Lunar New Year-themed Custom Mechanical Keycaps ring in the ‘Year Of The Dragon’

Celebrating the Chinese New Year in fitting spirit, this limited-edition mechanical keyboard comes with both QWERTY and the Standard Chinese Script… but what we love more is the fitting red and gold color scheme, and those beautiful majestic fire-breathing beasts found on the special keys! The special keycaps sit on Drop’s CSTM80 keyboard, and are designed as a collaboration between Drop and designer Boba.Types. “Adorned with fiery reds and rich golds (a dragon’s favorite colors, we’d hazard a guess), this set is nothing if not ornate,” mention the folks at Drop.

Designers: Drop & Boba.Types

While most keyboards are designed to be comfortable enough to use without looking at, this one makes it hard to look away. The keycaps are just gorgeous, and make for a great collector’s edition for people celebrating the Lunar New Year… or anyone with a fascination for the great “lóng” (dragon) of Chinese mythology.

The keycaps come as a base set, but also feature novelty and accent caps for adding a little more flavor to your already Sichuan-spicy keyboard. The accents come in the form of golden keys that stand out against the otherwise red keyboard, allowing you to easily spot keys you’re more likely to use frequently. The novelty keys add gorgeous mythological imagery to your keyboard, including a special numeric row that’s adorned with the 12 Chinese zodiac signs. Even special keys like the escape, shift, control, alt, etc. are jazzed up with symbolism… and while memorizing all the key types will probably be a bit of a headache, it’s absolutely worth it in the long run. Also, your friends will have a tough time figuring out how to snoop around on your computer!

The keycaps come in a special DCD profile (Drop Cylindrical Dye-Sub) developed by Drop. It’s designed to deliver a “classic feel with a unique, grit-free PBT texture for a finish as smooth—and strong—as dragons’ scales,” say the folks at Drop. The keycaps are compatible with Cherry MX switches and similar clones, and the base kit sets you back $49, while an additional $35 gets you the novelty keycap set.

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Drop XDA Versa Keycaps Are Subtle yet Colorful

Gaming keyboards in the 1990s didn’t have all the RGB lighting, macro keys, and other cool (albeit arguably unnecessary) design elements found in many gaming keyboards produced today. If you want to return to simpler times with a retro classic style — without giving up the superior comfort and responsiveness of a modern keyboard — the Drop XDA Versa Keycaps Set is a stylish blast from the past, featuring light gray alpha coloring and a few pastel-colored keys to mix things up.

Designer: Drop

As long as your keyboard is equipped with Cherry MX switches or clones, you can stick pretty much any compatible keycap set onto your keyboard. You can even mix and match the Drop XDA Versa keys with festive kits like Dwarf Factory’s ArtiSANTA. The former is no different, and depending on your needs, you can get the perfect layout across Drop XDA Versa’s three different kits: the Base, Mini Base, and Novelties kits. At a distance, the Base kit seems fashioned toward full-sized and TKL keyboards whereas the Mini Base kit is made for compact 60% keyboards.

Both the Base and Mini Base kits come with every keycap you’ll need for a complete set, though the Novelties kit expands your color palette with a slew of pastel-colored keycaps with unique functions. Each keycap is “made from durable, dye-sublimated PBT and shaped in the short, uniform, and ultra-navigable XDA profile.”

That means this XDA keycap set is excellent for gamers who want a solid sense of feedback and an overall consistent feel between the keys. These keycaps are made for comfort just as much as they’re made for retro style that’s a bit more low-key than many of the stock keycaps shipping in gaming keyboards these days.

You can buy the Drop XDA Versa Keycap Set for a sizable discount. Right now, the Base kit costs $49 (down from $69), the Mini Base kit $39 (down from $59) and the Novelties kit $29 (down from $35). Given that these make a fantastic stocking stuffer for any PC gamer in your life, you may want to take this opportunity to grab these low-key keycaps before the sale ends.

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Dwarf Factory’s ArtiSANTA Keycaps Are an Excellent Stocking Stuffer

It’s only been a week since Halloween! What’re all these Christmas (and other related holiday decorations) doing on my neighbor’s front lawn? Where did the summer go, for crying out loud? If I have no choice but to accept the season’s greetings, I’ll do it my own way: by replacing a few keycaps on my gaming keyboard with three miniature snow globes containing all the typical Yuletide treasures. That’s the idea behind Dwarf Factory’s latest invention, anyway. These ArtiSANTA keycaps from Dwarf Factory are bright, festive, and adorable — all traits any true gamer would want their gaming keyboard to have, as the weather turns cold and the holiday cheer turns… uh… warm.

Designer: Dwarf Factory

The AntiSANTA keycaps are not exactly compatible with every keyboard on the market. At least, it doesn’t seem so, given what’s advertised on their store page. But as long as you have a clicky, tactile, or linear keyboard with Cherry MX switches, you should be alright. You can stick these three keycaps anywhere on your keyboard you’d like, giving it a handmade decorative flair — befitting a festive ornament that looks like it belongs on your tree. Or on your mantle. Or, anywhere else you might stick festive holiday decorations.

