Leopold & FC660 disappearing?

[rebcabin2]

I'm in shock... There don't seem to be any Leopold keyboards on elitekeyboards site, let alone my all-time favorite the FC660C. I'd better take better care of the one I have ...

Out flew the web and floated wide-
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.

[SpAmRaY]

Someone mentioned elitekeyboards was dropping some of the brands they used to sell, perhaps leopold was one of them??

[exitfire401]

EK moved away from leopold when they decided to start carrying KUL boards. They can still be acquired throu f h qtan or another proxy service though. 

[Flyersfan1]

I think Elitekeyboards dropped Leopold altogether unfortunately, and replaced at least their MX line with KUL.  If you're really keen on an FC660C, there are some available on ebay, and sometimes pop up in the classifieds here.

edit: exitfire and spamray are much quicker than me.

[a_ak57]

As mentioned, EK no longer sells Leopold stuff.  I actually sent them an email and they confirmed they will no longer be selling their products, which is a shame.  Importing is obviously still an option, but it's not as convenient/cheap as just buying from EK.

[esoomenona]

.

[dante]

On a related note does anyone know what is going on with KUL?  Still no MX Blues and not a peep about the multi color top case replacements that were promised this summer.

[rebcabin2]

Perhaps this is evidence that HHKB is better than the FC660C, and EK might have seen that evidence which caused them to drop Leopold altogether.

I like the HHKB, too, but the FC660C fits much better on top of my Mac Book (the HHKB is narrower and its little legs sometimes trigger the chicklet keys underneath). Running a real kbd on top of my laptop is an absolute requirement for me

[esoomenona]

.

[Novus]

EK got fed up with Leopold

[keyton]

I got fed up with you.

Anybody know if Elitekeyboards is having Halloween Clickclack sale?

[paicrai]

I got fed up with you

same, wanna shag?

[pbtforever]

You can buy on Ebay

[ideus]

Perhaps this is evidence that HHKB is better than the FC660C, and EK might have seen that evidence which caused them to drop Leopold altogether.

I just cannot see how EK switching suppliers that manufacture multiple keyboard models each should be related with only one particular part number that uses Topre SW.

[Dyslexic]

Perhaps this is evidence that HHKB is better than the FC660C, and EK might have seen that evidence which caused them to drop Leopold altogether.

I just cannot see how EK switching suppliers that manufacture multiple keyboard models each should be related with only one particular part number that uses Topre SW.

Not to mention I've used both and it comes down to preference. I use excel a lot in my day-to-day work, and the dedicated arrow keys are a godsend on this form factor. I also prefer plate-mounted topre to the HHKB's plastic housing. I have 2 FC660Cs and these things are tanks, I wouldn't trade them out for any other topre.

[Hyde]

From what I heard is that it's not EK dropping Leopold, it's more like Leopold want to keep most of their stock inside Korea due to higher demand now that mechanical keyboards are more mainstream.

I'm assuming EK can't just sit there and wait for their limited stocks so they had to find substitutes to sell.

So unfortunately for us getting a FC660C would be harder and probably cost more now.  It one of the best 60% layout at the moment.

[ideus]

From what I heard is that it's not EK dropping Leopold, it's more like Leopold want to keep most of their stock inside Korea due to higher demand now that mechanical keyboards are more mainstream.

I'm assuming EK can't just sit there and wait for their limited stocks so they had to find substitutes to sell.

So unfortunately for us getting a FC660C would be harder and probably cost more now.  It one of the best 60% layout at the moment.

I see the point. I have one sample of the MX version and the 66 layout is terrific for Excel navigation. I will have my upcoming Infinity with arrows and delete keys in the top layer a la 66. Also tilde and escape with dedicated keys.

[esoomenona]

.

[rowdy]

Perhaps this is evidence that HHKB is better than the FC660C, and EK might have seen that evidence which caused them to drop Leopold altogether.

I just cannot see how EK switching suppliers that manufacture multiple keyboard models each should be related with only one particular part number that uses Topre SW.

I just cannot see how you cannot see that EK cannot see that HHKB cannot see that Leopold cannot see.

Leopold cannot see?

[ideus]

Perhaps this is evidence that HHKB is better than the FC660C, and EK might have seen that evidence which caused them to drop Leopold altogether.

I just cannot see how EK switching suppliers that manufacture multiple keyboard models each should be related with only one particular part number that uses Topre SW.

I just cannot see how you cannot see that EK cannot see that HHKB cannot see that Leopold cannot see.

Thank you very much for having enlightened us. 

[esoomenona]

.

[ideus]

Thank you very much for having enlightened us. 

I suppose this means you now can see.

Not yet, but thank you anyway. 

[a_ak57]

Man, now that I look into buying a 660C the EK loss is more painful.  Cheapest option for a black board is near $250 and the white/mixed ones are even more expensive, whereas EK used to sell the black model for $190 + shipping (which would probably be like $200 flat for me).  And the secondhand market isn't really useful since they seem rather sought after and nobody really sells them often.

[byker]

I would keep an eye here and /r/mechmarket. I have seen one or two for sale each week. I sold one a few weeks ago for $180

[a_ak57]

Well, I have something come to me that isn't supposed to:  a dye-sub FC660C from EK.  You can still access the product pages for leopold stuff (they just removed the links on their site, can use google or browsing history) and out of curiosity I tried to buy one.  Apparently they actually still have some lying around since I not only got through the payment stage but just got a shipping notification.  The pad-printed version does seem to actually be out though, and unfortunately they never did get any of the white version in or I'd have tried that.  Obviously this is YMMV since it could have just been a single board lying around but hey, worth a shot.


either that or I'm going to get a surprise

[shut up]

That's strange, Probably just stopped selling them as others have said?
EBay is probably your best bet if you want one.