3d printed bionicle parts . Good or bad for LEGO ?

[PaleoTiatan]

Ok ,so I saw the Bionicle 3d printed parts and I thought that the concept was pretty good , but is it good or bad for Lego (as a company) ? First of all It's a good way of getting custom parts that Lego wouldn't do , from money reasons  or others . This is kind of  arguable is this good or bad ?

[Cambion]

it's not bad for Lego at all - i fail to see how it could be. people have been custom molding Lego-compatible pieces for years, even before 3D printing was around, and as far as i know no one's made a peep...well, there are purist builders who complain about it, of course, but those are just the fans.

[bioniclepluslotr]

If Lego doesn't make them, then it's not really competition. But apparently everyone gets butthurt if it's a bootleg part from China.

[Munty]

It's not a problem for Lego at all as it doesn't create any competition per se (as Arc says) You'd never buy a part off shapeways that already exists as you can get a genuine copy from somewhere like Bricklink far cheaper. Lego has already been paid for those genuine parts in the first place so even when you buy second hand you're still technically buying from Lego.

 

As for unique parts that lego doesn't produce in the first place there is again no competition as there is no place for them on the open market. Rest assured Lego would be producing them officially if there was!

 

So no, I don't think it'll affect Lego in the slightest. I myself would certainly consider buying some of the custom mask designs from shapeways but if the same piece exists as an official Lego part then I'd much rather pay more money for that. Of course not everyone would feel the same but that's their choice and doesn't really affect anyone other than themselves!

[believe victims]

If Lego doesn't make them, then it's not really competition. But apparently everyone gets butthurt if it's a bootleg part from China.

 

Probably because bootlegs are lower quality, illegal, and are bad for LEGO, as they take profits from products that aren't actually theirs.

 

Making a 3D-printed mask that LEGO has never produced is not much different from buying clay and molding your own mask by hand. It's not infringing on their copyrights or anything, just making yourself a neat custom mask.

 

Bootleg sets use stolen molds or molds derived from official parts to clone official sets and leech off LEGO's profits by selling more or less the same product (though often lower quality) for cheaper. It's not their product to sell, so the practice is illegal and arguably immoral.

 

And don't interpret this as LEGO trying to have a monopoly; there are several competitor brands that have similar parts shapes but do their own things. Those aren't taking entire LEGO sets and cloning them for profit, which is the issue here. It's no better than stealing.

[Makuta_of_Oz]

It's only an issue if people are 3D-printing parts that LEGO still has in production.

[PaleoTiatan]

It's only an issue if people are 3D-printing parts that LEGO still has in production.

Why would they , calculating the cost of plastic rope + electricity + lost time you would lose money , you better buy the parts ! It's another story when we talk about Custom parts. Also If you know the basics of electro-engineering you can modify a 3d printer to work with plastic scraps ( the rope is so god darn expensive !) but still , you lose  money ! That's the problem with 3d printing 

[Aanchir]

As far as completely custom parts are concerned, I'd say neutral. After all, custom parts mainly exist to supplement official LEGO parts, so in the grand scheme of things they often result in people buying more official LEGO, not less. And creating a completely custom part generally doesn't violate any trademarks or copyrights.

 

If people were 3D printing actual copies of LEGO parts and selling them, that could become more negative for LEGO... not to mention illegal.

[Ektris]

If it's truly original pieces, what's the harm? You could come up with something pretty useful or neat.

 

~|ET|~

[Paleo]

I'm a purist, so I wouldn't really be in the market for them, but printing a new mask or blade or stud reverser is just the kind of creative leeway that I love about LEGO, because it can often help you use LEGO as a tool (i.e. printing a piece to more firmly attach a creation to something).

Edited December 7, 2014 by Paleo

[Sumiki]

I've always been a purist when it comes to building MOCs and the like, but I have to say that I'm infinitely more averse to painting and/or cutting existing parts than I am to fan-molded parts, as I consider the latter to take more time and talent.
 
Personally, I think LEGO could capitalize on 3D printing; fans could design their own parts, or there could even be a contest to come up with a useful piece.

[PaleoTiatan]

 

 

I've always been a purist when it comes to building MOCs and the like, but I have to say that I'm infinitely more averse to painting and/or cutting existing parts than I am to fan-molded parts, as I consider the latter to take more time and talent.

 

Personally, I think LEGO could capitalize on 3D printing; fans could design their own parts, or there could even be a contest to come up with a useful piece.

3d printer softs , That's a way , Lego makes some money and we get to design our own pieces 

[Lyichir]

 

 

I've always been a purist when it comes to building MOCs and the like, but I have to say that I'm infinitely more averse to painting and/or cutting existing parts than I am to fan-molded parts, as I consider the latter to take more time and talent.

 

Personally, I think LEGO could capitalize on 3D printing; fans could design their own parts, or there could even be a contest to come up with a useful piece.

3d printer softs , That's a way , Lego makes some money and we get to design our own pieces 

 

Lego has definitely been exploring options like that (for instance, they patented a design for a "core brick" that allows for someone who owns that piece to 3D-print the overall shape and structure of the brick using pre-produced attachment points). But it would definitely not be a good idea for Lego to go into that kind of market without an educated game plan. After all, if they produce software to allow folks to print official parts, how often before people start pirating the software so that they can print their own Lego without TLG getting a dime? If they produce software that allows for the custom design of parts themselves, how long before that results in substandard custom bricks flooding the market, making it so that used Lego lots have a much greater chance of including parts that are fragile, unsafe, or even dangerous? Lego is doing right by approaching 3D printing conservatively, with appropriate levels of skepticism and wariness.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Lyichir

[Tahu3.0]

If its a custom piace or a piece that hasent been realeased im okay with that.

[BrickPharaoh]

It's funny you guys should mention 3D printing... I'm currently working on a project at uni for which I need to print out 3D components.

 

I stand with purists on this one, though I think that making custom masks and possibly modifying weapons or making an armor piece is fine. I wouldn't risk printing off any structural components, because I wouldn't trust their integrity with Lego attachment pieces.

 

[Banana Gunz]

I kinda echo the ideas of a lot of people here. The relatively recent jazz of Lego releasing a patent or something for a program where fans design parts and can get them 3-D printed is kinda my thoughts on Lego's future.

 

In order to understand how it'll impact Lego, it's probably best to consider how 3-D printing will affect the world first. 3-D printing could revolutionize so much in the world as it changes Lego, that it becomes terribly difficult to separate the company from the equation. There could be a lot of changes, and whether or not Lego decides to release a program to openly allow people to make their own parts, 3-D printing could evolve to the point where it won't make a difference. It has so many benefits, but could backfire just as easily. Their future, and possibly demise could lie with it.

[Doctor Makuta]

Well I'd be fine with existing pieces in new colors, like imagine a pink Toa.

[Munty]

Here's a likely scenario... Official 3D priniting stations in official Lego stores ONLY. Supervised by staff. It would essentially allow the stores to stock any item imaginable in any colour desired and they could make an absolute fortune from it! There's already high quality hardware out there that could produce pretty strong good-looking parts and while it would be a hefty investment to roll it out world wide I'm pretty sure it would be worthwhile testing it out in a few key stores at the very least! 

[PaleoTiatan]

Here's a likely scenario... Official 3D priniting stations in official Lego stores ONLY. Supervised by staff. It would essentially allow the stores to stock any item imaginable in any colour desired and they could make an absolute fortune from it! There's already high quality hardware out there that could produce pretty strong good-looking parts and while it would be a hefty investment to roll it out world wide I'm pretty sure it would be worthwhile testing it out in a few key stores at the very least! 

You sir , are a genius  !