[IC] SWG Neowell - GB has started

[Bobatype]

SWG Neowell

formerly known as KKB Neo Honeywell

LINKS

Intro | Kits | Deskmat | Renders | Specs | Logistics | Collabs | Misc

IC Form | Discord: TORO Studio | Socials: @toro_keyboard | @boba.types

GB Thread Link: Pending

• INTRODUCTION •

This is not the greatest keycap set in the world, no. This is just a tribute.

Inspired by the terminals of a by-gone computing era, SWG Neowell is a tribute to one of the hobby's most beloved industrial keyboard colourways. Retaining the ivory alphas, charcoal modifiers and signature red accents that defined the original, this reinterprets the classic with contemporary novelties, expanded compatibility, and thoughtful homages to its heritage. Versatile, understated, but never boring, Neowell preserves the timeless industrial character of its inspiration while refining it for today's enthusiast. Whether you favour a faithful vintage aesthetic or a more modern interpretation, Neowell is designed to bridge both worlds, honouring the past while feeling perfectly at home on today's keyboards.

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On a random weeknight, Toro PMed me, complaining about aftermarket prices (as usual). Instead of being bent over by scalpers, he wanted to take things into his own hands, and with his circle(jerk) of friends, brought my helping hand into the fold. The rest is history...

Well no seriously,
The Honeywell colourway, born from vintage terminals, is a classic that felt long overdue for a return.
For the purists, Latin-only alphas and opaque red accents remain available to keep the look true to its roots (no judgement if you’re keeping it vanilla). For the non-traditionalists, translucent red accents bring a modern edge.

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• KITS •

Base Kit

[Covers 60%, 65%, 75%, TKL, with UK-ISO, F13, 7u Tsangan support, Alice bars, and split spacebar layouts.]

Based on feedback, the base kit will have opaque red Esc and Enter accent keys instead of grey Esc/Enter keys.

Neo Kit

[Extension + Novelty Kit. The text terminology is a reference to the OG Honeywell keycaps.]

Cyrillic Alpha Kit

[Sublegends are double-shot]

Numpad Kit

[Offers extended compatibility for full size and 1800 keyboards, including the “=” and “00” keys for extra coverage. Num Lock key is force windowed.]

 

Teal Accent Kit

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• DESKMAT •

Reference Grid HW-A1

[Cutting Mat style - Metric system]

Reference Grid HW-F1

[Cutting Mat style - Imperial system]

All deskmats will be 900mm x 400mm with 4mm thickness, stitched edges, rough texture, rubber base, cloth top

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• RENDERS •

+84 TKL by nuxros

Sneakbox Giga40 by mujimanic

MK65-XT by boba.types

note: old render, bottom row modifiers are not available in stepped form

Aperture Board, model by Elmo

Toro60, by Toro Studios

Toro60, by Toro Studios

Healthkit H89 inspired

Disclaimer: Renders shown may not perfectly display the actual colors of the keycaps. 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. The visible injection holes are also not possible to avoid in double-shot legend production, and kindly refer to kitting for better representation. Furthermore, all ANSI Enter key legends are "Transmit" legend.

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• SPECIFICATIONS •

Profile: Cylindrical Cherry Profile
Material: ABS
Manufacturing Method: Double-shot injection for primary legends and sub-legends.
Manufacturer: SWG
Compatibility: Mx switches
Colors: Colour-matched to Signature Plastics’ chips: WFK (alphas), GPA (mods), and RAS (accents) which were used in the original Honeywell runs.

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• COLLABS •

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

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• LOGISTICS •

Group-buy date July 6th to 27th ; ETA is Q4.

• VENDORS •

US - Divinikey
CA - Unikey
EU - Monacokey
UK - Prototypist
OCE - Toro Studios
KR - SwagKeys
SEA - KTechs
TH - Keycapepe

(top)

• MISC •

• FAQ •

Why does the base kit have forced windowed caps lock and scroll lock keys?
We are forcing windowed “Caps Lock” and “Scroll” due to my strong personal preferences; they’re not just more functional, but also more aesthetic. It's cheaper to exclude the duplicate non-windowed variants. Note unlike GMK, the legends for the windowed keycaps are double-shot too, so no concerns about legends wearing off here.

