[IC] PBTFans Umbra - IN STOCK SALE LIVE!

[Pach]

Pokédex Entry #197 - Umbreon

Umbreon evolved as a result of exposure to the moon's waves.
It hides silently in darkness and waits for its foes to make a move.
When darkness falls, the rings on the body begin to glow,
striking fear in the hearts of anyone nearby.

Purchase Links
China / International: KBDFans
US: Mekibo
Canada: Deskhero (TBA)
Nordics/EU: MaxGaming
UK: MechMods
KR: GEONWORKS
DE: KEYGEM
JP: Yushakobo
ID: LegoDiskon
SG: Ktechs

KBDFans, Yushakobo, and MaxGaming will not be stocking deskmats.
PBTFans QC Notice:

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Command 65 - PK x BIOI (IRL Pictures)




Space65 - Gray Studio (IRL Pictures)




AERO.75 - Gray Studio (IRL Pictures)






Previous Renders

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ShianaSSK - Pensa73



Quetzal - Pensa73

Kits










Extras

Deskmat - "OG"



Deskmat - "Shiny"







Color Samples
Samples taken under shaded daylight (7400 K) and color-corrected.
Samples are also compared with GMK Umbra keycap samples (old colors), as shown.




Color Data
All scans conducted with Nix Spectro 2 under D50/2 Illuminant.
References are scanned directly from a physical RAL D2 color book.
"PASS" (ΔE≦2) means that there is little to no perceptive difference between the reference and the sample.
■ RAL 240 20 05

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Name		L	A	B	dL	dA	dB	dE(CIE2000)	dEMax	Pass
Reference		2.09E+01	-2.27E+00	-4.30E+00	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scan		2.17E+01	-2.64E+00	-4.31E+00	8.04E-01	-3.75E-01	-1.55E-02	7.38E-01	2.00E+00	TRUE

■ RAL 240 30 05

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Name		L	A	B	dL	dA	dB	dE(CIE2000)	dEMax	Pass
Reference		2.97E+01	-2.72E+00	-4.18E+00	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scan		2.87E+01	-2.56E+00	-3.66E+00	-9.88E-01	1.65E-01	5.15E-01	8.87E-01	2.00E+00	TRUE

■ RAL 240 60 40

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Name		L	A	B	dL	dA	dB	dE(CIE2000)	dEMax	Pass
Reference		5.62E+01	-2.09E+01	-3.85E+01	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scan		5.62E+01	-2.13E+01	-3.89E+01	-6.01E-02	-4.02E-01	-4.03E-01	2.19E-01	2.00E+00	TRUE

■ RAL 095 90 40

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Name		L	A	B	dL	dA	dB	dE(CIE2000)	dEMax	Pass
Reference		9.15E+01	-2.98E+00	4.25E+01	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scan		9.30E+01	-2.16E+00	4.15E+01	1.52E+00	8.17E-01	-9.64E-01	1.13E+00	2.00E+00	TRUE

■ RAL 110 90 05

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Name		L	A	B	dL	dA	dB	dE(CIE2000)	dEMax	Pass
Reference		9.04E+01	-3.72E-01	4.97E+00	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scan		9.06E+01	-9.31E-01	4.51E+00	1.97E-01	-5.59E-01	-4.51E-01	9.01E-01	2.00E+00	TRUE

Vendors
China / International: KBDFans
US: Mekibo
Canada: Deskhero
Europe: MyKeyboard
Nordics/EU: MaxGaming
UK: MechMods
KR: GEONWORKS
DE: KEYGEM
JP: Yushakobo
ID: LegoDiskon
SG: Ktechs


Estimated In-Stock Sale Date
4/20/2023 -


FAQ
Color change? (story)

More

After the GMK Umbra group buy, I was planning on doing a re-run in the future. However, I moved on to other keyset projects for a while, but eventually came back to Umbra.
Since I had a few years to think about the set and gain a little more experience and knowledge, I decided to not just rerun the set, but to revise it. I didn't want
to go too far, though - only enough to improve the set, maybe add something new, but to keep the original feel of GMK Umbra. This turned out to take a lot more time than I anticipated!

The first thing I wanted to revise was the modifier color. While it was accurately matched and looked correct under proper lighting, the color often appeared a bit too dark under other angles and lighting.
I found that to have drifted off a little from my vision where the color of the modifier could be clearly recognized from all angles and lighting, a closer monochromatic separation.
I began experimenting for a long while, obtaining many different Pantone plastic chips in the process, until I finally took a good look in the same color deck used with GMK Umbra, the RAL D2.

