I received my pair of Gladiator Ks yesterday, and since these new sticks have gotten a lot of hype in the SC community I figured I'd write a little mini-review. Ordering and shipping: Pretty straightforward from VKB North America. They're actually based in China despite the name and the sticks shipped from China. It took VKB about a week to hand the sticks over to DHL (probably overloaded due to so many orders at once), and another four days for the sticks to make it to my house in Southern California. DHL shipping to my house was just over $60, which is a bit steep, and no other options were offered when I ordered mine. Assembly and configuration: Putting the sticks together was also pretty straightforward but a bit fiddly. The instructions do a decent job of explaining things. The only tool needed was a 2.5mm allen key, which unfortunately wasn't included, maybe a mistake since the instruction sheet seems to indicate that one should be in the package. Once they're together you'll need to install VKB's software, which isn't the greatest or the most intuitive, but they've got a video explaining the process on their youtube channel. I didn't bother using it for anything beyond basic calibration and did all of my binding within SC itself. One minor note is that I couldn't figure out how to change the color of the small RGB LED near the top of the stick, but I didn't look very hard. Construction: These sticks come with the grip and base separate. This might be nice if you want to travel with your setup. There's a bit of a cheap feel to them but they don't feel weak. The two components are made of different materials, the base is a similar plastic to the T16000's while the stick is a harder, more matte plastic. There's a metal plate at the bottom, which gives them a good amount of heft and big rubber feet that grip the desk, I'm not worried about these sliding around like the T16ks do. The footprint is noticeably narrower than the T16k, about an inch/2.5cm or so, which is a nice benefit when using them in a cluttered desk setup. Ergonomics: These suit small to medium hands well. Mine are on the smaller side and the Ks are much more comfortable than the T16ks. You can choose between two heights of hand rest or leave them off, which allows pretty good customization. I find all of the controls easy to reach with my hand on the tallest rest, with the exception of the pinky switch, which is usable but not ideal, probably best not to use it for combat-critical bindings. The buttons and hats aren't the most "luxurious" in feel but are much better than the rubbery T16k ones, with a nice positive click. The trigger is OK, the first stage has a nice click but the second doesn't and requires a bit too much force, I'd probably avoid using them as dual-stage triggers and just bind things to the first click. (The second stage triggers both stages so you don't have to worry about pulling too far if you've got the first stage bound.) Mine are the base models and not the premiums so I don't have the extra trigger, the lower thumb hat, or the analog stick. (And since there's been a bit of confusion, all three hats are normal hats with a center push, none are analog sticks.) The throttles on the base feel decent too, nothing special but better than the sliders on the T16k. Performance: The gimbals are night and day compared to the T16ks. No slop around the center and virtually no detent. There's a very slight plastic-on-plastic rubbing feel in the left-right axis but it's already started to disappear after an hour of play, I think it'll be gone after the sticks break in. Otherwise movement is very smooth and fluid, and relatively light. The twist axis is a bit heavier and "springier" but not enough to be any kind of issue, and it can be locked out with a screw if you don't want it. The throw feels noticeably shorter than the T16k, maybe as a result of a higher gimbal center and shorter stick, not a bad thing but will take some adjustment. I feel like my right stick might feel a bit lighter than the left but it might just be in my head. Conclusion: Probably not a surprise but these are a huge upgrade over the T16k in pretty much every way. I find them much easier to aim and fly with, and can do complex movements involving all three axes of one stick at once without losing easy access to buttons, something I really struggled with on the T16k. There's also a huge improvement in available bindings, both buttons and hats, the lack of which always drove me crazy with T16ks. The materials are a bit of a letdown, they don't really feel like a $150 product, but they seem to perform like one and the reality is that there's absolutely nothing else on the market that really compares to them, so I think they're worth the asking price. Bear in mind that this is very preliminary but in general I'd recommend these to anybody looking for an upgrade from older, cheaper sticks and I think I'd take one over the Warthog as well. The only exceptions to that would be if you have very large hands, or if you're considering a higher end setup from VKB or Virpil, in which case I think it'd still be worth the extra cost.