There comes a point in one’s hobby journey, particularly if that hobby is fueled by purchases,
where it just doesn’t really bring much joy any more.
Where engaging feels more like a chore, and maybe you chalk it off as a temporary thing,
but you know in the back of your mind it’s dead.
That’s sort of where I’m at with the keyboard hobby.
I’ve not really bought anything notable in the last year or more, and other than a
40% that my friend designed, all of my outstanding group buys have been delivered, IF you exclude
the Scarlet Bandana of course.
Through this transitional period, I’ve identified many keyboards that are of very little value
to me, whether they not meet some preference, have some technical issue, or are just unremarkable.
Some of those I built up and gifted to my brother who daily drives a Bella.
Some others I’ve deemed unsellable, and I’ve started an ongoing list on jymvideos.com,
which is a simple Google Sites blog that you can check out.
But most of those, I’ve sold, notably at fairly large losses.
So in the last 3 years, I’ve sold 37 keyboards, and those are just the ones I bothered keeping
track of in my spreadsheet.
So after all that, what’s left and why are they still here?
Here in this little space that’s labeled a “linen closet” in the floorplan, the
survivors live.
First up is the trusty Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2.
Throughout the years a dozen distinct HHKBs must’ve worked their way through my possession,
and when I got this one for about $40 in a freak Ebay deal, I just took it as a sign
to keep it.
I thought as a reviewer, it’s probably beneficial to keep stock Topre around for reference.
Well, nobody cares about Topre anymore so there’s that.
I also have a HHKB Pro Classic which is my daily driver at work.
That’s right, after all of these years and thousands of dollars on custom keyboards,
I use the stinky HHKB the most.
I have my reasons but I’ll get into that in a different video.
Next up is the Winkeyless B.Face X2.
This is actually the longest surviving member of the collection, dating back to at least
mid-2018.
It’s built with Mod-H tactile switches lubed with Techkeys thin.
If you haven’t been around for a while, that probably sounds like a bunch of nonsense,
but it was kind of lit at the time.
The Mod switches are kind of like Zealios V1, with a medium sized bump, and Techkeys
thin is a lube from Techkeys, which is still operational, but they no longer sell it.
I never really use this but I rated it so highly when I did, that I feel like I should
hold onto it, especially since it doesn’t have much monetary value.
Next is the Polycarbonate KBDFans KBD8X MKII.
When I bought these, I had grand plans to do a whole ton of A/B comparison tests, ranging
from half versus full plates, alu versus poly plates, alu versus poly cases, mixing case
materials, so on and so forth.
I ended up doing exactly one of those, and even that was exhausting.
It was personally enriching to do direct comparisons of feel between the plates, but the topic
of sound is just so uninteresting to me that I just quit.
Most likely, this will be sold or given away to a friend in the future.
This one is a relatively new addition that I had high hopes for.
The Boardsource Lulu is a split ergo that’s notably got an aluminum case.
I’ve always been interested in split keyboards, but not so much that I was willing to put
up with FR4 sandwiches.
You can see what I was going for when I ordered the disastrous Unigo66, and again this.
The Lulu is definitely an improvement over the Unigo, but there are some subtle things
about it that annoy me.
Like how LEDs don’t seem to turn off when the computer goes to sleep, or how when used
on a Chromebook, it doesn’t work when waking from sleep, or how it’s detected as a mass
storage device.
I’m also annoyed with the fact that they forced a half-baked key mapping tool that
was mostly broken at time of delivery.
Actually, I’ve got some beef with Peg, but that’s for another time.
I made a concerted effort to daily drive this, but all of the firmware issues made me quit.
All of the nice (and wasteful) packaging made it look like a fully developed product, but
it’s just another janky enthusiast project.
It’s unclear whether I’ll ever revisit this.
Next is the Basic I/O Instruments G60.
This is modeled after old school Cherry G80 boards, except made with aluminum.
I was really excited with this when it was delivered, and I built it up with Mod-H switches
expecting it to be my daily driver, but the switches ended up chattering.
Really to no fault of the keyboard, I couldn't get over the ligma around fixing it, so it’s
just been sitting dormant for a while.
I’ll definitely get back to this and solder up a battery to make it wireless, but I can’t
really think of a timeline.
Bloop65 designed by Kwub is a blockered 65% that I’ve polished.
