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Massdrop x Zambumon GMK Serika Custom Keycap Set

Massdrop x Zambumon GMK Serika Custom Keycap Set

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4.5K requests
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1.3k Sold
Product Description
Shortly after designing Amazing Chocolatier, Zambumon got to work on two other sets. The first was Nautilus, a Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea–themed set with a bold blue colorway Read More

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pmknkaek
57
May 3, 2018
Why is this so expensive? These keycaps cost more than my keyboard and my current keycaps combined.
evangs
1492
May 10, 2018
for new double shot molds it's quite a bit higher than that
BlueCrowned
5305
May 10, 2018
Nobody is gatekeeping, but nobody is getting ripped off either, so.
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Welcome to Serika’s drop page! Good day everyone! I’m Zambumon, designer of Serika. Thanks to everyone that has supported this project during the development phase and the all the people that are making this set and all the upcoming collaborations possible.
Need more layout examples? Check out the project page: https://zambumon.com/serika

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If you are new to this hobby and don’t have much idea what this drop is about please check out these posts:
Courtesy of @livingspeedbump
(Mini) Mech Keys 101: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-hasbro-scrabble-mechanical-keyboard/talk/1999214
Mech Keys 101: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/2784/mechanical-keyboards-101-an-introduction-to-the-hobbyPhysical
Layouts Explained: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/947/keyboard-layouts-explained-in-detail-many-pics

