The recent 2016 Toy Fair in New York City showed its visitors that retro toys like “ThingMaker” by Mattel can still be interesting to up-to-date kids if modernized properly.
A new version of the ThingMaker allows children to design a model of the toy within an app and then print it by themselves. The toy 3D printer is going to be launched this fall.
The original ThingMaker was put on the market in 1964 and presented the Easy-Bake Oven for stuff. Little spiders and other creepy beasts were made from special substance, plastigoop, cast in the shape forms and baked in the hot oven.
Mattel together with Autodesk developed ThingMaker Design app that provides kids a wide range of templates for creating their own toys. As a result you get several printed details that are easy to assemble or a whole toy if it’s small and simple. The app is available for iOS and Android.
Printing takes from 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on the scale of the printed toy. As any other 3D printer it needs colored PLA (polylactic acid) hard filaments to operate, which you have to buy separately.
So if your kid is interested and you are ready to spend $299 for a high-tech ThingMaker you are welcome in Mattel shop this fall.
Source: https://mashable.com/2016/02/16/mattel-thingmaker-3d-printer/#.LjMpltG6mqJ