Why is the F-row all modifier-coloured grey?
The F-row keys are only grey (i.e. no white F1-4, F9-F12) as a reference to the original keycaps scheme on the Honeywell terminals (photo example here). We note that most enthusiast-led runs had an alternate f-row color scheme, however I think for this colourway, all grey looks better. Furthermore, if people are using the F-row keys in keyboards with a XT macro column,  the single colour  means no strange alpha colour blocking in the middle.

Why are the Numpad keys white, and not black like the original?
“Omg Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white”
The mismatch between black numpad and white alphas looks odd. Like other Honeywell sets, we prefer a more cohesive look. Please remember this set is a remix/reinterpretation of Honeywell, not a faithful remake.

• IC Form •

Please provide input here: Interest Check Link[/s]

• SOCIALS •

Instagram: @toro_keyboard | @boba.types
Discord channel: TORO Studio

 

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS •

Thank you to those who provided help, support or design assistance for this project in some form or another. Shoutouts in particular to:

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> Muirium and 7bit for bringing this classic colourway to us in the first place via Deskthority, and all the other folks bringing it back in various iterations
> Adam le cat for renders
> masje - the cool cat whose 'neo' variants of classics like skidata and dolch, undoubtedly inspired us (check out his current project: GMK TA Neo)
> Family and friends both inside and outside the enthusiast community for their support
> Nopunin10did and Konstantin for being the original kitting wizards whose advice on previous projects of mine (and others) have improved my understanding (any mistakes or peculiarities are mine though)

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[Mikhail]

Honeywell had black alpha legends, not gray

[Bobatype]

Honeywell had black alpha legends, not gray

Hi, thanks for the comment.
We're aware the original Honeywell has black alpha legends, however we prefer to use the grey alpha legends similar to both the GMK and DCS runs. It seems there are also some other elements of the 'Honeywell' colorway scheme that have changed with the enthusiast-led versions, such as some of the F-row keys having alpha colors (whilst we chose to revert back to the OG with only gray F-row keys), or the numpad no longer being WoB (which we agree with). Anyways I hope that by calling it Neo Honeywell, you could consider it an off-shoot of Honeywell, as it's not meant to be a 100% recreation.

[Mikhail]

Ok, also I need XT Fs and icon tab for AT layout.
Gray BAE please

[Randomlosername]

Love all the extra sub legend alpha kits. My only personal complaint is that I’d LOVE stepped bottom row mods, but wouldn’t use the BAE or 10u.

[Mikhail]

Would great if the other sub legends was triple shot too

[Bobatype]

Ok, also I need XT Fs and icon tab for AT layout.
Gray BAE please

Gray BAE might be doable... I might add it to the IC form to see what interest there is in it. Unfortunately I dont think KKB has row appropriate F-row/macro/XT keycaps i.e. M1-M10 etc. I might need you to explain why icon tab haha? All the modifiers in this set are text+icon.

Love all the extra sub legend alpha kits. My only personal complaint is that I’d LOVE stepped bottom row mods, but wouldn’t use the BAE or 10u.

Mmm that's fair... I might ask Toro and KKB if it's viable to split the mods from the big enter/10U kit. We do have a lot of child kits already, but perhaps it's a different crowd. Or would people prefer stepped bottom row mods in base kit (like KKB Sacred Timeline)? It will make base kit a little bit more expensive, but if everyone likes it, might as well just include them into base kit.

Would great if the other sub legends was triple shot too

KKB unfortunately only has tripleshot Cadet sublegends in their inventory. They're quite expensive to create tooling for, and have their own MOQ. As far as I know, from that manufacturer, all its other existing sublegend molds are only double-shot. If KKB Nichirin is successful.. then tripleshot hiragana sublegends may be viable. We would personally love triple-shot Cyrillic too.

[Randomlosername]

They also did the stepped bottom row for COL as well! I was a big fan of it in that base kit haha, thanks for taking my feedback into consideration 

[tanghus]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

[Mikhail]

AT layout always have ICON TAB and ICON 1U Backspace
It's so important for style!
Actually im very glad that KKB have the classic "Enter - Arrow" BAE, not modern GMK ANSI style "Arrow - Enter" legends.
Sad no side cluster 

[Kokaloo]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

[Flybeck]

yeah this ****s, good job

[Manukbs_]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

I don't want to get involved in drama BUT, I don't think it's about the word, but the meaning that word has in this situation. If another designer is making a line of projects with this word, why someone else has to use the same word (not an issue because it's a word) with the same meaning and the same line of product (the issue)

Potato english but I feel you can get the point here

[tanghus]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

Did I ****ing stutter?

