Hasbro To Reportedly Begin Selling 3D Printed Transformers, DragonVale, and Other Characters This Month

As of late, we have witnessed many large companies inching their way into the 3D printing space. Whether for marketing purposes, an additional revenue stream, or manufacturing methods, the technology is sure to change the way many large companies do their business.

One such company, who has really taken an initiative to dive head first into the space, is Hasbro. Earlier in the year the company teamed with 3D Systems to “co-develop and commercialize innovative play printers and platforms”. Then, just last month we got word that Hasbro had also teamed with Shapeways, by launching a website called SuperfanArt.com.

The first products offered at SuperFanArt were sandstone 3D printed ‘My Little Pony’ figures. The figures, which are the creation of several artists who had exclusive access to Hasbro’s trademarked characters, were able to be manipulated and then offered to the public via the new website for a fee.

Hasbro, who owns the rights to hundreds of characters, spanning dozens of brands, seems to be rather happy with the Shapeways partnership in the early going. So happy, that it appears they will soon be adding characters, spanning several of their key brands, to the SuperFanArt website, namely from Transformers. We have received a tip from an artist who has had ties with Hasbro. The artist, who wishes to remain anonymous, reportedly received the following email from the company:

Dear 3D Artist,

As you may have heard, Hasbro and Shapeways are working together to encourage artists to create and sell 3D designs based on Hasbro’s iconic brands. Our July launch of SuperFanArt.com featured five artists and their My Little Pony-based designs. We’ve generated substantial press and attention for the artists, Shapeways and Hasbro with our story of a major entertainment company empowering fans to engage with their brands. Given this early success, we want to expand this opportunity to include more artists, more Hasbro brands and more 3D printed awesomeness.

This letter is an invitation for you to become part of SuperFanArt and the broader Hasbro and Shapeways communities, so we can help you promote and sell your designs to other fans. If you have a passion to develop 3D-printable art based on any of the following brands, we’d like to hear from you:

· Dragonvale
· Dungeons & Dragons
· Monopoly
· My Little Pony
· Scrabble (to be sold in US and Canada only)
· Transformers

Get your designs ready and visit SuperFanArt.com on August 22 for instructions on how to upload your work for promotion and sale. We hope you’ll join us in expanding the power of 3D printing by becoming a part of this exciting movement!

Your friends at Hasbro & Shapeways.

From the looks of things, we will soon be seeing, perhaps before the end of this month, several new characters from Hasbro-owned brands appear on the SuperFanArt site. The company certainly seems to be adopting an approach which embraces the 3D printing of their trademarked property, rather than locking it away in a vault, looking to see who they can sue next. Hopefully other companies adopt a similar approach, and realize that they too can work with the technology, rather than shun it.

Which characters do you want to see the most on SuperFanArt? Let’s hear your thoughts in the Hasbro 3D printing forum thread on 3DPB.com.