[In-Stock] SA Dasher Nights | 10/28 - Deliveries in progress!

SA Dasher Nights
In stock and shipping Wednesday, October 16th
Vendor: SPKeyboards.com (Signature Plastics)





Background
Last winter, word was put out that Signature Plastics was put up for sale. I had wanted to run an SA set forever, and not knowing what would happen, I saw this as an impetus to do so while I could. I started messing around with ideas for the blue on blue, night-themed set I had always wanted for some of my own boards.

What I came up with was a blend of two popular colors from the past - Danger Zone's navy blue (BFU), combined with Dasher's bright Dancer blue (BBJ), to create a dark version of Dasher, minus the white legends, and with an inkier blue base.

Since these colors have been used often in the past (though never together), Nights can stand on its own, but also serve as a giant moogle kit for Dasher, Dancer, Mechanist, Danger Zone, and other classic sets; adapting them to newer layouts that have come about since their respective releases.

In the months since, SP has found a new owner, and we have SA Grand Budapest R2 and more to look forward to soon. I've cooked up a few more designs, and learned how to make my own renders. It's weird now, seeing this hit shelves eight months after I started work on it, and thinking of it as "older" work!





A Couple Notes
1) Where possible, I drew legends from original Dasher terminals, but only those that I had seen used in previous SA sets, since I didn't want to require any new molds to be made. For example, I didn't know if the Alpha Lock mold existed, so I used Shift Lock instead, having seen that and knowing it existed. New Line, Rub Out, and Cmd are straight from various Data General Dashers.

1a) I know Rub Out historically has gone where Caps Lock sits, or used as a Delete key. But I wanted to use it for Backspace so it would be more prominent. What can I say? I like that legend, as a perpetual 12-year old.

2) I initially pitched this as a monokit that wouldn't leave any orphaned child kits behind. SP asked if I could re-kit it along the lines of their SA Standard sets instead. I agreed, since it meant expanding the set's compatibility to include 40's and ortho layouts.

3) The accent kit includes gamer WASD keys, which I haven't seen offered in an SA set for a while. I personally like those, because I really need some visual indicator for arrow keys on 60% boards without them.

4) Finally, for the actual arrow keys, I used symbols instead of the text directional legends seen more frequently today, to keep continuity with SA Dasher/Dancer. These are the new, thinner arrows that I think debuted with Fledgling, which is one of my favorite sets.


Pricing
Alphas - $71
Modifiers - $63
Alternate Modifiers - $21
Number Pad - $30
40%/Ortho Mods - $61
UK ISO - $12
Spacebars - $18
Accents - $17


Dates
The product page is live NOW, and people can join the waitlist.

Sales begin on Wednesday, October 16th. It will be limited to 20 buyers per day, until supplies run out. This is in-stock, and already manufactured and ready to ship.





Kitting Renders


Mix and Match Examples



Color Comparisons with other Blue-on-Blue Sets


Additional Board Renders


I'm hoping that folks will enjoy this set on its own, but also find neat ways to remix it. If you've been trying and failing to track down rare specialty, ortho, or ISO kits on the secondhand market to fit older blue sets to your boards, maybe this can help.