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Sydney Morning Herald

Mattel Reviving a Popular Toy From the 1960s in a High-Tech Version for the 21st Century

Feb 16, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A popular Mattel toy that debuted in the 1960s is being revived for the 21st century, but this time around the technology will be much more advanced. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the toy company is bringing back the ThingMaker.

The original version had kids producing their own Creepy Crawlers and other small toys using plastic molds. “Now Mattel, in collaboration with Autodesk, is resurrecting ThingMaker as a $299.99, family-friendly, 21st century 3D printer,” the story reports. Mattel announced the new device in advance of the Manhattan toy fair.

“A full-size, non-working replica of the printer, which works with a 3D printing app for iOS and Android — if not for its bold orange casing — could be mistaken for a funky-looking microwave oven,” the story reports. “Consumers can customize toy fairies, dolls, dinosaurs, robots, skeletons and jewelry (among countless other plastic things) inside the ThingMaker app, which supplies templates and a palette of drag-and-drop parts that you can assemble together on screen before tapping the print button.”

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One Comment

  1. Before the “Thingmaker” (and its offshoot “Incredible Edibles”) Mattel sold the Vac-U-Form, which heated small vinyl sheets then pressed them onto 3D molds using the force of a hand-pumped vacuum chamber. Today’s wimpy kids will never know the grown-up joys of playing with a toy that at any moment could inflict a third degree burn!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vac-u-form

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