Here we have the Willis Millipede replacement control panel overlay. While not in my top 5 favorites, I do like this one. If you’ve seen the original Atari cabinet art for Millipede, you know it is just stunning. While the original control panel is a very plain in comparison, just mirroring some of the design elements in the marquee. The Willis version adds a little fun in the form of mushrooms on the overlay, along with decorative boarder patterns. Its just a small change but it looks good. The color scheme tries to tie into the cabinet art with its greens, red and yellow, and overall I think it does work. This is a nice 6 color screen printed overlay, with die cuts for the buttons, hardware and trackball, along with the usual 3M materials. It also has the P1 and P2 “Willis men”, the © 1983 by WILLIS ™ text logo, and a part number! This might be one of the earliest appearances of the part number on a Willis replacement overlay. It was around this time that Willis had a distribution agreement with WICO, that hugely influential part distributor we all know and love. I’m guessing WICO requested part numbers to make it easier to add the overlays to their famous product catalog and also make it easier to pick and pack the overlay for shipping. This is a simple, clean looking overlay and if I found one in the wild I’d probably leave it alone. If you have any pictures of this overlay on your game, please share!
From the original Tokens Only…
Nope! 1st time posting about this Willis overlay.
The Willis Wico relationship is a bit of a mystery. I have and will post images from a Wico supplement catalog, that showcases the Willis replacement overlays you could buy. It don’t believe the relationship lasted very long, perhaps only about a year or so as you can find Wico’s own replacement overlays advertised shortly after the catalog was published. Share your thoughts or insights, thanks!
