2026 Survey Results

We ran a survey a few weeks ago to get your input on the second URSA batch before we finalize anything. Kitting options, colorways, pricing. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out. We read every response, here's what came back.

Kits

The HHKB Kit was the most-selected option, chosen by over 60% of respondents. That's a good signal that the new kitting structure makes sense, and a lot of you will benefit price wise from the new kits.

Something worth clarifying, because it came up in several write-in responses: the Base Kit covers more layouts than some of you realized. If you're on an FC660C, Realforce RC1, or an 1800-layout board like the FC980C, the Base Kit has you covered (1800 layouts need Tenkey kit of course!). We clearly haven't communicated that well enough, and we'll fix that on the product pages.

JIS came up in the responses. It's being handled through a separate survey and process, so it's not covered here.

ISO: we have the molds. We're just not including ISO keys in the kits for this batch. The number of ISO Topre keyboards out there is small, and the requests haven't been strong enough to justify the extra costs for everyone. Sorry if you are a ISO user, that may change in the future and make sure to make yourself heard in the next survey.

One thing we forgot to include in the survey: accent kits are coming back for this batch, and we'll also be offering blanks. We'll cover both when we announce the full kit lineup and pricing.

Colorways

Dolch Neue was the clear favorite, chosen by over 56% of respondents. It's the one colorway where interest was unambiguous.

Kokiri Forest was the next strongest at around 38%, the only green option in the lineup. Several of you mentioned it as the colorway that reads best against a classic HHKB case.

Catuccino Nuit and Catuccino Sol landed close together in the 29-30% range. Moonriver Daylight followed at around 27%. Rhaa Lovely came in at just over 15%, noticeably behind the others. It has its fans, but it's clearly the most polarizing pick in the lineup.

About 77% of respondents were positive on the selection overall. The most common feeling wasn't that something was wrong, but that the lineup is solid and could go further. That tracks with what we're planning.

The free-text requests for additional colorways were hard to draw a single conclusion from. There were a lot of named sets, a lot of directions, and roughly equal-sized groups pulling opposite ways: more muted and classic on one side, more bold and committed on the other. We heard you on Sachiko specifically: it came up more than any other named set. It's happening, though not for this batch. If things go to plan, sometime in 2026.

For the colorways that follow this batch, in 2027, we'll be looking for a new designer collaboration rather than trying to pick a direction from a long wishlist.

Quality and trust

The stem question came up again. We want to be direct: we know this has been sitting unresolved publicly for too long. We've reached a conclusion on the R1 stem issue and are putting together a proper post to document what we found, what we changed, and what testing showed. We're not moving to production on the second batch until that's fully resolved and documented.

On spacebars: several of you asked whether R1 buyers, preorders and in-store, would have access to improved spacebars from the second batch. The answer is yes. We're working out the logistics of how to offer that and will communicate on it before the launch.

Pricing

About 77% of respondents said pricing is fair or better than expected. A meaningful minority flagged specific concerns: particular kits feeling steep, shipping costs, the exchange rate situation. We're not planning a broad price cut, but we are re-evaluating some things, including where specific kits land and how to price blanks and accent kits. We'll share more when we announce the full lineup.

What's next

Before we go into full batch production, we're ordering a first run of HHKB Kits only. The goal is to test mass production on a single SKU, make sure everything is dialed in, and avoid carrying any uncertainty into the full batch. We'll share more on that as it progresses.

The rest of the details, full kit lineup, colorways, pricing, the spacebar offer for R1 owners, and the stem post, are all in progress. We'll communicate on each when we're ready.

And a genuine thank you to everyone who filled out the survey. The response rate was well above what we hoped for, and the quality of the feedback made it genuinely useful. It shaped decisions. That's exactly what it was for. 🫡