3D printing is getting more sophisticated and more accessible to the average consumer by the day. I saw a specialty shop on Newbury St. in Boston (where I live), and I assume that means that they’re opening in other cities as well, charging people to use their 3D printer, and the line was out the door. There has also been murmuring that scientists are working toward printing organs with them. But we’re here to talk about the things that really matter: how will 3D printing change the future of action figures?

Undoubtedly, there will be an influx of DIY action figures made with 3D printers for sale soon. Like all DIY projects, they’ll range from extremely low to extremely high quality figures from cheap to expensive and there will be no correlation between the quality and the price. The harder to answer question is how the big companies and the consumers are going to react.

There will likely be a shake-up. Some DIYers will blow the big companies out of the water in terms of quality, but they’ll likely have trouble producing as many figures. They’ll also have trouble getting into big stores, and the stores won’t sell any unlicensed figures (although they may accept originals). Hopefully, the companies will hire these people and pass on that quality to the consumers.

I won’t be surprised when the big companies hit the most successful DIYers (who are building characters without the licenses) with lawsuits. Neither of the big comic book companies have been shy about suing over copy infringement in the past. (And who can blame them? They deserve a cut of the money people earn off of their characters.)

There’s an outside chance that the price of action figures will drop. The space required to build figures could shrink from the size of a factory to the size of a print shop. There will probably be a lot less need for workers (which is awful, but true). The companies will have less overhead, and may pass at least some of that on to the consumer. If they can lower the price and maintain the same profit margin, they’ll sell more figures and make more money. (They could also, and more realistically, keep the price the same and just make more money with steady sales).

Another cool possibility is that the big toy companies will start selling the figure designs to print at home, much the same way DC and Marvel sell tattoo designs to tattoo shops. That, in my mind, would be the best thing for consumers and companies. They cut their overhead further, and fans get the option of designing their own figures or using the licensed figure designs they could buy from the company.

Like the first line of any new invention, there will be a lot of low quality crap the first few years. Some of these figures will have few points of articulations, bad paint jobs, and shoddy quality control. I for one, am looking forward to it. The worst action figures tend to be the funniest.

For more info on 3D printing, check out this article by Harold Sipe about Building a better action figure with 3D printing? and these articles by Nick Lenihan: 3D Systems Brings 3D Printed Lifestyle to Comic-Con International in San Diego,3D Systems Has Acquired Gentle Giant Studios – Press Release, and Hasbro and 3D Systems Team Up to Mainstream 3D Printing.

A Call to Action (Figures) is a weekly column published every Wednesday, chronicling my rants and raves about all things action figure. Join me next week, when I’ll be talking about what makes horror themed action figures so awesome.

Did I get it right? How do you think 3D printing will change the future of collecting?