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Interest check - Veccab arcade joystick for Vectrex / Veccab
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dgo
Apr 17, 2013, 1:50:39 PM4/17/13
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I've kinda been off the Vectrex scene for some time although I've never stopped playing and still have my collection of standard and some non-standard Vectrex stuff.
Some years ago I designed the Veccab, an arcade style cabinet, which houses the Vectrex and build a prototype which got a lot of interest online, on fairs and Eurocon when I introduced it. I've seen many copies since :)
Although the actual Veccab (the original site is down, I could post some pics later on) might be too complex hence (too?) expensive to reproduce or (small) serie produce, a smaller controller-only derivate might be viable.
I've also been selling quite some converted SEGA megadrive arcade sticks on fairs befriended fellow collectors which always sold pretty easily, but were a pain in the butt to convert, time wise, with a lot of soldering on the original pcb involved, which could fail after extensive use. And although that's already a huge improvement over the original controller when playing seriously, it's not comparable to the real arcade controls I used for the Veccab. Gotta love those microswitches :D
As the interest in actual playing the Vectrex has increased the last 10 years, on conto of the excelllent and active homebrew community developers, we all know who they are.. the original controllers take a beating and eventually break down. As we can see looking at the prices of originals. We want to conserve those. And we do need good arcade controllers. So I feel there could be enough demand to justify this project.
So I'm considering doing a limited run of digital only, Veccab styled arcade controllers, using microswitched commercial arcade controls, laminated and t-molded for max durability. fed to the Vectrex through a small custom voltage divider print, Both the print and the wood I'm considering getting manufactured, to get a high level production quality and also to be able to perhaps sell DIY assembly woodkits after the original run or even the loose voltage divider print to enable others building their own controllers.
The only way I would do this if I could have enough pre-orders so I can produce and assemble the entire serie, as I won't step into the trap of doing the woodwork myself, which is too time consuming, but focus on the production process and assembly, being able finish production before delivering and not build to order avoiding potential huge delays like we've seen with quite too many homebrew projects :)
My quesions for you:
What do you think could be a sellable serie size? I'm expecting at least 100 would be necessary to make the business case for the initial run of finished product somewhat, sound. For me it would be taking a risk, which I'd like take educated.
Of course, such a, relatively small series produced product is not going to be cheap. What would you be prepared to pay for this, If you could buy it right now?
Let me know what you think.
Kind regards,
Pepijn
Some years ago I designed the Veccab, an arcade style cabinet, which houses the Vectrex and build a prototype which got a lot of interest online, on fairs and Eurocon when I introduced it. I've seen many copies since :)
Although the actual Veccab (the original site is down, I could post some pics later on) might be too complex hence (too?) expensive to reproduce or (small) serie produce, a smaller controller-only derivate might be viable.
I've also been selling quite some converted SEGA megadrive arcade sticks on fairs befriended fellow collectors which always sold pretty easily, but were a pain in the butt to convert, time wise, with a lot of soldering on the original pcb involved, which could fail after extensive use. And although that's already a huge improvement over the original controller when playing seriously, it's not comparable to the real arcade controls I used for the Veccab. Gotta love those microswitches :D
As the interest in actual playing the Vectrex has increased the last 10 years, on conto of the excelllent and active homebrew community developers, we all know who they are.. the original controllers take a beating and eventually break down. As we can see looking at the prices of originals. We want to conserve those. And we do need good arcade controllers. So I feel there could be enough demand to justify this project.
So I'm considering doing a limited run of digital only, Veccab styled arcade controllers, using microswitched commercial arcade controls, laminated and t-molded for max durability. fed to the Vectrex through a small custom voltage divider print, Both the print and the wood I'm considering getting manufactured, to get a high level production quality and also to be able to perhaps sell DIY assembly woodkits after the original run or even the loose voltage divider print to enable others building their own controllers.
The only way I would do this if I could have enough pre-orders so I can produce and assemble the entire serie, as I won't step into the trap of doing the woodwork myself, which is too time consuming, but focus on the production process and assembly, being able finish production before delivering and not build to order avoiding potential huge delays like we've seen with quite too many homebrew projects :)
My quesions for you:
What do you think could be a sellable serie size? I'm expecting at least 100 would be necessary to make the business case for the initial run of finished product somewhat, sound. For me it would be taking a risk, which I'd like take educated.
