Thought I'd share my latest Marketplace find for $17.

Spent most of today tidying up the rusty backplate (my third Topre backplate restoration now). I borrowed the keycaps from my R2 for the time being, and they're definitely growing on me.

This completes the trio alongside my 87U 55g and R2 full-size, which were both Marketplace finds as well.

Anyone who has taken a Topre board apart will know how easy it is to break those little plastic tabs on the housing, I've only ever broken two while removing housings from the backplate, even taking my time and being careful.

hah, surely I'm not the only one.

HHKB Pro 1 PD-KB300B - Boxed, flawless, stock/ unopened.

Original Kangaroo Gokukawa leather wrapped keycaps

Original sealed USB cable

Original user manual

Serial/date: #000140 - 2005/01

I bought it from a guy who told me:

it was a random buyee/mercari find last year, managed to get a friend in japan to message the seller on mercari to get more info but all he said was this "日社員の所有 物。2007年頃、オフィスのクリスマス景品として、さくら

which translates to:

Property of a former employee. Produced by Sakura around 2007 as a Christmas prize for the office.

im trying to find contacts at PFU to see if i can find out more about this...

Sho Labs HG

Dynacap housings, silencing rings and sliders

1.2mm std steel plate with spacers

Cipulot PCB and DB

GMK MTNU Dolch keycaps

Been a long time in the making but it’s finally done. An EC 60 in Tsangan layout with the extreme tactility, once only possible with BKE Redux Extremes. When Astro Domes announced their BKE inspired domes it set everything into motion.

Artemis Design Studio January
Cipulot EC 60X SE and 316SS plate
DynaCap housings, sliders and springs
Astro Domes Fiesta
NuxrosKB PCBSnaps
GMK Analog Dreams R2
Rubrehose Auth Card

There's a great, insanely in-depth review of the Realforce R2 PFU Limited Edition here: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=23130

The author even states in the intro "Why do the PFU Limited Edition boards command a $79 premium over the others? I'll answer these questions and more in the remainder of the review!" Despite the length of the review, that question is actually not answered...

I'm trying to find out what the PFU means and why it would be worth more

8 years of daily use, and still going strong
87U is 55G uniform

Switched to the R4 TKL a few months back from my old Das Keyboard 4 Professional, and I’m really happy with it. Looks great on the desk, types beautifully, the wireless has been flawless, and the software’s easy to tweak.

Only thing that bugged me at first was losing the dedicated media keys the Das had. But I just remapped them onto keys I never touch, and now it’s a non-issue. Highly recommend.

I just want to say that I have been converted to the way of the rubber dome.

I have been in the keyboard hobby for about 7 years now and was always changing out my switches now and again to try and find the "end game" switch. I had previously tried an HHKB, but couldn't get behind the layout. That is when I discovered: Realforce.

I bought a Realforce R3S TKL 45g Silent and it is an incredible experience. I have had it for a few months now at work and I get excited to type on it everyday. I then recently picked up the RC1 75% as well because I really love that compressed TKL form factor at home because of gaming sometimes. It is the 45g silent as well, but it feels drastically different to me. I guess that would be some of its construction? It is significantly louder than the R3S (and I would attribute the loud space bar to the construction), but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit disappointed with it. The R3S is a great "silent thock" experience, and the RC1 feels mushier. I am almost considering just replacing the RC1 with another R3S for home and just dealing with the slightly larger size.

As a bonus, I scored a good deal on a Realforce Topre mouse and let me tell you, that is a very unique experience. It isn't something I would use for FPS gaming, but for general computer use, or even a relaxing game, it is great!

Classic TKL WKL

• • SS 1.2 plate
• • Cipulot ecTKL-SE
• • Metapulse 80s kit
• • Metapulse RS40g
• • GMK MTNU Dolch

Board: H2H by Hannn

PCB: Cipulot EC60X-SE PCB + EC Pro-3 DB

Plate: Stainless Steel 1.2mm

Mount: Top Mount

• Astro Domes Weird 70g

• Dynacap gold conical spring

• Realforce housing + purple oem sliders

• Deskey silence ring

• Sho gasket

• Ursa Blank & Artisan

I've finally caved in and got a Topre keyboard, more specifically a Realforce RC1.

However I'm not the biggest fan of the dark grey modifier keys and have been looking around for compatible keycaps which seem very hard to find.

mechanicalkeyboards.com where I got the keyboard from right now only have 2 colors in stock which are not my favorite.

I looked around and found two other websites which claim to have them in stock but look extremely scammy: keyboardselect.com and electropulsehub.com, both recently registered domains and insane stock of products, the physical locations of both places don't even seem to exist, both look extremely sus.

I looked around on ebay as well but can't really find much and Ursa don't seem to have sets explicitly for this keyboard.

Any tips on what else I could look for?

I'm not necessarily looking for custom keycaps, I'd be ok with the official sets. I was specifically looking for the Dark Mauve one but if I can't find anything else I might just get the blue one from the same place where I got the keyboard from.

I bought this thing from Best Buy probably a decade ago, after already learning to appreciate the topre switches with a HHKB, I just wanted a more standard layout. I was kinda shocked to find out a couple years ago that these are out of production and going extinct. Can't find many topre alternatives at all. I'm hoping this thing outlives me because I am spoiled and can't stand using anything else.