Keycaps, so many keycaps
Previously, we had mentioned that 2021 was going to be the year of in stock for us. We think we did a great job at introducing new designs and keeping them in stock, but where does that leave us for 2022?
As of right now we have 13 in stock keycap sets. Between this blog post going live and the end of next week we will be restocking 3 of our out of stock sets. And over the course of the next few weeks, we'll be introducing 7 new designs. Some are from designers you know, some are designed in house, but they all have one thing in common: They will be available in stock.
Here are some examples of sets we have coming very soon!
NicePBT Type 6 - Designed by NoPunIn10Did
This retro set takes inspiration from Sun Type 6 keyboards, and features a custom typeface and several unique navigation keys as well as novelties.
NicePBT Green Hangul - Designed by Hoodrow Thrillson
From the designer: "I like green. Hangul sublegend keycaps that are good aren't readily available in stock and I wanted to change that."
NicePBT Fbasic - Designed by Dededecline
Taking inspiration from the Family Basic keyboard, Dededecline applied their own flair to the set, while also staying true to its origins.
NicePBT Retro Mizu - Designed by Rensuya
For Retro Mizu, Rensuya chose to go for a more muted, retro look. The legends are inspired by 8 bit gaming, and the novelties have been edited to match. The muted color palette is meant to evoke feelings of the past.
NicePBT Peaches n Cream Lite - Designed by Rensuya
This set is based on the traditional southern dessert: Peaches n' cream. Rensuya grew up eating this treat, and we think it translated quite well to keycaps!
CannonCaps 407 - Designed by OneCreativeMind
407 takes inspiration from vintage Symbolics keyboards primarily used with the LISP programming language.
CannonCaps City Sunset- Designed in house
Retro vibes are present in this purple and orange themed set. Big thanks to Vini Seabra for their help with the novelties on this. Type into the sunset in style with this set!
Most of these sets will also be available with our international partners - Deskhero, DailyClack, MyKeyboard.eu, ProtoTypist, iLumKB, and FunKeys.ua.
Improvements
While we believe previous sets were an excellent balance of value and quality, there were a couple of improvements that you will see on some of our more recent sets, as well as a portion of those to come.
The first improvement is our blanks. We have sourced what we believe to be a thicker, straighter, and overall higher quality blank. The second improvement is in our reverse dyesub process. We have found a new method that greatly reduces the amount of discoloration and fading found on reverse dyesub keycaps. The last improvement we have implemented is kitting. We have worked with members of the 40s and UK community to add 3-key 40s support and UK ISO to the majority of sets released recently. Expect this trend of improvements as we continue to refine
What about GMK?
GMK provides unparalleled consistency and quality, but at the cost of higher prices and group buy wait times. Some keycaps benefit greatly from GMK’s doubleshot ABS technique: those with light legends on dark alphas, designs that require the saturation and consistency of doubleshot ABS, or for sets with a very specific designer vision or preference in mind. On the other hand, some sets benefit from the flexibility of dyesub PBT. For example, FBasic, Type 6, and 407 all use this flexibility to their advantage with their unique sublegends and fonts. We are not aiming to replace GMK entirely, rather provide an alternative to those who want something in stock, less expensive, and made from PBT.
With that in mind - we do sometimes run an in-stock PBT version of a GMK set we've previously sold as part of a group buy. And in some cases, we've heard from customers that they'd prefer the PBT version immediately, instead of waiting for the GMK group buy to deliver -- even if that PBT version is slightly different.
For customers who fall into this bucket, we will be offering a full refund on your GMK group buy purchase if you purchase its analogous PBT version. Just submit your PBT and GMK GB order numbers via the widget in the bottom right corner of your screen, and we'll get the GMK group buy purchase refunded in full without any penalties or cancellation fees! We understand the frustration of seeing a similar set come out that you are stuck waiting for. We hear you, and we feel this is a fair compromise.
Where do we go from here?
Just because we will have 20 keycap sets in stock doesn’t mean we’re quite done yet. We have even more sets in our production queue, but we are still looking for unique designs that translate well to PBT Dyesub! If you have a set in the works please feel free to reach out with your idea!
We feel that due to our great relationship with our manufacturer we provide a seamless and easy designer experience.
To answer the question asked at the start of this post, 2022 is far from over, and we look forward to bringing more sets, more profiles, and more diverse kitting in the coming months. Thank you for your feedback, criticism, and patience as we continue to deliver a higher quality product at lower prices.