I used to print quite a lot of toys for my kids, but I stopped doing that, since it feels mostly like a waste of plastic.
3D printed toys are rarely enjoyable. The toys are usually either not interesting enough (think static, non-movable, single-color figurines like the low-poly-pokemon series), or not durable enough or both at the same time.
My kids liked the printed toys when they got them, but they barely looked at them after like 10 minutes and then they ended up rolling around the house until they broke, usually very soon.
I love 3D printing, I use it a lot for all sorts of things, but toys are just not a very good application for 3D prints, in my opinion. It’s just not worth the plastic.
Edit: Just for context: I’ve been around the block with 3D printing. I started about 7 years ago and I’ve been the 3D printer repair guy for my circle of friends ever since, fixing up everyone else’s printers. I design most of the things I print myself. The reason I am posting this is because pretty much everyone I know who has a printer and kids prints toys all the time, and any time I’m at any event where someone can shoehorn a box of give-away low-poly-pokemon in, there is one there.
IMO, this is all plastic waste and nothing else.
I can count on one hand how many “toys” I’ve printed. I have printed thousands of useful/needed items, though. That tool is indispensable to me. It’s crazy how far prototyping tech has come.
I’m currently printing parts for a Voron on a Prusa MK3S. The fact that I can make another printer using a printer is still such a cool concept.
My fleet of ender 3’s have upgraded themselves all to direct drive linear rail dual z, etc. but they’ve also been instrumental in creating dummy and temp parts to build multiple CNC machines, which then are used to make their own final parts. It’s wild what you can do!
I’m currently rebuilding a brand new AnyCubic Kobra2 max, since the factory controller hardware is trash. I bought it for the frame and hotbed. It’s getting all new motion control, klipper, direct drive, bl touch, and a input shaping among other things.
On one hand I think “wow I want to develop this skill”, on the other hand it seems like quite the time suck of a hobby, with quite a high barrier to entry.
That’s printer building, modding and maintenance of those
3D printing in 2025 is easy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBQ-QfcY3Qs
That’s mostly outdated. Sure, you can still get an Ender 3 in 2025 and spend years fixing it up and upgrading it, but you can also spend €200, get an Anet A1 Mini and be done with it.
These things print almost flawlessly out-of-the-box and are dirt cheap.
€200 for the printer, €20 for a roll of filament and you are set.
TBH I prefer the older machines, I stay away from the proprietary all-in-one stuff. I’m all about modularity, and usually means keeping parts and processes standard between builds for production’s sake.
That’s a totally valid viewpoint, and I myself am also running an Ender 5, modified to death. The only original components are the frame, the motors and the bed, and I even have a toolchanger setup for multi-material prints.
But it’s not the right device if your goal is just to print. For that, the proprietary ones aren’t a bad choice.
It’s all about what works best for the particular individual. The majority of people want some hand-holding, and that’s ok. Not everyone is into designing their own hotends or completely rebuilding stock printers into monsters :)
And it’s not only a person-thing alone, but also a thing-thing. For example, I love modifying my printer or my phone (I designed and built a keyboard attachment for my phone). But I want my 2D printer to just work. And my car as well, same as my dishwasher, my laundry machine and my stove.
So I should buy the Anet A1 mini?
I recently got a flash forge adventure 5m and was printing in 30 minutes with no prior experience. There’s definitely a learning curve but if you can get a paper printer working, you can do a 3d printer
It’s a good printer if you just want to print and don’t care for hardware modding. If you fit into that profile, yes, get it.