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Typewriter ABS Keycap Set
01 / 06
Typewriter ABS Keycap Set
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1.3k Sold
Product Description
Take a trip back in time with this set of 104 typewriter-style keycaps, numpad keys included. The textured keycaps are made of ABS plastic and feature pad-printed legends, while the shiny exterior is chrome-plated Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downS31Syntax
37
Nov 17, 2016
Whomever is running this drop is making a killing off you guys.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TYPEWRITER-abs-keycaps-punk-wind-restoring-ancient-ways-TYPEWRITER-style-mechanical-keyboard-keys/32750537875.html
This is literally where they're getting it from, going so far as to use THE SAME PICTURES FROM THE LISTING. 22/set and ~5 shipping, and here they want to charge you $35 and then $7.75 shipping for what looks to be really low quaility caps.
This is literally where they're getting it from, going so far as to use THE SAME PICTURES FROM THE LISTING. 22/set and ~5 shipping, and here they want to charge you $35 and then $7.75 shipping for what looks to be really low quaility caps.
Vigrith
4081
Nov 17, 2016
I did see the pictures of the correct shipping box, I suppose you're right indeed, I just assumed the others posted would be the exact same as they look identical, maybe they just didn't happen to post a picture of the box.
Still, price difference is like $5 between the 2 either way so not a big deal, still like $20 cheaper than buying them here and (supposedly) less wait time. I love Massdrop but some of the Chinese market items sold here have their prices skewed fairly heavily half the time it seems.
Still, price difference is like $5 between the 2 either way so not a big deal, still like $20 cheaper than buying them here and (supposedly) less wait time. I love Massdrop but some of the Chinese market items sold here have their prices skewed fairly heavily half the time it seems.
captain
240
Nov 17, 2016
S31SyntaxYeah, well, welcome to the new massdrop paradigm. More often than not, these days, massdrop "deals" are rip-offs to line the pockets of "vendors" and/or fail to make it to fruition, leaving unhappy customers. Caveat emptor! :-/
Rhinofeed
67
Sep 27, 2016
mbgutierrezThey are very bright and blingy with backlighting. As I type on them now, I'm not sure I would recommend them. They tend to squeak and catch on the switch if you don't type on them a certain way. They certainly look very cool, if that's what you're going for, but for typing - not so much.
mbgutierrez
5
Sep 28, 2016
RhinofeedThanks a lot for posting that picture! Also what you said seems to align with what others have said with the quality and use of these key caps making me cautious of getting these key caps.
FlatulentChimp
31
Feb 7, 2017
These keycaps drop about every other month. How about some cool SA sets like :
Carbon SA
1976 SA
Jukebox SA
Chocolatier SA
Coffee SA
Penumbra SA
Danger Zone SA
Modern Selectric SA
LD_Type
259
Feb 7, 2017
FlatulentChimpI know that Chocolatier shipment from the last drop has been delayed up to 4-6 weeks, so we won't be seeing another drop for that in a long time.
Rashkh
546
Feb 8, 2017
FlatulentChimpBecause SA has a lead time of several months and they only produce one set at a time. The shipment dates are going to be closer to the end of the year.
JoshCB7
45
Nov 18, 2016
For about $1 more, you can have them in a few days :
https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=search_list&s[title]=Y&s[short_desc]=Y&s[full_desc]=Y&s[sku]=Y&s[match]=all&s[cid]=0&s[search]=Typewriter
JoshCB7
45
Nov 24, 2016
For us in Americaland, these are about $43 shipped. Sorry you're not happy with my comment.
A community member
Sep 26, 2016
If these are the same ones that came with the Magicforce I got, then here's some things to say ahead.
First you may end up having to do some extra work with them, they have a square stem designed to block they color of the switch, this can be good but if the stem sometimes isn't perfectly smooth it can tend to get stuck, so you may end up having to sand down the stem ( I recommend high grit sandpaper only), then the ring around them isn't really steel or aluminum at all, its more like chrome plastic, it probably will wear fast if you have long nails, and like the stem, sometimes the bottom of the ring still has bits of plastic, that you will need to manually cut off (Don't sand this, you will regret it).
