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Things to Do

Talking 3-D printing and Mattel’s ThingMaker on Texas Standard

By Omar L. Gallaga
Feb 18, 2016
Mattel's ThingMaker 3-D printer, due out in October, is on pre-sale for $300. Credit: Autodesk, Inc.
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Mattel’s ThingMaker 3-D printer, due out in October, is on pre-sale for $300. Credit: Autodesk, Inc.

3-D printing may not have taken off as quickly as I implied on a story I wrote a few years ago for the American-Statesman, but in small, significant ways, the technology is continuing to go mainstream. Perhaps the biggest step so far this year is the news at the New York Toy Fair that Mattel is introducing a $300 3-D printer for kids, reviving its 1960s "ThingMaker" line.

Pre-orders have already begun for it and in a Texas Standard radio segment Thursday morning, I spoke with Laura Rice about 3-D printing and the challenges facing this technology. Give it a listen! The segment starts at the 25:25 mark.

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Omar L. Gallaga
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