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Frequently Asked Questions: Q: Give me a backstory. A: In August 2016, just after The Amazing Chocolatier’s drop ended, I started working on two new sets. One of those was Nautilus, which was finished first, and the other one was an unnamed set that later became Serika. While working on Nautilus, I had something very clear: I wanted to work on a less flashy and more subtle color way but without falling into the “boring” tag. I also wanted to make a set were yellow was the main component and not just an accent (like in Chocolatier or Nautilus). For the alphas, I had obviously go for something lighter, so I opted for a white (with a tint of beige). And that’s how the colorway was decided.
Fast forward to November 2017, just before Nautilus started shipping, I started working again on the set. There were two unfinished issues: its name and the novelties. The name issue was solved quite fast. Like many others on this community I’m also interested in space exploration (Godspeed, and Yuri), so I paid an homage to the Space Brother’s manga and named the set after fictional astronaut Itou Serika. As for the novelties, unlike previous sets, I wanted to keep them simple and more abstract, so I went for something that I was already interested in: impossible geometric figures, such as the Penrose triangle. Q: How do I fill my keyboard? A: Here’s a list of kits and the layouts covered:
Core: Pok3r, Anne Pro, Nemo, Tokyo60, M60-A, Tina, Duck Viper, Zeal60, X60, E6-V2, ALF X2, Whitefox, TADA68, Magicforce 68, M65-A, Leopold FC660M, Percent Canøe, Zephyr, Uniqey C70, Drevo 84, Duck Octagon, Zephyr, Masterkeys Pro S, K-Type, Massdrop ALT, Massdrop CTRL, Ducky One TKL, Percent Skøg, TX-CP, Leopold FC980M, Cherry G80-1813, Kira, RS96, or Duck Lightsaver.
Core + Geometries: Masterkeys Pro L, Realforce RGB, Ducky One 2.
Core + 40s: GK64, ALF X2, and COD 67 (due to the 2.00U and 1.00U Shift), Planck, Minorca, Sebright, Minivan, Caravan, GK64.
Core + 40s or Core + Spacebars: split spacebar keyboards such as Banana60 or VE.A. Ergodox: Ergodox keyboards.
Q: Do these keycaps include a keyboard? A: No, this is just a drop for the keycaps. Q: Is this keyset fully compatible with the Corsair Strafe, Fnatic Gear Rush, or Razer keyboards? A: No. These keyboard have a non-standard bottom row with a 6.50U spacebar. Q: Is this keyset fully compatible with the Mistel Barocco 60%, Filco Minila, or Filco Minila Air? Can you add a 3U and 4U spacebars to the spacebars kit? A: No, these keyboards use 3.00U, 3.25U, or 4.00U spacebars and that would require GMK to make new molds for just those three boards. Q: Can I use these keycaps on my laptop/Apple keyboard? A: No. These keycaps are designed for MX switches such as Cherry MX, Gateron, Zealios, Kailh Speed Switches, Kailh Box Switches, Halo switches, Hako switches, Outemu...
Q: Is this set compatible with Novelkeys x Kailh Big Switch? A: No. That switch is 4 times bigger in each dimension. Q: Do the keys support backlighting? A: As these keycaps are made out of two different opaque plastics backlighting isn’t supported. However, you could get with them a nice underglow effect.
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Credit goes to /u/mindxthinker
Q: Does Serika include a 2.00U Shift? A: Yes, 40s kit include 2.00U and 1.00U Shift for more exotic layouts. Q: Does [insert kit] include [insert keycap]? A: All kits include only the keys pictured. Non-1.00U keycaps have a label that wit their sizing.
Q: I’m concerned about the final colors, how close will they be to the renders? A: GMK and I are taking extra steps to make sure that the colors are spot on. Yellow isn’t an easy color to work with and it is extremely important for us to nail it. This is why GMK and I have been working months ahead with color samples and we have used a Pantone Formula Guide as well as a RAL Design Chart to make sure that the colors are exactly what we want. We’ll be using Pantone 116C for the yellow. This is an iconic color as it is used in The Simpsons, and Lego. You can read more about this here: https://zambumon.com/2018/03/13/serika-update-1/ and here: https://zambumon.com/2018/05/05/serika-update-4/
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Example of the final yellow sample compared with the formula guide swatch.
