Piecemaker 3D printing kiosks.
PieceMaker has been having quite the year since they launched their new, high-tech 3D printable toy kiosks at last year’s Toy Fair in New York. Not only were their in-store customizable toy machines a huge hit at the show, but they very quickly signed a deal with toy retail giant Toys R Us to bring their kiosks into stores all over the country. They also signed a high profile deal with Nickelodeon to sell licensed characters from their children’s television and cartoon production studio from their 3D printing kiosks. The company looks like they’re about to have another great year ahead of them with two huge announcements that they’re making and this year’s 2016 Toy Fair.
Ford Motor Company has signed a new deal with PieceMaker to sell customizable, 3D printed, on-demand Ford F-150s and Mustang replicas at several of their existing retail locations. The small toy cars can be completely customized by selecting a color from the six available filament colors, selecting a chassis and one of three truck body options. Users can 3D print either a Traditional Ford truck, a Baja or a Sport and watch it print right in front of them. PieceMaker is in the end stages of finalizing and testing the 3 printable designs of the F-150, and is expecting to unveil their new 3D printable Mustang replica within the next few months.
“We are tremendously excited to work with Ford to bring their iconic F-150 and Mustang into the exciting world of in-store 3D printing. Ford is once again demonstrating its innovation leadership by working with PieceMaker to incorporate cutting-edge 3D technology into kids’ everyday lives,” said CEO of PieceMaker Arden Rosenblatt of their unprecedented deal with Ford.
PieceMaker is also taking their first step out of their current 3D-print-while-you-wait business model and revealing a new retail personalization kiosk that will 3D print metal products off-site and ship the final product directly to the customer. This is a huge change from the existing PieceMaker kiosks and the first time the company has looked beyond their standard FDM 3D printer technology. Once customers select their jewelry design and metal material, the data will be sent to an off-site leading industry partner who will fabricate the unique piece of metal jewelry and ready it for shipping.
PieceMaker 3D printing kiosk touchscreen controls.
“PieceMaker Metals” will start rolling out to retail partner locations soon, however there were not specific plans or locations released. There will be several specialized steel and metal products available in the new kiosks, each starting at just $19.99. Customers will be able to create jewelry in a wide range of popular styles and materials including Colored Steels, Silver, Gold, Brass and Bronze. Customers simply need to select a jewelry design and then they will be offered the option to add a name, image or other customizable feature to it.
“We are tremendously excited to develop this new capability by partnering with the most advanced metal printing companies in the US, integrating PieceMaker’s unique expertise in mass customization for the retail space, to make personalized metal products more accessible and affordable than ever before. We believe this is the first step to a much more personalized, more exciting global jewelry and collectibles market,” continued Rosenblatt.
PIecemaker 3D printed Nickelodeon toys.
PieceMaker will be showing off both of their new 3D printing kiosk technologies during Toy Fair NYC 2016, from Feb. 13th to the 16th at the Javits Convention Center, in booth #3246. They will also be demoing their flagship kiosk systems as well as their complete line of personalizable, 3D printable Nickelodeon toys, that include SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora and Friends, Blaze and the Monster Machines and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All of their toys are manufactured on-site in under 30 minutes, and they have produced the first line of 3D printed toys that meet all child safety standards for kids ages three and over. Additionally, these are the first officially licensed 3D printed line of toys from both Nickelodeon and Ford. Discuss this new retail plan in the Ford 3D Printed Replicas forum over at 3DPB.com.
