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Drop + Mr. Bingo DCD WLK-MN Keycap Set

$39

~~$79~~

overview

specs

story3

reviews16

photos12

q&a1

discussions10

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... / KEYCAPS / CHERRY PROFILE KEYCAPS / DROP

Drop + Mr. Bingo DCD WLK-MN Keycap Set

Name: Drop + Mr. Bingo DCD WLK-MN Keycap Set
Brand: Drop
SKU: drop-mr-bingo-dcd-wlk-mn-keycap-set
Price: 39 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6875 (16 reviews)

$39

~~$79~~

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Drop + Mr. Bingo WLK-MN Desk Mat

overview

specs

story3

reviews16

photos12

q&a1

discussions10

JeremyHa

Jan 23, 2025

DCD WLK-MN Review
Overall Score: A decent 7.5/10.
Would Buy? Yes. On sale
tl;dr Good kitting, excellent theme, good colors for dye-sub PBT. Novelties/SB Kit packaging needs reworking, Legends are good except on punctuation and num-row, stems are super tight so be careful with Tecsee and other tight stem switches.

When I look at a set of keycaps, generally there's a few things to look out for in my book:

Kitting
Colors, Legends, and Overall Theme
Price

And whatever misc. details that I need to add in case they don't fit in the three main categories

In terms of the kitting? Pretty solid and it covers most situations that people would get this set for, from ISO to compact layouts in 1800/75%/65% boards and a few Alice layouts. There might be some people that would want an Ortholinear kit or extra spacebars, but can't exactly cover everybody while keeping costs down. For the colors and theming? It's a LOT brighter than I would expect from a typical dye-sub PBT set, the vibrancy is excellent for a dye-sub set. Totally not biased since Blue and Orange is my favorite color pairing. I will note: this is not as bright as an ABS set like Handarbeit or Panels would be, and this likely would very well as a DCX set perhaps with a little refinement down the line. The theming is also excellent, even if I'm not particularly old enough to have enjoyed a classic Sony Walkman myself. Mr. Bingo's novelties come out beautifully on this set and they're basically the highlight of this set - basically a must if someone was to buy this set. However, I do have one gripe with this set. The set seems... noisy. The sublegends are lovely, but they make the numbers and punctuation seem extremely cluttered with how much is included with every number. There are also a few inconsistencies with the legends - the numbers are at somewhat varying thickness that I would not expect from just the font style, which was not what I expected. For some of those misc. things that I can't really categorize:

The stems are VERY VERY tight. Technically not a bad thing, but it has completely worn down my stabilizers on my Kohaku to the point that my fairly new set of GMK a is unable to mount properly onto the spacebar stems anymore.
The packaging is fine. It's nothing special nor is it bad. The plastic shells are sturdy and protect the caps, the boxes are labeled and organized. But it's certainly a waste to have the novelty set take up an entire full sized tray, it's just plastic waste.

And finally, the pricing. I speak with complete honesty: I would struggle to buy this without seeing a sale or having someone use a DKC coupon. The Dye-Sub PBT space is extremely competitive with Novelkeys' Cherry PBT sets, Cannonkeys' NicePBT and Cannoncaps sets, and the largest threat being the prolific market of affordable Chinese manufacturers churning out sets onto Aliexpress, Dropshippers on Amazon, and other retailers and it's difficult to justify $108 (for the Base Kit + Novelties) without the motives to specifically get a Sony Walkman themed keycap set or support the designer. Recent GMK sets have been put on sale for about the same pricing or cheaper, with many GMK, KKB, Domikey, and other 'premium' Doubleshot ABS sets being cleared out for $75-100 a pop (including here on Drop). A keyboard hobbyist that is either a patient and savvy shopper or very reserved with their cash might instead go for a holiday sale GMK set vs. getting DCD WLK-MN at full price. The saving grace: Drop's Early Bird pricing, frequent seasonal sales, and the Drop Keyboard Club program absolutely knock it out of the park in making this set more accessible with some patience for the consumer. If I remember correctly, the last sale put this set at around... $49 for the Base Kit? Now that's a price that most people can get behind to get a set like this. DKC coupons giving a minimum of 30% off, many people often rolling 40%, 50%? A $55 Base Kit is a lot easier to grab than a $79 Base Kit, gives you room to grab novelties or any other accessories off the site! I'm not a particularly professional review, so this is more "A Review of All Time" rather than anything amazing. This is just the words of a hobbyist that wants to see more vendors and designers do better and succeed. This hobby is most importantly driven by the community and the people with passion - the designers, the people at Drop who work hard to keep the hobby alive, and the people like you, me, and everyone else in the community. I'm nobody special, I'm just someone who was given the opportunity to take a gander at a keycap set and let everyone know: Although there are small missteps in with this keycap set, I would wholeheartedly recommend DCD WLK-MN.
A solid 7.5/10. My only real complaints at the end of the day are to reduce the plastic waste in this set with the spacebars and novelty packaging, work on the legends and sub-legends to reduce the 'clutter' in the punctuation and number-row and the fuzziness/kerning, and make sure the price stays competitive (It's really hard to compete with the sales that other vendors have done to clear out their GMK sets). I love what Drop is doing involving more designers in the last few years, I hope to see more DCX and DCD sets come out in collaboration with more artists and see more improvement for years to come!

