In high school, there was a crazy over a clothing line named Kid Robot. Ironically, the clothes had become the most popular, but that was not Kid Robot’s initial claim to fame. They came up in the market of selling vinyl toys, and had innovated a number of DIY model toys that then were bought and customized by other artists, creating a collaboration of sorts. They had all kinds of contests and designs, and it didn’t matter what your skill level was, you could always have fun painting up their toys.

In the Fabricated book, there is a lot of talk about the disruptive nature of 3d printing. I believe that it can have a great positive effect if people were able to print out their own vinyl toys, which wouldn’t have to be made out of vinyl anymore. It would be made out of whatever they could get their hands on, and that could produce some really cool results. 3d printing is an obvious disruptor in this field because with art being such a subjective craft, there is no one to say this toy is “good” or “bad”. The companies that still want to be involved in the industry would have to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape by taking extra steps to make sure their patented designs are not being duplicated by anyone who has a printer and an internet connection. It would also allow for extreme customization and many new businesses to emerge, as well as opening up a brand new platform for artists to display their work to the world. While delving into this subject, I would like to learn what the limits are in printing 3d toys. For example, what is the tiniest I could print to achieve the maximum articulation? How would it negatively affect the toy industry if people (namely adults) were able to make their own toys for either themselves or their children? How would it positively affect the market? The video that I found on the production of the vinyl toy best illustrates how it will be disrupted because many of the steps taken in the video will be replaced with the one 3d printer.

I want to explore the production of toys using 3d printing because I am a kid at heart, and I believe that creating art is a under appreciated way to stimulate the mind. I also have a soft spot for nostalgia, and as stated in the first paragraph, the vinyl toy business and it’s connection to my high school days is near and dear to my heart.

Links to sources:

http://makezine.com/2014/02/19/designing-a-vinyl-toy-with-joe-ledbetter/

http://forums.kidrobot.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=153129

http://www.makerbot.com/blog/tag/toys/

http://www.cluttermagazine.com/news/2011/10/imodela-3d-printer-makes-toys-cheap