Author Topic: [IC] MW Jade Dragon | Pre-orders starting! Vendors confirmed  (Read 5824 times)

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Offline Bobatype

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[IC] MW Jade Dragon | Pre-orders starting! Vendors confirmed
« on: Tue, 11 February 2025, 04:55:31 »
MW JADE DRAGON





LINKS




• INSPIRATION •

Inspired by the powerful symbolism of dragons in Chinese culture and the elegance of jade, these keycaps symbolise power, wisdom, and prosperity. Their semi-translucent green appearance emulates the hues of a precious gemstone prized for its beauty and strength for over a thousand years. Intricate dragon motifs are featured in the novelty kit, creating an aesthetic that evokes the mystique of ancient Eastern legends. Manufactured in double-shot ABS/PBT by Milkyway, these keycaps offer a luxurious and durable typing experience. Jade Dragon aims to bring a touch of myth and majesty to any setup.




• KITS •

Base Kit
[Covers 60%, 65%, 75%, TKL, with terminal ISO, F13, Tsangan support, and minimal compatibility for some Alice, and split space layouts.]

Novelty Kit
[Dragons]

Cangjie Sublegend Kit
 
White Alphas Kit
[For an alternate look]


40s Kit

Numpad Kit
 
Spacebar Kit

Add-Ons Kit
 
[Relegendables and Windowed keycaps]

NorDEUK Kit

NorDEUK White Kit



• GALLERY •


60XT by Pensa

Oku by NRD

Jane by TGR


Disclaimer: Renders shown may not perfectly display the actual colors and/or texture of the keycaps. Please refer to actual photo samples to see the real colours and texture. These are best attempts at emulating the semi-translucent nature of the keycaps, whilst noting that lighting conditions and screen calibrations are also variables that affect colour representation/perception.


• SPECIFICATIONS •

Material: ABS for Green (both translucent and opaque), PBT for White
Profile: Cylindrical Cherry Profile
Manufacturing Method: Double shot injection molding
Manufacturer: Milkyway
Compatibility: Mx switches

Samples
Double-shot molds for novelties have already been manufactured. Production will be quick!


• Q&A •
Why this shade of Jade?
I’m aware that Jade comes in many shades of green, however this lighter shade of green with the slightest hue skew towards blue is my idea of jade. Jade jewellery is something I saw frequently and wore growing up. Hopefully in the future, if this set is successful, I can explore darker and lighter shades of Jade Dragon too.

Why this theme?
I love Dragons, and I really like the colour Green. It seemed to blend well.
There are many Japanese keycap sets, and others that feature Cyrillic or Hangul sub-legends, however I would like to promote some Chinese themed keycaps as there is a rich culture full of amazing mythos and magical beasts.

Why Milkyway Studios?
They have a new double-shot ABS manufacturing line, which offers quick production, affordable pricing and the opportunity to offer multiple child kits with a reasonable MOQ. They’ve also been amazing’y assertive with communication and have already manufactured the novelty legend molds for production. I much prefer the appearance of their semi-translucent keycaps over the likes of GMK, DMK, and KKB, which all have a lot of injection holes visible (an unavoidable part of semi-translucent caps, but I like to minimise it if possible).

Why are the green legends opaque not semi-translucent?
Samples demonstrated that having the legend as semi-translucent would end up really dark/dim. However we figured out an interesting way to make the green legends with a unique vortex/flow effect which really evokes the texture/appearance of Jade

Why Cangjie sub-legends? Not Zhuyin etc.
Cangjie characters appear to suit the Ancient Chinese thematic more from an aesthetic perspective. At this stage, no one except GMK has double-shot Chinese sub-legends, so I would like to try to show that there is interest in Chinese sub legends to other manufacturers.




• DESKMAT •

Jade Dragon Mountains

Jade Dragon Waves





• COLLABS •
Jade Dragon Artisan




Disclaimer: Renders are for illustration purpose only. Final product may show
differences. This keycap will be made from jade material, thus there can be significant variation in colours, shade, and texture.
This is a natural characteristic of the material and should be expected, contributing to the charm and uniqueness of each artisan.

Nil other collaborations currently planned. Artisan makers reach out if interested!



• LOGISTICS •

Pre-Order and In-stock Sales: Final quantity orders to manufacturer to be submitted by 28th March 2025.
Estimated Production completion: April 2025 ; shipping to vendors in May 2025
Note that some vendors will not do a pre-order period, and instead have a limited in-stock drop

• VENDORS •

US - Drop - in-stock drop
EU - MaxGaming - in-stock drop
CA - Deskhero.ca - LIVE
UK - Prototypist - LIVE
OCE - Toro Studios - LIVE
CN - zFrontier
KR - Swagkeys - LIVE
JP - Yushakobo - LIVE
SG - Qwertyqop | Deskmats - LIVE
MY - Mecha | Deskmats - LIVE




• MISC •
• FEEDBACK FORM •
Please fill in the Feedback form if you are interested. Thanks!

