Designing the next Topre keycap set

[Matt3o]

[quote author=Matt3o link=topic=74413.msg1948053#msg1948053
When the actual key-caps arrived they looked very different indeed and they actually are perfect in front of you, so be aware that not all cameras and lcd screens will take the precise colour shade when showing his sets but do know that Matt is a designer and he knows what looks good.

this is actually a very good point

[Hypersphere]

a Ctrl/Caps swap is not included, nobody actually requested it during the prototyping phase.

Because these come standard with an RF87U, people may have assumed that a new set for this board would include this swap as well. Of course there is a lesson here about making assumptions without verification!

[Bucake]

a Ctrl/Caps swap is not included, nobody actually requested it during the prototyping phase.

Because these come standard with an RF87U, people may have assumed that a new set for this board would include this swap as well. Of course there is a lesson here about making assumptions without verification!

this had actually been asked more than once, but no reply was given.

[Matt3o]

guys, what you see in the mock-up is exactly what you get. The only additional key that is not pictured is the rotated-stem left control.

[HoffmanMyster]

Remember that this keyset is supposed to be something different, hence the colourway, plus the icon legends.
This is how it is supposed to be.

ok.. i have to ask this because i cant wrap my head around it.

how is this so different/original if it's so well known that you say "skull squadron" and everyone knows what it is?

https://www.google.nl/search?tbm=isch&q=skull+squadron+keycaps

the legends are original, sure, but the color scheme?

Original to the Topre world

In addition, the Skull Squadron set was designed by Matt3o himself, so it is "original" in the sense that he developed it and it is not a replica of another well-known vintage keyboard.

[Glenmael]

Hey Matt, I asked this over at MD but thought I'd post here anyways as I received no response. In the way of supporting this/you further is there any way to purchase more than 1 novelty pack?

Cheers 

[Matt3o]

apart from the fact that if you look closely skull squadron is different from this set (only the colors are similar, but they are distributed in a completely different way), of course the "novelty" was meant for the Topre world.

@Glenmael, that is up to MassDrop, I'll ask as soon as I catch them up, you know, Thanks Giving...

[Glenmael]

apart from the fact that if you look closely skull squadron is different from this set (only the colors are similar, but they are distributed in a completely different way), of course the "novelty" was meant for the Topre world.

@Glenmael, that is up to MassDrop, I'll ask as soon as I catch them up, you know, Thanks Giving...

Thanks Matt.

[Bucake]

what a shame to see such immaturity on MD and GH.
i completely understand if you don't buy the set because the design is not pleasing to you, or you're only interested in the HHKB or FC660,
but some people are saying such unthoughtful, ugly things. it's a bit pathetic.

[Glenmael]

what a shame to see such immaturity on MD and GH.
i completely understand if you don't buy the set because the design is not pleasing to you, or you're only interested in the HHKB or FC660,
but some people are saying such unthoughtful, ugly things. it's a bit pathetic.

Completely agree, I never understood people that go in and decide to crap talk...'ridiculous pricing' or 'don't like the design'...what are they doing there in the first place!?

[yomammary]

what a shame to see such immaturity on MD and GH.
i completely understand if you don't buy the set because the design is not pleasing to you, or you're only interested in the HHKB or FC660,
but some people are saying such unthoughtful, ugly things. it's a bit pathetic.

Completely agree, I never understood people that go in and decide to crap talk...'ridiculous pricing' or 'don't like the design'...what are they doing there in the first place!?

I know, I stopped reading the MD comments for that reason.

[a_ak57]

Well, as long as you aren't saying "this is the ugliest thing i've ever seen the creator should be ashamed" I don't see the problem with saying that you don't like the design.  Just like how a bunch of us won't buy this due to lack of compatibility, it's important to show that you are interested in the idea of topre keycap sets even if this one isn't for you.  The worst case is that people don't buy enough and Topre just thinks that nobody wants keycap sets, when it could just be that people want the compatibility and/or something not like skull squadron.

[ryahirv]

I agree with all about the MD comments....

That said, I'm really bummed to see that it doesn't look like the

Custom Topre Keycap Set
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/custom-topre-keycap-set

...is going to reach the 200 min!
I think it's a GORGEOUS set and I've been dying for something beyond the stock caps for a long long time now.  :-(

Did anyone here join the drop?  If not, may I ask why not?

[Glenmael]

I agree with all about the MD comments....

That said, I'm really bummed to see that it doesn't look like the

Custom Topre Keycap Set
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/custom-topre-keycap-set

...is going to reach the 200 min!
I think it's a GORGEOUS set and I've been dying for something beyond the stock caps for a long long time now.  :-(

Did anyone here join the drop?  If not, may I ask why not?

I'll be joining the drop next week on Tuesday

So definitely add +1 to the current counter

[ileben]

I'll be joining the drop next week on Tuesday

So definitely add +1 to the current counter

Massdrop doesnt charge you until the drop is complete, so might as well do it now.

[Chedda7]

I joined.  I really hope we get 200 orders and it moves forward.

If it doesn't I see one of two things happening. Topre either sees the need for added HHKB support and revises it or they say screw it and we never do this again.

