Fancy Switch… Boxes?

With reviews becoming bulkier over the course of the past year as a result of added data about switches, I feel as if I may have lost a slight bit of the spontaneity that the Background Section used to provide me. Mash that up with so many small topics that I would like to write about at some point but can’t construct a full length review around, and you end up with this - Shorts. 1000-ish word supplementary articles, about whatever switch/website/content related thing that comes to mind, and without any promise of a regular schedule. I think you’ll come to enjoy some of the ideas I have for these Shorts in time…

Not that I want to start out this article by making myself sound like a boomer, but back in my day when I first got into switches there wasn’t any thematic packaging or super fancy switch holding boxes. Even larger, more noteworthy vendors at the time like Novelkeys shipped their switches in plastic bags featuring some minorly decorative logo to remind you of where you had bought them from. (My person favorite was the gold crown logo over black text bags, and I’m begging you guys to bring them back as a nostalgia thing.) However, as the community has grown over the past several years and has begun to attract many newcomers, packaging of all things keyboards has gotten infinitely more streamlined, stylized, and fancy. Switches are definitely not the exception to this trend either.

Figure 1: An example of just one shelf that I keep switches I receive on.

While an entire full-length article could be dedicated solely to discussing boutique switch packaging that has come out over the past handful of years, there is one type of fancy packaging in particular that I’ve come to personally enjoy over the rest. In no slight to the fancy food themed packaging of Invokeys’ switches or Dangkeebs’ Milk line of switches, the plain and simple switch box with plastic trays and covering are surprisingly my favorite ways switches are being shipped nowadays. In case you don’t know exactly what it is that I’m referring to, these boxes typically pack in 35 switches into a thin plastic tray with a sort of dust lid and ship them out in themed cardboard boxes. As for which switches have shipped out in these packages, here’s a few examples to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Figure 2: Drop Holy Panda X box with switch tray.

Figure 3: Chosfox x JWICK Voyager switch box.

Figure 4: Lubed Clear Geon Switch box.

Surprisingly, I’ve heard a perspective from quite a few people over the years that these packages are wasteful, vaguely citing concerns about dolphins and turtles, or something. Completely holding my tongue about all of the insane packaging that keyboards, keycaps, and literally every other component of a keyboard comes in, I think this is an inherently bad take because of the reusability of these holders. Are people still just as likely to go toss their extra switches in a bag somewhere? Sure, probably. But for those who don’t want to quite stoop to the level of buying RAMA Jars or using whatever Great Value brand Ziploc bags will break in a few months’ time, these are a perfect solution for long term switch storage. Never mind that they make great means of transporting switch collections or testers to other people - any reusable packaging is better than nothing.

Part of the reason that I felt compared to share this packaging, even though I have documented it in bits and pieces elsewhere throughout my writing, is that I recently came across my favorite iteration of these boxes: Rubrehose’s Brown and Grey Linear switches. For those of you who are more switch inclined, Rubrehose is an artisan keycap brand which, as the name implies, focuses on producing a style of keycaps themed after the rubberhose animation style from the 1930’s. While I am a bit biased in my preference for their work as I have bought a couple of their deskmats and am currently using one of them while writing this, the transfer of this artwork onto these switch boxes translates better than nearly any other design that I’ve seen to date. Don’t believe me? Just look:

Figure 5: Rubrehose Brown (Top) and Grey (Bottom) linear switch packaging.

Figure 6: Rubrehose Brown and Grey linear switch packaging flap.

Figure 7: Rubrehose Brown and Grey linear switches in their respective trays.

Given that these switches are the first dedicated crossover into switch branding from a dedicated artisan maker, the artwork and packaging obviously would be on point. While I don’t expect any other artisan makers to jump at the opportunity of branding their own switches any time soon, I think it would be neat to see more keyboard and switch sellers perhaps commissioning artisan keycap makers for artwork for these boxes. After all, they already commission artists for stickers that they include for free with the switch boxes... At the end of the day though, it’s nice to know that switches are getting the extra special polishing, packaging, and marketing care that every other aspect of keyboards seem to get. Whether or not we are willing to internalize this, every component of a keyboard exists within a boutique hobby - so it’s not unreasonable to think that every aspect of the components should also be considered and treated with care. Switches are definitely not the exception to this either.

Figure 8: Gateron Azure Dragon V2 switch box.

Figure 9: Tecsee Ice Cream switch component box.

Figure 10: Jerrzi switch packaging box front.

Figure 11: Jerrzi switch packaging box back.

Figure 12: SOTC Switch packaging box front.

Figure 13: SOTC Switch packaging box back.

Figure 14: Tecsee Hamster Switch packaging box front.

Figure 15: Tecsee Hamster Switch packaging box back.