Introduction

What is it about Vietnam that makes for some of the most talented artisans and craftspeople in the world? Even outside of the mechanical keyboard community, I have seen some exquisite items on various Etsy shops, ranging from custom headphones and speaker mods, neat-looking furniture, and even kitchenware made from materials including wood and resin alike. We arguably saw the largest brand in the artisan keycap community—Jelly Key—not once, but twice recently. I had approached a second Vietnamese brand about the same time as Jelly Key, but such was the state of COVID-19 in that particular area of Vietnam that Moon Key had been affected by lockdowns more severely.


So imagine my pleasant surprise when Moon Key—possibly the second-most popular artisan in the keyboard community—got back to me again recently saying they were indeed able to get items out. I say "they," but it could well be a single-person outfit based on all I have seen. Moon Key, as the name suggests, made its name with astronomy-themed products, of which we have three separate ones here. In fact, seen above are three of the six items going to be covered today, which also include two wrist rests. This is where Moon Key distinguishes itself with several custom wrist-rest designs that can now go with your artisan keycaps for a more impressive experience. Thanks to Moon Key for arranging these samples for TechPowerUp, and we wish them the best in going through these challenging times for artisans.

Lunar Lander Wrist Rest

I know I teased astronomy-themed products while having a teaser image using three others instead, so how about I make up for it with the most impressive wrist rest I have ever seen? Moon Key has 29 different wrist rests to choose from, 12 more than its keycaps, and to suit your keyboard form factor, each can be had in sizes ranging from 40% to full-size. The packaging for the wrist rest is sized accordingly, and a thick cardboard two-piece box. It comes in blue with the Moon Key logo in a glossy color that shines in different shades of blue or purple depending on the incident light and opens up like a gift box—we even get a hand-written note first up. A thin foam sheet adds further protection to the wrist rest, which has thick foam on the sides and a very nice wiping cloth to clean it.


What I have here is the Lunar Lander wrist rest in a 60% keyboard size, and I spent a few minutes just holding it in my hands and feeling dirty for not wearing gloves. Good thing that piece of cloth came in the box, but I will say that this is not a dust or fingerprint magnet to begin with. The resin comes hand-polished, and the entire product is effectively hand made as well. This one is 30x7.5 cm in size, and sizes smaller or larger differ in their moon surface pattern extensions on either side of the landing site. We see rounded corners with a gray resin base that is exposed further on the back, where the finish is unfortunately not as well executed as on the front. Five rubber pads help stay it in place and absorb pressure from your wrists, and a look from the side reveals the light elevation at the top.


Around this time, I also noticed that the textured inlay, which does a fantastic job of bringing the moon's surface to your desk, also looks slightly different depending on the incident light and angle of examination. Refraction certainly contributes to the effect, which makes for some lighter gray accents as seen above. This is one of the reasons I did not place the wrist rests under the microscope; while it would have been larger, it would not have revealed anything practical that the macro lens here does not already show. I wish Moon Key would have shared more details about the making of this wrist rest because I am certainly curious about what went into getting the patterns of space dust and rock impacts. The 3-dimensionality of the wrist rest is also one that is best appreciated in person, including the landing site—a take on the Sea of Tranquility that shows the warped legs of the lander module at different angles. The lander is a physical insert that is nicely detailed, though we do see some minor red color spills around the legs.


I chose to pair all the Moon Key products with the Anne 2 Pro since it's a very clean, white keyboard, and a 60% form factor, too. This particular Lunar Lander wrist rest thus perfectly fits length-wise and looks quite the part, if I say so myself. Seen above are two angles of the wrist rest with the keyboard, which also show the slight differences in its perceived color. The Lunar Lander module placed in the middle is less likely to be covered by your hands, though it is of course going to be easier to appreciate this the larger the wrist rest.

Keycaps: Eagle Has Landed and The Last Astronaut

In addition to the wrist rests, Moon Key sent along four of its keycaps. These shipped in a fancy wooden box—possibly maple. The Moon Key logo is etched into the top, and carvings along the sides add further character to the box itself. Two sets of gold-plated hinges on the back make for a solid-feeling box when opened and closed. On the front is an ornate locking mechanism, opening which reveals the four keycaps snugly packed in individual compartments that have foam all around for protection.


Given their matching theme, I am examining two keycaps on this page. The first adopts the rare dome profile and is the well-named "Eagle Has Landed" keycap. It aims to capture the moment the moon was conquered for humanity, with the US flag planted in the ground by an astronaut, and there's even another lander behind. The dome profile allows for these elements to be added, thus making it a decent practical implementation, too. Should you want it to better match your keycaps, there's an R1 SA profile version too, which is 16 mm tall at the top. The base is the same moon surface texture from before, and the keycap is compatible with Cherry MX-style cross stem switches, making it easy enough to install on the Anne Pro 2. The size and shape of this keycap isn't going to match any other keycap profile, so I placed it on the Esc key as seen above. It ends up being an attention-grabber for sure, and there is enough surface area at the top for the switch to still be pressed when needed.


Speaking of the SA profile, the second keycap uses the very same. It's also a major departure from the inspiring Eagle Has Landed keycap, where one astronaut launched a million dreams for youngsters to go venture beyond mundane life routines. This one, named The Last Astronaut, shows a scary tale of a stranded astronaut drifting through space. It might as well be named The Lost Astronaut too, with no hope left as the last bit of life support in the suit sustains the astronaut with the sheerness of space all around in its beauty and absolute terror. There are two color options for this keycap—blue and black—that have different backgrounds. In fact, this may be the most one-of-a-kind keycap I have seen because even the photos on the product page differ from each other, as does mine from those, with different variations on the space background. It's a good thing then that there's no wrong design here, as they all do a good job depicting the theme. The SA profile is again an R1 unit, so it is also best used for the Esc key, but you can indeed use it alongside other tall SA profile keycaps if that is your jam.


Here are two photos of the astronomy-themed trio together. Moon Key has other wrist rests and keycaps in the theme too, but I do feel these do a good job representing the product family as a whole.


I did take the keycaps to the lab for close-ups under the microscope, which makes for a good example of never getting too close to people or products you admire. The finish on the keycaps isn't as well done as on the Jelly Key keycaps, but admittedly even getting these done with all the challenges COVID-19 has wreaked upon Moon Key is admirable in itself. The figurines lack detail when you get close, and there are multiple regions where the layers bleed over in the bottom. A couple of small air bubbles are seen too, trapped during the resin fill process, and we see that these are both thick keycaps with a wall thickness of ~2 mm.