Mattel is getting super creative this year by giving more freedom to the toy experts of the world: kids. At this year's New York Toy Fair trade show, the company announced its new ThingMaker, a $300 3D printer that will let kids make their own toys. The device will work in conjunction with a 3D printing app called ThingMakerDesign, which was created in collaboration with the software company Autodesk.
While 3D printers are getting more affordable for the average person to buy, the software that goes along with them can be confusing and certainly isn't kid-friendly. According to other reports, Mattel wanted to make its ThingMaker as appropriate as possible for kids to use and experiment with. Available for Android and iOS, the ThingMaker Design app has templates for kids to use to make all kinds of toys, including action figure-like statues, dolls, bracelets, and rings.
Kids will also be able to design toys from scratch once they feel comfortable with the software. All of the toys can be customized with different colors and textures, and the ThingMaker prints out parts of each toy so kids can assemble them on their own. The new ThingMaker is definitely the 2016 iteration of Mattel's original ThingMaker, which debuted in the 1960s and let kids pour liquid plastic into toy molds and then bake them in the oven to create figurines.
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