Taeyoung Fanta Lever - Low Collar

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Among the growing family of Fanta levers now available, the Taeyoung Fanta is where is all started. The name 'Fanta stick' originated from Taeyoung Fanta, as it was used and popularized in South Korea's Fantasia Arcade of Tekken fame. Find out why this model is respected among serious Tekken players.

Setting the Standard

Much like the iconic Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT set the standard for Japanese lever experience, the The Taeyoung Fanta arguably provides consistency in performance and feel that Tekken players desire in a standard Korean stick. The Fanta is designed with a durable, plastic housing manufactured from a high-quality mold.

Low Profile Collar Installs in Most Commercial Fightsticks

If there was anything that Taeyoung Fanta fans could lament is the limited commercial Fightsticks that the lever count mount into. Now the Taeyoung Fanta appears as a low profile collar, plus mounting plate that is compatible with most Japanese style S mounts. The collar at just 8mm sits under the S-mounts, keep it below the surface of a typical Japanese lever opening.

Taeyoung Fanta Low Collar. 3/4 View with Parts

Medium-Soft Grommet, Quick Neutrals

Taeyoung's black rubber grommet is regarded as medium tension, similar to the ST-35 Medium Tension Rubber Grommet for CWL-300 Series Lever. It feels solid, but able to give way deliberately when a directional input or corner input is needed.

Tekken's Mishima players will appreciate the Taeyoung's longer throw. Opposite from Japanese levers which are encouraged to have a shorter throw, this allows the grommet to compress more, quickly snapping back to center.

Flip the Actuator

Taeyoung Fanta actuator

The Taeyoung features a reversible actuator. This can change the neutrals and corner access - worth trying if you feel the corners are harder to reach under the default actuator configuration.

For vast majority of players, the standard position is the wider (15.84mm diameter) end of the actuator. This provides the best balance in neutral, cardinal directions, and diagonals.

A smaller number of players (Tekken players with certain characters) the actuator can be flipped to have the narrower (14.57mm) end toward the bottom. This offers a larger neutral and smaller cardinal/diagonal directions.

Important note: If you install the actuator in the narrower orientation by mistake, you could mistakenly get the impression that the stick is hard to use and the diagonals are hard to hit. If you notice this issue, please flip the actuator back to the standard wider orientation

Tight Switch Spacing and Flat Mount Position

The Taeyoung has a shorter switch spacing distance, encouraging a quicker engagement of its Gersung GSM-V1623A2 .187" Hinge Lever Microswitch. Additionally, the solid housing keeps the microswitches flat and tightly attached. This provides a consistent feel overall, making the Taeyoung a reliable daily driver for 3D games.

Compatibility with Myoungshin Fanta Mods

Among most K-Stick enthusiasts, the Taeyoung is regarded as the best for its price, and doesn't need much in the way of mods to improve it. That said, the Myounhshin Fanta has introduced a number of modifications over time, and those mods are largely compatible with the Taeyoung. An exception is the Arcade Stick Indonesia Golden Collar Mod, which does not fit. We provide the mods as optional add ons with your purchase while supplies are available.

What's included?

The Taeyoung Fanta comes disassembled. Assembly is straightforward, securing the shaft to its base via the included e-clip.

Taeyoung Fanta base with low profile collar and Japanese-style mounting plate.
Matte color battop available in Black, White, Red or Green
Two (2) E-clips
Dustwasher
Actuator

(Much thanks to participants in the "Korean Grommet Sniffers" Discord Channel, Timothy Purcell (aka Moonchilde) and Johnathan Buttero (butteroj))

Write A Review

Excellent Lever, Customizable with Room for Improvement.

This was the first short collar k-lever I purchased, and it really opened me up to how comfortable the style of levers are. I'm yet to try more short collars, but judging from the high collars I've tried (myoungshin 2019 and Fujin 3) I can see some minor faults in the lever. It's not as stiff as the other levers I've tried, and the lever squeaks in a way I'm not able to replicate on others as well. I did buy a rubber tension grommet with the lever, but the grommet's proportions aren't compatible. Fortunately the stock rubber works great. This feels like a very old school lever, despite the short collar update and I'd say it's well worth testing, and has been very easy to mod. I'd suggest getting a large actuator on this for tekken. Sleepy on Jun 25th 2022
Killer Korean Lever

The Taeyoung Fanta (low collar) is a really solid Korean lever, especially for 3D fighters. It can be easily installed into fightsticks with Japanese mounts, so there's no need to drill a hole in your stick. It has a long throw, so inputs feel precise, and intentional.

The actuator is reversible, and gives you some flexibility. With the wider end touching the microswitches, you get a nice balance, with forgiving diagonals, while the narrower end offers a larger neutral area, and very tight diagonals which some Mishima players might prefer. Don't be alarmed if your actuator appears to have a chip in it, this seems to be normal, and is likely a cosmetic defect with the injection molded plastic, and doesn't affect actual game performance.

The stock grommet is quite stiff (black 45A), so I ended up swapping to a blue 35A medium tension grommet, and prefer it, since it's less fatiguing. Grommet tension will be up to personal preference, so I recommend experimenting to find which works best for you.

The matte bat top grips nicely, and doesn't slip around, or spin too much. Build quality is stout: I've used this lever for over 3 months now, without any issues, or signs of wear & tear.

Overall I would totally recommend this lever, and if your looking for something with a traditional Korean feel, but don't want to go through the hassle of cutting up your fightstick, then look no further. SeanTheSniper on Jun 19th 2020
NIce

I bought this to replace my bat top ls-32 for tekken, and I don't know if it's an upgrade but I like it.
First off I've seen comments about the V1623A2 switches making diagonals hard to hit on some sticks, but they feel good on this. The diagonals are smaller than the ls-32s but feel about the same as a JLF, which is a good place to be.
The grommet feels maybe a little heavy on the 2p side, but it's a good tension and feels springy as hell. I bought a 30a grommet to try out and the stock one feels a lot heavier though, like a 40a or 45a.
The stick looks like it would fit in a madcatz te if you bent the hell out of a couple pins on the switches or dremeled out some case plastic, but it fits in a versus stick just fine. Unknown on Jun 17th 2020
Great lever

Fit right into my Hori Rap 4 no problems or adjusting at all. Feels great, grommet broke in after some time getting used to it, and my inputs feel more precise and deliberate after adjusting to the korean lever feel. MattTheManatee on May 12th 2020
Solid Lever ships with a Tough grommet

Pretty good lever, definitely an upgrade over my old Hayabusa. The product page compares included grommet to a blue 35g tension grommet but it's definitely tougher. Switched a blue 35 grommet in and it was an order of magnitude looser. All in all a great lever though.

Unknown on Mar 6th 2020