Toyze Gains Industry Momentum with Gamers Creating Over One Million 3D Printable Characters to Date

Toyze is a hit simply because they allow gaming to get one step closer to reality with the 3D printing of revered and inspiring characters. Ever since the Lithuania-based company came onto the scene, they’ve been flourishing, expanding.

Working toward a comprehensive service to provide 3D printing for gaming enthusiasts who want every opportunity in bringing their favorite characters to life, we’ve recently reported on the success and enthusiasm regarding Toyze (pronounced toy-zee). This mobile platform oriented company has brought a variety of other companies on board with them to expand their inventory of gaming characters available for 3D printing.

Talking Tom 3D printed models

The characters can be customized, dressed, shared on social media, and 3D printed. Toyze does all the 3D printing, and ships the models to customers who often form collections of the characters, or give them away as gifts.

Compatible with Android and iOS, the mobile app has markedly been gaining ground, and creating cause for celebration at Toyze headquarters with the announcement that one million 3D models have been created. As if that isn’t substantial enough alone, also, their free app is available worldwide at the App Store and on Google Play, with over 350,000 downloads to date.

“I am happy to report that Toyze continues to gain momentum and traction.  We are the first, the biggest and the only online marketplace for customizable 3D toys from a growing portfolio of top entertainment brands,” said Toyze Co-founder and Investor Ilja Laurs.  “Think of Toyze as a 3D Instagram, where we offer similar customization except that instead of editing a personal photo with effects and filters, we give users the chance to customize a beloved branded game character and bring it to life in 3D. Our plan is to eventually feature all the major video and computer game characters, and then go beyond that to comics and movie characters.”

The toy market is historically difficult and expensive for newcomers to crack, as well as challenging for any company to stay competitive in. As gaming has eclipsed much of the toy market itself, competition within is fierce. But with the combination of a mobile platform, 3D printing technology, and the collaboration with innovative gaming companies, a progressive new level of democratization is taking over in the area of retail merchandizing. It’s a winning partnership between Toyze and some well-known brands and gaming companies from the Outfit7’s Talking Tom franchise to Game Insight’s top mobile games, as well as ZeptoLab’s Cut the Rope—their first licensee and investor.

“We have been with Toyze since its launch and are very excited about this great milestone,” said Misha Lyalin, CEO of ZeptoLab, home to the award winning Cut the Rope franchise. ”We look forward to our continued partnership with the Toyze team.”

Because there is so much branding available through the mobile platform, which allows for community and sharing in social networks, the playing field is vast. They have created a market which appeals to the same customers but presents retail opportunities that are different, and largely uncharted until now, as Toyze and the gaming companies they’ve integrated into their platform experience access to multiple avenues of profit — while making their customers wildly happy — if the one million mark is any indication.

“Toyze takes your favorite game characters out of the game and brings them to life in 3D. Now even a 3-year-old can design their own 3D toy.  It’s that engaging and that easy,” says Laurs. “Our plan is to eventually feature all the major video and computer game characters, and then go beyond that to comics and movie characters.”

The momentum just seems to keep rolling for Toyze, and it’s a good sign for new things that are happening in the toy and gaming business. Have you 3D printed any gaming characters from the Toyze app, or will you be thinking about it? How do you see 3D printing impacting the toy and retail replica sales business? Tell us your thoughts in the One Million 3D Printed Models from Toyze forum over at 3DPB.com.