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Mattel will ramp up its lineup of futuristic toys this fall, when it plans to ship an inexpensive 3D printer made for kids and an update to its ViewMaster VR Viewer.
In a possible nod to Dr. Seuss(Opens in a new window) (and the company’s line of toys(Opens in a new window) from the 1960s) Mattel’s 3D printer will be named the ThingMaker. It can be pre-ordered now from Amazon for $300. That’s lower, but not by much, than the cheapest 3D printer we’ve ever reviewed, the XYZprinting Da Vinci 1.0 ($231.74 at Walmart)(Opens in a new window) .
The fact that Mattel is adding a printer to the ThingMaker lineup isn’t unexpected; Mattel announced a partnership(Opens in a new window) with 3D design expert Autodesk last summer. Autodesk will power the ThingMaker app, which is already available for download on the App Store(Opens in a new window).
The app will have both pre-loaded toy templates and hundreds of virtual “parts” for kids to build their own creations. Once they’ve decided on a design, the app will send it to the ThingMaker printer.
But ThingMaker isn’t designed to print out ready-to-use items. Instead, the printer will spit out parts that connect with ball and socket joints, which kids can then assemble. That’s probably for the best, since the hours-long 3D-printing process could easily bore kids.
“We think it’s pretty magical to watch these things being printed but after awhile you don’t want to sit there for hours,” Mattel Senior Director Aslan Appleman told USA Today(Opens in a new window). “For bigger prints, click print before (you) go to bed and wake up to a brand new toy.”
The ViewMaster DLX, meanwhile, is an update to Mattel’s first-gen Google Carboard-based VR viewer ($17.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , which PCMag named one of the top holiday gifts of 2015. The Verge reports(Opens in a new window) that the new DLX comes with a headphone connector, a focal adjustment for use without glasses, and improved optical lenses.
The DLX also comes with a $10 price increase; it will be available this fall at $40.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/news/will-mattels-3d-printer-mean-the-death-of-the-toy-store