Nice. How late in 1999 was this? If it was past October 1999, that would explain it. As with most products that come within the last few months of a companies manufacture, the product is so rushed that it does not pass the quality check thorughly and may be why the controller failed..
I have heard people "claiming" to have a IBM produced in 2000 but I don't believe them. I read somewhere that the Greenock factory halted production in November and factoy closed in mid-Decmeber of that year. I do however know that M13's were produced until mid- late '98 because they had a contract with MaxiSwitch after Lexmark's contract ran out in '96.
So what this should mean is any buckling spring keyboard post-2000 is a Unicomp. 1996 to 1999 can mean a very late Lexmark (mostly only Lexington), a Maxi Switch, Unicomp or a IBM produced keyboard (only at Greenock). 1992-1996 means either a Lexmark (Guadalajara or Lexington) or a Greenock IBM produced Model M. Pre-1992 mean either a Lexington, Greenock or Guadalajara IBM produced keyboard.