If FisherPrice and 3D Printing had a love-child, it would be The Cube – an adorable 3D printer made by 3DSystems in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Cube (so named for its 5.5” cubic print space) costs $1250, and makes 3D printing look like child’s play.

If I were still 10 years old, I would want The Cube… b’Bad! And at this price point, what father wouldn’t buy it for their kids – just so they can play with it too. OK, it’s still a bit spendy, but let’s think of it as an educational investment in your child’s future.

Fig 1- The Cube personal 3D Printer. It’s adorable and only $1250. Comes with interchangeable cartridges of colored plastic wire-stock (Fig 2, below). Crayola branding is fictional, but not a bad idea in this co-marketing crazy world.

My advice to 3DSystems, is to run right out and license the color cartridges to CRAYOLA and start co-marketing The Cube immediately. The CRAYOLA CUBE! In fact, together they could pioneer a whole new category of toys. Let’s call it… ‘Serious Toys’.

[Remember, you heard it here on FormFonts 3D Models first.]

And just so Cube owners have some 3D models to print, there is a nascent 3D Model library called Cubify. Cubify is a lot like FormFonts for 3D Printing. You upload a .STL (stereolithography) file to the site, and share royalties per download.

Fig-2  My Robot Nation Print-Your-Own Robots are available on Cubify, a digital 3D content            site for owners of the “The Cube”.

You can also sell your 3D models pre-printed if you like. Who knows, you may even see FormFonts 3D Models available on Cubify soon! How about adding 6″ tall Army Man to your cubicle toys for $12 ?

In Short –  The Cube and Cubify are 3D Printing… made adorable.  Tiger Parents, get your kids a high-tech jumpstart. Prepare them for the new manufacturing on-demand economy.

Sources:

• The Cube 3D Printer
• Digital 3D Content for The Cube – Cubify
• Build Your Own Robots – My Robot Nation
• The Material Web and Creative Capitalism – FormFonts 3D
• 3D Printing with Concrete – The Future of Construction?  – FormFonts 3D