The two new colors are for the modifier and the alphas. To complement the OG (yellow mods) kit that I planned to bring in, I chose colors that were less saturated with blue,
but still had a similar hue as the original colors. Their saturation also more closely matches each other, so the monochromatic scheme is more balanced. The new modifier color is now
lighter, but still dark enough to have the feel of the original concept.

GMK?
Over the last 3 years, a lot has changed in the world of keycap manufacturing. GMK lead times have stretched from a manageable 6 months to 1+ years. New manufacturers
have come out with more budget-friendly and faster options while keeping quality high. I have chosen the rerun of Umbra to be with one of those manufacturers, PBTFans.

In-stock sale?
Yes, PBTFans operates currently on an in-stock sale format. That means some time after this interest check is posted, kitting and prices will be finalized and production will begin.
When the group buy page goes up, that means the set is available for immediate shipping. Better than waiting an extra year for GMK

Can you add/remove xyz from a kit?
Unfortunately, due to the way the molds are produced, the kitting will remain static. Removing keys will not lower the manufacturing costs.

How much?
The base kit will be targeted around $80.

Material?
Doubleshot PBT.


Discord Server
https://discord.gg/jXfQDKU

[keebibi]

Looks great!! GLWIC

[suyashr99]

I am about to say my longest yeah boi ever

[mr_foggy]

ABOUT TIME! take my money good sir

[matthewdias]

Please consider PBTFans ABS, I feel it would be nicer for these dark colors.

[Kokaloo]

amazing, really glad to see this colorway back alongside the original mods
if possible, maybe 3 key or minimal 40s support for the yellow mods as well?
also seconding the switch to abs from pbt, umbra really popped with gmk and i would hate to see it muted because of the material choice.

[bigdonnerz]

That’s a lot of reverse dye sub

[mr_foggy]

That’s a lot of reverse dye sub

actually it's 0%.

[synthtastic]

amazing, really glad to see this colorway back alongside the original mods
if possible, maybe 3 key or minimal 40s support for the yellow mods as well?
also seconding the switch to abs from pbt, umbra really popped with gmk and i would hate to see it muted because of the material choice.

This please. The OG mods should get some love in the 40s kit. Looks fantastic otherwise.

[unwashed_heathen]

I'm sold but would like to see accent bars for both mod colors.

Also, non accent return key is mistakenly placed at r4 on renders for both mod kits.

[c0d3r]

Please consider adding text mods,  PBTFans icon mods are always suck, those Home/End/Page up/Page down/Insert/Delete ..., etc. don't make sense at all.  I won't buy PBTFans keycap sets that are including only icon mods.

[mr_foggy]

Please consider adding text mods,  PBTFans icon mods are always suck

I take it you didn't see the text mods in person yet.

[c0d3r]

Are there text mods in this set?

[Flybeck]

Absolutely iconic set. I'd love to see text mod bottom row!

[unwashed_heathen]

Are there text mods in this set?

mr_foggy is talking about pbtfans text modifiers, they are kinda scuffed. Maybe they will work on refining those molds some day but I doubt anytime soon.

Please stay on icon mods OP, people who want goofy looking text mods can go buy DCX.

Absolutely iconic set. I'd love to see text mod bottom row!

PBTfans kitting is either full text or full icons, no middle ground.

[Flybeck]

Yeah unfortunately.

[Mcnos]

That’s a lot of reverse dye sub

PBTFans is doubleshot PBT

[XiXora]

Surprised to see Shift in the Caps Lock place but no stepped Control when there is stepped Shift and Stepped Cmd.

[Pach]

Please consider PBTFans ABS, I feel it would be nicer for these dark colors.

amazing, really glad to see this colorway back alongside the original mods
if possible, maybe 3 key or minimal 40s support for the yellow mods as well?
also seconding the switch to abs from pbt, umbra really popped with gmk and i would hate to see it muted because of the material choice.

May consider switching materials, depends on interest.

Are there text mods in this set?

I'm sold but would like to see accent bars for both mod colors.

Also, non accent return key is mistakenly placed at r4 on renders for both mod kits.

amazing, really glad to see this colorway back alongside the original mods
if possible, maybe 3 key or minimal 40s support for the yellow mods as well?
also seconding the switch to abs from pbt, umbra really popped with gmk and i would hate to see it muted because of the material choice.

This please. The OG mods should get some love in the 40s kit. Looks fantastic otherwise.

Please consider adding text mods,  PBTFans icon mods are always suck, those Home/End/Page up/Page down/Insert/Delete ..., etc. don't make sense at all.  I won't buy PBTFans keycap sets that are including only icon mods.

Absolutely iconic set. I'd love to see text mod bottom row!

I'd love to easily take these suggestions and make them reality, but it would make the kitting options absurdly large and PBTFans has a child kit MOQ of 250. I don't think I'll replace the icon mods with icon+text either, since icon mods were central to the original run.

