It looks like a war is about to erupt on who can get the licensing rights to well known toys and characters. A very obvious target for 3d printers and especially those at the low end price range working in plastic. 3D Systems have just signed an agreement with Hasbro. The company which looks after famous brands such as Transformers, Star Wars, Monopoly , Tonka, etc. - full article is here http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57...stems-team-up/ .
Yeah, I can't wait to see when GWorkshop and other big players will get to it.
What would be the point to signing up with these toy makers? Don't these companies use traditional manufacturing for their toys? It would take forever to print out millions of toys using 3D printers wouldn't it?
Licensing the model for you to print at home.
What type of companies would be signing up the popular characters? Would these companies sell the designs to people who then print them out at home?
Well, imagine if Apple licenses the rights for Marvel characters, and then only sells the gcode through iTunes in a format proprietary to Apple printers. Formlabs, Makerbot, Afinia, RepRap, LeapFrog, etc. would not be able to print them - at least legally.
Of course, that's speculation, but it seems feasible. And profitable.