Anyone Worry About 3D Printing?

[vole]

Maybe this is kind of dumb, just something that's been on my mind on and off. Does anyone worry about the future of 3D printing and some kind of 'action figure disaster' where nobody is sure what's real and what ain't? There's already bootlegs as it is, but what of, say, a few years from now? Obviously there are benefits to the technology that go well beyond toy collecting, but at the moment I'm just considering the latter.

I've worried about improved printing techniques in my card hobby as well. Just a (probably stupid) thought. Curious if it's passed anyone else's mind. Please don't shoot me.

[figurecollector]

I am hoping that he technology never gets to the point that you cannot tell the difference between a real figure and a 3D figure.

[rihia2k]

I used to think that 3D print tech could be a threat regarding repro parts and figures, but I'm not worried about it. I think there'll always be a way to differentiate, be it weight, flexibility, looking at it under a magnifier or blacklight - something.

[spockoda]

Judging from the few 3D printed figures I've seen, I don't feel this will be a problem with figures being mass produced and sold. Some guy I saw made a chair for an 8 inch Mego scale Captain Kirk that was pretty sweet but it took him so much effort to get the model smooth and painted I can't imagine bunches of these showing up of decent quality.

[Thor Laserpunch]

The technology is still a ways off from being able to print pieces that are nice and smooth like manufactured parts. Even then, you’d have to do clean paint apps and whatnot. Even if you were to spend the time (probably a prohibitive amount of time per piece) making it look like a perfect clone, the weight in hand and feel of the material would most likely be a dead giveaway.

[vole]

Thanks for the discussion folks. To ask a related question- is there currently a big (I realize that's a subjective term, but it's the best I can think of at the moment) issue with fake 80s figs/vehicles? Is it mostly Asian bootleggers or elsewhere?

[Thor Laserpunch]

No. I’d assume people knocking off stuff are either doing modern stuff or accessories. You’d have to be pretty oblivious to confuse a 3D printed part with the real deal. Plastic feel and weight will be completely different. Coloration would be different.

[vole]

Hm, noticed these out there. Not actual released figs though. If it gets to where I'll have to judge by the texture and all that, I'll just give it up to the smarter folks. I just don't have that much confidence in my fig-skills.

link

[Thor Laserpunch]

I think you finish it by giving it a quick wipe with acetone and that smoothes everything out.

[figurecollector]

I am thinking that unless you have a mold, your figures are not going to come out the way the manufacturer does it.

[imj]

3-D printing has it's benefits. There are a couple of really great customizers out there making stuff that enhances rater than infringing. Later I'll take some pictures of a great Kenner Ecto-1 modification I have done via 3-d printing that eliminates that awful chair that goes on top of the car.

Another upside would be when 3-D printers have full market penetration at home, we could see the birth of downloadable figure lines. Download the plans and your printer makes the figure for you, which could be amazing.