Final Fantasy VII action figures
└ posted on Thursday, 12 September 2013, by Novil
3D printing is still pretty expensive. But it already seems to offer lots of possibilites for custom-made sculptures. Several weeks ago, I purchased the following Final Fantasy VII action figures of all main characters in their original low-poly design. I got them at Shapeways, but apparently they are no longer sold by their creator. I really like how they turned out. They look exactly like in the game. Although the rough surface of the gypsum-like material is neat, I wished a less fragile material would have been used. Aeris’ left ribbon broke off after she accidentally fell over and I had to glue it back on. Nonetheless a very cool set of action figures.
They’re no longer sold by Shapeways because they were making them illegally and Square Enix (the company that rightfully owns the characters) threatened to sue them.
@ linann18: On that note, congratulations on owning a one-of-a-kind, limited-edition set of figurines that probably won’t be printed again (at least, not until SE decides to make them and sell them for 10 times the amount you bought them for). If you don’t accidentally break them (any more than you already have), they’ll be worth quite a bit if you try to resell them.
Ow, I immediatly clicked on the link and tried to find them…
Then I read the rest of your sentence T_T
Damn, I’m pretty jealousof you for that ! Good find !
Very neat!
Yes, Services like Shapeways and the “Full color sandstone” / gypsum powder is nice.
Actually 3d printing itself has gotten very cheap.
I just imported a small 3d printer for a school from the US to Germany and I have two myself. 200€/300$ + 50€ shipping and 50€ tax – Printrbot simple.
I have the larger LC from them and also a UP from pp3dp (the newer small one starts at 899 dollars- but it’s as plug&play as it gets).
While Shapeways charges 1-2€ (and more) per cubic centimeter of used material, plastic for “home printers” costs 0,02€ per cm^3… Of course you will have some loss (support structures, failed prints) but it is an amazing technology.
Of course with plastic fdm/fff you will have to color it manualy, unless you can live with a single color such as black, silver or translucent (all pretty cool looking), or spend a bit more for dual or tripple print head extruders, though currently no reliable color mixing works AFAIK. Looks pretty rad on monochrome figurines though.
If you ever want to print a Sandra & Woo model, let me know! 🙂
Even if the quality is usualy better at Shapeways, it saves the cost of failed prints…. And actually, on small models, I had more success then at Shapeways, where I did occasionaly receive broken prints (but their support is rather good and they will help you sort it out).
-Marcus
Sephiroth: “Alright, let’s do this.”
*Unsheathes his sword*
* Aerith glances in his direction*
Sephiroth: Uh-Oh, she looks over here! Quick, act natural!
*Cloud raises his fist*
Cloud: “Hey! I see what you’re doing!”
Wow, nice! =D
At first, they looked like papercraft figures, as they look like some LoZ:OoT figures I have on my desk. I would have assumed so, if not for the description. Even without any description, I would have eventually figured out that they are 3D printouts, as they have that granny foam-fuzz that comes with all the layering.
(Great, now I have to need to find some FFVII papercraft kits! =P )