These handmade keycaps come in packs of three, and each one is a little bit different. There’s the Yule Tree, the Père Noel (basically, Santa Claus), and Frosty the Snowman. Look closely enough, you’ll see how each piece features a handful of intricate details, like ornamental string lights and miniature holiday gifts. It’s disappointing there are only three per pack, but that’s just because they look so good.

If you’re shopping for the gamer in your life, these are only going for $49 per pack, and that’s a holiday miracle if there ever was one. They’re perfect for stocking stuffers or even just trinkets to have around in a gaming room. Now if only the holidays would get here sooner (so we can get back to that summer weather much sooner).

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These Rare Periodic Table Keycaps Come Machined From The Metals Mentioned On Them

While not entirely serving a functional purpose, the Awekeys are perhaps the most expensive and beautiful set of keycaps you can attach to your mechanical keyboard. Made from 16 precious and semi-precious metals, the Awekeys turn your keyboard into a periodic table of sorts, giving it elite status!

The set of 12 keycaps come CNC machined from the different metals listed on them. You’ve got your more common copper keycap, an iron keycap, an aluminum keycap, as well as a few incredibly rare ones like a silver keycap, gold keycap, and even a platinum keycap. Each individual cap comes etched with its periodic table listing which details the metal’s abbreviated name, its position on the periodic table, and its standard atomic weight.

Designer: Drop

Launches as a limited drop on the Drop.com website, the Awekeys quite literally embody the phrase “what you see is what you get”. The 16 keycaps come with the SA shape profile, and fit onto most standard mechanical keyboards with switchable keys. The beauty of the keycaps lie in just precisely how nerdy they are. Each key comes made from the metal listed on it, and the 16 different caps are all machined to perfection from their respective metals. They all have the same shape, but have different weights and feel different to the touch. They’re literally a science lesson on your mechanical keyboard.

The keycaps weigh anywhere between 4 grams and 9 grams, with aluminum and magnesium being the lightest, and bismuth clocking in at the heaviest. The 16 Elements used for this project are Zinc, Nickel, Chromium, Aluminum, Copper, Iron, Brass, Black Aluminum, Titanium, Tin, Bismuth, Magnesium, Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Rhodium.

The only real problem with the keycaps lie in the fact that they’re labeled by their periodic table names and not by actual keyboard keys. Replacing keyboard keys with the Awekeys caps would require a fair bit of memory and intuition because you wouldn’t really know what the key actually stands for anymore. The folks at Drop.com recommend using them for your function keys and the arrow keys (12+4), although how you use these keys is entirely up to you. After all, you wouldn’t want to accidentally wear down your gold or platinum keycap with constant pressing, would you?! The Awekeys Element Artisan Keycaps are available on the Drop.com website, and although their price is available only on inquiry, rumor has it they start at a base price of $256 for the 16 keycaps.

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Looking to escape a long workday? This optical illusion Esc keycap lets you leap down the rabbit hole

Designed as a part of the Render Weekly Design Challenge, this ESC keycap from Vivaan Singh (aka Designmaybe) takes the term escape rather literally, with its uniquely designed form that’s both ergonomic as well as visually symbolic. Unlike your conventional concave keycap, Vivaan’s ESC key comes with a warped surface, looking like the key’s falling down a rabbit hole. “It can get real frustrating looking for the escape you need,” Vivaan says. The ESC key is a wonderful reminder for you to indulge in some escapism yourself, just to make life a little more interesting!

Designer: Vivaan Singh

Rendered on KeyShot: Click Here to Download Your Free Trial Now!

The ESC keycap has a wonderful way of conveying its meaning without screaming for attention. The keycap features a continuous upper surface that cascades off at one corner, like a waterfall of sorts. The word ‘esc’ printed on the keycap warps too, reinforcing the illusion!

Outwardly, the ESC keycap looks like your standard keycap, with the SA R1 design. This allows it to blend right in with the keys on your mechanical keyboard, while being just different enough to just stand out so that it grabs your attention. Even when you’re not looking at it, the keycap’s unique shape is recognizable enough that your finger knows when it’s resting on or pressing the escape key.

The ESC Key was created as a part of an Instagram design challenge in partnership with HIBI, an Australian keyboard/keycap-making company. The keycap creates a fun optical illusion to symbolize escaping, but if you’re in the mood for something a little more literal, these mini terrarium-inspired transparent keycaps will literally give you the escape you need to greener pastures!

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Adorable tiny keycap terrariums add a touch of greenery to your keyboard!

Add a bit of ‘Magical’ to your Mechanical keyboard with Dwarf Factory’s beautiful terrarium keycaps. These resin-cast caps come with adorably tiny plants and succulents suspended within them, bringing a little square of floral dreaminess to your otherwise structured keyboard layout.

