just refreshed my site with a bunch of new inventory. If you were waiting for me to get a particular moded Vectrex controller back in stock, now is the time!

http://RecycledGamer.com

To everyone who has purchased from my new online store, thank you!

Chuck

kennyk, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:22 PM, said:

Thanks! I really appreciate it! It will be shipped out ASAP.

Chuck