Q: Why is the 40s kit an add-on and not a part of the Core? A: An add-on kit allows me to get better layout coverage and many accent keys while keeping Core’s price down. Q: Are the keys ABS or PBT? A: ABS. Q: $[insert price] for ABS? No way I’m paying for that. A: There are hundreds of examples of high-quality products made in ABS that people love, such as Lego or GMK keycaps. These keycaps are not only thick, and have doubleshot legends (meaning that the legends will be sharp and will never fade) but have an excellent quality control, legend consistency and are fantastic for long typing sessions. These is what people are paying for when they get these keycaps and why many of us these are our preferred choice when building a board.
Q: Are all parts of the legend doubleshot, both the legend and the sublegend? A: Yes, all the legends are doubleshot.
Q: Could you add GMK Nautilus style ergodox keys with doubleshot legends? A: Despite of Nautilus’ hype and how great was having doubleshot legends for the first time on an Ergodox, some people were discouraged by the first tier price point and decided not to get one. For Serika, I’ve decided to make things easier and focus on affordability. This is why I have opted to add a set of alphas to the kit. Q: Does the core kit include scooped F & J keys? A: Yes, it includes both scooped and barred F & J. Q: Could you add [some key] to [some kit]? A: No, unless there’s a huge layout coverage issue with the current kits, there are no plans to modify the kits.
Q: Could you split alphas and modifiers? A: No, that’s not viable for GMK.
Q: If only this was SA! A: This set was conceived as a GMK set from the very beginning. I also prefer making a new set over re-running one, but if there’s an SA (or any other profile such as MT3) version of this set it won’t be done in the near future.
Q: NO NORDE? A: No, and there are no plans to add a NORDE kit to this set for various reasons. Firstly, there hasn’t been historically enough demand for the set, and the kit has only reached MOQ once (GMK Nautilus which had much more initial interest than Serika) and more recently GMK has been making these kits for Massdrop’s sets despite not reaching the MOQ. Secondly, it wouldn’t be compatible with Serika’s Hiragana sublegends, and not having them would break the set’s aesthetic. Additionally, we’d need to make many new legends for just this kit. This doesn’t mean that Massdrop, GMK, and me don’t care about EU customers or EU layouts, but it is very hard to justify making these kits when they are far from reaching minimum order quantities.
Q: Where happened to the Latin alphas? A: A couple weeks ago I decided to make a kit update regarding this set. With this update, I removed 3 kits: Hiragana, Dvorak, and NORDE. Soon after update #2 (https://zambumon.com/2018/03/23/serika-update-2/) was released, which added two add-ons such as Hiragana and Micons, I started to become more and more uncomfortable with the set and its kits. For every single set, and specially for the GMK ones, the base kit is the core of the set, and everyone should get it. All base kits should be as affordable as possible, which can be achieved by having the right amount of keycaps and also reaching higher order quantities. By adding those two kits I was achieving the exact opposite of what I wanted, splitting the orders between 2 options in detriment of the core kit. On top of that, I’ve been always interested in sublegends and I like them a lot as they make sets very appealing. Serika’s name is a reference to a manga (Space Brothers). However, back in 2016 having those sublegends on a GMK set wasn’t possible, and that’s why I initially stick to a more “standard” look.
Q: Could you add Latin Alphas? A: There are no plans to add the latin alphas back. The issues concerning having two sets of alphas have been explained in the previous answer.
Q: What’s the matter with Micons? A: Micons are a set of futuristic and aesthetically pleasing iconography designed by Mito to replace icon modifiers. They made their debut with Canvas XDA and have been ported to SA and Cherry profile. This kit expands Mito’s blocknet kit and adds new legends to it, easing the path for a fullsize set of Micon modifiers. Below you can see a tiny example of how Mito arrived at the CONTROL design.
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Q: You should have dropped Nautilus again! A: Nautilus (my previous project) was delivered in December 2017, and in order to have Nautilus dropping today, a R2 interest check should have been started around those dates. I’m not a big fan of having a set dropping for a second or third time very closely to its previous round, and I’m a huge fan of having new sets just around the corner. To keep the Serika’s discussion tab less messy, if you’d like to have GMK Nautilus again, please go to its drop page and hit the request button: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-zambumon-gmk-nautilus-custom-keycap-set

