AMR Software
AMR Data Centers

Adidas Gifts Messi Custom Shoes in Custom 3D Printed Box

Share this Article

When Lionel Messi received his 8th Ballon d’Or nomination, Adidas wanted to gift him something special. However, the company didn’t just want its gift to be unique, but wanted the packaging to be unique, as well. So, the sporting goods giant turned to WASP, an Italian 3D printing company, to create a truly novel container for Messi, and what they made is stunning.

Adidas 3d printed nylon carbon shoebox

The 3D printed dodecahedron box Adidas commissioned WASP to build to house Messi’s gift for winning his 8th Ballon d’Or. (Image courtesy of WASP)

Now, Adidas is no stranger to 3D printing. The company has embraced the technology to develop a Smart Factory to manufacture some of the most efficient running shoes on the planet. This time, however, Adidas was going to use the technology to build a one-of-a-kind package and honor Messi’s achievement.

Adidas had initially reached out to WASP after Messi’s 2023 Ballon d’Or nomination, looking for a company that could turn its concept into reality, and produce a shoebox that would contain a limited edition pair of shoes made specifically for Messi. The sporting goods firm wanted the shape to be inspired by a soccer ball and challenged WASP’s engineers to design one. What the 3D printer manufacturer came up with was a dodecahedron style box, seen below, and I think they bent it like Beckham.

3D printed packaging in nylon carbon for Lionel Messi by Adidas

The 3D printed dodecahedron style WASP made to house a custom pair of shoes tailored specifically for Lionel Messi. (Image courtesy of WASP)

The box was printed in four pieces: top, bottom, cover, and shoe platform, and assembled after. The dodecahedron was made from WASP’s nylon carbon and WASP used their 4070 ZX professional FDM 3D printer to build each part. The printer took over 200 hours non-stop to print the packaging, and features Messi’s and Adidas’s logos on the shell.

The printer itself is quite impressive too. It contained all-metal double gear extruders which WASP says can offer twice the grip and three times the force compared to common extruders, uses Vacuum active Control (VAC) to reduce micromovements during printing, and has a large build volume that can accommodate most builds.

3D printed special gift box for Lionel Messi by Adidas

A look inside WASP’s 3D printed dodecahedron gift box for Lionel Messi. (Image courtesy of WASP)

All in all, this was a neat project Adidas commissioned WASP to build, and I love the ingenuity taken. It shows off the capabilities 3D printing can offer, and created a truly one-of-a-kind present for Messi. 



Share this Article


Recent News

3D Printed Skin: Australia Leads the World with Breakthrough Trial in Sydney

Will the Slate Truck Usher in a New Era of 3D Printing Car Customization?



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

Sponsored

AMT Shakes Up 3D Printing Market with Affordable, High-Performance Post-Processing Consumables

Additive Manufacturing Technologies (AMT), a global leader in automated 3D printing post-processing, is launching a new line of consumables that promises to significantly reduce operational costs for additive manufacturing users....

The Bambu Lab 3D Printing Platform… or Trapdoor?

Bambu Lab began as a completely closed 3D printing system, where the printer, software, and materials all functioned well but were exclusively from the company itself. This approach mirrored Formlabs,...

2025 Renault 5 E-Tech Electric Is Latest Car with 3D Printed Accessories 

Due to the required numbers, additive manufacturing (AM) has struggled to make significant inroads into vehicle interiors in meaningful numbers—at least as far as public knowledge is concerned. Typically an...

Featured

BMW Completes Project to Automate Plastic 3D Printing

After a three-year journey to efficiently scale polymer 3D printed part production, the POLYLINE project has concluded. This endeavor, headquartered at BMW’s Additive Manufacturing Campus, pooled the expertise of EOS,...