[Glenmael]

I'll be joining the drop next week on Tuesday

So definitely add +1 to the current counter

Massdrop doesnt charge you until the drop is complete, so might as well do it now.

I believe that PayPal do 'debit' the monies out of your account for 'holding' purposes, which means I'll have to transfer between accounts (account with savings not linked to PayPal) and this takes a couple of days...so may as well wait until I get paid

[graefeln]

I joined.  I really hope we get 200 orders and it moves forward.

If it doesn't I see one of two things happening. Topre either sees the need for added HHKB support and revises it or they say screw it and we never do this again.

That's what I am wondering: what happens if it fails. If it's the former and HHKB support gets added, I'm in for the redo; I fear they may just go with the latter however.

[keshley]

Timing is unfortunate, I'm sure a lot of prospective buyers are too busy with Christmas.

[Glenmael]

Joined

[Vittra]

From the Massdrop discussions 16 hours ago by YanboWu:

"Hey guys we are going to push this drop back for a week first.
We are in talks with Topre right now to try and make this a bit better for the community. I will keep everyone updated."

[HoffmanMyster]

We are in talks with Topre right now to try and make this a bit better for the community.

I have an idea... 

[mashby]

We are in talks with Topre right now to try and make this a bit better for the community.

I have an idea... 

Woo hoo!

[Matt3o]

I can tell they asked me for some interesting mock-ups... we'll see...

[ideus]

Is market demand, or the lack of it, educating Topre guys?

[Porkins]

I hope that they now try and be more inclusive of other boards.

[Bucake]

ooh, exciting really curious to this news.
glad to see massdrop putting in some effort as well!
i've also seen some good posts on massdrop (yes), hopefully topre will take some of the mentioned points in consideration.

cheers matt3o for not giving up on us

[Jedi]

How soon until we know what we don't know about this buy?  Its been weeks and the details on the latest update are about as clear as dirty bong water )

[Matt3o]

they asked me for an updated design only yesterday, so it might take a couple of days.

[ryahirv]

I am very pleased to hear this isnt totally dead.

I really really want some new key caps for my real force

[t347]

I am very pleased to hear this isnt totally dead.

I really really want some new key caps for my real force

Same here, I was worried that if this drop fell through we might never see new topre keycaps again

[ryahirv]

I am very pleased to hear this isnt totally dead.

I really really want some new key caps for my real force

Same here, I was worried that if this drop fell through we might never see new topre keycaps again

lol - The funny part is that Topre might be fretting too much over "designs" and "looks".  Anything Matt3o makes I'm sure will be gorgeous and I know I will ceratinly gobble up.

[Bucake]

i hope they and massdrop will make sure to provide as much clarity as they can.
people seeing the product on massdrop should be informed properly about what exactly the set contains.
there were too many questions about things like compatibility and extras, in the massdrop discussion section.

i'm not too concerned about the design, but i just hope they decide to provide a bit more compatibility.
and if they still say no to hhkb and fc660, then i hope that at least there will be full and proper TKL support. i was actually quite surprised to see that they did not provide full support for their own TKL models..

[Porkins]

I am very pleased to hear this isnt totally dead.

I really really want some new key caps for my real force

Same here, I was worried that if this drop fell through we might never see new topre keycaps again

lol - The funny part is that Topre might be fretting too much over "designs" and "looks".  Anything Matt3o makes I'm sure will be gorgeous and I know I will ceratinly gobble up.

I agree. I think Topre is over thinking this. Just add in some compatibility with more boards and I'm sure this drop would explode.

[ghostjuggernaut]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

[a_ak57]

Matt3o, do you know if they are gonna be redoing the drop completely, or will it just resume with however many days were left originally?

[alienman82]

removed.

[Matt3o]

Matt3o, do you know if they are gonna be redoing the drop completely, or will it just resume with however many days were left originally?

dunno yet

[HoffmanMyster]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

Topre should make the blank sets with full hhkb support.  I would totally buy all the sets!

I still don't understand why they don't do this.  It would be the least expensive option for them, and would please a ton of enthusiasts.

[ghostjuggernaut]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

Topre should make the blank sets with full hhkb support.  I would totally buy all the sets!

I still don't understand why they don't do this.  It would be the least expensive option for them, and would please a ton of enthusiasts.

I spoke to EK about it in spring, and they told me they want to order more but the MOQ was something like 50k sets per color. If that is true, I can see why nobody has taken on the order. There are a lot of topre fans, but I highly doubt there are that many.

This could also be misinformation, I'm not really sure.

[HoffmanMyster]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

Topre should make the blank sets with full hhkb support.  I would totally buy all the sets!

I still don't understand why they don't do this.  It would be the least expensive option for them, and would please a ton of enthusiasts.

I spoke to EK about it in spring, and they told me they want to order more but the MOQ was something like 50k sets per color. If that is true, I can see why nobody has taken on the order. There are a lot of topre fans, but I highly doubt there are that many.

This could also be misinformation, I'm not really sure.

