While I do appreciate the effort to reduce the entry barrier by lowering costs, I strongly disagree with it
I bought GMK 9009 r3, base and spacebar kit, never expecting that I'll need another kit.
But now, even before 9009 is shipped, I feel I would need the Numpad and the extra 2.25U right shift.
Smaller base kits aren't sustainable in the long term, especially when Olivia++ did so well with a cheap base set.
My latest GMK purchase, Noel has everything for $135, Numpad + extra shifts (+ISO), A similar compatibility for this would cost much more, as pointed out by others. A person willing to pay $100 for plastic that shines is willing to pay $120 for plastic that shines and he can actually use.
This is because the designers and my views diverge, maybe the even communities view diverge. I do not buy keycaps thinking which keyboard I'll put then on, I would like to swap keycaps and who knows what layout would be popular in the future. Alice layout is gaining popularity, maybe it'll decline in the future, 2.25U and 2U may or may not be popular in the future. But how much does one piece of plastic cost among 100 other pieces of plastic?
With that being said, I really like the set, but would not buy at this pricing. For I know, It's not sustainable for the hobby and me, which thrives on customisation. This requires more keys. Would it be that much expensive to add Numpad and some shifts to the base?
MoDo was clearly sellable at $95 and profitable at $100. I'm guessing this too would start at $95 then jump to $100. By adding the kits to the base how much of a difference could it make, a few dollars perhaps.