Cover of June 2015 issue of LexpertHandout
Fans of comic book and cartoon characters discovered some years ago they could – with 3D digital files shared on open-source 3D printing websites such as Thingiverse, YouMagine or Bld3r – use 3D printers themselves to create free copies of their own plastic, clay or sandstone versions of super-heroes, sappily cute ponies and other toys and products.
With increasingly available and cheaper technology, it's possible for fans to easily scan a My Little Pony doll, for example, digitally capture its dimensions, then modify the digital file and print their own ponies. Such redesigned ponies were selling for upwards of US$60 on the 3DP website Shapeways.com.
Hasbro, like other toymakers, was getting nothing from this arrangement, until 2014 when it announced a partnership with Shapeways.com, a New-York based company founded in 2010.
Lexpert contributor Anthony Davis reports on the rapidly evolving 3D printing industry at lexpert.ca/globe.
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