During the early years of home video game consoles, one of the first things that we wanted to do was customize our systems to our liking often times seeing aftermarket peripherals in magazines and commercials. During that era, it seemed that things were more regional and harder to find which required acquiring ordering them via mail-order but if you were lucky enough to find them at your local Games & Gadgets or Electronics Boutique then you were in business. One of the cooler peripherals to replace the factory joystick on various systems including the Atari VCS (2600) and Commodore Vic-20 / C64, was the Starplex Controller manufactured by Starplex Electronics in Spokane Washington.
The Starplex Controller was done with a faux woodgrain which was popular at that time and matched with especially with the Atari VCS and was perfect for playing games like Asteroids and Space Invaders. Finding one these days mint in the box isn’t the easiest thing to do but it does pop up from time to time. Although Wico was still king of the controller during the early 80’s, this Starplex was a sweet addition especially if you wanted to show off to your neighborhood friends and makes a great addition to the collection if you’re a collector today.