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Mattel Unveils $300 3D Printer (computerworld.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the affordable-for-you dept.

Lucas123 writes: Perhaps in an attempt to get out ahead of the consumer 3D printing market, which has allowed popular toys such as Legos to be replicated, Mattel today announced it would begin shipping its $300 fused filament fabricator machine in October. Mattel's ThingMaker at-home toy-making device, reinvents the company's iconic 1960s toy by the same name. The new ThingMaker allows users to upload design files via Mattel's proprietary Design App, which works on Android or iOS devices. The 3D printer can then print single-part toys or print hundreds of different parts to be assembled into toys using ball-and-socket joints. Mattel's ThingMaker Design App is based on Autodesk's Spark, an open 3D printing platform that provides extensible APIs for each stage of the 3D printing workflow. Because it's based on an open architecture, the ThingMaker Design App also works with other 3D printers; it is available now and free to download for iOS and Android devices.

3 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Question. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny

    How much would it cost to print a RealDoll-type sex toy on one of these?
    I'm asking for a friend.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Question. by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 5, Funny

      How much would it cost to print a RealDoll-type sex toy on one of these? I'm asking for a friend.

      OK, printing a sex doll will cost a lot...
      Printing a friend?
      Priceless!

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  2. Some observations by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lots of people will point out the many problems with this system, but from an initial glance(*):

    1) The filament spools are not chipped. You can get filament from other vendors and rewind them on your spools. Chances are, other vendors will notice this and start selling ThingMaker spools.
    2) The FAQ states that if you don't have a printer, there are many places that will print parts for you. I assume this means that the output format *isn't* proprietary, possibly a bog-standard stl file that you can have printed anywhere.

    If, and this is a big if, the heads can be easily replaced, then this could be quite an exciting development in 3d printing. As hackers, we'll be able to get cheap used 3d ThingMakers off of eBay for decades.

    (*) Please correct me if any of these are wrong