Each terrarium keycap is handcrafted by artisans down to the very last detail, including even small rocks and soil. With different flora to choose from, the keycaps come with a tiny basket with succulents, cacti, flowers, and ferns of different kinds. Obviously, these ridiculously tiny (and cute) greens aren’t real, but they’re modeled with stunning detail, and when preserved in resin, add a wonderful pop of life to your mechanical keyboard.

Designer: Dwarf Factory

The keycaps come in two shapes – the rounded DOM profile, and the SA R1 (pictured here). Available in multiple styles, they work with all Cherry MX switches (or similar clones). Owing to the fact that they’re individually and meticulously handmade, each keycap costs $44, but then again, you’re paying for the artistry. Pop them into your keyboard and they become almost like a doorway to another world, right on your laptop. You could capitalize on that metaphor by using the terrarium keycap on the ‘escape’ key, as shown below!

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Mini 1980s Macintosh Computer Keycaps: Nostalgia at Your Fingertips

Drawing direct inspiration from the Macintosh 128K of the 1980s, this mechanical keyboard escape and tab keycap set brings the nostalgia back to your own modern computer. Gosh, they sure don’t make them like they used to, do they? No, they don’t, because they used to make them with a ~6MHz processor, 128kB of RAM, a single-sided 400kB floppy drive, and no internal storage. Even my toaster has more processing power.

Handcrafted by Etsy seller CCcoolArt and available through their store for $24, the escape key features the Macintosh computer body with a translucent screen and five interchangeable screen stickers (Apple logo, light face, dark face, Tetris, and heart). The tab key features the likeness of the old Macintosh keyboard and mouse. Could you imagine trying to use one of these computers now? People go nuts when the internet is slow; what if everything was slow? It would be a total global meltdown.

One of the best things about the set is that if you have an RGB light-up keyboard, the monitor will glow thanks to the translucent screen. How about that! With an escape key like that, you’re sure to be the talk of the town. Or at least the talk of anybody who sees your keyboard. I mean, I’d definitely say something. Probably something along the lines of, “Hey, cool keys, I’m going to take them.”

Stunning Pokémon Keycaps Are Like Tiny Worlds Inside Your Keys

Crafted by artist and Etsy seller Hirosart, these custom Pokémon keycaps feature miniature worlds inside your keys. Not satisfied with just the pocket monsters alone, Hirosart creates tiny landscapes that reflect the areas in which the Pokémon live. How about that! Thank goodness I don’t own any, or I’d get so lost staring at my keys I’d never get anything written. It’s already hard enough, and my keyboard is missing keys.

Individual Pokémon keycaps start at around $50 apiece and go up from there depending on key size, with a spacebar running around $174. They’re certainly not the cheapest keys, but they’re definitely some of the most stunning. And can you really put a price on pounding your Charizard return key to send a particularly fiery email to someone? I would argue not.

I just bought a set not realizing they wouldn’t be compatible with my laptop keyboard because I don’t think about these things, I just get excited, grab my wife’s credit card, and spend. Now I need to buy a separate keyboard in order to use them and, wouldn’t you know, I accidentally bought a musical keyboard instead! She’s going to kill me.

[via Kotaku]

Clear Resin Moon and Mars Keycaps: The Eagle Has Landed (on Your Desktop)

To celebrate some of humanity’s greatest achievements in space exploration (and sell some cool keycaps in the process), these are Moon Keys. Compatible with Cherry MX switches and clones, the keycaps are available in five varieties: a 1u Eagle Has Landed, Lunar Lander, and Curiosity Rover ($49), and 1.75u Eagle Has Landed ($52), and 2.25u Curiosity Rover ($58). You know, I was just thinking my keyboard could use more of a space theme.

Which is your favorite? I think I’m going to get all the moon ones. And all the Mars ones. That’s $258 in keycaps for those of you keeping track, instantly making it the most expensive component of my computer. Also the best looking.

The keys are available for pre-order now with an estimated shipping date of November 12th, or just in time to show up in the mail, and for me to have completely forgotten I ordered them in the first place. Like a time-traveling surprise gift to myself.

GMK Dualshot 2 PlayStation-themed Keycap Set: 108-bit

Keyboard accessory maker Omnitype’s latest keycap set features the dull gray base color of the original PlayStation, along with the colors of the OG PS logo. You can almost hear the startup sound when you look at it. If you’re wondering why it’s called the Dualshot 2, that’s because this is the second run of the set. It’s easy to see why it’s back. The base set is all gray, with only the lettering on the modifier keys bearing the PlayStation logo colors. There are however specialty keys sold separately that are entirely coated in bright red, yellow, teal, and blue. There’s also a variant of the base set with katakana characters, and a novelty set that features PlayStation button names and terms.

I wonder why they don’t have a blue X and a red O. You can pre-order the GMK Dualshot 2 from Omnitype only until June 4, 2021. The base set, which should have enough keys for most keyboards, will set you back $120 (USD). Omnitype also has other Dualshot 2 merch: a macro pad, a chrome or Rama key, and a desk mat.