Manu beat me to the point, but as always, you only caught 40% of it. This was a terrible attempt at a ****post man, I am really disappointed. You have done better in the past.

The Neo line started with KKB Skidata with translucent accents/alertrow, was intended continue with the KKB Dolch Neo line which again had translucent accents into KKB Triumph Adler Neo. All projects were initiated by James, but only the first Neo product got made, KKB released pursued Dolch under another name and KKB Triumph Adler Neo moved on to become GMK TA Neo.

It is bad judgement to continue the Neo line and translucent accents without the original designer. The better choice would genuinely have been to ommit Neo from the project name.

[MikeTheTiger]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

Imagine if next they start talking about people owning colors.

[zlobin356]

guys, whats the point of making drama here. does james said anything negative about the “Neo” in the title of this set (atleast yet) that we starting to making conflicts there? i will dm both James and Boba, since i have good relationships with both makers to help with this situation. lets keep things peaceful

[zlobin356]

Everything is OK guys. No one haves any big issues to each other, no one plans to make any statements regarding it and set will run with this naming

If you want to run a keyset, i would suggest asking James regarding using ”Neo” in set titles tho, so there would be no confusion.

[MikeTheTiger]

guys, whats the point of making drama here. does james said anything negative about the “Neo” in the title of this set (atleast yet) that we starting to making conflicts there? i will dm both James and Boba, since i have good relationships with both makers to help with this situation. lets keep things peaceful

You may as well rope in Honeywell on that conversation too, peacemaker. They may want to hear why their name is being attached to the word Neo?  )

[zlobin356]

? ? ?

[Kokaloo]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

N-n-Neo b-belong b-belongs t-t-to m--masje!!! B-b-Baka!!!

Nooooo masje is the only one who can take claimless and old colorways and implement the tired and gaudy translucent keys in an attempt at creative originality!! 

[masje]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

N-n-Neo b-belong b-belongs t-t-to m--masje!!! B-b-Baka!!!

Nooooo masje is the only one who can take claimless and old colorways and implement the tired and gaudy translucent keys in an attempt at creative originality!! 

Why are you so unhinged

[MikeTheTiger]

[Raiden_Shogun]

Definitely looking forward to this. Can the base set include Latin instead of cadet? Not a big fan of cadet subs personally speaking

[kentdo10]

Definitely looking forward to this. Can the base set include Latin instead of cadet? Not a big fan of cadet subs personally speaking

We have explained above. Due to the MOQ of the cadet sub-legend, we must make it the sole base option, and we will strive to price the alternative Latin alpha Kit as competitively as possible. Both of us really like the cadet alpha, so it is here to stay.

[SpookyGC]

Neo Honeywell?

Is Masje involved in this, or did Keykobo decide to just keep using the Neo name without James' involvement? NGL, that's hella scuffed.

bro did not just try to say someone has ownership of the word "Neo"

Did I ****ing stutter?

Manu beat me to the point, but as always, you only caught 40% of it. This was a terrible attempt at a ****post man, I am really disappointed. You have done better in the past.

The Neo line started with KKB Skidata with translucent accents/alertrow, was intended continue with the KKB Dolch Neo line which again had translucent accents into KKB Triumph Adler Neo. All projects were initiated by James, but only the first Neo product got made, KKB released pursued Dolch under another name and KKB Triumph Adler Neo moved on to become GMK TA Neo.

It is bad judgement to continue the Neo line and translucent accents without the original designer. The better choice would genuinely have been to ommit Neo from the project name.

I thought a part of the James’ KKB Neo line was also to (try to) offer R0 and/or R5?

I also opened up this post assuming it was one of his projects. Of course he doesn’t “own” the word, but it definitely seems odd to unnecessarily attach it to the project without him involved.

