Blue and Pink ALPS are some of the most sought after. If you get Blues it guarantees they were made at a time when the switches (supposedly) were made in Japan. Not as sure about the era of Pinks. Blues click, pinks are tactile without the click.
The Blue ALPS that I have range in feel. Some are smooth, tactile and type like a dream while others feel like pushing a rusty nail into a wet phone book. It comes down to how they've been treated - they are some of the oldest of the ALPS which I believe were all in the 80's, likely 1988 and before. That's a lot of years they could have been abused or had grime built up in them if not cared for properly. But if you get some good ones, they are an amazing switch. Since these leading edge boards aren't PC compatible, I'd bet they got a lot less use on average than AT compatible boards that stayed in service longer.