• SOCIALS •


 

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS •
Thank you to those who provided help, support or design assistance for this project in some form or another. Special shoutouts in particular to:
More
> My mother for her attempts to raise me with some of my culture/heritage roots

> Grundlemere for the Cangjie sublegends

> Milkyway Studios for being gracious with their faith and patience in the development of this project
 
> The designers of the respective keyboards in the renders depicted, Pensa, and also the teams behind Blender, Inkscape, and KRK (Imperfectlink) whose software was used in the development of the visuals of this project.
> Nopunin10did and Konstantin for being the original kitting wizards whose advice on previous projects of mine (and others) have led to my foundational knowledge and decision making (any mistakes or peculiarities are mine though haha)




« Last Edit: Mon, 17 March 2025, 11:33:25 by Bobatype »

Offline keepoto

  • Posts: 226
  • HHKB top for TKL pls
Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 11 February 2025, 08:07:53 »
Reserved

Offline Zahul

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 11 February 2025, 08:30:45 »
Here for it!

Offline balance

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 11 February 2025, 09:23:04 »
Nice set!

Offline reidweb

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 11 February 2025, 16:03:05 »
Appreciate you can't include all possible options, but with the whole base being all green it would be good to have shorter/alternative spacebar options in the green

Offline kinnju

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 11 February 2025, 23:05:21 »
samples look awesome! the green on the white with the vortex effect definitely give that jade feel

Offline seabassi

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 13 February 2025, 21:26:15 »
yeah im in for this.. looks good

Offline Gemmmmmmmmmmmmmy

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 14 February 2025, 01:44:22 »
I am in love with this I need this and the deskmat
Life seems so much smaller
Swim to the moon

Offline AerosolFNTM

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 14 February 2025, 05:58:31 »
Really like this shade of green. This would look good on a few different boards I have. Here for it!

Offline Bobatype

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 15 February 2025, 06:33:38 »
I've reconfirmed with the manufacturer MW, that the semi-translucent and opaque green will be ABS, and the white is PBT. So interestingly it's a hybrid ABS/PBT double-shot keycap set.
We've confirmed the US vendor who has committed to meet the base kit MOQ, so this set will be made. Still yet to work out if there will be a pre-order period, or it will just be a limited in-stock drop (similar to Atomic Purple).
The current estimate (which is subject to change) is for production to commence in mid to late March and will be finished in mid April, with an additional half month of production if the order is larger than expected. Still in the process of lining up other vendors.

I am in love with this I need this and the deskmat
Thank you <3.
In regards to the deskmat, it was a pleasure researching Chinese style landscape paintings and evoking that similar feeling of serenity. I made an effort to keep the dragon visible even with a keyboard placed in the middle so it wasn't blocked. The last batch of dragon themed deskmats I did was years ago for KAT Great Wave.
I was thinking of another deskmat, but it'll be rather minimal - i.e. a simple light green wave pattern (similar to the Seigaiha deskmat GB I ran back in 2021)), so those who want to go without the dragon theme, can still have a nice complementary deskpad, which has an understated nod to the East Asian theme.

Appreciate you can't include all possible options, but with the whole base being all green it would be good to have shorter/alternative spacebar options in the green
During development, I was informed that MW didn't yet have the tooling for semitransparent smaller spacebars, so the kitting was designed with that in mind. However, I think I've just managed convinced them to do it for some of the popular small bars (i.e. 2.25, 2.75, 3.00 x2, 2.00), as it's something other manufacturers do offer, and there's a decent base of users who do use Alice keyboards (i.e. I also own a Neo Ergo). I'm hopeful that this can be 100% confirmed, and I will add it them into the spacebar kit.

samples look awesome! the green on the white with the vortex effect definitely give that jade feel
Thanks, it turned out much better than expected. Even though the initial attempt to do semi-translucent legends ended up in failure, I think it ended up looking even better after making it opaque. It really gives another nice detail of extra complexity to the design. Here's an example of some jade bracelet photos which serve as a reference of the effect aimed for:



Here for it!
yeah im in for this.. looks good
Nice set!
Really like this shade of green. This would look good on a few different boards I have. Here for it!
Thanks for the kind words of appreciation!

Offline reidweb

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 15 February 2025, 08:58:40 »
Quote
During development, I was informed that MW didn't yet have the tooling for semitransparent smaller spacebars, so the kitting was designed with that in mind. However, I think I've just managed convinced them to do it for some of the popular small bars (i.e. 2.25, 2.75, 3.00 x2, 2.00), as it's something other manufacturers do offer, and there's a decent base of users who do use Alice keyboards (i.e. I also own a Neo Ergo). I'm hopeful that this can be 100% confirmed, and I will add it them into the spacebar kit.