[Bobatype]

hey guys,
Didn't expect so much discussion around the use of the term 'Neo'



So Toro and I had an intense discussion this morning, and after a lot of screaming, crying,  and reflection, we've decided to re-title this project.
It's now called "NotNeo Honeywell"
"Honeowell" was a close second. Followed by ‘Neo Honeywell → The Keycaps Formerly Known As’ (TKFKANH)

But no seriously, I spoke to masje (James) and he's stated he's cool with us using the term 'Neo' if we wish.
At the same time, we do understand he is the primary designer strongly associated with remixing some classic colourways with translucent accents, i.e. KKB Skidata Neo, KKB Dolch Neo, and GMK TA Neo, so it can be confusing to some.
By using the term "Neo" we felt we were undeniably acknowledging we are obviously taking a similar approach he has.
Whether we call it Neo or not in the title, people will recognise this as the 'Neo' approach, courtesy of Masje.
 
It's a look that some people like, and some people don't like. We get it. It's called personal preference.
We're not pretending that we're creating a whole new colourway/concept here guys. We're just bring an old favorite dish back and adding a bit of extra sauce and sides for a slightly different experience.

I'll be honest, it also feels a little awkward using 'Honeywell', given that this is an existing Company's name still (maybe one of the reasons why Skidata in 2017 was re-titled SkIIdata?). 

So given masje' blessing, us wanting to shorten its name and avoiding corporate association, we're now calling this "KKB Neo"
It's like Kanye → Ye, but for keycaps.

I'm just joking.

But no seriously we ran a quick poll in Discord, and KKB Neowell is the likely new name for this project.

Yeah so we're keeping the Neo (as a nod to adopting masje's approach on prior classics), but in a different manner.

[Bobatype]

Also we added an extra question in IC regarding inclusion of bottom row 1.5u centre stepped modifiers in base kit, instead of the BAE/10u kit. Please vote!

Furthermore, current IC form results are showing vast majority of people prefer Base Kit (b), where the opaque red accents are included, and the Gray Esc/Enter is sacrificed.


We will wait for a bit more data before confirming it, but thanks for all the people who filled out the IC form. It really helps influence the direction of the development of the kitting, since we didn't want to make presumptions on what people like.

As mentioned in the FAQ section, we really really wish we could have offered a Latin only no sublegends base kit alongside triple-shot sublegends as either base kit or alpha kit, but due to the manufacturer's requirements, it was just not feasible. We will be aiming to price that alpha kit as cheap as possible due to this, so people who prefer that look aren't stung too hard.

[konstantin]

Show Image

Cyrillic Alpha Kit
[Red sublegends are UV-printed]

I love the inclusion of Russian Cyrillic sublegends, but I think they should be a bit smaller since they're currently taking up just a tad too much space on the keycaps for my liking. For example, the Cyrillic М is wider than 1 em (the width of the Latin M); and Ш, Щ and Ж, being naturally wider than 1 em, take up even more space. Try reducing all of the sublegends' sizes by around 10% (or 1–2 pt if you have them as a font) and seeing how it looks. You may also want to consider using Helvetica or one of its derivatives instead of whatever the current typeface is (I'm assuming it's just ttom's reworked GMK Cyrillic sublegends, so not really a typeface per se).
Also, some sublegends appear to be slightly vertically misaligned (most noticeably Й, Д) or missized (Н, Ш, Щ, Ъ); see image. Using a typeface would also fix this.

Otherwise, the kitting seems really good. I'm not going to comment on the naming issue, although I have to say reading through all of the drama was pretty fun :P

[Bobatype]

Show Image

Cyrillic Alpha Kit
[Red sublegends are UV-printed]

I love the inclusion of Russian Cyrillic sublegends, but I think they should be a bit smaller since they're currently taking up just a tad too much space on the keycaps for my liking. For example, the Cyrillic М is wider than 1 em (the width of the Latin M); and Ш, Щ and Ж, being naturally wider than 1 em, take up even more space. Try reducing all of the sublegends' sizes by around 10% (or 1–2 pt if you have them as a font) and seeing how it looks. You may also want to consider using Helvetica or one of its derivatives instead of whatever the current typeface is (I'm assuming it's just ttom's reworked GMK Cyrillic sublegends, so not really a typeface per se).
Also, some sublegends appear to be slightly vertically misaligned (most noticeably Й, Д) or missized (Н, Ш, Щ, Ъ); see image. Using a typeface would also fix this.

