It can also print in full color, thanks to jets that spray a bed of drywall-like gypsum plaster, utilizing off-the-shelf HP ink cartridges. The whole process takes around three hours to complete a figure (about an hour per inch). Once printing is done, you excavate the models from the powder bed and then clean the excess powder off using a jet of high-pressure air. The process makes you feel a bit like an archeologist. Even after running it through the air blast, the figure still looks a bit ghostly, so 3D Systems media relations team member Alyssa Reichental took us through the next step in the process, using Vulcan Ben: squirting a Super Glue-like substance over the logic-loving humanoid producer. The final step both enhances the color of the statue and adds a bit more strength to its fragile structure. Once it's all done, the company boxes it up in a nice package and sends it off. Sadly, the packaging wasn't finished in time for our preview, so our 3-inch likenesses were delivered in bubble wrap and Styrofoam peanuts.

As far as accuracy goes, Ben's figure, which was the first one out of the box, was probably the least convincing of the three. For one thing, none of us really recognized the guy without his glasses on (sorry Star Trek fans, the machine doesn't do eyewear particularly well -- or else Tim would have no doubt rocked his Google Glass), and facial hair can be a bit tricky. Tim's beard, on the other hand, was fairly spot-on and the hair was rendered impressively on all of ours. My figure also turned out pretty well, and while I wish I could claim that those were my pecs, they're actually the same ones that everyone gets. And though the printer is capable of much higher resolution and consistency than your standard extrusion desktop system, the powder still leaves things a little rough to the touch, with a slightly sandpaper-like surface.

Is it worth the $70? It's a bit of a tough sell if you're picking one up for yourself, but this could be the perfect gift for the Star Trek fan in your life who has everything -- everything save for a 3-inch figure of themselves, that is. As for non-Trekkers, well, we suspect that this is only the first in a long line of branded, cloud-printable products from the company.