Tag Archives: retail
Will 3D Printing Disrupt the Lucrative Toy Industry?
LEGO Star Wars kits are currently selling on Amazon.com for hundreds of dollars. Even small components come with a hefty price, such as a V-wing Starfighter that measures 9″ when full assembled and costs $20.
Enter 3D printing and open-source design package LeoCAD. If kids could design their own LEGO-style building kits and print them out on their home 3D printer, why wouldn’t they? Hey, even LEGO is training kids how to design online with the LEGO Digital Designer.
With the price of toys so marked up, it’s within reason to think that kids will turn to generics or pirated designs to fill out their toy chest after parents tap out the budget at retail.
Look back at the music industry. The only way to buy music in the late 90s was to purchase the full album at retail. Then Napster and other P2P sharing software came along and allowed consumers to download individual mp3 songs, albeit pirated. When iTunes launched with individual song pricing and a more reliable service than the P2P networks, consumers flocked to the legal alternative. The retail music industry died but the digital music industry was born.
Perhaps in the next 5 years we’ll see the retail toy industry collapse and be replaced by a digital successor. The question is whether we will see a digital toy black market in the interim. In our view, that will be up to the toymakers and their willingness to disrupt their current model.
Some references are from MIT Technology Review.
Futuristic Shopping Experiences: 3D Printing Transforms Retail [Video]
As 3D printing technology enters the mainstream market, retail shopping experiences will be transformed dramatically. Physical products can be printed on demand in a similar manner that consumers print out digital photos today.
Below is a video from Materialise that shows a large part for a car being printed out and prepped for assembly. While today this technology is in the lab, tomorrow it could be in your local pharmacy or copy shop.
A Sweet Alternative: 3D Printing Chocolate for Easter
While most 3D printers use plastic polymers, UK scientists have changed the game, developing a method for printing chocolate. All we can say is: Delicious!
Lead scientist Dr Liang Hao told BBC about the process:
“You just need to melt some chocolate, fill a syringe that is stored in the printer, and get creative printing your chocolate.”
Chocolate 3D Printers are expected go on sale in the April. Read more at BBC.
Below is a video of the chocolate printer in action.
Leapfrog Launches New 3D Printer Line in Europe
Netherlands-based Leapfrog launched a new 3D printer line in Europe. There are two models: the Creatr for € 1250 and the Xeed for € 4920. Both printers should be ready to ship by May 2012.
Leapfrog lists their mission statement as:
The purpose of Leapfrog is to bridge the gap between the current state of technology of 3D printers and the future of 3D printing as a whole. We aim to deliver very easy to use, plug and play devices that look awesome. Our drive is to become a worldwide recognized brand name, capitalizing on the high growth in the market for 3D printing and to take 3D printing to the next level. We strive to deliver devices which make a high quality of printed product available to a much broader customer base at an affordable price. You, the customer are central and should not have to deal with understanding the technology, letting you what you do best: designing and creating new cool things.