Otherwise, the kitting seems really good. I'm not going to comment on the naming issue, although I have to say reading through all of the drama was pretty fun :P

Thanks for the feedback on the Cyrillic sublegends! Appreciate the specifics on size and alignment issues.
I didn't render the kits for this project so I'm not 100% sure of the reference file for the sublegends that was used, but I will get them corrected.
I was actually thinking of using Qarmaa and Alexbarb's Cyrillic sublegends that was developed for GMK WoB Red Cyrillic. They match the Cherry style typeface of the alpha legends, and accuracy appears to be accounted for, given the designers are from that region.

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[konstantin]

I was actually thinking of using Qarmaa and Alexbarb's Cyrillic sublegends that was developed for GMK WoB Red Cyrillic. They match the Cherry style typeface of the alpha legends, and accuracy appears to be accounted for, given the designers are from that region.

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Show Image

Sounds good, those sublegends are great.

[madmax13]

I love this; however, if you're going to create a set of Kana sublegends, given the futuristic theme of this spin, I'd suggest using Katakana. Visually, it seems that it would fit the set a bit better as well.

[MartinThePolarBear]

YES YES YES

[Bobatype]

I was actually thinking of using Qarmaa and Alexbarb's Cyrillic sublegends that was developed for GMK WoB Red Cyrillic. They match the Cherry style typeface of the alpha legends, and accuracy appears to be accounted for, given the designers are from that region.

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Show Image

Sounds good, those sublegends are great.

Awesome. Good to know that those Cyrillic legends get your thumbs up.

I love this; however, if you're going to create a set of Kana sublegends, given the futuristic theme of this spin, I'd suggest using Katakana. Visually, it seems that it would fit the set a bit better as well.

Ah that's good point. I do agree that Katakana probably fits the theme better. Cyrillic is the most popular thus far based on the IC form, followed by Hangul. Hiragana is very far behind, so we'll probably not proceed with Hiragana sublegends as an alpha kit due to lack of interest.
We've added new polling options for Katakana sublegends, in case there is interest, alongside uv-print Arabic sublegends in case there are those wanting that.

YES YES YES

<3

[Bobatype]

Hi,
Based on IC feedback, we're going to keep the base kit enters to be translucent and opaque red. There will not be any grey modifier Enters in the base kit.

Furthermore it seems there are quite a few who strongly prefer a Latin only base kit over the Cadet sublegend base kit, which is completely understandable (and makes the other color accent kits more accessible).

As such we're considering pivoting to make this the new base kit:


We're exploring making the Red Cadet sublegends an alpha kit instead. However due to MOQ requirements for triple-shot child kit, it's possible that the Cadet sublegends might end up being UV-print.
Kindly please re-iterate your preferences for base kit preference in this strawpoll: https://strawpoll.com/Dwyo3p4KkyA

In other news, the Cyrillic alpha sublegend kit has updated legends (thanks to Qarmaa for the sublegends; and Konstantin for the feedback):

There was also a missing R4 > < key which is now included.
Cyrillic was by far the most popular sublegend option. Hangul was second, with a slight preference for the grey double-shot sublegends. We will probably still offer an alpha kit with Red UV-print Hangul sublegends too.

The BAE and 10u kit has since been updated to include a R1 back key, and R4 pipe key.

70% of form responders preferred to keep the bottom row stepped modifier key in this kit, versus having it in base. Which does help keep the base kit pricing a bit more optimal.

[Randomlosername]

Damn no stepped mods and they took my sub legends away from me 😭

[Bobatype]

Damn no stepped mods and they took my sub legends away from me 😭

Sorry, if it was borderline result, I would have baked the stepped mods into base kit, but majority of responders preferred to keep it out base kit, which is fair. Perhaps there are OG GMK Honeywell users, who just want the BAE and stepped mods themselves without buying a whole new base kit to access them. Anyways, it follows our initial plan with the base kit.
Toro and I both really like the Cadet sublegends, but yeah we're going need a lot of interest from consumers and vendors to able to justify the MOQ necessary for triple-shot sublegends in a separate base kit or alpha kit. In the current market we don't want to overpromise a kit, only for it to be cancelled during GB. We'll keep our options open and try to explore what's possible and see if it's something achievable.

