The same applies to Hori colors.
Although some Hori colors match Sanwa’s, it’s really a 50/50 crap-shoot.
Sanwa colors tend to be darker; Seimitsu tends to have lighter shade colors; Hori is in-between and can match one or the other or be in its own category.
The reds are very different line-to-line. What Seimitsu calls “red” is actually (correctly called) by Sanwa’s standard “vermillion” or orange-red. For the black HRAP 3’s Hori used to make, they matched the Sanwa vermillion balltop about perfectly with their Hori plug-in buttons. Swap out those buttons with vermillion Sanwa’s and you’d hardly notice the difference. Likewise, the Hori red balltop handle for the Tekken 5 joysticks matched Sanwa’s darker red shade just about perfectly, too.
I noticed on the Arcana Heart 2 joystick that the Hori button shades were definitely lighter for yellow and pink. Stack the Sanwa buttons by the original soldered-in Hori buttons the difference is noticeable; the Sanwa buttons were appreciably darker-shaded.
Look at the color comparisons where they have them on Focus Attack and Paradise Arcade Shop’s pages.
White is white is white unless someone is trying to do an ivory or light grey shade, everything else is a bit different. I notice what Sanwa calls “indigo”/dark blue has more violet than I’d like. The Sanwa violet itself is a bit pinker than the shade I care for. (I don’t mix and match button brands based on color. I’m going to go all-Sanwa or all-Seimitsu, not mixes and matches of types. There was a Hori joystick that was solicited and eventually had production cancelled because of low pre-orders. People DIDN’T want to buy a joystick with mixed brand button parts! People are more flexible when it comes to mixed joystick levers and buttons. IE, they’ll buy a joystick with all-Seimitsu parts OR Seimitsu lever and Sanwa buttons and vice-versa.)
Mad Catz also sells dustcover kits (clones of the JLF-CD) that seem to match Sanwa colors better… The problem is the price ($5 for a replacement dustwasher/shaft cover kit) and the poor reputation of Mad Catz online store’s customer service. Qanba seems to be a bit cheap to me and the reliability as far as their joystick PCB’s are concerned leaves something to be desired. I know people get the Qanba joysticks because of the dual-system compatibility and their reluctance to do any electrical (re: soldering) work but the PCB’s tend to have a lower reliability factor than the Hori and latest generation Mad Catz PCB’s. *Proceed at your own risk! *
That said, there shouldn’t be a problem with the shaft cover kits.
Seems like the balltop handles Qanba makes break about as often as Hori, Sanwa, or Seimitsu balltop handles break – which is not much when they’re manufactured well and treated right by their owners. Usually the worst you see is mild scratching or surface plastic cracking that doesn’t go deep.
I did NOT notice cheaper shaftcover kits unless you’re talking about transparent versus solid color. The Qanba solids and Sanwa black kits are the same price. If you think a dollar’s difference for a transparent shaft/dustcover is a huge deal, you should find a new hobby. When you get into dollar differences per part that are $10 or more then we’ll talk about “expensive” parts otherwise a dollar’s difference is not huge. (FYI, the value of a dollar today is like 1-cent 100 years ago. Inflation has been that bad!)
Most online stores have sales on-and-off throughout tourney season and in advance of major holidays. Parts generally don’t get the greatest discounts unless you buy in bulk (50 pieces or more, and only on certain parts like quick disconnects and screws); you’re going to find the 30% and higher discounts on complete joysticks.
I try to stay away from the colors I don’t like or have problems matching artworks to or generally don’t want to be caught dead in public with. I actually don’t mind pink so much but have a hatred towards violet, indigo, and white… White’s the most overused parts color in joysticks after black cases.