Thingmaker 3d printer
Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 2:44 am
So Mattel has remain the old thingmaker line and will be launching it once more this year, only twist they made it where it uses a 3d printer so instead of giving a kid a small oven and bottles of goop, they can now use an app that is free to download and choose what they wish to make, being able to switch out parts of the core figure they select and switch them with one of the other templates, from what I have been able to gather they do intend to add more templates to the app later on so kids will have a greater selection of things, at first glance at what they said the price was for their printer I nearly chocked, somewhere around 300 dollars, but after looking over their app, and it's programming, it seems the thingmaker program can be linked to any 3d printer so a little save there unless mattel fixes their little code error, another bit of insight on the toy is that the company is looking into using more then just a basic 3d printer plastic that they currently have this thing slated for, if you've ever felt an object printed by a 3d printer that's the stuff they have set up for the launch material.
Now for what this creation will produce, think stickfas, and xevoz. Only think of them on a large scale, I have downloaded the app and ran through all their core figures, the smallest is a scorpion kind of creature coming in at 5 inches tall, and most of the humanoid figures are coming in at around 10 inches tall. So yeah these little prints will me large, and each one will take about 10 hours to fully print, good luck telling your kid that their toy isn't going to be ready for 10 hours.
Good points on this product seem to be the fact that it is creative and it could get kids interested in being developers of toys in the future if not bigger things. The safety features that they list this product having to ensure little kids, don't stick their fingers into the device before the printing is done is a good touch, but I guess one to many lawsuits from the old oven toys taught them to think about that, how well these toys will be able to hold up against a kid playing with them, unknown wasn't able to mess with any of the printed pieces, but I'm not really sure the parts will be strong enough to stand up against a normal kids play, mostly the reason I think this is because dealing with most 3d printers the product that comes out is better suited for a display piece or a core piece to make a mold from, the design they are using for the joints are very similar to stickfas and xevoz like I mentioned above, and one of the draw makes of stickfas in their lines was the joint piece that the ball would rest in would break if put together and pulled apart to many times, Xevoz was a little better in fact I don't recall any of my figures breaking like that, but again the plastics products that come out of 3d printers isn't as strong as those old toy lines, not to mention if a child throws the toy across the room.
All in all before the launch I'm seeing this device as not going over to well, mostly on the price tag, but for the more adult collectors and stuff it might go over better, as I said the device will let a person switch out parts before print, but it will also let you change the color of the pieces, the texture, and almost everything, except for the size, and with future updates to the app it might let you create your own head, but as of now your stuck within the setting of the program and aren't able to alter the core pieces.
Tell me what you think about the device, if you haven't seen it yet Pixel Dan has a video up on it. As I said this is going to be brand new for this year and I think it's coming out this fall, but these are my first impressions on the device from everything I've seen and read about it.
Now for what this creation will produce, think stickfas, and xevoz. Only think of them on a large scale, I have downloaded the app and ran through all their core figures, the smallest is a scorpion kind of creature coming in at 5 inches tall, and most of the humanoid figures are coming in at around 10 inches tall. So yeah these little prints will me large, and each one will take about 10 hours to fully print, good luck telling your kid that their toy isn't going to be ready for 10 hours.
Good points on this product seem to be the fact that it is creative and it could get kids interested in being developers of toys in the future if not bigger things. The safety features that they list this product having to ensure little kids, don't stick their fingers into the device before the printing is done is a good touch, but I guess one to many lawsuits from the old oven toys taught them to think about that, how well these toys will be able to hold up against a kid playing with them, unknown wasn't able to mess with any of the printed pieces, but I'm not really sure the parts will be strong enough to stand up against a normal kids play, mostly the reason I think this is because dealing with most 3d printers the product that comes out is better suited for a display piece or a core piece to make a mold from, the design they are using for the joints are very similar to stickfas and xevoz like I mentioned above, and one of the draw makes of stickfas in their lines was the joint piece that the ball would rest in would break if put together and pulled apart to many times, Xevoz was a little better in fact I don't recall any of my figures breaking like that, but again the plastics products that come out of 3d printers isn't as strong as those old toy lines, not to mention if a child throws the toy across the room.
All in all before the launch I'm seeing this device as not going over to well, mostly on the price tag, but for the more adult collectors and stuff it might go over better, as I said the device will let a person switch out parts before print, but it will also let you change the color of the pieces, the texture, and almost everything, except for the size, and with future updates to the app it might let you create your own head, but as of now your stuck within the setting of the program and aren't able to alter the core pieces.
Tell me what you think about the device, if you haven't seen it yet Pixel Dan has a video up on it. As I said this is going to be brand new for this year and I think it's coming out this fall, but these are my first impressions on the device from everything I've seen and read about it.