EliteKeyboards has officially dropped the Leopold brand

[dante]

Just thought you'd like to know incase you wanted to import some boards 

[cooldiscretion]

Any idea why?

[HipsterPunks]

this sucks, right when the new white Fc660c came out. I wonder why?

[Grim Fandango]

Based on its popularity on geekhack, I thought it was doing quite well on Leopold.

[digi]

Aren't the newer RF's made by Leopold?

[Hypersphere]

Aren't the newer RF's made by Leopold?

No, there were some earlier RFs carrying a Leopold label, but the current ones are made by Topre.

[digi]

Aren't the newer RF's made by Leopold?

No, there were some earlier RFs carrying a Leopold label, but the current ones are made by Topre.

ah gotcha, my 55u RF says Topre on the label but on the EK website, it shows Leopold. That makes sense, thanks.

[dante]

Any idea why?

I have no idea - maybe someone closer to EK can shed some light.  It's a shame really - the FC200R was my first mechanical and it was solid.

The FC750R seems like a better deal than the KUL if the South Korean shipping costs can be figured out.

[esoomenona]

Probably because of their success with the KUL keyboards, and maybe they're not selling enough HHKBs now.

[yuiop]

Probably has something to do with strong KRW and relatively weak JPY

[intelli78]

I remember reading something about Leopold sucking at fulfilling their orders.

[jalaj]

I think Leopold's own product lineup is way too overcrowded for essentially the same items. When you do case colors x switch type, the number of SKUs get way out of hand. That and the frequent releases of new models makes it hard on resellers to get rid of previous gen stock. Oh and the non standard keycap sizes limits the market for selling aftermarket keycap accessories.
But it's probably a variety of things, unfavorable profit/cost opportunities, manufacturer warranty support not up to par, unrealistic MOQ requirements, etc.

[MJ45]

Aren't the newer RF's made by Leopold?

No, there were some earlier RFs carrying a Leopold label, but the current ones are made by Topre.

ah gotcha, my 55u RF says Topre on the label but on the EK website, it shows Leopold. That makes sense, thanks.

Realforce keyboards have always been made by Topre and Leopold is just one of their distributors. http://www.topre.co.jp/en/products/elec/keyboards/shoplist.html