Q: What keyboards are the ones you are using on the drop page? A: Here’s a list of all the keyboard featured on the drop page:
  1. Product card (image 1 of 16): Nemo (HHKB with asymmetric blockers and indicator lights).
  2. Page banner (image 2 of 16): Uniqey C70 (the one with two modifier navigation columns on the right and indicator lights). https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gmk-uniqey-c70-mechanical-keyboard
  3. A generic TKL made by me (80% keyboard, no numpad, WKL layout with blockers in the windows keys, image 3 of 16).
  4. Detail of the navigation cluster of the same generic TKL made by me (image 5 of 16).
  5. Percent Canoe (67 key with white Ceramic top and LED indicator on the right, image 6 of 16).
  6. Tokyo60 (HHKB layout, simmetric blockers, grey ESC novelty and yellow 1.50U novelty, image 7 of 16). https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-tokyo-keyboard-tokyo60-keyboard-kit
  7. Detail of the penrose triangle novelty on Nemo (image 8 of 16).
  8. Top view of Nemo (image 9 of 16).
  9. Generic 96-key keyboard made by me (image 10 of 16).

Q: How do I order multiple kits? A: Here is a guide on how to order multiple kits:
1. When you land in the payment area, you'll find this form:
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2. You'll first need to select Core, and on the child deals, you can select any of the available ones or just live it blank by selecting the "No thanks" option.
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3. If you want to add another child deal, but not a second core kit, select "No Thanks" under the Core kit option.
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Q: Is Serika the pinnacle of keyset development? A: Although Serika is my own set, that title has been claimed by GMK Jamón (https://www.massdrop.com/vote/GMK-Jam-n-The-pinnacle-of-keycap-development) pinnacle of keyset development, god tier set, heir of Isildur, catalyzer of the positive vibes.
If you have any doubts, please feel free to ask them on the discussion tab and I’ll do my best to answer them.
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Not that soon, there are some details that need to be solved but, we are working on it.
DMTTAB
98
Aug 12, 2018
ZambumonHi Zambumon
Will this Set drop again or is there a Way to buy it somewhere else? These are the Keycaps of my Dreams. :)
Best Regards
PON10
382
May 17, 2018
Why has the norde kit been removed? damn....
MiTo
13955
MiTo
May 24, 2018
This is why we Dvo, the HUMAN EXCEL!
PON10
382
May 25, 2018
MiToHaha, if Dvo hadn't been this damn good. i could have had my norde kit :D impressive work!
zzzaacchh
May 3, 2018
Ok, this one, then Space Cadet, then I'm done...
ChuckDee
1906
May 3, 2018
You're eeeevil! :) And talented. :)
KM1337
1881
May 3, 2018
Making things too real here...
HumanBeing
222
May 15, 2018
This set looks dope, wish it was getting more attention cause I actually want to buy if it hits $110
HumanBeing
222
May 15, 2018
What do you mean? What did they do to kill the hype?
elFick
319
May 15, 2018
HumanBeingSerika was IC'd with Latin-only legends in the main kit and hiragana child kit, then shortly before launch the Latin-only legends and a bunch of child kits were dropped and hiragana was made the default. https://zambumon.com/2018/04/20/serika-update-3/
HotRoderX
753
May 5, 2018
just wanted to give a bit of feedback... on this not planning to order but Zambumon for next time.
I like the set and I like the way you decided to go with the alphas. Instead of including 10 different set's you went with one. What's stopping me from buying into this is the legends. I mean I like the legend's don't get me wrong just .. The color scheme and the legend's don't vibe in my mind. I don't see this as even remotely Asian inspired. This is more a industrial inspired set that makes me think of Caterpillar Tractor's. Other then that its a nice set and I like the way you ran it just not the alpha legends. I mean perhaps before it closes I will buy in if something else I wan't doesn't work out but I gotta wait and see first. I just wanted to give a bit of feedback and hope that the next drop is more to my liking and desire ((Also if this hits 119.99.. it would be very hard to pass up even if I didn't like the yellow with it.. so will be watching))
The color scheme came before the set had a name, but Space Brothers really had a weight for me when preparing the IC, that's why I decided to pay a small hommage to the Koyama's work by naming the set after one of ihs characters. Otherwise, I'd have gone bright blue, as for the main characters receiving their blue jumpsuit meant that they finally became astronauts.
Zambumon
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EnjoyMyInSec
164
May 7, 2018
i feel like the "weeb legend" is a no for a lot of people idk why, i'm not a huge fan usually, but i feel it's way more sexy this way idk how to explain :3
wooden
45
May 12, 2018
Bingo. I'd be all over this set if it wasn't for the Japanese stuff. I'm seriously torn because I have an Penrose triangle tattoo and want the geometry keys something fierce but I'm not about to pretend I know a lick of Japanese.
Ginron
86
May 18, 2018
EnjoyMyInSec Its almost like some people are bilingual... and Japanese is a popular language to learn... and Japanese characters are considered aesthetically pleasing to people who don't know how to read it...
skyybaby
23
May 3, 2018
The lack of normal alphas is so sad :( I have been following this set for a long time and the last minute change of the alphas is not ideal. Going to be skipping this drop, which is a shame because the colors are perfect.
lanyusea
142
May 3, 2018
skyybabysame here
obgynbbq
53
May 2, 2018
Love this look. Sad about the lack of shine-through. Seems like a nice quality set though.
Tosel
158
May 2, 2018
I'd like to add that normally shine trough keycaps are made with a transparent plastic, and covered with a layer of usually black paint. In some way (laser etching?) a part of this black paint gets scratched away revealing the transparent part to form the legend. The legends looks good and sharp, but overall the keycap doesn't give you a good quality sensation, also because you can feel the step of the engraving, and in some cases it can wear off completely ruining the legend.
MiTo
13955
MiTo
May 2, 2018
ToselYes, what you are referring to is laser etched keycaps, some of those are backlit and in this case there's a layer of coating (normally UV resistant) applied to the to the faces of the keycap prism. Then a laser beam comes in and wears off the negative of an intended legend, leaving a transparent area behind. You can feel the the step and in my personal opinion those keycaps are of very bad quality, thin and feel cheap.
Cyphre
2708
May 1, 2018
But Pulse has hardly even ended!! D:
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CyphrePulse started bofore Scrabble ended, so you could say this is a better situation.
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