<aside> 💡 Tip: Click any section in the Wiki Headers underneath this notice, it will take you right to the corresponding section!
</aside>
………
………….
Some of you might have also heard of the Holy Chickies (granted I would bet a way fewer number of you have actually heard of it).
The Holy Chickie is a hybrid switch that consists of the stem from a Halo switch and the housing from a Cherry MX Blue switch. The name is a portmanteau of "Halo" and "Chickie", which is a nickname for Cherry MX Blue switches. The Halo switch is a tactile switch that was designed by Input Club, a group of keyboard enthusiasts and engineers, for their K-Type keyboard. The Cherry MX Blue switch is a classic clicky switch that has been around since the 1980s and is known for its loud and satisfying sound, and later along, as more MX-based switches surfaced into the market, adored for its “full”***** sounding characteristic.
***** A quick explanation for the “fullness” of sound in switches that you will often hear others within the hobby mention (I will do a full rundown of switch sound philosophies through my trial-and-error experience throughout my 6 years within this hobby in another laboratory analysis), this sound is not so much describing a particular pitch or a particular loudness of the switch sound. To put it in the best simple way I can think of (the descriptor is quite complex) - the switch housing sound has layers, complexity, or character to it. The most common example is, you might have heard people in the custom community describe the Cherry MX housing sounds as full and having a lot of character. It has a certain level of depth (not in pitch, but in thickness, for lack of a better description) to it. If you are still confused, next time you have a chance, try holding a Cherry MX linear (black nylon housing) and any other generic linear (I would recommend any KTT linear switch) up close to your ear and just try pressing one and then the other to try and compare their sounds, you will understand what I mean.
The origin of the Holy Chickie can be traced back to 2017, when Input Club launched a Kickstarter campaign for their K-Type keyboard. The K-Type was a customizable and programmable keyboard that featured hot-swappable switches, meaning that users could easily swap out switches without soldering. Input Club also designed their own switches for the K-Type, namely the Halo True and Halo Clear switches, which were tactile switches with a large bump and a smooth feel, only differentiating in factory spring weight.
However, not everyone was happy with the Halo switches. Some users found them too heavy or too scratchy for their liking. Some users also noticed that the Halo stems had a similar shape to the Panda stems, another type of tactile switch that was highly sought after in the mechanical keyboard community. Panda switches were known for their crisp and snappy tactility, but they were also very rare and expensive. Some users wondered what would happen if they swapped the Halo stems into Panda housings, hoping to create a better tactile switch.
The result was the Holy Panda, a switch that quickly became one of the most popular frankenswitches in the mechanical keyboard hobby. The Holy Panda had a smooth and pronounced tactility that many users loved. It also had a unique sound that was deep and thocky, unlike any other switch. The Holy Panda was praised as one of the best tactile switches ever made, and many users wanted to get their hands on them.
However, there was a problem: Panda switches were very hard to find. They were originally produced by Invyr, a Chinese manufacturer, for Team Wolf's Zhuque keyboard. However, Invyr stopped making them after a few batches, and they became scarce in the market. The only way to get Panda switches was to buy them second-hand from other users or vendors, but they were often sold at high prices or in limited quantities.
This led some users to look for alternatives to Panda housings. One of them was u/Quakemz, a moderator of r/MechanicalKeyboards and a host of Top Clack, a podcast about mechanical keyboards. He decided to try putting Halo stems into Cherry MX Blue housings, since they were readily available and cheap. He also liked the sound of Cherry MX Blue switches, but not their clickiness or lightness.