3Doodler Celebrates One Millionth 3D Printing Pen Milestone, Unveils Create Canvas Series Templates

September 29, 2017 by Michael A. Parker 3D Printed Art 3D Printers 3D Printing 3D Printing Materials

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When you think of 3D printing what do you think of? Is it an FDM desktop machine printing in plastic or an SLA machine printing with UV curable resin? Is it an SLS industrial machine printing in nylon, or a metal 3D printer, printing in titanium? Well, there are many ways to 3D print these days and some of them aren’t contained or restrained by a metal box. If you want to print outside of the box, you might want to consider a 3D printing pen.

You may think that 3D printing pens are just for kids. While they are certainly fun for kids to play with, some are sophisticated enough to create some truly jaw dropping creations. At Toy Fair earlier this year I saw some incredible things at the 3Doodler booth, from a flexible 3D printed dress (with built-in pockets!) to template kits for architectural masterpieces like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water, and for Powerpuff Girls and Star Trek. There was something for everyone, for every skill level. And 3Doodler took home Rookie of the Year in the Toy of the Year Awards 2017 for their 3Doodler Start Essentials Pen Set.

This month, 3Doodler celebrated the shipping of their one millionth 3D printing pen. The company raised over $4M over the course of 3 Kickstarter campaigns and now sells their products in 60 countries around the world and has yearly revenues of over $20M. 3Doodler is incredibly popular and has even been referenced on The Simpsons. The plucky company has capitalized on its place in pop culture by signing a number of licensing deals with 20th Century Fox, CBS and Cartoon Network to create limited edition pen sets to drive deeper engagement among fans.

“Back when our workshop 3D printer made a mistake in 2012, and we made that fateful decision to remove the printer head to fix the object, I’d never dreamed this would have had such a dramatic impact on the world,” says Max Bogue, CEO and founder of 3Doodler. “As we ship our one millionth pen, what’s most exciting to me isn’t just the strength and rate of adoption, but how we’re continuing to innovate and expand this new category to make creativity more accessible to everyone.”

Alongside 3Doodler’s increasingly popular licensed sets, the company continues to focus on supporting education. To support learning through play, 3Doodler has launched special themed kids sets, including the 3Doodler Start Robotics Pen Set and Activity Kit that allows children to design and build their own unique robots that actually move. To thank existing customers who’ve helped them reach the one millionth pen milestone, 3Doodler is offering price reductions across its Create Plastics range and free shipping on Education Bundles.

In classrooms around the world, 3Doodler is already used by more than 3,000 educators, with teachers using 3Doodler to inspire creativity and add a new dimension to the teaching of arts, design and technical skills, bringing STEM subjects to life for students. To celebrate the one millionth pen sale, 3Doodler will be offering free shipping on all EDU bundles to help more teachers around the world get themselves and their students involved in doodling.

3Doodler recently received the official seal of approval for the 3Doodler Start from the UK charity the Royal National Institute for the Blind, which affirmed it as “easy to use” for those who are blind or partially sighted. Accessibility-related updates made to the 3Doodler Start were rolled out globally, enabling people with sight loss to “see” what they draw for the very first time. 3Doodler is now working with organizations in the US to continue removing barriers to creativity for individuals with a range of other disabilities.

“As we cross the one million milestone, we’re not slowing down,” says Daniel Cowen, President of 3Doodler. “We envision a world where every person, no matter their age or abilities, can unlock their creativity and bring their imagination into reality with the 3Doodler. Sometime it’s hard to remember that 3Doodler has been around for only four years with everything that we have already achieved. I can’t wait to bring our plans into reality for the next four years, and beyond.”

Last night, at PepCom’s Holiday Spectacular (a media only event), I saw their newest product, the 3Doodler Create Canvas Series. The Create Canvases differ from 3Doodler’s other design templates, in that they are 3 dimensional. They were developed especially for use with 3Doodler Create plastics. Users draw directly onto the canvases which consist of 4 kits: Sugar Skull, Garden Gnome, Vases and Keepsake Boxes.

: 3Doodler Create Canvas Garden Gnome Kit

: Sugar Skull Kit

: Keepsake Box Kit

: Vase Kit

It looks like 3Doodler has no intention of slowing down. Their kits make learning how to draw in 3D fun. For a little 3D printing pen that was originally intended to fix 3D prints, it has become a major presence in the 3D printing scene. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next! Below is a video of the Create Canvas Series: