TORRENT Plastic cost is 48usd at the moment for a kg Oh such a dirty word to some people but i want to talk about this. The age of the 3d printer is upon us being able to print toys at home. Would you torrent a transformer? Would you buy the blue prints to a transformer and 3d print it? Would this kill china and co. Market as well? Now this has the potential to get heated so i want everyone play nice because 3d printers could have huge side effects on the futer of how toys are done. Now to answer my own question Yes i would torrent a toy but only if it was a fan made toy and not a rip off of a official toy. Yes i would buy the rights to the toy and print off my own because it means i could cut lines,shipping, travel time, petrol and i can make replacement parts. Could this kill the chinse and co. Market for makeing things absolutly, maybe not completly but it will do real damage. I havent made all the questions in my mind i want this tread to evolve into something special.
I agree. I would do fan made or commercially sold blueprints, but I wouldn't rip off an official product. That's the fastest way to stop the ability of hastak to make masterpieces! We want to keep fueling the company.
I think it's gonna create two types of collectors. The basic collector who buys stuff, and the hobbyist collector who will make and paint figures. Unless 3D printers can print parts that are fully painted and deco'd, there is still a level of work that needs to be done to fit, assemble, and paint up a figure. That's something that many people don't really want to do, unless you're a hobbyist.
They can print molded colours e.g this part is red this part is blue. I dont think things like ball joints can be pre clicked togther. I know so far 3d printers can scan and copy a basic toy or part. Print in metal and plastic and wood, they can programe computer parts. Some people are even trying to get them to print food and its kinda working...
I'd rather buy factory-colored figures than print, clean, paint, and assemble modern figures that would cost the same in plastic. Revoltechs might be an exception.
I don't think 3-D printed figures would ever be a widespread issue, even amongst the hardest of the hardcore. Simply put, making figures is alot more labor than you might think. Plus, lest we forget, most figures today (even the tiny legion guys), use metal pins and screws and the like as essential parts, and couldn't be duplicated by a simple 3-D printer. And not only that, but you have to consider plastic tolerances. If the plastic you're using for your copy isn't identical to what Hasbro is using, it's going to fall apart like a cheap bootleg... since that's pretty much exactly what you'd be making. So not only would I not do that, but I don't think anyone REALLY will. At least not anytime soon.
Basically this. Great for hardcore hobbyists, but I don't see 3D printers as being this mythical change in the industry for MANY years yet to come.
3D printing is excellent for custom parts, but I don't see complete figures being all that practical.
I could see them making "Build your own Transformers" play kits… That would include a bunch of pins and screws and instructions for making and customizing a variety of figures... I think that would be kind of cool and a novel thing to do… Similar to building model kits… But I don't think it would ever replace full on figures bought at retail.
3D printing hasn't matched the quality of injection molded plastic just yet, so no. Especially considering the "good" 3D printed stuff is made from industrial-quality printers and home printers cost thousands yet the quality is still not as great.
Damn every already said what I was gonna say Sooooooo......iffffff the printers technology was there... Yes I would, but my preference would be to purchase a convienant reasonably priced trademarked file... Similar to how I actually prefer to buy songs or movies instead of ripping them
The main issue with fully designed toys being purely manufactured through 3D printing is that the best quality toys are composed of a combination of materials(plastic and metal for at least the pins and screws) and even different plastic formulations for various parts of the toy for the purpose of implementing differing plastic tolerances to maximize the durability of the toy. 3D printing as it is now and for the foreseeable future seems to be great for prototyping toy designs but when it comes to making a whole toy with numerous moving parts, it appears to be that going the traditional way is the best way. So with this view in mind, I'll answer the three questions posed by the OP. 1. I would not torrent a Transformer toy because I don't think I would see the point. I would, however, torrent the model file for parts so people could perform maintenance or upgrade/improve the functionality of their existing Transformers toys. 2. I would not buy a blueprint but an exceptional toy design could sway me so that at least I would buy the design file and give it a try to see how it performs as a printed toy. 3. I do not believe this would kill the China co. Market. It seems like the majority of toy collectors, even the ones who are mostly about 3rd party toys, are not interested in doing a significant amount of repair/upgrades/general maintenance of their toys if they don't have to. If there is a choice between a 3D printed toy that will require a significant amount of extra work to get it "finished" or a fully manufactured, assembled, and painted toy, people with the money to buy a 3D printer and the plastic to print with will probably pick the toy that they can buy and simply take out of the box, ready to go.
yeah what every one else said, not until 3d printing can produce something that matches quality and cost of mass commercial products. i'm ok with assembling but don't want to deal with all the sanding and painting (can be solved by using different color plastics). right now 3d printing is just glorified garage kit maker.
i completely agree. 3D printing is cool for accessories or add on parts.. but for entire figures.. no thanks. plus, there are still costs. people have to buy a good 3D printer, the supplies.. etc. i don't see a ton of people running out and doing that until costs for those things go down. i don't think 3D printing is going to change much of anything in the immediate future. maybe in 10 years things will be different. but for now i don't see people constructing a bunch of their own figures that match the quality of official figures.
Actuly any aoe decptecons would be ironic. As for the plastic strengths and metal pins look into the printers and the quilty they can do you maybe shocked.
I think we would need a few generations better of 3d printer until that become really an option but once that happened, yes, I would buy a blue print and yes I would down load fan made ones and even have a go at editing designs myself, torrents not so much, maybe if offical ones were locked in some way so I couldn't edit them I would torrent an editable copy.
