The October Drop: Christmas Keycaps, Gift Boxes and a Lava Chonk
October is meant to be the spooky month. Somebody forgot to tell the workshop, because halfway through it a pudding, a snowman, an elf and a puppy in a Santa hat turned up, each one sitting on its own keyboard switch and asking where the tree was.
So this drop is a bit of a split personality. There are Christmas keycaps you press, gift boxes for them to live in, a lava dragon who mostly just wants a cup of tea, and a Chonk who has already decided he hates carols. There is also a small army of new duos and trios, each one a little scene that arrives in one go.
The Christmas Keycaps
Eight tiny Christmas characters, and every one of them has opinions. Nutmeg the Santa puppy put the hat on one December and never took it off, and ate a corner of last year's advent calendar. Figgy the pudding has been resting since March and will tell you about it at length. Flurry is a snowman at a 38-degree Christmas lunch in a Melbourne lounge room, sitting as close to the ceiling fan as a keycap can get.
Then there are the presents. Mint was wrapped first and will remind you. Sprig reties his lopsided bow every morning, Bowsy rattles on purpose when people shake him, and Polka was wrapped in leftover birthday paper and is festive if you squint. Jingle the elf reties everyone else's bows, whether they needed it or not.
Each one has an MX-style cross stem, so they sit happily on a mechanical keyboard of your own, or in one of the gift box bases below.
Shop the Christmas Collection ->
The Christmas Gift Box Clicker Bases
The keycaps needed somewhere to live, so we wrapped them a house. Each base is a little gift box with a ribbon, in red with a white ribbon or white with a red one, and a keyboard switch tucked under every opening. Drop a character in and the present looks like it is opening itself, then goes down with a click every time you press it.
The Single holds one character and looks right beside the keyboard or on the shelf with the Christmas cards. The Two-Slot fits a pair who may or may not be speaking. The Four-Slot is a whole Christmas morning in one box - fill it with four presents, four characters or a mix, and keep the rest on standby for Boxing Day.
Shop the Gift Box Clicker Bases ->
Or let us do the wrapping: the Build Your Own Christmas Clicker lets you choose the box, choose who goes inside, and wrap up a Christmas you can press.
Gritt the Lava Chonk
Gritt is a lava dragon with a dramatic reputation and a surprisingly quiet routine. He introduces himself to every fresh cup of tea, then settles beside it like an old friend. He has a dramatic entrance prepared for visitors, but usually gets distracted before the impressive part.
Cracked dark scales, red flame-like details and a deeply serious stare make him a little bit of volcano for the spot beside your mug. Give his articulated body a wiggle while you get on with your day. He considers that a perfectly respectable performance.
He arrived with Oke the Mosswood Sprig, a sleepy oak dragon who has adopted a stick and treats any suggestion of moving it as a discussion. One runs hot, one grows moss. They have not been introduced.
Grump the Humbug Chonk
Grump wears his Santa hat ironically, and would like that noted. He unplugs the fairy lights when nobody is looking and keeps a lump of coal under his hat for emergencies. So far, every emergency has been a carol.
His favourite day of the year is Boxing Day, when the house finally goes quiet. He is not actually mean - he is just perfectly happy being cross. That scowl makes him the funniest thing on a Christmas shelf, and the obvious Secret Santa pick for the household humbug. You can find his file, and the rest of the crew, in the ChonkDex.
New Duos and Trios: Scenes That Arrive Together
October also brought a batch of ready-made little scenes, each with its own small domestic drama. The Creek Bank Mob is Doug the Wombat, Bibble the Platypus and Cokatu, who are still sorting out where the creek ends and Doug's house begins - Doug dug straight through the bank, so Bibble keeps popping up in his lounge room. A lovely one for anyone far from home who misses the bush.
In The Fin Club, Toothy grins at absolutely everything, and Bonko, whose eyes sit at either end of his hammer, has never once seen that grin head-on. The Puddle Ducks are Quacky Jack and Rubba Dukky - one has a pond, one has a bath, and both think theirs is better. The Acorn Lodge is Henry, Maple and Pepper sharing a hollow log that is mostly acorns now.
There is also The Leaf Throne Caterpillar Duo, The Heater Hatchlings and The Garden Gang. For the full rundown of every squad we make, the Wiggly Bundle Guide has them all in one place.
The Rest of October
Halloween did not go quietly either. Sipp the Vampire Bat Beastchonk found a cape in the dress-up box and now waits in every doorway until someone says "come in". Wisk dressed up as a witch's cat and is still waiting for a witch to turn up. Kawaii Goth Reapo is going through a phase, thank you very much, and the Potion Kit gives any shelf of Chonks a tiny potion shop to loiter in.
The 4 Hollow Lane share house also moved onto the desk as keycap sets: The Classics, The Odd Bunch and the Keycap Starter Set, where Grimsy the reaper is already sitting on his switch, laminated chore roster and all.
Everything festive lives in the Christmas collection, and the rest of the new arrivals are waiting in What's New. Grump would like it known that he is only in one of them under protest.
