I’ve been using mechanical keyboards since the early 2000s. At first it was old IBM keyboards that I used while I was in the army, and they were gloriously loud little tanks. Then I bought a few cherry switch mechanical keyboards, until I settled on the tenkeyless Code keyboard with cherry MX clears as my keyboard of choice. I use SA keycaps on it, and after spending way too much on keycaps, I’ve settled on three sets that I rotate between regularly (SA Pulse, SA Carbon and SA Dasher/Dancer). Although I’ve eyed custom keycaps before, their price made me balk before buying.

Until I saw the Drop + Marvel Infinity Saga custom keycap, specifically the Captain America’s Shield & Mjolnir keycap. Yes, it was expensive, but I decided that if I was ever going to splurge on a custom keycap, then this is the one that I want to splurge on.

It arrived yesterday, after a few months of waiting, and it is glorious. I rarely care about packaging, but this keycap came in a box not far from a jewellery box:

The outer packaging of the box has a carbon fibre like print on it, with the Captain America shield, the Drop + Marvel logo and the Marvel studios “The Infinity Saga” title on it.

There’s a ribbon tab that allows you to easily pull the box open. Even the black box underneath the outer wrapper is elegantly made and has the Drop + Marvel logo embossed on it.

Inside is the keycap itself. It includes Captain America’s broken shield, Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer that the Captain wields, on a background of a broken brick wall and debris. It really evokes the climatic battle of “Avengers: Endgame”.

The keycap is heavier than I expected, but then again, unlike normal keycaps which are hollow, this one is entirely filled with resin. There are a lot of metallic elements in the design, which means that it catches and reflects the light very well.

The best view is of course the top view, which shows the shield and hammer and debris design the best:

Even the views that you are less likely to see are well designed and crafted.

The reverse side of the keycap isn’t as elegantly made, with some resin and paint spillage evident. But that doesn’t matter, as this is never going to be a side of the keycap you look at.

Here is the keycap on my Code keyboard (no backlighting as the keyboard was disconnected as I was replacing its keycaps):

And here it is in all its glory:

And with the full keyboard layout:

I am so glad that I decided to purchase this custom keycap. Yes, with the shipping and taxes that I had to pay for it it came close to buying a full keycap set, which is why I don’t see many custom keycaps in my future. However, this specific keycap is worth it to me, as seeing the shield and Mjolnir gives me a little thrill every time I see them, both because of my memories of the films and because of the sheer craftsmanship invested in the keycap itself.