[IC] GMK Bordeaux | Group Buy is now LIVE! May 30, 2022 to June 30, 2022 🍷

[Havattack]

I don't understand why you would care if some other designer thinks your set is too similar. Screw him and his "drama".

[RoyalOak88]

I want to parrot others and say that, if the alt alphas were turned into a full base kit I would buy it instantly

Same!

[CookieFlow]

There seems to be a clear demand for the alt alphas to be the base kit.

I just don't understand the reasoning of putting the alt alphas as a separate kit to justify that this way it will be different enough from another set.
The only thing it does, is to force people to spend another 70$ extra to get them.

Maybe I am totally off and people really love the current alphas, but I do think you should at least poll it and if the % are in clear favor of the alt alphas to be the base kit you really should consider that.

People will vote with their wallets and pick the set they prefer and want to support.

[nvh2092]

There seems to be a clear demand for the alt alphas to be the base kit. I prefer the full-bodied as in base kit too but U understand the decision to put it as child kit.

I just don't understand the reasoning of putting the alt alphas as a separate kit to justify that this way it will be different enough from another set.
The only thing it does, is to force people to spend another 70$ extra to get them.

Maybe I am totally off and people really love the current alphas, but I do think you should at least poll it and if the % are in clear favor of the alt alphas to be the base kit you really should consider that.

People will vote with their wallets and pick the set they prefer and want to support.

Designer is trying to avoid conflict of interest. I prefer mono base too but I understand their decision to not go with it.

[CookieFlow]

There seems to be a clear demand for the alt alphas to be the base kit. I prefer the full-bodied as in base kit too but U understand the decision to put it as child kit.

I just don't understand the reasoning of putting the alt alphas as a separate kit to justify that this way it will be different enough from another set.
The only thing it does, is to force people to spend another 70$ extra to get them.

Maybe I am totally off and people really love the current alphas, but I do think you should at least poll it and if the % are in clear favor of the alt alphas to be the base kit you really should consider that.

People will vote with their wallets and pick the set they prefer and want to support.

Designer is trying to avoid conflict of interest. I prefer mono base too but I understand their decision to not go with it.

I  would understand that if the alt alphas kit was removed entirely.
But since they are still available in a separate kit, it doesn't remove the "conflict of interest" imo, but does force buyers to spend an extra 70-80$ for that kit.

[aerospice]

Talking about the results for the second interest check form, there didn't seem to be enough interest in the polls for an extended 40%, NorDe, and AZERTY kit to justify them since they're unlikely to make MOQ. However, I did want to help out the 40% community a bit, so I updated the base kit to include 3-key 40% support (R2 1.75u Backspace, R3 1.5u Enter, R3 1.25u Tab) to get the most coverage for popular 40% layouts. Shoutouts to nvh2092 for the suggestion, and also the 40% keyboard Discord people for pointing me in the right direction!

For the good news, I'm happy to announce that I've confirmed four new vendors below for NA, EU, UK, and AUS/OCE! Vendors for SEA, CA, and KR are still in the works. If you're in a region that isn't listed below, don't hesitate to comment in this thread or fill out the interest check form.

NA: Mechs & Co
EU: MyKeyboard
UK: Prototypist
AUS/OCE: Daily Clack

As an end note for upcoming plans, kitting renders will be updated since there was a significant change for a rendering kit (bless ImperfectLink for creating the amazing kit and for the frequent updates). I'm also currently looking into collaborations for metal artisans, cables, wrist rests, and (hopefully) a keyboard based on the results for the first and second interest check forms! I have a few people in mind who I want to contact, but if you guys have suggestions for creators you like, feel free to drop a comment here or on Discord, and I'll try my best to make it happen.

[aerospice]

I'm proud to announce that Monokei will be serving as GMK Bordeaux's vendor for Southeast Asia (SEA)! Really happy about this one since they were my first choice for a SEA vendor for various reasons, so I'm excited to work with them!

SEA: Monokei

In other news, I have been in talks with metal artisan and cable vendors for a collaboration with my set. I have a few design choices that I have in mind for them, but I would love to hear what ideas you guys have as well, so feel free to comment down here or on Discord. Anyway, be on a lookout for these collaborations guys. It's coming soon ™ 

[aerospice]

I'm excited to announce that Ashkeebs will be hosting this set as a Canadian (CA) vendor. With a clear history of hosting many incredible sets (SA Ramses, GMK Moonlight, etc.) and a growing switch lubing service, I look forward to working with them to create another successful run! Additionally, I would also like to welcome Monstargears as an upcoming Korean (KR) vendor. You may know them for their keyboards like the Monstargear Alu XO v3 keyboard (as seen in Taeha Types) and the upcoming Sangeo60. Anyway, I look forward to working with them as well to bring this set to my brothers/sisters in Korea!