[konstantin]

In other news, the Cyrillic alpha sublegend kit has updated legends (thanks to Qarmaa for the sublegends; and Konstantin for the feedback):

Show Image

There was also a missing R4 > < key which is now included.

Looking good :thumb: The R1 and R3 1u \| keys should also have a / sublegend in the top-right.

[Bobatype]

In other news, the Cyrillic alpha sublegend kit has updated legends (thanks to Qarmaa for the sublegends; and Konstantin for the feedback):

Show Image

There was also a missing R4 > < key which is now included.

Looking good :thumb: The R1 and R3 1u \| keys should also have a / sublegend in the top-right.

Ah. Keen eye. How critical is the / sublegend on the \| keys? Each extra key that requires UV print increases the cost of the kit, so I'm tempted to not include them if it's not particularly vital... They feel a little superfluous, but will include if that's a big deal.

[As an aside, I note that KKB Jindo which has doubleshot Hangul sublegends did not include the ₩ (won) symbol on the \| keys, to presumably save on mold costs.]

[Rob27shred]

Damn no stepped mods and they took my sub legends away from me

Sorry, if it was borderline result, I would have baked the stepped mods into base kit, but majority of responders preferred to keep it out base kit, which is fair. Perhaps there are OG GMK Honeywell users, who just want the BAE and stepped mods themselves without buying a whole new base kit to access them. Anyways, it follows our initial plan with the base kit.
Toro and I both really like the Cadet sublegends, but yeah we're going need a lot of interest from consumers and vendors to able to justify the MOQ necessary for triple-shot sublegends in a separate base kit or alpha kit. In the current market we don't want to overpromise a kit, only for it to be cancelled during GB. We'll keep our options open and try to explore what's possible and see if it's something achievable.

Eh I wouldn't count on KKB being able to truly match GMK's colors. I grabbed most of the child kits for KKB Skidata Neo to match with my GMK Skiidata set, but KKB's match of GMK's N9 & V2 was not so great. You could definitely see the difference between the two. I ended up having to grab the Skidata Neo base to go with the child kits I got in the GB.

[Bobatype]

Damn no stepped mods and they took my sub legends away from me

Sorry, if it was borderline result, I would have baked the stepped mods into base kit, but majority of responders preferred to keep it out base kit, which is fair. Perhaps there are OG GMK Honeywell users, who just want the BAE and stepped mods themselves without buying a whole new base kit to access them. Anyways, it follows our initial plan with the base kit.
Toro and I both really like the Cadet sublegends, but yeah we're going need a lot of interest from consumers and vendors to able to justify the MOQ necessary for triple-shot sublegends in a separate base kit or alpha kit. In the current market we don't want to overpromise a kit, only for it to be cancelled during GB. We'll keep our options open and try to explore what's possible and see if it's something achievable.

Eh I wouldn't count on KKB being able to truly match GMK's colors. I grabbed most of the child kits for KKB Skidata Neo to match with my GMK Skiidata set, but KKB's match of GMK's N9 & V2 was not so great. You could definitely see the difference between the two. I ended up having to grab the Skidata Neo base to go with the child kits I got in the GB.

Mmm that's fair... shouldn't bet on being an exact match... KKB will match with the SP color chip references that GMK and DCS runs used as reference. But even then, Signature Plastics has a disclaimer on their ABS color chip website that "resin varies from lot to lot and the color may have a minor shift from one order to the next."

[konstantin]

Ah. Keen eye. How critical is the / sublegend on the \| keys? Each extra key that requires UV print increases the cost of the kit, so I'm tempted to not include them if it's not particularly vital... They feel a little superfluous, but will include if that's a big deal.

It's totally up to you, but I would say that they ought to be there for consistency (after all, the sublegend is present on the 1.5u pipe key). In that regard, the backslash is just like any other punctuation sublegend (", №, ? etc.) that's there when you switch to the Russian layout. That being said, people might not mind that much if you omit it.

[As an aside, I note that KKB Jindo which has doubleshot Hangul sublegends did not include the ₩ (won) symbol on the \| keys, to presumably save on mold costs.]