Now the square stems might work better with Gateron switches due to their switch housing having slightly more space around the stem, and it might work, but I'd still double check the stems to be sure, or else you might get a scratchy feeling.
The legends... they seem to be pad printed and not dyesub or doubleshot, could be laser printed, but its unlikely, that being said if you would like to have blanks, it is possible to remove the text for some typewriter blanks. Aside from all that there is one last thing you can do, you can remove the chrome ring from the caps, meaning if you wanted to you could paint the ring or get rid of it, it still leaves a little ledge though.
Regardless DO NOT expect these to meet Datamancer's caps quality in any way, they only advantages so far are the rounded modifiers, and I guess their price.
That being said there shouldn't be any limitations stopping manufacturers from making doubleshot or dyesub caps, heck even backlit is a possibility.
First you may end up having to do some extra work with them, they have a square stem designed to block they color of the switch, this can be good but if the stem sometimes isn't perfectly smooth it can tend to get stuck, so you may end up having to sand down the stem ( I recommend high grit sandpaper only), then the ring around them isn't really steel or aluminum at all, its more like chrome plastic, it probably will wear fast if you have long nails, and like the stem, sometimes the bottom of the ring still has bits of plastic, that you will need to manually cut off (Don't sand this, you will regret it).
Now the square stems might work better with Gateron switches due to their switch housing having slightly more space around the stem, and it might work, but I'd still double check the stems to be sure, or else you might get a scratchy feeling.
The legends... they seem to be pad printed and not dyesub or doubleshot, could be laser printed, but its unlikely, that being said if you would like to have blanks, it is possible to remove the text for some typewriter blanks. Aside from all that there is one last thing you can do, you can remove the chrome ring from the caps, meaning if you wanted to you could paint the ring or get rid of it, it still leaves a little ledge though.
Regardless DO NOT expect these to meet Datamancer's caps quality in any way, they only advantages so far are the rounded modifiers, and I guess their price.
That being said there shouldn't be any limitations stopping manufacturers from making doubleshot or dyesub caps, heck even backlit is a possibility.
richfiles
276
Sep 28, 2016
JohnRCooperLOL, I'd completely forgotten that they were rectangular, just that they were the wrong size... I don't even mind the rectangular keys (as I've seen old typewriters that do exactly that for certain special keys), though I FAR prefer the shape of the keys of this cheaper set... It's just that SIZE issue, though! Oh man! I bought a nearly fleshed out Danger Zone keycap set... I only skipped the Ergodox and Maverick packs (got almost all the other child packs)... A Datamancer set, retail, is cheaper than what I spent on my Danger Zone set, so price was never the issue.
I agree, this set has it's consistent size and shape VERY MUCH going for it. It's just a real shame that the build quality is so... basic. I'd be willing to spend more for better quality. Double shot caps would be awesome, but even a more permanent method, like laser etching or dyesub would be fine too.
Another thing I don't see with this set is alternate key options or child packs. My layout is Mac centric, so I prefer my number pad to have a 1u [+] key, and I use the extra 1u space for an [=] key on the number pad. I do see they include some media keys, which is definitely cool, but there are no Mac key variants such as [CMD ⌘] and [OPT]. There are no blanks either, save for actually trying to mod a spare key with some solvent or something. Having two options for the [+] key, and extra [=] key, a couple keys to make ISO work for those who dig that... Well, it'd probably open up this drop to a wider lot of interested people. I know Datamancer offers their sets in different layouts, but it's still limited to those... Teensy-weensy little rectangular keys that leave EVERYTHING on your plate exposed. Datamancer might or might not do custom legend stuff for you, but I do fear what they'd probably charge, if they do indeed actually do that! I don't actually know if they do. :P
Ultimately, I just wish Datamancer would invest in some new tooling to create wider keys with rounded ends, more inline with what this manufacturer created. Rounded wide keys would be really nice. Sadly, that does not seem to be in the cards for Datamancer.
In the meantime, there is this set. Will it last a few years? I dunno? Might Datamancer deliver decent modifier keys by then? Who knows?
I agree, this set has it's consistent size and shape VERY MUCH going for it. It's just a real shame that the build quality is so... basic. I'd be willing to spend more for better quality. Double shot caps would be awesome, but even a more permanent method, like laser etching or dyesub would be fine too.