ray_f

Jan 23, 2025

Drop DCD WLK-MN keycap set review
Final score: 3.3/5
Recommend?: N

My transition lite finally arrived and I too finally had the time to build it up with my extra BSUN Strawberry Bear and Buzz switches, with Designer Studio PCB Mount Stabilizers. The board itself is fine, however I think it needs plate foam to sound completely free - can't expect much for the price. Back to the keycaps: I am going to review this as though I paid full price for all 3 kits, in total: 127 USD. which is basically GMK base kit money.

Packaging: 1st time receiving drop's packaging and I think it's packed well. All the keycaps are secured in place, thanks to the plastic tray and cover. The best part is that, the keycaps don't "explode" like DMK, GMK, or even KKB when you pry open the cover. Great unboxing experience. Only suggestion would be to cut down the packaging sizing for the child kits (Novelty and Spacebar kits). Totally understand this might be a cost cutting measure as it uses the same exact packaging and trays from Base Kit's 2nd tray, but still, would be nice to see. Keycaps: color quality: OK this is where things start to get nitpicky. For a dye-sub set this is vibrant enough. I expect it to look more faded and dull! While it isn't as vibrant as the product listing photos / renders would make you to believe, this is, again, good enough for a dye sub. But bearing in mind with the hefty price tag for a set of dye sub keycap set, I wished it would be more vibrant. Also, as expected with dye sub (especially reverse dye sub in this case), I do see color fading on all four walls; much more noticeable with the orange keycaps. Comparing with my cheapo Striker PBT clones from 4 years ago, it seems that the major improvement in this technology is the color vibrancy instead of minimizing fading. Note: It appears that the actual keycap set in person is of a different blue vs the Geekhack IC renders, just something to keep in mind for.

Keycaps: legend quality: It's dye sub! The legend thickness and consistency are fine, even and neat. However I do see inconsistency in sizing for certain keys. The "3" and "9" num row key seems to be much smaller than the rest. Honestly I didn't expect that for a 127 USD kit. However positioning wise, it's all fine!

Keycaps: warping and straightness: Spacebars are straight, although they do exhibit some form of warping in the edges. mod keys and the rest of the 1Us looks to be nearly warp-free! Keycaps: stem tightness: Very tight, very firm grip! Test notes: I did not get the correct J key with the homing bump. I got an incorrect Row, looks to be R4, and no bumps for the J key, so I had to use Scooped F and J for this. Hopefully it's just an isolated case with my set!

The concept and idea is lovely, just needs a bit more refinement to feel it's worth the 127 USD price for the full set. Just fix the inconsistent font sizes, and it would be perfect for Walkman aficionados. Score:
Packaging: 4/5
Keycap Kitting: 5/5
Keycap warpage: 3/5
Keycap color: 2/5
Keycap Straightness: 4/5
QC level (legends quality, correct keycap rows etc): 2/5
Sound: No rating, this is subjective.
Final score: 20/30 (3.3/5)

Recommend? Not at this point.

(Edited)

brian-nygaard

Sep 18, 2024

I had a set come with 1 key swapped. I was offered a replacement or a $20 credit. So now I'm getting the novelty set for just 5 bucks! Excited for this one

jugadorgraphy

Jun 10, 2024

What if I need another 1u spacebar?

Vote

CoachCam334

May 30, 2024

Are you kidding me!? That pre-order price is crazy. Pair it with a DKC and it's a no brainer! Mr. Bingo and Arq, congrats on making such a baller looking Keycap set

(Edited)

May 30, 2024

CoachCam334Dang, that is a crazy out-the-door price! You love to see it. :D

jacobson4

Sep 30, 2024

CoachCam334Wow, that price is amazing. I decided to buy that set for 80$ and I think it's worth it, but for 25? I have to look for pre-orders more often :)

(Edited)