CA: Ashkeebs
KR: Monstargears

As an ending note, this should be the full list of vendors for this set.

[aerospice]

Last but not least, the final vendor that will be hosting GMK Bordeaux as a Chinese (CN) vendor is none other than KBDfans. As one of the largest and most highly regarded enthusiast keyboard vendors in China, I hope to make this set more accessible for everyone across the globe! As a fun trivia for this occasion, China is the largest importer of Bordeaux wine in the entire world (second in overall consumption behind France).

CN: KBDfans

All in all, this (100% this time) concludes the full list of vendors that will be hosting this set! I look forward to working together with them to make this set a reality for you guys!

[aerospice]

From the previous color poll, many of the people who voted were split on choices #3 and #4 since they wanted a lighter color scheme for the base alphas. In addition, some people who voted on choice #2 commented that they liked the colors of choice #4, but were concerned about the lack of contrast for the legends. Lastly, the latest IC form had suggestions for lighter base alphas that also had contrast for the legends. For these reasons, I chose a new color scheme for the base alphas (Pantone 4045 C) that matched the feedback to vote against the current base alphas, which won the last poll. Because there are only two options this time around, the votes will not be spread out as thin between the top two contenders.

The winning choice for this poll will be the final color for the base alphas, no exceptions. If you are interested in this set in any shape/form, it is highly important that you participate in this poll. Before voting, please refer to the renders below to make your judgement:

>> Base Alphas Color Poll (final) <<

Base Alpha 1
(old)


Base Alpha 2
(new)


After the results of the poll are all tallied up, I will proceed to update the interest check post with the confirmed collaborations for this set so far (artisan keycaps, cables, wrist rest, and more). Additionally, I will include all the new renders for the kit. Notable changes for the full-bodied alphas kit is further support for common Alice layouts (2.75u, 2.25u, and 2.00u spacebars) and removal of the F5-F8 keys, per the feedback from the IC form. Anyway, good luck and happy voting!

[actress]

I personally prefer the old alpha colour.
Hmm.. I feel like this set has great potential but the alpha / accent colours slightly miss the mark for me. Do love the mod colour though.
What do you think of swapping the accent and alpha colours maybe?

Ideally I'd like a slightly saturated creme / beige alpha colour and an even darker red accent colour.
Just wanted to share my thoughts, totally understand if it's too much of a revamp or w/e. I do like the novelties a lot though.
Also hope for NorDE 

[sup3r170va]

I personally prefer the old alpha colour.
Hmm.. I feel like this set has great potential but the alpha / accent colours slightly miss the mark for me. Do love the mod colour though.
What do you think of swapping the accent and alpha colours maybe?

Ideally I'd like a slightly saturated creme / beige alpha colour and an even darker red accent colour.
Just wanted to share my thoughts, totally understand if it's too much of a revamp or w/e. I do like the novelties a lot though.
Also hope for NorDE 

I agree it’s worth a try to swap the colour of the accent and the alphas. A render would help.

[Shikada]

Swap or nothing.

[tarokeebs]

really digging the alternate alphas!

[aerospice]

Looking at the results of the final base alpha color poll, the new option (Base Alpha 2) is the most popular choice by far with a 63.9% lead over the old option (Base Alpha 1), which had 36.1% people voting for it. For that reason, Pantone 4045 C is going to be the final new base alpha for the set. To make things easier for the people helping me with this set, there is going to be no more exceptions to the color change.

Base Alphas Poll Results

In addition, I have made a small adjustment to the full-bodied alphas kit since there was feedback to include further support for common Alice layouts. For that reason, I've compromised by removing the brown F5-F8 keys and replaced them with some wine colored 2.75u, 2.25u, and 2.00u spacebars since there was a greater demand for them.

In regards to the collaborations (cables, metal/resin keycaps, wrist rest, and new deskmat), I will announce them sometime this week. I just need to confirm with each of my collaborators to see if they are comfortable with me announcing it on this IC post. Anyway, stay tuned for the upcoming news and thanks for voting!