That's technically how it's supposed to be: the ₩ symbol isn't actually present in the Korean layout; the pipe key produces a \, but then many OSes with the display language set to Korean render all backslashes as won signs (so even file paths look like C:₩Users₩...). A similar thing happens on Japanese systems, with backslashes being rendered as ¥.

[IBMweMissU]

Lovely to see CapsLED in base.  Also, 1000% agree with your "Extended rant" on the subject.
I already have gmk & dcs honeywell, but love this project, will def get some/most of the child kits.
Inclusion of a stepped CapsLED to the alt alpha kits, or even any other child kit, would be mega, please consider.

[VXQN]

Is this still happening, but with SwagKeys? That's what it implies at https://www.swagkey.info/

[dvorcol]

Is this still happening, but with SwagKeys? That's what it implies at https://www.swagkey.info/

Good question. Swagkeys is saying GB will run 6 to 27 July 2026

Edit: SWG link changed

[bansheetango]

This is based. Monaco for EU, plz.

[Bobatype]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the lack of updates on Geekhack. Thanks for your patience and continued interest in the project.
After further discussions and evaluating the current market, we've decided to move forward with Swagkeys as the manufacturer. We believe they can deliver high-quality doubleshot ABS keycaps while keeping pricing at a level that is more accessible and better aligned with the demand for a project of this size.
As part of this change, we're also revising the kitting structure to help keep the set as affordable as possible. Unfortunately, this means some of the more niche kits (like an expansive spacebars kit) and tooling-dependent options will no longer be included on this run. This includes the BAE kit, 10u spacebar support, and bottom-row stepped modifiers. Not to say those options will never be a future possibility, but it just appears difficult to justify at this stage. We'd love to be ambitious and offer more expansive options with more sublegend alternatives and accents, but ultimately this project was born from a simple wish to have this classic theme be accessible to many who don't want to resort to burning a hole in their wallet for high aftermarket prices.

The revised kit structure is currently planned as follows:
- Base Kit (Latin-only alphas) – largely unchanged, extra spacebars (Alice remains but now with 6u too), forced windowed Caps Lock/Scroll Lock keys stays, basic-5-key 40s support now included. Some novelty keycaps included.
- Numpad Kit
- Cyrillic Alpha Kit – doubleshot grey Cyrillic sublegends.
- Accent Kit – teal accents available in both opaque and translucent variants.
Updated kitting renders will be shared once they are ready.

Majority of vendors are now lined up as well. Will update soon on who they are.

TLDR: We've changed manufacturers and are consolidating the offering by reducing the number of child kits to focus on the options that see the highest demand while maintaining the strongest value proposition for the majority of users. More updates and new renders coming soon.

[meowoofun]

Still haven't got over GMK Vintage keys disappointment for it's cut kits to then lose hope on this run with even more stripped kitting.

Damn shame.

[Bobatype]

Sorry for late update to this IC thread, but for anyone keeping an eye on this project, the groupbuy has already started!
GB will end July 27th. ETA of keycaps is Q4 2026.
The SP colour chips for matching have been sent to SWG already.
I'll post and cross-link a GB thread soon.


Kits






The final kitting is as above, with adjustments to make the base kit pricing as lean as possible whilst offering as much coverage for the typical enthusiast (including even a 6u spacebar in addition to the Alice bars).
You'll note that the base kit's ANSI 'Enter' keys feature the legend 'Transmit' as a homage to the original terminal keycaps. Other references are inserted into the extension/novelty 'Neo' kit , which also has the 5-key 40s keys, accent arrow keys, accent alice bars and grey Enters. Cyrillic sublegends on the alpha kit are all double-shot too (even the UK-specific R3 alphas).

New deskmats in Cutting Mat style are featured here in both metric and imperial systems.





Cutting mat themed deskmats aren't a new concept, but it felt like a good match. I unashamedly took inspiration from multiple cutting mats and refined/combined it to my personal aesthetic preference. If people are interested, I could explore other colour variants in the future too.


Vendor List
US - Divinikey
CA - Unikey
EU - Monacokey
UK - Prototypist
OCE - Toro Studios
KR - SwagKeys
SEA - KTechs
TH - Keycapepe