It’s rare that I get to talk about my love for Lord of The Rings in my day job, so you best believe I jumped at the chance to share these mechanical keyboards adorned with intricate details and iconic symbols from Middle Earth. Preorder shipments will arrive in early October.
Pre-order the Dwarvish Drop Lord of The Rings keyboard for $169 (opens in new tab)Pre-order the Elvish Drop Lord of The Rings keyboard for $169 (opens in new tab)
My precious
To paraphrase Galadriel, even the smallest keyboards can change the course of the future. After Drop, erm,dropped the Lord of The Rings MT3 keycap set, the company is capitalizing on its popularity with whole-themed keyboards. The team could have gone over the top and stuck a character’s face on here, but I respect the subtle nods all the more, with the Elvish model featuring the Two Trees of Valinor and the Dwarvish option getting Doors of Durin — both surrounding the arrow keys. As for the keycaps themselves, I was a little concerned at first. For all the love I have for LOTR, I can guarantee my productivity would be ruined if they relied on you being fluent in Dwarvish or Elvish. Luckily, the training keycaps have traditional English lettering on them, so that you don’t get lost in all the scripture. And with Holy Panda X switches, providing a tactile typing experience, you could easily write a novel as long as Tolkein’s masterpiece without breaking an ergonomic sweat. Plus, I have to be honest. The Eye of Mordor escape key is so cool.
Outlook
At $169, this is a pretty reasonable price for a premium build like this, and is sure to take pride of place on any fan’s desk (better than that damn cheeseboard ever could). I would have loved to see a version that includes the number pad for those who dabble more in data entry, but a TKL board is more than enough for most people. So, if you’re an LOTR fan and not even at least a little interested in checking this out, you must be a fool of a took!
