dadude is going to disagree, but IMO you should try as much mass-market junk first before building a custom. I'm glad I did.

costar gives nice typing feel, but changing keycaps is damn pain in the arse.
cherry stab got mushy typing feel, but can be fixed by doing clipping mod and changing keycaps is as easy as changing other keycaps.

changing switch is not difficult. just that you have to desolder the old switch from your keyboard, change the spring or lube it or sticker, then solder it back.

Woah price over budget 

That one I cincai set the LEDs.

You can get a better outcome if you actually spend time using the configuration tool.

It's not that bad la...

It's like digging your nose, once you find the right technique, you can just stick to it for the rest of your life

I will always take costar over cherry stabs if given the choice. Modded (clipped) cherry stabs feel fragile, I dunno.

when your change enough keycaps, and having the little inserts starting a treasure hunt game for you, you will finally know the pain lol!
sometimes the inserts are too loose to stay in the keycaps, one of the way is to put little bits of tissue in it. it all adds up.
if you don't change keycaps often, then costar is best for you.

what you mean by clip mod cherry stabs feels fragile? 

deswai everybody needs to buy & keep a few pairs of plastic inserts. They are dirt cheap anyways.

The stabilizer stem has 4 small feet that helps to dissipate the force whenever the Backspace or Enter key (for example) gets bottomed out.

Clipping = removing two feet per stem = lesser surface area to dissipate force = higher stress on the remaining feet.

But that's not the worst part. I managed to yank out the a stab stem once while changing keycaps. IIRC it was the left stab stem of my RShift key. This wouldn't have happened if the stem had all its feet intact. The right stab stem managed to stay in place though.

I just realized... you're a big fan of MX Blues (after seeing your keyboard collection in your siggy) 

This is not as simple as buying a random TKL and buy a 3rd party acrylic case and swap, because you have to factor in the keyboard size and also the cable outing (non-removable usb cable vs those with detachable usb cable)

CNC case for Novatouch - something I've been saving up for.

The maker is also testing it to see if it can fit the QFR-i.

Kailh confirmed is CLONED! 

No, plenty of keyboards have detachable USB. Not everything is like your DK2108.

Man I really hate fixed USB cables 

not plenty. choices are pretty limited. plus the nice ones are always out of stock.

not really, last time there are aluminium cases made for Filco Majestouch series, and those are using non detachable cables, but the alu case got cable outing for the cable so there is no issue.
only need to make sure the casing is meant for the keyboard, then you are good to go 

Interesting, I game on a gaming laptop due to portability. Abosolutely hate chiclet keys. Won't be looking at the more expensive keyboards, as my laptop would be obselete for probably the next 4-5 years. From there I'll be moving to a desktop, and then I'll be getting a fancy mkb. Would need your advice in the future then