There was a nice surprise in the Printrbot booth at the New York 3D Printshow: the new Printrbot Play. The Play continues the new path Printrbot has been taking since the creation of the Metal Simple, by building sheet metal printers (a long departure from the original, mostly printed models). While having “guts” very similar to the wooden Simple, the Play gives its owners an extra inch (25.4mm) in the y axis travel, giving it an overall print area of 4″×5″×4″ (100mm×125mm×100mm).

I had a chance to talk to Brook Drumm, the founder and CEO of Printrbot, about the new Play. Drumm’s goal was to create a better entry-level printer, with more safety features for a younger user. To help assist in this, the Play comes with a cover over its extruder and hot end that helps to protect from accidental burns.

The Play was churning out prints during the Printshow, and with a price point of only $399, I bet they will be printing in many homes when they are fully released.