These Pokémon Keycaps Have Won My Heart

These Pokémon Keycaps Have Won My Heart
Contributor: John Walker

I’m looking down at my spacebar in absolute shame. It’s just plain white. And yet, it could be the absolutely beautiful work of keycap maker, Hirosart, containing a diorama of Pokémon in their natural setting.

When it comes to keycaps, I’m just about the least qualified to comment on Kotaku, with other members of the team veritably buried in the things. I’ve honestly never seen the appeal. Until I saw Hirosart’s work (thanks, CBR). These contain not just gorgeously created miniature Pokémon, but also their habitat around them, whether that’s fiery, volcanic settings for Arcanine or Moltres, or corel-strewn seascapes for Squirtle or Milotic, all in the space of a single key.

But it’s the spacebars that have really taken me. The most striking featuring the original four starters, Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, each in their own environs. There’s another on the Etsy page, equally impressive, featuring Growlithe, Umbreon, Pikachu and Lapras. But the extraordinary thing is, you can pick your own four — they appear to be entirely created to order.

Which does go some way to explaining the price. You’re looking at $50+ for a single key, and north of $175 for a spacebar. Then again, look at the detail in these adorable, bespoke resin creations.

My keyboard isn’t anywhere near fancy enough to have keycaps — like a mad old idiot who insists on writing books on a typewriter, I refuse to update from my crappy old Microsoft MultiMedia Keyboard 1.0A, of which I have a worryingly dwindling supply. (When they’re all gone, I die.) Yet, I’m still tempted to order one of these, just to have it as an object. Mantine, Snorlax, Jynx and Cresselia, I’d pick.

It’s an odd pleasure to look through the reviews on the Etsy site, just to see photos of the unique keys created for customers, like this adorable Suicune. These really are quite the thing.


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