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.

  • neclimdul@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    2 天前

    Couple of thoughts.

    First, what you described sounds like most of the toys I’ve bought my kids growing up so if it brought them joy, probably about as valuable as anything else.

    Second, my experience is a bit different. My sons have 3d printed nick nacks displayed on their shelves and both have fidget toys they play with on the regular. Also I’ve got a chain fidget in my pocket I’ve been playing with all day.

    I’ve also got a box of less successful toys I’d love to recycle if I could but definitely some wins too. So I think there are a lot of toys you’d be right about but also a lot of them are actually pretty interesting and fun to the right person