Unfortunately velocifire are known for terrible pcbs. I will probably never buy a board of theirs again after joining their discord for help with my sun68 pcb. Best bet is the aftermarket, if that fails then maybe finding a drop in replacement. Tricky situation to be in :( always possible to design your own too ;)

Sorta. I have a Unikorn and an F1, I just use whichever one I'm in the mood to use. Both have perfect configs, so neither feels like it's lacking. Nothing I would want more out of either, and I don't really have any interest in any new boards because these fill all my needs (except some group buys that I joined a while ago, though I already plan to sell one and only keep the other out of sentiment, or maybe I will just love it too). I might mix some things up with them, but that would only be for a change of scene and a project if I so feel like it. Both I got at retail too, so don't feel like I was robbed out of my money to reach this point, just paid for the work that was put into making and designing the boards. Though I do also have a hhkb which I really love for work. I guess my version of endgame is not one singular board, but a few that I cherish which are very different and work with my different moods/tasks :)

I think the difference is minimal. I like the sound and feel of pc staebies (done well) a little more than TX, but I use both equally as often and that’s about it in the way of differences. Staebies are also a bit easier and require less lube/tuning/balancing, but don’t think the way it mounts dictates that.

Buy it, you can pay for his vacations and maybe get a board in a few years once he digs into the trust to pay for it. Combined with NFTs will only add stability and speed up the pace

You can program almost any function :)