[mymeepo]

I still think the full-bodied alphas should be the base. For the GMK Stargaze group buy they also made the initial alternative alphas the base set but then kept the initial alphas as the alternative and all sets were made.

[aerospice]

Just wanted to do a quick update on some of the collaborations confirmed so far. I went ahead and posted some links that showcases some of the work they have done, so I encourage you guys to check them out!

Metal/Resin Keycaps: Rama Works, Asero Foundry, Arcana Keys
Cables: Rocket Cables, RnCables
Wrist Rest: MarbleK
Deskmat: 1stGarden

There are still more collaborations waiting to be confirmed, so be on a lookout! Next step, I'm going to work on getting price quotes and novelty checks.

[Exluna]

Mmm I likey.

[IOVERCALLHISTIOCYTES]

Aero is the artisan w Rama or moved to Hibi?

[NightFox99]

PLEASE MAKE FRENCH AZERTY SET. Since nobody does "azerty" layout all the french market is literally forgotten. By the way, how can one make a Bordeaux inspired set without it ? Cela n'a aucun sens ! : )

[aerospice]

Aero is the artisan w Rama or moved to Hibi?

I'm looking to contact Hibi to replace Rama for one of my metal artisan collaborations since there was an internal issue that has caused some delays on their end (affected other sets as well). Since Kate is the owner of Hibi, the quality of the metal artisans should remain the same! Only difference is the branding in this case.

PLEASE MAKE FRENCH AZERTY SET. Since nobody does "azerty" layout all the french market is literally forgotten. By the way, how can one make a Bordeaux inspired set without it ? Cela n'a aucun sens ! : )

As much as I want to include the AZERTY kit (especially because of the obvious French inspiration), it's not looking too feasible at the moment since only 3.1% of people who responded to the interest check form are interested in that layout. Especially for a GMK set, it's not likely to reach MOQ and will be really expensive to run. However, assuming the first run for this set proves successful, I would definitely love to include AZERTY for an SA or KAT version in the near future since there's a lot more flexibility in terms of kitting for them compared to GMK! Really like how those profiles look too

[aerospice]

Updates have been pretty slow lately, so apologies in advance! Anyway, I recently got a response back from GMK regarding the novelty checks, and there are a few things that will need to be tweaked for their approval. I plan on getting started on this today since I'm no longer piled up with IRL responsibilities, so look forward to it! Once that gets sorted out, the initial price quotes for the kitting should be announced shortly afterwards.

With that out of the way, I wanted to introduce two new metal keycap collaborations! Please welcome THOK and Hibi!

Metal/Resin Keycaps: THOK, Hibi MX

If you guys haven't seen them yet, THOK and Asero Foundry recently finished rendering two beautiful keycaps for this collaboration! The THOK keycap utilizes a clean/minimalist wine glass design, topped off with a dark-red matte finish and a shiny gloss resin infill to represent the wine liquid. The Asero Foundry keycap is an anodized aluminum piece that aims to capture the "drip art" technique of a famous abstract modern artist, Jackson Pollock. You can catch a peek of them below:

More

[dankthropod]

Looks really nice!

[aerospice]

Hope you guys had a good Christmas break! Talking about updates, I recently got another response from GMK regarding the novelty checks. There was only one novelty to fix this time around (ISO enter vines), so I was able to fix it up fairly quickly and sent it in. Thankfully, I was able to keep most of the elements of the old novelty designs the same while complying with GMK standards. To see some of the changes, below is a comparison of how the old and revised novelties look like so far. I'd say the most significant changes are the wine and gate novelties.

New

Old


Once this round of novelties gets approved (third time's the charm), I'll update the renders with them and announce the GB date + kit pricing.

I also wanted to introduce two new resin keycap collaborations. Please welcome MacherStudio and MOZIcaps! There is one more artisan keycap collaboration I've yet to announce, so look forward to it!

Resin Keycaps: MacherStudio, MOZIcaps

[Exluna]

Excellent! This is one GB I'm really looking forward to.

[Dinerenblanc]

Beautiful set, though I do with the deep red alphas came in a base set

[DaaDaa]

I would like to see the alternate alphas + mods to be the base set. The alternate is drop dead gorgeous. I'm in either way.

[aerospice]

Hello everyone, just wanted to hit you guys with some new updates this year on the set. Starting off with some good news, novelties have been approved for GMK standards! I will go ahead and ninja-update the renders for them sometime this week.

