This topic is meant for you to show off the current crown jewel of your collection. What is your ABSOLUTE #1 favorite board you currently own? That one board you are saving if your whole collection were to vanish except for ONE. Tell us a bit about it.
I’ll go first with essentially a repost of what I put in the “What is on your desk today?” thread.
Kinesis Advantage 2
Signature white top case with sound deadening
Stapelberg controller with USB-C panel jack
Stock New Nixies
POM plates on thumb clusters
GMK Nord (Been using Nord theme in all my editors since 2017 I think)
Mine would be my Seiya, it’s an HHKB housing made by some guy in Japan and there’s only 1 metal version to my knowledge. It’s such a unique board and feels great to type on. Second to that my Pro 1 most likely.
My Verne from @Zambumon
I will always appreciate this board and what it means to me. I also had it powder coated in a nice textured RAL 9001 Cream so it’s custom suited to my taste and pairs really well with warm saturated keycap sets.
It’s an FC660C, in a SirCheddar Kiki660C prototype case, with Andrea’s one-off, resin printed prototype URSA keycaps that he made so generously for me.
Seen this post earlier today & gotta be honest this is a super hard call for me. It almost feels like having to decide which kid of yours you love the most LOL! Though after thinking about it for awhile I’d have to go with my Hiney TKL One right now,
It is a flat out beautiful board, sounds great, & mine has a bit of the story behind it that makes it a little more sentimental than any of the other boards I own (I got it from Hiney himself after him & another friend of mine got me to get more involved in our local MKB scene). So that pushes it over my other boards right now. That said I do really appreciate all of my KBs from the most exclusive & expensive customs I have down to the regular widely available prebuilts I got. Not sure I’d be able to downsize my collection even if I absolutely had to!
It’s probably still my Bolsalice, as this was a board I really wanted and was a surprise gift last year from a friend. Now, my opinion might change if/when the Supermassive ever ships.
Right now it would probably be my JJW Moment in “dusk”.
Currently configured with a PP plate, YOK Red Holy Pandas (clipped Halo Clear stems for full travel), and GMK Frost Witch. The case color is impossible to capture on camera for me – it’s missing the purple overtones.
Not an easy choice, but I came to the same conclusion every time I thought about it: my MM Studio Class80 R1(shown here with N and M keys transposed, oops )
It’s built like a tank, has a great finish, and excellent machining. Even the hardware exudes quality - and it’s got a solenoid! The “Num Lock” text on the indicator panel is a different font height than the other two for some reason, but I think it adds to the beige-era charm.
That’s all true of the R2 as well, but I really don’t like the way the rear weight is magnetized to the case on that one because it’s all loosey-goosey. The indicator panel is done a little bit smarter the second time around, but is fine on the R1 as long as you’re careful during assembly. I also had to omit the solenoid from my R2 because the case doesn’t want to close with it installed. If not for that and the way the weight attaches, my R2 would probably be here instead because it’s currently a much better sounding and feeling build.
I still plan to try other switches and plates in here before it reaches its ~final form~, but even in its “quick and dirty” iteration it handily defends the “crown jewel” slot in my collection.
I love that build so much! The class80 is such a great board, but with those keycaps, its simply next level. I find that I keep my class80 (and other crown jewel boards) mostly in storage. Isn’t that odd? It’s something along the line of “I know they are perfect and amazing and I want to remember them that way.” Sometimes I afraid to get out a perfect keyboard because I’m worried that I’ve changed my mind about it for some reason. Maybe I’ll find the stabilizers are distracting… or maybe I won’t like the sound of the switches… or maybe I’ll find one that’s scratchy!
It’s sometimes more fun to keep that beater on the desktop and see if I can improve it over and over.
While I posted my Hiney TKL One on this thread a while back, I feel like I need to shout out my FLX Virgo. It has been my DD since I got it built & has easily slotted into my favorite boards. I would still say the TKL One is my crown jewel overall because of the reasons I stated before. However the FLX Virgo is definitely nipping at its spot! Now that I’ve had a good amount of time with it, I feel like I got a really great deal on it. Because even at full price I think this board is worth it. The only complaint I can even come up with is the matte finish is a fingerprint magnet. Beyond that they nailed it on the design & production of these IMHO!
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