Exactra bubble strip - real or cast?

[Fusion]

19Help!

I have zero first hand experience with this element and am hoping for some expert advise.

I have an Exactra 19 I bought from ebay that came without the screws. Okay, fine, as advertised. But when it arrived, one segment of one of then7-segment LEDs is also ead. Bummer. And, one person I corresponded with thought the bubble strip looked to be a cast based on the appearance of the end. The bubble strip looks flush to the board to my untrained eye, with no obvious signs of tampering, but the plastic where the prongs are melted on the backside look thin and not what I would expect from a factory job. And there is an obvious detachment point for a sprue. on one end. I have not seen a real Exactra 19 bubble strip before, so I don't know how the originals were made.

Can anyone render an opinion: original bubble strip or a cast copy?

Thanks in advance.

 

[roygilsing]

These look VERY real!

 

[Sym-Cha]

Roy is correct ... those bubbles are real vintage parts

Chaim

 

[thd9791]

yep! very real, albeit maybe with a little damage. someone might have tried to pry them off incorrectly. nice find!

 

[Serenity]

The bubble strip was originally like that from the factory. The worker who assembled it must have tried to clean up the sprue remnant at the end of the bubble strip. I've seen a number of these where it was left on the end of the strip. Examples:

On the right:

On the left:

 

[Fusion]

Outstanding! Thanks so much for the consult. Now I gotta remember which strip, the clear or the frosty, goes in the ANH saber.

I'm hoping it's this one, the clear strip, since this calculator doesn't work properly anymore anyway. I can save my 20 - which works - as a display piece. At least for a while.

 

[Sym-Cha]

The clear goes into ANH Luke and OB1, the frosty was used for sure in Vader ROTJ

Chaim