As for the initial price quotes, I recently received them today. As of now, it is looking to be $145 at 250 MOQ and around $130 at 500 MOQ. Since my ideal goal for the base kit is around $135 at 250 MOQ, the price where it currently stands isn't going to be sufficient at that quantity.

For that reason, I have two courses of action in mind. My first option is to go the 500 MOQ route for the base kit and hope it hits that number (riskier, but ideal price point + early GB). My second course of action is to revise the base kit and remove some keys to reach that $135 mark at 250 MOQ (less keys + later GB).

For now, I'm going to consult with my vendors and some other designers to see what I can do to make the base kit more affordable, yet functional. In the meantime, feel free to offer any input you guys might have!

[gotgoodiez]

I personally would prefer the lower price point at the lower MOQ and wouldn't mind the wait. Hopefully you can pick a choice and it isn't too hard on you!

[less_blank]

I think you’re gonna regret not going with the alt alphas as the base kit, it seems to be what nearly every comment in this thread is requesting. The color isn’t that close to Maroon and there have been a number of dark red mono sets that have run without issue. I know I would absolutely purchase the alt alpha base but having to buy a base and add-on alphas prices me out. Anyway it’s your set and your prerogative and i wish you a successful Group Buy.

[dvorcol]

Switching to a TKL Base kit and a separate Numpad kit is one idea.  Outfitting a full-size keyboard becomes more expensive* but lately, for sets split like this, the Base-to-Numpad order ratio is around 4:1.

*Edit: As a full-size user, I'm not a proponent of this TKL Base option.  But while the $20-$30 two-kit cost up might turn people like me away, we're arguably in the minority.

[IOVERCALLHISTIOCYTES]

Appreciate the transparency about these decisions. I’d consider polling it. The other thing to think about, and mechs and co I’m talking to you here: run a 5$ discount on a day 1 or day1/2 purchase. Buffs the early numbers and then gives a bit of hope in the Dvorcol graph.

If you go to TKL + numpad at least go 500 moq for base…

[diggergig]

A shame to see there's no international kit for this. It's been the same deal with the Paris set on the current group buy. People in the country of origin this represents wont be able to use it.

[DaaDaa]

i dont think i've ever seen that such large majority of interested parties asking for something but it just not happening lol

[mymeepo]

I think you’re gonna regret not going with the alt alphas as the base kit, it seems to be what nearly every comment in this thread is requesting. The color isn’t that close to Maroon and there have been a number of dark red mono sets that have run without issue. I know I would absolutely purchase the alt alpha base but having to buy a base and add-on alphas prices me out. Anyway it’s your set and your prerogative and i wish you a successful Group Buy.

Same. GMK is expensive enough but having to buy two major kits to get the actual base kit that you wanted is just a bit too steep for me. Oh well, perhaps for round 2 or maybe we're wrong and the set does amazingly well.

[DaaDaa]

I’m in gmk villanelle which I believe is a touch more red-ish,  a side by side comparison to see how they compare would be nice to determine if some of us want to pay that significant premium m to get the base and the alternate alphas for the dubious advantage that the designer can get another designer off his back for copycat'ing

[monkeybread44]

Beautiful set, though I do with the deep red alphas came in a base set

This.

As a wine lover it's great to see a wine themed keycap set. I have been to Bordeaux and I didn't notice really notice the brickwork, soils etc., I was there for the WINE! 

The colour of the full bodied set makes the most sense with this theme. I guess I might just pick up the novelties, which are great!

[Exluna]

Switching to a TKL Base kit and a separate Numpad kit is one idea.  Outfitting a full-size keyboard becomes more expensive* but lately, for sets split like this, the Base-to-Numpad order ratio is around 4:1.

*Edit: As a full-size user, I'm not a proponent of this TKL Base option.  But while the $20-$30 two-kit cost up might turn people like me away, we're arguably in the minority.

Well, as TKL's seem to be very popular at the moment, I have to begrudgingly agree. It would be the simplest way to lower cost. I think I'd probably spend more for the numpad kit but like you, I know I'm in the minority since full-size boards aren't that popular these days. So yeah... I'd end up having to pay more but I think the majority would pay less, which overall helps the GB.

