I love Seimitsu's sticks. Sanwa sticks are fine, they work very well, but I prefer the way Seimitsu's sticks feel. While working on a few recent projects I was thinking about how Seimitsu's sticks evolved, from the LS-22 used in the Neo Geo, to their more recent sticks like the LS-56, and the rest of the 40mm family.
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The LS-22 stick was a master class in making a small, effective stick. I can't think of any interchangeable mechanism that takes less space. And when I compared it to an LS-56, I wondered why their newer sticks were so much larger.
It seems to me the only reason they lengthened the shafts after the LS-22 was to accommodate both the -01 PCB-mounted microswitches, and the gates and adjustable restrictors that are affixed on top of those.
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^ The LS-22 (left) and LS-56
When you consider the depth underneath the base of the mechanism and the switches, the LS-22 only has the metal retaining plate. That's 1.5mm, the same thickness as the PCB.
But as soon as you add that PCB, you need to add the gate - that's 5mm thick - and maybe you add the 2/4/8-way restrictor, and that's another 3mm. So the shaft and activator have to be at least 8mm longer than the venerable LS-22 in order to coexist with the added functionality.
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^ The LS-56 with PCB, gate and restrictor. She gettin' chonky
I do sort of wonder why Seimitsu also thickened the plastic base of the joystick, because that would have saved 2mm (the LS-22 is 9mm, the modern Seimitsu bases are 11mm).
From the top of the base to the bottom of the restrictor, the LS-22 is ~21mm. The LS-56 is 31mm.
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^ LS-22 (left) and LS-56