Very true.  I had no idea it was quite that many sets, but I knew this was an obstacle.  I do still wish they interacted with us though, because maybe at a different price point we could make things work.  :|

[nmur]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

Topre should make the blank sets with full hhkb support.  I would totally buy all the sets!

I still don't understand why they don't do this.  It would be the least expensive option for them, and would please a ton of enthusiasts.

I spoke to EK about it in spring, and they told me they want to order more but the MOQ was something like 50k sets per color. If that is true, I can see why nobody has taken on the order. There are a lot of topre fans, but I highly doubt there are that many.

This could also be misinformation, I'm not really sure.

50k is super high 

I wonder why the MOQ for this buy is so low in comparison then, despite being entirely new and having multiple colours and new(?) legends?

[ghostjuggernaut]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

Topre should make the blank sets with full hhkb support.  I would totally buy all the sets!

I still don't understand why they don't do this.  It would be the least expensive option for them, and would please a ton of enthusiasts.

I spoke to EK about it in spring, and they told me they want to order more but the MOQ was something like 50k sets per color. If that is true, I can see why nobody has taken on the order. There are a lot of topre fans, but I highly doubt there are that many.

This could also be misinformation, I'm not really sure.

50k is super high 

I wonder why the MOQ for this buy is so low in comparison then, despite being entirely new and having multiple colours and new(?) legends?

Yeah I agree. I'm not positive the info is accurate, but it was the only info I could find then.

Matt3o would be the best person to answer these questions, since he is one of few people that have interacted with them.

[Vittra]

It's entirely possible the figure given back then was correct, but it's one of those answers you give to someone when you really don't want to do something so you simply give them an absurd figure to deter them.

[rowdy]

If topre would re-release blanks, I would throw so much money at you.

Unfortunately I'm not interested too much in a printedset, but hope this project succeeds for the future of topre.

Topre should make the blank sets with full hhkb support.  I would totally buy all the sets!

I still don't understand why they don't do this.  It would be the least expensive option for them, and would please a ton of enthusiasts.

I spoke to EK about it in spring, and they told me they want to order more but the MOQ was something like 50k sets per color. If that is true, I can see why nobody has taken on the order. There are a lot of topre fans, but I highly doubt there are that many.

This could also be misinformation, I'm not really sure.

50k is super high 

I wonder why the MOQ for this buy is so low in comparison then, despite being entirely new and having multiple colours and new(?) legends?

Yeah I agree. I'm not positive the info is accurate, but it was the only info I could find then.

Matt3o would be the best person to answer these questions, since he is one of few people that have interacted with them.

50K MOQ is ludicrous, unless you've a fairly large scale manufacturer.

Looking vaguely at Mass drop numbers, which probably represents several keyboard enthusiast communities, their numbers for keycap sets rarely top 200, even for rare (and usually expensive) or cheap sets.

Looking at the numbers of this set that have been ordered so far, adding HHKB and/or FC660C support would not have added a huge number to it.

This is unfortunate.

[Jedi]

This suspense is killing me.  Guys, we're talking about a TOPRE set, not just ANOTHER MX set.  I get that its not everyone's taste yada yada yada.  I jumped on the wagon early on A) Because its one of our lifers here at GH that is putting this one out there for us, B) I have Topre keyboards and really don't care for the dark black one color key cap.  Whether Matt3o can pull the negotiations off before this drop is killed off or over is something that remains to be seen.  At the very least, since Topre wanted us to make a keycap, they also forced us to take it or leave it, then the very least that should be done is for an import buyer to purchase all the remaining sets to hit the MOQ so those of us who put our $$$ on the frontline for this, can at least get a set to our door.  If they were thinking this set would sell like a PBT spacebar, give it a rest, thats a $20 purchase that had options versus a $140 set with no options period.

Interested to see where this is going to land.

[Bucake]

Looking at the numbers of this set that have been ordered so far, adding HHKB and/or FC660C support would not have added a huge number to it.

This is unfortunate.

tough question. i think at least a bunch of dozens of people would've joined, if support for HHKB and FC660 was there.
definitely a few extra with proper TKL support : P

but it seems they'll be changing the design, so i'm really curious how much that will impact the numbers..

[rowdy]

Looking at the numbers of this set that have been ordered so far, adding HHKB and/or FC660C support would not have added a huge number to it.

This is unfortunate.

tough question. i think at least a bunch of dozens of people would've joined, if support for HHKB and FC660 was there.
definitely a few extra with proper TKL support : P

but it seems they'll be changing the design, so i'm really curious how much that will impact the numbers..

Adding HHKB and/or FC660C support would add a few dozen more potential buyers.

Changing the design slightly (this was SUPPOSED to be a different design, but perhaps a little bit too different for the conservative Topre users out there) might get another couple of dozen.

This is still fairly underwhelming considering how many MX sets are sold, especially when the hype is high for them.

Maybe most Topre users are just too conservative?

[Jedi]

Matt3o, we're coming down to the end of the line with this GB. 
1. What's the status on this? 
2. Are we canceling on the committed and joined purchases or is this getting extended out again? 
3. Are we rerunning this under a totally different gb?

[Matt3o]

everything is postponed to Jan, but I don't think Topre will give the green light. We'll see.