Counter argument: this kind of board is exactly the kind of ridiculous thing that group buy models exist for. It’s like the true spirit of being in a hobby to have access to the most ridiculous things and help bring them to life.
I don’t like it either but I love that it exists. It’s like the low production car type of thing of the keyboard world.
True. Everyone has their own tastes and this is certainly a product that wouldn’t be mass produced for those who find it appealing.
I like it for the sheer audacity of the design and would love to have it in my collection.
That said, I can’t see it selling for anything less than $800 USD though. Probably closer to $1,000. Which puts them into a pretty rarified group of folks willing to pony up that kind of currency units.
Can’t put a finger on it either, but I wasn’t a fan of the other one with this suspension system they ICed awhile back either. I also have to started to feel the same way about gasket, isolation, insert whacky mounting type here. As much as I like a soft typing experience, good old stiff top mount still is my fav for feel & sound. Perfectly balanced as it should be!
I thought that I got a good deal on keyboard recently, but then this person on Reddit got a Realforce for $3.99 from a thrift store
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1ab7239/found_this_at_goodwill/
Pretty neat feature, that’s not the hmm.
The hmm for me is that this little plastic button looks scuffed. In a render. Those little white and yellow marks had me thinking this was a hasty photo - but no - that switch socket is clearly CG… accidental realism, ha
Granted, I’m pretty sure I know why it looks like that - the virtual material is reflecting the virtual light sources - but it ends up looking like a soft-touch coating that’s been scratched and even had pigment transferred to it from the surrounding powder-coating.
Being a long time participant in the hobby, but taking about a year away, it’s wild to see how group buy posts have mostly changed from small passion projects to looking like full on advertisements from sell happy marketing departments.
Feels less like “let’s make this cool thing happen because I like it” and more like flowery advertisement jargon to extract money.
Having not taken a break, I totally agree.
Oversimplifying, I think plenty of enterprising folks saw dollar signs after the “custom Tfue keyboard” video from TaeHa made the rounds in PC gaming space, and took cues from designers in the hobby who presented their ICs in a very professional manner.
Not that I’m on GH very much, but there does seem to be an expectation of highly professional presentation at this point.
I will say I do still see the occasional really cool idea from an individual or small design team, but those do seem the exception rather than the rule these days. I suppose that’s one of those “suffering from success” kinda growing pains the space is going through.
Keebs really blew up for a couple years when a bunch more folks around the world were suddenly inside trying to work and study from home - like insane acceleration and development there for a minute - but like the vape craze no segment can keep expanding like that. Things slowed down, many vendors closed, and I think those that remained tended to be those with active, responsive business strategies as opposed to passionate hobbyists alone.
Could just be my perception, but Prevail Key Co. closing was like a marking point that the brief but brilliantly burning hobbyist keyboard boom was over. By the same token, the acquisition of Drop by Corsair was a recognition by big business that there is ongoing money to be made in the space.
Quite a pendulum swing in both directions, but at least for now it seems like we’ve stabilized in a place where custom(izable) keyboards are now as mainstream as designer shoes, computer builds, or fountain pens.
Kind of a mixed bag. I do wish passionate creators got a little more spotlight, but I do love how accessible a great typing experience is these days. For what my tray-mounted Ducky One with MX Blues cost in 2016, I got a full CNC’d gasket-mounted tri-mode keyboard with RGB and a polycarbonate plate.
At very least, the hobby still seems quite friendly to individual passionate creators, if not being primarily driven by them.
Had to tell this funny story. Last summer the group buy runner for KAM Outline announced MOQ wasn’t met and that the project was shutting down.
I wrote and informed him that it was for sale on zFrontier.
They ran it anyway and didn’t tell him. He just rolled with it and was very happy to have his keyset made 
You can see the exchange between him and me here:
I got $5 for writing a review on Knight stabilizers for Space Cables. I filled it out from an email link, didn’t even have to visit the store. Pretty cool. What other vendors give out money for reviews? Hmmm…
I know Drop does something. I’ve reviewed most of what I bought there. Anywhere else?
How you liking the Knight stabs? I finally grabbed 2 sets from KNC Keys since they’re having a LNY sale & had Geon switch films in stock. Curious to hear some opinions on the Knight stabs as I really haven’t heard much about them.
They’re great. I feel like they’re on par with TX AP but even easier to assemble (easier to snap the bar into place). To me, it feels like there is even less play in the wire/insert hole than TX stabilizers. This was my first stabilizer that I felt like only need 205g0.
The only issue I had was that one insert actually pulled out of the housing when removing a keycap (I wasn’t being careful and I didn’t use a puller) Luckily it was a hotswap board. I haven’t had any other issues like that since. I have 4 boards built with them.
Ordered two sets of keycaps from a vendor in China. The shipped on the same day with different tracking numbers, both via SF Express
One went through New York and one went through Florida.
Just a little “hmm…” moment.
I’m posting this here because it’s so niche, but if one’s interest does happen to be in that niche I think it might be the best example of what it is. What is it? A mission-to-Mars themed keyboard, and it’s all about that theme.
My inner fifteen year old thinks this is the coolest keyboard on the planet. Current me thinks it’s pretty darn neat but not enough to buy it.
Price ranges from $330 to $561 depending on options
These options include magnetic fidget spinners that look like rocket engines, no I’m not kidding
You can buy a $561 keyboard with North facing RGB (see why it was irresistible to post here?)
Hear me out tho it’s on purpose, this whole thing is designed to vibe with those keys with crystal-clear skirts on all but the front side
Has an LCD screen
Has a joystick that controls the LCD screen (not clear exactly what type of module it is and how deeply its function can be customized)
Aforementioned spinners:
Skirt keys:
Lots more photos and info on their site. Keeb isn’t available to order there yet as of writing, but the barebones version is on Drop today.
This is one of those things I can imagine plenty of people looking at and saying “lol wut” but plenty of others saying “finally a premium-feature keyboard design that speaks to me!”
ok WOW, that board has quite the cohesive theme going for it. If I was into space/rocketships I would probably faint at how fun and unique this board is.
It is pretty neat. And the price point is interesting. If this board was like $100-150 I would laugh at it. But with the price tag higher, I start assuming it’s make with love and care of good materials. But maybe I’m just a chump. Hmmm…
I think the phenomenon of price point influencing perception is quite common across the keyboard market.
I don’t like the board, but my 6-year old son, who’s really into space and rockets, would probably like those fidget spinners. At $63 each (and as an add-on), they seem wildly overpriced for what they are, but it gives me the idea to search for similar things from other sellers.
Each round always had different colors for beige and the legends.
R4 / R5 / R6
R4 has darker legends, R6 is more dark grey and R5 is in between. R5’s legends is also thinner compared to others.
Text alignment can also be different for each round. CRP R5 GB had faster lead time but had poorly rushed QC on the legends, notice how the Prt Sc shifts more to the right side and Pg Up and Pg Dn doesn’t line up properly. I also noticed a few legends fading but it’s not noticeable in the picture. Ever since I saw this, I barely touched R5 and stick with R4 until R6 came in with the best quality overall.
Well it’s dumb and I hate it.
I guess I should have done a bit more research.