[Akele]

I'd love to easily take these suggestions and make them reality, but it would make the kitting options absurdly large and PBTFans has a child kit MOQ of 250. I don't think I'll replace the icon mods with icon+text either, since icon mods were central to the original run.

I like PBTfans icon mods and the way this kit looks with them, although I can understand why some people prefer text mods. So long as you keep the international kit I'll buy this set whether it's made with PBT or ABS.

[byfuryattheheart]

I've been waiting years for this set to come back, so this is an instant buy. I'm a big fan of PBTFans as well, so it's a win win!

The ONLY thing I'd want is a regular Esc key. I like PBTFans' icon mods, but I really hate the icon for the Esc key.

[santela]

PBTFans are now my favorite manufacturer, so yay!

[tngpq]

Yes please. Umbra is so nice.

[kevvinn]

I love this colorway with the golden mods! GLWIC

[byfuryattheheart]

Any movement on this?

[Cawfee]

This looks awesome sign me up!

[tpw2000]

Welp, time to break out my card binders!

But for real there’s gotta be someone interested in doing artisan Umbreon caps to go with this. I would if I knew how

[VXQN]

I agree with byfuryattheheart — the icon for esc is bad.

also, why is there text+icon enter key options for the numpad when all other keys are icon only?

[JQ27]

also, why is there text+icon enter key options for the numpad when all other keys are icon only?

I can only imagine it's due to the moulds which they use having both sets included to minimise costs on the larger scale. Same reason as why International Kits from pbtfans often have Alt Gr keys when they only offer Icon Base Kit

[arr1]

Set looking amazing. Has the desmat been desgined by you? It look incredible as well.

[Pach]

11/1 Update

With the feedback I've received, I've decided to change the material from PBT to ABS - reasons being more vibrant color representation in general over PBT, and possibly better texture. I've asked KBDFans to make samples of the set, which will set the project back a little, but I think it's worth it for several different reasons, including verifying the quality of ABS (the only sets produced that use ABS so far are semi-transparent) and also to have the completed product in hand for 100% confidence to buyers.

The format has also switched to group buy instead of an in-stock sale. Yes, I know the in-stock sale was one of the benefits of PBTFans as a manufacturer, but the format comes with drawbacks as well. After talking to vendors and consideration, we've gone back to planning a group buy. It adds a month to the process with ordering but immensely helps the vendors, preventing headaches with ordering too few/many units and keeping track of that inventory. It's also a little less viable now that I've requested samples, since they would have to be okayed before placing orders anyways.

There's also an artisan collaboration planned - stay tuned!

[Rilow]

Very sad about change to ABS

[unwashed_heathen]

With change to GB model would be nice if accent kits could be offered to see if they make MOQ. As for change to ABS, as long as colors are accurate I'm happy with any material.

[CaesarAZealad]

Well there goes any interest I had. I can't use ABS, I've got acetone fingers. I was already on the fence because of the icon only mods, but this killed it for me. Really a shame.

[Pach]

11/4 Update

After the interest check was posted, I received some steady suggestions about considering changing the material to doubleshot ABS instead of doubleshot PBT, since ABS generally yields a better texture (subjective) and possibly more vibrant color reproduction. I spent some time considering this option, and hastily made the announcement without much confirmation from the community. This was an unfair decision on my part, as I did not consider the people who were interested in the first place in part by PBTFans Umbra using PBT as the material, since PBT also has its own benefits.

After discussing further with my vendors, we think the best course of action for the set is to poll for ABS and PBT given that the set is still in the IC stage, so many things are still able to be changed. We will thoroughly assess the results and announce our final decision on the material.

VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/K1h5MesLHKnQDRBp9

[byfuryattheheart]

Well done for taking the feedback seriously and putting the poll together!

I have a bunch of PBTFans sets and I think their PBT is top notch. Resonance is probably my favorite keycap set at the moment. So I'm going to vote for PBT.

[Akele]

Worth checking out Taeha's take on PBTFans Classic Hangul ABS set before voting for Umbra to be made in ABS. PBTFans make excellent quality PBT sets, but their ABS sets... have room for improvement.

[CaesarAZealad]

Worth checking out Taeha's take on PBTFans Classic Hangul ABS set before voting for Umbra to be made in ABS. PBTFans make excellent quality PBT sets, but their ABS sets... have room for improvement.

It's almost like it's in their name or something

[tngpq]

Worth checking out Taeha's take on PBTFans Classic Hangul ABS set before voting for Umbra to be made in ABS. PBTFans make excellent quality PBT sets, but their ABS sets... have room for improvement.

