Topre Type Heaven, awful or good for getting a feel of Topre?

[zpcomstock17]

I know Topre's type heaven is an entry level board at it's price of ~150, it bears a plastic construction and has ABS pad-printed keycaps.
Enthusiasts nag about this board often. Comments on youtube, forums, blogs, etc like "Not the true feel of Topre", "The worst Topre board ever", and even "feels like a Topre board made for children".

It's also a highly rumored board. Things from the quality control on this board is poor to the switches have a less consistent feel to them. Is the Topre Type Heaven truly that bad? Is enthusiasts just bashing it because it's worth half of their premium Realforce keyboard? Or do reviewers expect too much from an entry-level Topre keyboard?

I'm not spending big bucks for a Realforce feel, I'm spending an affordable amount for a Topre feel.
I want to get a feeling of Topre before I reach into my wallet and toss three hundred dollars for a HHKP2 with kryox oil + grease lubricant, hyperspheres, and a PBT spacebar. and It's obvious that PBT keycaps and a metal frame feels better to type on, the awesome signature "thock" Topre sound won't be brought for $150.
I'm just looking for a cheap Topre feel without breaking the bank. Is it at least better than Topre knock-offs (Noppo's and Plum's capacitive switches)?

It's either this Topre board or I'm going back to MX Browns or Gateron browns.

[sony]

The type heaven has a metal plate too. I got a type heaven on ebay for $85 and it's not bad. It feels pretty much like a realforce except for the caps. For me the caps were really gritty and you could feel the legends. At $150, I would recommend spending a bit more and picking up a used realforce. The caps make a huge difference. Between the type heaven and the realforce, the biggest difference is the caps and the caps on the realforce are far superior in my opinion.

[1391406]

The construction is solid but it doesn't feel as refined as either of my Realforce boards. If you own a Realforce, you'll notice the difference. If you don't, it won't give you a proper impression of what a good Topre board feels like, and I wouldn't suggest anyone base their impressions of a Realforce or HHKB on it. It's an okay board in its own right, but not in the same league as the other two.

[zpcomstock17]

The type heaven has a metal plate too. I got a type heaven on ebay for $85 and it's not bad. It feels pretty much like a realforce except for the caps. For me the caps were really gritty and you could feel the legends. At $150, I would recommend spending a bit more and picking up a used realforce. The caps make a huge difference. Between the type heaven and the realforce, the biggest difference is the caps and the caps on the realforce are far superior in my opinion.

Ebay and Amazon only offer cheap Japanese layout keyboards, nothing ANSI/ISO layout for cheap. 225-250 is often the price territory of an US realforce keyboard and that's puncturing a bigger hole in my wallet.

[Puddsy]

It's not a bad keyboard, but it's also very worth it to shell out the extra money on a realforce board.

[sony]

Mechmarket?

[zpcomstock17]

Mechmarket?

Riskmarket... 
I don't like paying first because I lack rep...

[Puddsy]

Mechmarket?

I don't trust it.

[laaurora]

My HHKB-Pro2 was under $210 on ebay, brand new with free shipping from Japan.

The idea of paying 65% of that sum for a tester that I wouldn't want to keep, few would want to buy off me, and that wouldn't even be a good test of what I'm trying to test, just seems very weird to me.

[Hyde]

It's not a bad keyboard, but it's also very worth it to shell out the extra money on a realforce board.

Basically this, it's not bad on its own.  I mean construction wise I might even rate it higher than Realforce just on build and how solid it is.

Only real difference is keycaps.  If you slap Realforce keycaps on it then it's pretty much identical in feel, but at that point you'd better off just buying Realforce because the cost will be so similar.

[Dyaems]

Better to save cash and get a Realforce instead IMO because buying PBT keycaps for Type Heaven (so that it would "feel" close to a Realforce) is hard to get and will most likely ending up paying the same price as a Realforce.

You can also buy those MX stems and mod the Type Heaven to fit MX compatible keycaps, but it would also cost more.

As for the Type Heaven itself, the "Topre feel" is there but you might find it lacking mainly because of the keycaps.

[zpcomstock17]

Better to save cash and get a Realforce instead IMO because buying PBT keycaps for Type Heaven (so that it would "feel" close to a Realforce) is hard to get and will most likely ending up paying the same price as a Realforce.

You can also buy those MX stems and mod the Type Heaven to fit MX compatible keycaps, but it would also cost more.

As for the Type Heaven itself, the "Topre feel" is there but you might find it lacking mainly because of the keycaps.

Well I got a Type-Heaven cheap refurbished  for 100 usd, that's $150 less than Realforce.
If I happen to love Topre switches, I'll grab a Realforce board in the future.
I could've only grabbed japanese layout Realforce keyboards for way less because they're highly undesirable (space bar is now 4 unnecessary keys, backspace is a precision pinkie stroke key now) but I have compatibility concerns with them and I'd have to wait for international shipping.