There's been a lot of talk about 3D printing and its application to miniatures gaming.

Well, I semi-accidentally stumbled upon some gaming miniatures at Shapeways. I ordered a few as a sample and got the reply you see in the title. That's over two months away, so instant gratification this is not.

I admit I didn't do a whole lot of research, but the one example I stumbled upon had prices similar to what you would expect to pay for singles at the gaming store anyway, roughly $5 - $15 per figure. I don't know how much of that is markup and how much is actual manufacturing cost, but right now it doesn't seem to be a viable option for bulk troops. Monsters, heroes, RPG singles and such but not really bulk troops.

But for those singles this sort of print-on-demand does offer new possibilities. Manufacturers don't have to maintain huge stocks of zillions of back catalog codes anymore and there's no problems with deteriorating molds. Stuff can still get lost, but at least you can make backups. So you can keep the long tail in production indefinitely.

I'll do a review of the minis in January. Let's see.

maxxon