I only did that because I didn’t like how saturated the original blue color looked,
but the polishing job is so poor that it just feels like an incomplete project.
Looking at it just reminds me of how much of a pain in the neck polishing was, all for
a mediocre outcome.
The brushed bottom looks alright though, so maybe if I can work up the willpower to refinish
the entire board that way, I’ll get back to this.
The plateless typing experience should be agreeable, so it’s got potential.
The Hineybush HBCP is probably the clouty-est board I own, and I’ve used it on and off
after building it with lubed Durock T1s.
It’s top mounting a brass plate, so you can imagine linears feel like absolute garbage
on it.
The big bump on T1s kind of hides the bottom out, and I suspect heavier springs that prevent
me from bottoming out would also help.
I haven’t really worked up the energy yet though.
Fun fact: I miraculously shocked through the plastic case and blew out most of the underglow
LEDs.
GG.
Like the G60, the JER80 mimics the Cherry G80 boards, except even more closely.
I currently have it with the optional blocker to enable indicator lights above the nav cluster.
It’s large and heavy making it exceptionally unwieldy on a desk.
I’ve currently got it built with TTC Bluish White switches with CRP Tulip, but it doesn’t
get much time on the desk.
This will probably continue to remain in my collection due to how unique it is, but will
also probably continue to not get much use.
Next is the Rama M65-A.
This was one of the first customs to sort of kickstart the hobby outside of Korea.
There was a lot of drama associated with it, but at the end of the day, it’s pretty unique
and is what the entire Rama brand is built on.
It’s got some interesting quirks that give away its age, but I don’t think I could
ever get rid of this.
This was originally one of the limited edition Lunar Red units, but I had it cerakoted black
after I couldn’t really find anything that worked with that particular shade of red.
It’s built with lubed Kailh Pro Purples and I think about using it from time to time.
Kei from Monokei is a HHKB-style board designed by Bisoromi.
I bought this because above all else, it looked really neat, but actually having it in hand,
I’m just not liking the thick chin that takes after the HHKB HG.
That combined with kind of sus mounting and unremarkable typing experience, I’m probably
going to get rid of it.
I really gave the LZ Physix an earful when I heard a revision was going to be run.
I’ve never used another LZ board before, but I really had higher expectations for a
Kustom with a K.
At the end of the day it’s just another jank enthusiast project.
I tried to sell this, lowering my price periodically, but I’ve had to price it so much lower than
what I paid that I was feeling some major major sunk cost fallacy.
Since the board is so undesirable, I don’t think I could recoup as much as I want, and
for that reason, I’ll be reluctantly keeping it.
I thought it would be good to use as a work board, so I built it with silent switches,
but I just couldn’t get used to the mushy bottom out.
Also, when on a Mac, I found it a bit disorienting to use a winkeyless layout, so it’s been
sitting in its case for months and months.
I think it still has potential as a work board, but only if I can find a suitably quiet switch.
The following are a couple keyboards from my friend XYZ.
Due to a conflict of interest I won’t ever review these, but I’ll be keeping these
around both for sentimental value, and also because I like typing on them.
I have two of the TKLs.
This one with the black top and red bottom is built with a mix of Gateron Inks and Durock
L2s.
The plateless top mount is pretty good at giving me those vibrations I like so much.
There are quite a few mounting points so the effect is not as pronounced as you might expect,
but still cool.
This other one has a blue top and an all-brass bottom.
This weighs an absurd amount that surprises me any time I need to move it.
It’s actually built with Alps SKCL Whites, which have the best kind of crisp click that’s
somewhere between click jacket and click bar MX style switches.
This shiny one is the xyz60, which is an adaptation of the Bakeneko.
It’s a gasket mounted 60% with a daughterboard where the main assembly is held in solely
by gasket pressure against the case walls.
This one is built with Durock L2 switches.
Having squishy materials generally reduces vibrations, and it’s the case here.
Still a generally enjoyable experience, and I like holding the nice little board in my
hands.
The last one is the Quartermaster, which is a plateless top mount 60% with just four mounting
points.
The reduced mounting points are further apart from each other, allowing for a whole lot
of vibrations everywhere.
Now that’s what I call good vibes.
So at around 20 keyboards, I still have more keyboards than most people, but most of the
ones I don’t care about are now gone, and I feel lighter for it.
Most likely the collection will continue to shrink over time, but the ones that remain
will become even more personal to me.