DCS Guardian looks pretty nice, wish they had used Gorton modified font instead of the Cherry font though. Just as well I guess since I am currently in the same boat as you financially & I have already overspent on keebs for the past few months.
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I’ve been thinking about buying DCS Guardian since the IC went up. I couldn’t ever get a response from the Group Buy runner, but it’s definitely based on Nanashi Mumei, who I THINK is a YTuber?, although I don’t follow that scence at all. I guess it was done on the downlow so as to avoid anyone asking questions about copyright for novelties.
I will pick up extras if they ever go on sale just because I like the colors.
But yeah, some vendors have this text up:
In Greek mythology the Owl is seen as the protector of armies and a symbol of Athena, the goddess of battle. With his large eyes full of wisdom and his feathers whose colour allows him to blend in with his surroundings, we have the perfect combination for an agile and deadly night hunter.
DCS Guardian is a take on the classic blue and beige combination. Warm white is accentuated with dull blue, thus creating a complementary colour scheme
But here is Nanashi Mumei:
Notice the colors. And the feathers on her head
Here is her sword:
She has an owl companion and carries a lantern.
Anyway… I don’t care much for anime boobies, but the colors are very nice.
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Oh that makes much more sense. I had associated it with the bad animated owl movie.
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Did you get them ? How are they ? Is there a test anywhere ?
Smoothies were most impressive. One of the best gateron switches to date IMO.
I thought the dual rail were just “ok” until I got them in a board. I was quite surprised how much I like them and actually ended up soldering them in.
Many people like the melodic click switches. I liked the individual switch. I was not a fan once I put them in a board and tried to type. They feel too sluggish on the return to me.
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No other place to post and for my own sanity 
Still no idea why HHKB cases are always 10x the price of regular MX cases. Or why the aliexpress link shows a german description in the post preview on the right.
- Chunky CnC PC case for HHKB internals, stock or aftermarket works : 188.21€ |6u Leertaste Gummi Kuppel CNC PC Gehäuse hhkb pro2 profession elle Typen kapazitive Tastatur schwer| | - AliExpress
- S60 V2 full alu case for HHKB internals : 商品详情
- Navy color Kamilia HHKB 60% still available here : 商品详情
- MXRSKEY IVY80 full alu TKL for a decent price : https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=757271138155
- MXRSKEY also have the Y80, like an older/simpler version : 商品详情
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I was going to spring swap them to 75g bottom if I got them anyway, so that would fix the return I suppose.
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Is this the first factory EC Alice/Arisu-like?
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Ooh I like the idea of putting an embellishment down there by the arrow keys.
I was so underwhelmed by my Corsa EC build that I would rather just use good silent MX switches.
At least this kit looks to be using better housings and sliders.
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I bet that would help. Looking at the force curve, it makes a lot of sense they’d feel the way they do:
Pushing down, they feel quite heavy until you crest the leaf at something like 70gf - but then the return spring only pushes back with a delicate ~20gf, less than a third of that peak force. I think raising the floor there would do a lot to help Melodics feel more balanced, if balanced around the decidedly heavy end of things.
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Recently, sellers on the AliExpress have been taking EC designs from Cipulot, producing them, and putting them for sale with his name on it. This has led to a increase of support calls to Cip because the PCBs they’re making aren’t very good. Naturally the buyers go to him to get the problem resolved and he has to break it to them that he didn’t make that PCB. Lots of buyer disappointment and likely an unfair hit to Cip’s reputation.
As a result, any time I see an EC product there I just avoid it all together. I prefer to stick with the known, good vendors out there. If one of these things ends up being legit, decent, and supported I might consider it, but someone a lot braver than I is going to have to bushwhack that trail.
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In general, prices that are higher for specific variations means either a) demand for them is high and they can command a higher price or b) demand is enough to warrant making them but not high enough to generate economies of scale in production for mass production. With the slight exception of part of (b), it’s almost never about what it costs to produce past a certain baseline. Value-based pricing is how nearly everything is priced, even though cost-based pricing is how almost everyone assumes things are priced.
Thanks to @marksmad who alerted me to an ABMO66 barebones on AliExpress for 45 euros delivered. It ticked a lot of boxes. Inexpensive, first time to try an Alice layout, VIA compatible, wireless. I couldn’t resist.
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Keebox has a good deal on yr80, a 80% hotswap pcb, for less than $30 - code 24AE03 gives a bit extra off
The pcb exists in the QMK repo but there is an open github issue for another yr board that wasn’t flashable because the bootloader it was shipped with is different, the same could be true for yr80 
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Things I really dig about this design:
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Customized magnetic pogo-pin connection to daughter board; no dainty cables or connectors to be tethered by or careful about
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Customized ball-catch case hardware, dialed-in for the purpose of retaining a keyboard top shell; screw screws!
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An almost absurd range of mounting options in a single chassis
If you’re checking this one out, definitely look at the pictures for the mounting systems to get an idea of what they are, as some of the names and descriptions got a bit lost in translation. For example, one of them is called “Silica Gel Particle Mounting” which sounds like putting your PCB on a bed of desiccant granules - but it’s actually talking about small silicone insert mounts that are spool-shaped:
There are optional Hyundai-looking taillight things 
I kinda love it as a concept, though I personally prefer the 90’s JDM look of this thing:
Optional taillight non-preference aside, I like where the Zoom is going!
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Good lord, the taillight design would be awesome.
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This new 60% PCB from 1UP seems rare. A hotswap board with underglow and per key RGB for RGB fans:
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That’s a lot of rgb led for $50! Nice find. Also seems compatible with o-ring mounted bakeneko style cases. I don’t know if there are many out there that would take advantage of the underglow.
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I just hope someone mods it to where it can blink lol
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Their Tsangan layout hot swap 60% PCB is now discontinued and on deep discount. If you can live with north facing LEDs it’s a bargain. It was marked down even steeper on Black Friday I think I picked it up for $20.
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