EK will no longer carry Leopold keyboards

Hypersphere · 06 Sep 2014, 17:34

Having noticed an exceptionally long time on the Elitekeyboards (EK) site for showing Leopold keyboards not in stock, I asked them if they were no longer carrying Leopold keyboards. They replied last week saying that this is correct. They will no longer be a retailer for Leopold keyboards.

This leaves them with Kul for Cherry mx keyboards, as well as Realforce, Topre, and Fujitsu for Topre-switch keyboards.

002 · 06 Sep 2014, 17:58

I thought they ditched Leopold a while back and were just running out the last of their inventory? I think a similar thing happened when they switched from Filco to Leopold but that transition was much faster.

Hypersphere · 06 Sep 2014, 18:07

002 wrote: ↑I thought they ditched Leopold a while back and were just running out the last of their inventory? I think a similar thing happened when they switched from Filco to Leopold but that transition was much faster.

Yes, I think so. I suppose it took me a while to realize this and then to have it actually confirmed by EK.

I wonder if this is another reason why EK no longer supplies replacement keycap sets for RF keyboards? I just received a set that I bought through eBay. The set was shipped from Korea, and although the box label says "Topre", there is a seal on the box that says "Leopold". I have heard that Topre is no longer making replacement keycaps sets for their keyboards, so perhaps Leopold has some Topre keycap inventory that they are selling off.

Luckily, Futitsu is still supplying keycap sets for the HHKB Pro 2, and these can be used on Realforce keyboards. I have a black RF 87u 55g, and I have put a set of HHKB white alphas on it (looks great, and now I can read the keys!). I also used some black HHKB Pro 2 Opt/Alt keycaps to replace the Windows bubble keys on the RF.

002 · 07 Sep 2014, 00:53

I don't really know what happened with the coloured Realforce keycap sets, but back in December 2013, a Topre rep told me directly that they had been discontinued. I'd say that since then, Topre had a lot of demand from Leopold to continue them and caved. I am pretty sure they are not just moving through old stock there...

On an unrelated note, rumour has it that Topre are planning to re-introduce their numpads this month. Source: http://achikaan.blogspot.jp/2014/06/rea ... 23bu9.html

Hypersphere · 07 Sep 2014, 15:53

If Leopold is supplying keycap sets from Topre on an ongoing basis, I wish that some additional outlets could be created so that the price might drop to more reasonable levels. I just bought a set on eBay -- the caps are beautiful with crisper legends than similar Cherry mx sets from Imsto -- but the price is $149.99. At least the shipping is free, and I got my order within 3 weeks (South Korea to USA).

the1onewolf · 10 Sep 2014, 07:52

I think EK was getting too many complaints from customers who bought Leopold's and then had issues with them.

I think there was a post by Brian which said that 700 series was not ready for primetime yet back a while ago.

Also newer Leopold keyboard (like the 750R) seem to all be stocked in Korea. I've heard some vendors outside Korea have said it's been hard to obtain stock from Leopold.

Personally I would really love a nice set of blank caps and a 23UB to go with my Realforce.

Elrick · 10 Sep 2014, 11:30

Easy decision for most people, go elsewhere to find your keyboards because ONLY relying on one person to supply you with a particular type of keyboard, is very naive and stupid.

Plenty on Ebay that can sell you these Leopold's with no fuss or excuses ever given.

Hypersphere · 10 Sep 2014, 16:31

[quote="Elrick" post_id=182179]Easy decision for most people, go elsewhere to find your keyboards because ONLY relying on one person to supply you with a particular type of keyboard, is very naive and stupid.

Plenty on Ebay that can sell you these Leopold's with no fuss or excuses ever given.[/quote

Yes, I don't mind losing a local source for the Cherry mx TKL Leopolds, but I rather liked the FC660C and the later gray version of this Topre-switch keyboard. However, as you say, there are other sources for these. Moreover, EK is still supplying Kul, Topre, Realforce, and Fujitsu keyboards.