Being Able To Print Toys At Home? Future Is Here

Myself, and especially Dr Tooth have lamented at length about toys that are too pricey, or hard to find.
Or Chinese sweat shops, etc.

But soon you'll be able to print out any toy you want, fully painted indistinguishable from the store version.

http://www.alternet.org/visions/155254/future_tech_how_3d_printing_will_change_the_world

Already Paramont Studios is suing people who are posting the 3d files of action figures parts.

Imagine that. Being able to print out ANY hard plastic item as long as you have the file for it.
Heck, for Muppet collectors you could potentially(if custom figure 3d artists made the files) be able to download every Muppet character in figure form ever.

The article also talks about the bad and potentially bizarre downside as well.

I really don't think I totally comprehend this, but 3-D printing is supposedly how the movie Paranorman was made.

This could completely revolutionize stop motion movie making. That's far more interesting to me than having action figures.

Okay, I have to be honest, the article really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but trying to understand what you guys are saying, are they SERIOUSLY talking about an actual printer that can bring products? Sounds too good to be true.

But then anyone can just print a rare action figure...

My brain must be too feeble to comprehend how the heck this thing works. I've heard of it before, and it just does not make sense to me

Well, now we're three for three.

Rapid prototypers have been around for years

Isn't it kind of like Dark Man's masks in the movie Dark Man? jk Col idea though

I've seen video demonstrations on YouTube, looks pretty interesting if they could really make this work. I always thought the Star Trek replicators were too good to be true, but you never know! Lol

I just took a look at a video demonstration on YT... this really does seem to good to be true.

So... let's say I wanted to print my dead bunny Tommie, or my dream girl, or Jim Henson...?

That would imply the ability to replicate a soul, which is a whole other ballgame.

But maybe that's where the Star Trek holodeck could come in!

Details, details, always details.

I haven't read the article yet, but this whole thing sounds like a belated april fools joke to me.

3d printers have been around for awhile and a lot of toy manufactures use them to make tests... I think one of our local schools has one for shop class...it really just makes a 3d mold of something that has been scanned or created on the computer...never seen one actually working but this is how I've heard it described

I'm sure there's a tell. You can't just print a comic on old paper and pass it off as an original edition. Someone will get caught.

Plus, I'm sure the tech is so expensive right now, it just couldn't pay for itself unless you flood the market.

Still, the implications for stop motion animation... look at the trailer of Paranorman...


My Frog... that's so slick it almost looks like CGI. And this very same technology is being put into use here.... AMAZING!

Heck with action figures, THIS is where it can do the most good.

*wears my JP hat*

A 3-D printer is the creator of the MacGuffin for the 3rd Jurassic Park movie. Like it's been noted, the concept is at least several years old if not more.

oh this looks cool a 3d figure printer so many ideas especially a monkey who is a sidekick of a green man looks like the future is here

If these scanners were made available to everyone who has the internet, combined with the popularity of Beaker among die hard fans and casual fans across the internet, we ALL know what's going to happen, don't we?

I'm more concerned with people like Trekkie Monster.

Yeah, that would be pretty bad! Lol! I guess I was thinking about our neck of the internet where we sing a slightly different tune..."the internet is for Beaker, the internet is for Beaker! Who's that with Muppet Labs' steam-powered sneakers? Beaker! Beaker! Beaker!"