Sears Paddles - "Sears"

[shadowdoggie]

How common are the paddles that say Sears?

 

I've had many Sears systems, but this is the first time that I have seen the word "Sears" where it would normally say "Atari" or "Paddles".

 

I'm sure this is fairly common, but since I have never seen it before I was hoping to get some feedback.

 

Tks

[Tempest]

I've had a few. I also have driving controllers that say Sears on them (came with Race). The oddest thing I've seen were paddles that said Sears on them, but had an Atari sticker covering it up (one fell off which is why I noticed it). Atari must have rebadged the old Sears stock when Sears got out of the 2600 market.

 

Tempest

[l3ushwig]

Correct me if im wrong but didnt these come with the sears heavy sixer?

 

[Mindfield]

Yes, the ones that say "Sears" are the first-year models. After that they were identical to the Atari-branded models.

 

(The first-year Sears joysticks are identical though, except for the hex disc, which also says "sears" -- but since most of those fall out they all look the same without them)

[deathtrappomegranate]

The first-year "Sears" sticks (with hex-disc) are rare. Properly.

[shadowdoggie]

This is great information! Thanks to everyone that replied. I was trying to decide whether or not to keep them, and I definitely want to keep them now.

 

Mindfield, when you say that the first year Sears joysticks were the same as the Atari joysticks, do you mean same as the heavy sixer first year joysticks or the CX-40 or whatever they are called... something 40.... non heavy sixer joysticks, how about that.

 

About that hex-disc.... that's like one of those...uh..ah... nope don't know what that is. Is that like the joystick motherboard?

[Mindfield]

No. The "hex discs" were little plastic hexagonal discs that were inset into the top of the first-year CX40 joysticks. The Atari models had a fuji logo and the "Atari" name on the disc, and the Sears ones just had "Sears" on them. They were notorious for falling out though, so finding a set of first-year sticks with the hex discs still attached is quite rare. Mostly, you'll find them with a shallow indentation where they were supposed to go on top of the boot. The only other distinguishing feature of first-year joysticks was that the fire button was spring-loaded. Later models still had a spring, but it was tiny and didn't give the button much play. Any maybe it's just me but I found the plastic used in the mould for the boots was more supple and made the stick less rigid than later models, too.

 

When I say that they were the same, I mean it's the same unit, same electronics -- the only branding those sticks had was the hex disc to distinguish them. Without those Atari and Sears sticks were the same.