I can second this. The legends on the Classic Hangul shine. Literally shines in certain angles. Very disturbing and the sub-legend alignments are just bad.

[Pach]

12/8 Update

Hello! It's been a while and a couple of (un)changes happened. First of all: we are back to doubleshot PBT over ABS. Final results are around 65/35 in favor of PBT, and as well as the recent findings of PBTFans ABS being questionable with UV printing and the crooked legends, I feel like returning back to PBT, which has been given thumbs up for quality by people and was the original marketing of this set, is the right decision at this time.

Secondly, due to some miscommunication on what keys were included in which kits, the hiragana kit has been changed to not include the alternative mod-colored keys. I know this might be sad news for some, but including those literally would have doubled the manufacturing price. The numpad kit also had the two "Enter" text legend accent keys removed.

In addition, I've also been given news by KBDFans that they are able to do an in-stock sale format relatively soon, so that's also happening. 

This will likely be one of the last updates before the in-stock sale if nothing major changes. When I get word on pricing, I'll have that posted here also.

Also - the KBDFans IC page is now up! Please select "Notify me" if you're interested and also so KBDFans can collect numbers!
Join the interest check on KBDFans!

[C_L | Soup]

Will other vendors be getting their stock around the in-stock sale from KBDFans?

[Jsunn]

Really wish they would include a R1 End and PgDn for us 1800 users that have 4 keas above the numpad.
GMK has them, but PBTFans doesn't have a set that has those 2 keys for R1.

-J

[CaesarAZealad]

12/8 Update

Hello! It's been a while and a couple of (un)changes happened. First of all: we are back to doubleshot PBT over ABS. Final results are around 65/35 in favor of PBT, and as well as the recent findings of PBTFans ABS being questionable with UV printing and the crooked legends, I feel like returning back to PBT, which has been given thumbs up for quality by people and was the original marketing of this set, is the right decision at this time.

Secondly, due to some miscommunication on what keys were included in which kits, the hiragana kit has been changed to not include the alternative mod-colored keys. I know this might be sad news for some, but including those literally would have doubled the manufacturing price. The numpad kit also had the two "Enter" text legend accent keys removed.

In addition, I've also been given news by KBDFans that they are able to do an in-stock sale format relatively soon, so that's also happening. 

This will likely be one of the last updates before the in-stock sale if nothing major changes. When I get word on pricing, I'll have that posted here also.

Also - the KBDFans IC page is now up! Please select "Notify me" if you're interested and also so KBDFans can collect numbers!
Join the interest check on KBDFans!

Thank the lord. ABS is the devil's plastic.

[Pach]

2/10 Update

It's been quite a while; sorry for the radio silence. Good news and bad news.

The bad news is that unfortunately, the in-stock sale isn't going to be this month. Life got a bit busy, but I've been trying my best to get things moving.

The good news is that I actually got a physical sample set sent from KBDFans (so the extra wait was beneficial)! I also verified the samples with Mekibo, too, and everything seems good to go! I've attached pictures so you can see how the set looks, including with some direct sunlight hitting it. I've also included GMK Umbra colors so the change in colors is better seen. Keep in mind that these are uncorrected digital images, and lighting really affects these colors a lot (as you can tell between the two images. For example, the color difference between GMK Umbra and PBTFans Umbra seems more extreme in one image than the other). You can see how the saturation in the alphas and mods match better, and how the modifier color has been tuned brighter so it doesn't look so dark in certain situations.

I'm also working on updating the renders to match the samples as closely as possible, so I'll post another update when numbers are in and everything's updated.

Over the next couple weeks, vendors will be putting numbers in and manufacturing will start. It'll be approximately 2-3 months for manufacturing and after that the in stock sale will happen!

[Akele]

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but the GMK caps are the ones installed on the board and the PBTFans samples are the three plain caps shown on top / alongside the keys? I like the cooler tones of the plain caps, which I'm assuming are the PBTFans samples.

[unwashed_heathen]

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but the GMK caps are the ones installed on the board and the PBTFans samples are the three plain caps shown on top / alongside the keys? I like the cooler tones of the plain caps, which I'm assuming are the PBTFans samples.

It's the other way around - PBTfans caps on the boards, GMK samples.

[mr_foggy]

ehhhhh not feeling these new colors.
OG ones looked FAR better. way too little contrast between alphas and mods now.

[tngpq]

Alphas need some work imo. Doesn’t have the contrast with mods as pointed out above.

[Akele]

It's the other way around - PBTfans caps on the boards, GMK samples.

Ah, that's a bummer. I prefer the GMK samples. The PBTFans caps are too warm in their tone for my taste.

[NihonCK]

mod color looks good, but the blue and alphas need to be toned down if you are trying to get the colors more inline with the original even though you are using the same color chips