Another thing I don't see with this set is alternate key options or child packs. My layout is Mac centric, so I prefer my number pad to have a 1u [+] key, and I use the extra 1u space for an [=] key on the number pad. I do see they include some media keys, which is definitely cool, but there are no Mac key variants such as [CMD ⌘] and [OPT]. There are no blanks either, save for actually trying to mod a spare key with some solvent or something. Having two options for the [+] key, and extra [=] key, a couple keys to make ISO work for those who dig that... Well, it'd probably open up this drop to a wider lot of interested people. I know Datamancer offers their sets in different layouts, but it's still limited to those... Teensy-weensy little rectangular keys that leave EVERYTHING on your plate exposed. Datamancer might or might not do custom legend stuff for you, but I do fear what they'd probably charge, if they do indeed actually do that! I don't actually know if they do. :P
Ultimately, I just wish Datamancer would invest in some new tooling to create wider keys with rounded ends, more inline with what this manufacturer created. Rounded wide keys would be really nice. Sadly, that does not seem to be in the cards for Datamancer.
In the meantime, there is this set. Will it last a few years? I dunno? Might Datamancer deliver decent modifier keys by then? Who knows?
TTheuns
884
Nov 17, 2016
So from what I've read in these comments, the product has a bad design (weird font that doesn't fit the theme, keycaps catching on each other in certain keyboards, not properly fitting on rotated switches), is advertised here for a bloated price, while getting it elsewhere is cheaper, even with shipping. And there's the fact that there seem to be no other compatibility packs. The only positive this seems to have is the amazing packaging.
keithzg
22
Nov 17, 2016
TTheunsYeah I got the Magicforce bundle with these keycaps, and frankly the keys caught too much to leave them on. They're fun for novelty, so I might add a few to a more heterogenous themed board or switch tester/pad or such, but they really, really didn't work out for me for actually typing on them. (On the plus side, the Magicforce keyboard looks great with the Tai-Hao Miami keycap set).
TTheuns
884
Jul 21, 2017
keithzgIt's actually embarrassing that they sell it with a keyboard and it has issues with that board. Tai-Hao is a good option for a replacement.
Shislif
0
Feb 10, 2017
Hi everyone, new the custom mechanical keyboard game. These keys looks great and are part of the reason i got interested in custom mechanical keyboard (these ones along with the Jessica plum ones), I just wanted to ask anybody who already got these keys how they actually feel typing? I noticed a couple reviews close to the bottom didn't seem all that impressed. Thanks.
valiant
141
Feb 10, 2017
I have a set I've been using for about six months now and they're fine once you get used to them being flat. I only type around 60-70 wpm, but it's not these slowing me down, I'm about the same with normal key caps.
blackmattdamon
2
Feb 13, 2017
ShislifNot that great. I put the originals back on my keyboard after about 4 months.
adamSrgnt
72
Sep 26, 2016
I got these key caps on the MagicForce 68 drop and I strongly recommend AGAINST getting them. Take a close look at the picture of the underside of these keys. The rectangular stems on these will regularly get caught on the edge of the switches. That combined with the reduction in dead space between keys due to their shape (from the typical 1/4" between down to 1/8") makes typing on any keyboard with these keys downright unpleasant.
swirle13
90
Oct 8, 2016
Coincidentally, they do. Go check out the drop going on right now for the magicforce with they keycaps on it and the comments have people talking about their keys sticking every so often haha.
peachnectar
7
May 2, 2017
Purchased these keycaps awhile back, and to be honest, very unimpressed with the quality of them. Letters were not centered, the "chrome" frames appeared as though they were plastic and punched out from a mold (there were the little plastic nubs on the side, which made for a rough finish). I'm new to the mech keys community, but you certainly get what you pay for..
Tomliginyu
253
May 2, 2017
peachnectarIt's mainly these caps. Tai-Hao double shots (like the ones available now) are pretty good quality at $25
compuguy
94
Jul 21, 2017
peachnectarAgreed on all counts. I got them stock on a Magicforce 68 board, and the legends over the past year have not held up well at all.
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