Of course, such a, relatively small series produced product is not going to be cheap. What would you be prepared to pay for this, If you could buy it right now?
Let me know what you think.
Kind regards,
Pepijn
VectrexMad!
Apr 17, 2013, 6:45:47 PM4/17/13
to
Hello Pepijn,
Good to see you are still in the scene.
I saw your VecCab too, and Rudy's copies.
Your VecCab helped inspire me to build a full size uprate.
Here you can find the details: http://vectrexmad.blogspot.co.uk/
Actually that blog is out of date and I do need to update it to cover the latest progress.
I personally don't think there is a market for 100 analogue arcade type controllers. I believe 30 - 50 is more realistic. I've sold repro overlays and autofires and after selling more than 50 units of each type it seems interest slows down.
A laminated wood and t-molded controllers sounds very nice. However, i'm currently making a controller already for my VecCab.
Might be worth raising your question on the Vector Gaming forum. There's 93 registered members there.
VectrexMad!
http://www.vectrex.co.uk
Good to see you are still in the scene.
I saw your VecCab too, and Rudy's copies.
Your VecCab helped inspire me to build a full size uprate.
Here you can find the details: http://vectrexmad.blogspot.co.uk/
Actually that blog is out of date and I do need to update it to cover the latest progress.
I personally don't think there is a market for 100 analogue arcade type controllers. I believe 30 - 50 is more realistic. I've sold repro overlays and autofires and after selling more than 50 units of each type it seems interest slows down.
A laminated wood and t-molded controllers sounds very nice. However, i'm currently making a controller already for my VecCab.
Might be worth raising your question on the Vector Gaming forum. There's 93 registered members there.
VectrexMad!
http://www.vectrex.co.uk
bak...@xs4all.nl
May 3, 2013, 7:02:51 AM5/3/13
to
Op donderdag 18 april 2013 00:45:47 UTC+2 schreef VectrexMad! het volgende:
Hey VectrexMad!
Thanks for your response!
I Think for online sales you're probably right about the serie size. Together with sales on the fairs in Holland (we have about 4/5 busy ones each year) I could probably justify going towards a 100, albeit with some risk of taking a bit longer to sell.
I've located about all the parts I need. The little PCB I'll probably have made. I'm getting some quotes, hopefully it's gonna be viable to build these.
We'll see, it's good to be playing around with Vectrex ideas again anyways :)
Kind regards,
Pepijn
Thanks for your response!
I Think for online sales you're probably right about the serie size. Together with sales on the fairs in Holland (we have about 4/5 busy ones each year) I could probably justify going towards a 100, albeit with some risk of taking a bit longer to sell.
I've located about all the parts I need. The little PCB I'll probably have made. I'm getting some quotes, hopefully it's gonna be viable to build these.
We'll see, it's good to be playing around with Vectrex ideas again anyways :)
Kind regards,
Pepijn
dgo
May 3, 2013, 11:18:47 AM5/3/13
to
By the way, good job on the upright, I like it! very nice idea!
How does it look finished?
How does it look finished?
Vectorguy
May 3, 2013, 10:13:37 PM5/3/13
to
> I personally don't think there is a market for 100 analogue arcade type controllers. I believe 30 - 50 is more realistic. I've sold repro overlays and autofires and after selling more than 50 units of each type it seems interest slows down.
Well, plus there aren't that many of us Vectrexians around anyway,
so... :)
http://vectorgaming.proboards.com/
VectrexMad!
May 6, 2013, 7:12:53 PM5/6/13
to
On Friday, 3 May 2013 16:18:47 UTC+1, dgo wrote:
> By the way, good job on the upright, I like it! very nice idea!
>
>
>
> How does it look finished?
Busy with work at the moment, but will try to uopdate the blog soon.
> By the way, good job on the upright, I like it! very nice idea!
>
>
>
> How does it look finished?
VectrexMad!
http://www.vectrex.co.uk
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