Group BuyKeycaps

GMK Blue Alert R2 [COMPLETE]

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Description

GMK Blue Alert R2
A classic colorway variant in beige and blue.

GB OPEN: SEPTEMBER 6 - SEPTEMBER 27, 2024.

estimated delivery: end Q4 2024 - early Q1 2025.

Vendors and Pricing

United States: Novelkeys
Canada: DeskHero
Europe: Oblotzky Industries
United Kingdom: ProtoTypist
Southeast Asia: iLumKB
China: zFrontier
South Korea: GEONWORKS
Oceania: Daily Clack

Background

Hello friends from Geekhack and the keyboard community

!

GMK Blue Alert is a keyset that was originally conceived as a spin off from the GMK Olivetti set, run by
Originative in 2013. In 2017, community member cmd enabled its singular pre-order through Originative,
with colors changed to the classic beige colors -- U9/L9 -- and V4 blue legends. Though once a niche
among enthusiasts, recent interest in "Alert"-styled sets (e.g. DCS Rebel / GMK Red Alert and their
derivatives) prompted a renewed interest in this keycap set.

Its original runner, cmd, hoped to rerun the set, but has since passed on the torch to me to accomplish this
with renewed styling and kitting choices, while keeping a few legacy items that preserve a distinguished
detail from its prior run. Though there have been other sets that assimilate this hopeful "boring classic",
I think none carry all of the features I wanted to see from a new release.

Original styling of the R1 set utilized classic Cherry icon-only modifiers with limited winkeyless compatibility
for Row 5 (a.k.a. R5, or row A for others) bottom-row layouts. This new run will feature extended Row 5
bottom-row support, a new Hangul sublegend kit (a community request made since my prior keyset run, Dolch R5),
and a Blue Stripe kit -- to give the set its Rebel / Alert characteristic -- a number-row stripe accent with support
including the navigation cluster and numpad.

Without further ado, here are the features and kitting of the set, for which I have given deep consideration
to accommodate the community's needs and requests. Kitting is close to final, but comments are welcome.

Features

- Cherry profile, ABS plastic, doubleshot keycaps manufactured by GMK in Germany.
- Alphas: L9 cream base, V4 blue legends.
- Modifiers: U9 beige base, V4 blue legends.
- Accents: V4 blue base, U9 beige legends (Esc/Enter/Joker/Cherry).
- Blue Stripe: V4 blue base, L9 cream legends (for increased contrast).
- OG Cherry-style Icon-Text modifiers.
- Complete R5 bottom row support.
- Windows 95 icons - a condition from cmd in making this possible. (cmd: shoutout to nickheller)

Kits

Base
Coverage for most layouts, 4-key 40s w/ accents, US-ISO, Alice / split-bars, F13.

Extension
Extras, windowed keys, legacy-style novelties, OS-agnostic Super keys, and spacebars.

Hangul
Korean sublegend kit, usable with legacy R1 set.

Blue Stripe
Accent blue stripe for num-row placement.

International

Renders
Many thanks to Steven, a.k.a. FreshFromTheGrave for the amazing work.

Classic TKL by NovelKeys

F1-8X by Geonworks

No. 2/65 by Keycult

Seis Cero by Daji Keyboards

Type K by gok

ASCII-F by enomooshiki

Historic Renditions by Kustom3

Banderole / Packaging
Thank you to Vheissu and LampKB for rapid, fun work on this banderole design.
Subject to small changes and modifications.

THANK YOU

Ragan of Space Cables, for kickstarting this project and overall support at the inception.
Mike, Riley, and the rest of the NovelKeys team, for taking on this project despite being yet another "boring beige" set. And for pushing the Hangul kit forward.
Lightningcord community for feedback, and for keeping the hope and hype for this set alive despite the few years we got stuck in limbo.
cmd for the blessing to run this set and for his mutual enthusiasm of the Win95 logo.
Steven, a.k.a. FreshFromTheGrave, for the keyboard and kit renders and extra graphics.
Vheissu and LampKB for their design expertise and help in creating the amazing banderole.
damonskv and zyxxke for their assist in having an improved vintage-styled Cherry icon.
Vendors and collaborators who make this group-buy and re-run possible.
My partner, JD, and Kiwi for their unwavering support and approval of my silly and fun hobbies.

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