Awesome news, fingers crossed it goes through!
« Last Edit: Sun, 16 February 2025, 13:32:15 by reidweb »

Offline nebben42

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 15 February 2025, 18:31:42 »
I would definitely buy this set

Offline φrange_stone

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  • No fancy life But fancy keyboard
Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 19 February 2025, 21:22:27 »
SOOOOOO many awesome new sets coming in 2025 :))

Offline Bobatype

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #13 on: Sat, 08 March 2025, 02:19:17 »
Hi,

Kitting has been updated to have more green translucent spacebars given feedback from multiple users:
- 40s spacebars changed to all translucent green from opaque
- Spacebar kit, all the smaller bars changed to translucent green, 6u spacebar added for HHKB, and white bars include not just 6.25 and 7, but also 2 + 2.25 + 2.75 for accent bars on Alice layouts
- The green NORDEUK kit has 2 extra alphas added for UK keys on R1 with UV-printed Cangjie sublegends

There are multiple child kits where the manufacturer MW and I have mutually agreed to take minimal margins simply for the sake of providing broader layout coverage/compatibility for this initial round.


We are aiming for production of these keycaps in April 2025, so that it can be in-stock during Q2 at vendors.
Please note that some vendors will simply do an in-stock drop, where it'll simply be a FCFS situation, whilst some vendors may elect to do pre-order period until 28th March.

The current vendor line-up is as follows:
NA - Drop
EU - MaxGaming
CA - Deskhero
SG - Qwertyqop
CN - zFrontier
KR - Swagkeys

Other regional vendors remain to be determined.
« Last Edit: Tue, 11 March 2025, 07:42:23 by Bobatype »

Offline fops

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #14 on: Mon, 10 March 2025, 13:08:46 »
Moderately off-topic but is the 60XT render only a concept or an unannounced project? I could not find any information about it trying to look it up. Thanks

Offline Bobatype

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon
« Reply #15 on: Tue, 11 March 2025, 07:47:48 »
Three more vendors join the project:

UK - Prototypist
OCE - Toro Studios
MY - Mecha

Current Vendor List
NA - Drop
EU - MaxGaming
CA - Deskhero
SG - Qwertyqop
CN - zFrontier
KR - Swagkeys
UK - Prototypist
OCE - Toro Studios
MY - Mecha

The pre-order period is starting soon (this week basically) and ends 28th March, so that production can commence and complete within April 2025.


Moderately off-topic but is the 60XT render only a concept or an unannounced project? I could not find any information about it trying to look it up. Thanks
Unannounced project. Sorry I don't really have any details to divulge about it at this stage.

Offline Bobatype

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon | Pre-orders starting: New deskmat and jade artisan!
« Reply #16 on: Thu, 13 March 2025, 22:10:21 »
Pre-orders have started for many regions! If you're interested, get your orders in before the end of the month (28th March) as there will likely be only limited quantities available in-stock.

• VENDORS •


US - Drop - in-stock drop
EU - MaxGaming - in-stock drop
CA - Deskhero.ca - LIVE
CN - zFrontier
KR - Swagkeys
UK - Prototypist - LIVE
SG - Qwertyqop | Deskmats - LIVE
OCE - Toro Studios - LIVE
MY - Mecha | Deskmats - LIVE


Furthermore, there's a new jade artisan keycap and simple alternate deskmat design on offer:



Offline seabassi

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon | Pre-orders start soon! Vendors confirmed
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 14 March 2025, 21:35:10 »
using actual jade for the artisan. im kinda scared to even ask how much that artisan is gonna cost lol

Offline Bobatype

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Re: [IC] MW Jade Dragon | Pre-orders start soon! Vendors confirmed
« Reply #18 on: Sun, 16 March 2025, 00:11:08 »
Yushakobo joins as Japanese vendor during pre-order period.
Swagkeys has gone live too

• VENDORS •

US - Drop - in-stock drop
EU - MaxGaming - in-stock drop
CA - Deskhero.ca - LIVE
UK - Prototypist - LIVE
OCE - Toro Studios - LIVE
CN - zFrontier
KR - Swagkeys - LIVE
JP - Yushakobo - LIVE
SG - Qwertyqop | Deskmats - LIVE
MY - Mecha | Deskmats - LIVE

Awaiting mod approval for Preorder thread posted in GB section


using actual jade for the artisan. im kinda scared to even ask how much that artisan is gonna cost lol
It's approx 45 USD. To be fair, there are multiple grades of jade (like any precious gemstone), and it's made in China.
« Last Edit: Mon, 17 March 2025, 11:26:41 by Bobatype »