[aerospice]

After the initial price quote for the base kit, which was $145, I looked for some ways to adjust it to reach the $135 mark. The first thing I did was split the numpad from the base kit, which brought it down to about $132-$135 and created a numpad kit that was priced at around $40. This deal wasn't too bad for TKL users, but full-sized keyboard users would unfortunately have to pay a lot more if they wanted to purchase this set. For that reason, I asked a variety of people for some advice on the kitting to avoid this. One suggestion that came up was to switch to a mono base kit since the three custom colors was what drove the price to be quite expensive in the first place. I knew there could be a potential issue with another designer regarding this decision, so I reached out to him/her to talk about it. Ultimately, we were able to quickly come up with a good compromise regarding the GB date, where my set is aimed to start sometime around May 2022. Thanks to this compromise, the option to run a full mono base kit without any conflict(s) is now on the table!

Before making such a major change, I wanted to create a poll to gauge what you guys want. I know the previous poll was supposed to be the last one, but for the sake of reducing the price of the base kit, including the numpad, and going with a choice that could be more popular, I wanted to make this the final exception. If you are interested in this set in any shape/form, it is highly important that you participate in this poll. Before voting, please refer to the renders below to make your judgement. Keep in mind that the overall kitting will be significantly different depending on the base alpha color (mainly base and numpad), so make sure to click on the "more" tab to see all the child kits for the corresponding base kit of your choice.

>> Base Alphas Color Poll <<

Brown Base Alphas

More

Red Base Alpha

More

NOTE: This poll is going to stay up for about a week (3/5/2022), so make sure to vote until then! After the poll ends, I will immediately requote the price and give you guys the exact GB date once I discuss it with my vendors. Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekends, and happy voting!

[gotgoodiez]

Glad to see you are going to give the mono another chance as it was my preference anyway.

[mymeepo]

Thank you so much for listening and offering this poll

[less_blank]

Nice. If red base makes it I'm definitely in for a set. Thanks for being open to the option and letting the people decide.

[monkeybread44]

Great!

I'm in for a Red Base Alpha set as well. 

[Anarakiii]

If the red alphas become the base I am out. Set will just be a bland maroon.

[dvllpxe]

lets say the all red alphas win in the voting. would that mean that the light brown alphas will go away or will enter another purchasing option?

[aerospice]

lets say the all red alphas win in the voting. would that mean that the light brown alphas will go away or will enter another purchasing option?

The color poll is just to switch the current base kit alphas with the current alt-alphas kit. Answering your question, let's say the red alphas win in this poll. The light brown alphas will still exist as an alt-alphas kit while the base alphas will be entirely red. I personally made this set with the brown alphas in mind, so I'm definitely keeping it in a separate kit since I would love to have this color for myself!

Anyway, I believe the pictures/link to the kitting for the corresponding base alpha colors should be located in my previous post and the color poll somewhere. For the sake of convenience, I went ahead and attached a direct link to the gallery of the potential kitting for each color. Main difference should be the separation of the numpad from the base kit, but there are also some slight difference in the overall base and alt-alphas kit as well.

Brown Kitting
Red Kitting

[Scriba]

Great!

I'm in for a Red Base Alpha set as well. 

+1 red alpha base is amazing

[dvllpxe]

lets say the all red alphas win in the voting. would that mean that the light brown alphas will go away or will enter another purchasing option?

The color poll is just to switch the current base kit alphas with the current alt-alphas kit. Answering your question, let's say the red alphas win in this poll. The light brown alphas will still exist as an alt-alphas kit while the base alphas will be entirely red. I personally made this set with the brown alphas in mind, so I'm definitely keeping it in a separate kit since I would love to have this color for myself!

Anyway, I believe the pictures/link to the kitting for the corresponding base alpha colors should be located in my previous post and the color poll somewhere. For the sake of convenience, I went ahead and attached a direct link to the gallery of the potential kitting for each color. Main difference should be the separation of the numpad from the base kit, but there are also some slight difference in the overall base and alt-alphas kit as well.

Brown Kitting
Red Kitting

okay brilliant thanks! this set is lit

[dvorcol]

Please consider supporting Numpads for Alt-Alpha users.  Some previous sets have done this by including numpad digits in the Alt Alphas kit.

[jabe8i]

If you're going with the red base, just wanted to point out that the brown alt alpha has a brown tab key (which would not match the red mods). Perhaps instead of putting an additional tab on the extra alphas kits, you can put the additional tab on the base kit instead.