Saw it put on JoeDios and then went to Generalsjoes who talks about it...
http://generalsjoes.com/2011/12/01/armo ... ew-design/

also check his other items out....http://www.shapeways.com/shops/yetibrew
Great Dragonfly upgrades.....

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All of that is awesome.

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They're wonderfully designed and excellent ideas, but I think it's missing the point of 3D fabrication. If you're making something for yourself, great, but if you're planning on offering it up then it's real value is prototyping.

The price point is about 5 or 10 times what it should be on these in my opinion. If he really wants to make these available, he needs to set up a kickstarter for them, and have them actually produced in a cost effective way if there's interest.

For $20 a pop, it's a very easy pass. No more than $3-$5 a piece, and I imagine people would have a lot of fun outfitting their entire motorpool.

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Yeah, it's cool. Very cool. But then I noticed the price...
Hiss Cano...y Version
$ 19.80
...Not cool.

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yea no way I'm going to be able to afford any of it... I know I'd love to get some of those Dragonfly upgrades and maybe a canopy or two but yea those prices make me..

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If he were to cast the items do you think he could bring the price down? Or would it be a wash?

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Depending on how he did it and what he used to cast with, I know I could say yes the price could be lower if cast. Casting some stuff is my next phase of the stuff I do and I've been looking into casting costs a lot. I'd estimate something of that size could cost around $6 - $8. An individual couldn't really get it down to $5 or under. Materials cost too much for that. I'm thinking you could get about 6 or 7 out of the bottles you buy of resin. You'd hardly make anything doing it at those price however. Cost and what you have to pass along in cost is the main reason a lot of people aren't all out jumping into the aftermarket item offers.

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Like the others said, that is a nice piece but the price is pretty high. After all, you can easily get a mint vintage Hiss tank for that much or 2 more recent ones for the same. It is hard to justify a $20 part for a $20 item.

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I ordered one. Supposed to be delivered on or before Dec 14th, I'll post some pictures when I get it.

This is why I don't buy cast items. It's too expensive for everyone involved. I don't think people are marking up cast items ridiculously, I know they can't be covering more than materials alone if that, so it certainly can't be worth their time. If you love to cast and you're doing it because you enjoy the process, great, but from time involved to cost... it's just not a realistic way to "produce" something.

I'd like to think we're not too far off from more people going the route of Marauder and actually getting things made in a professional process, material, and quantity where it's actually comparatively affordable to the end customer. I don't think he's making a fortune, but evidently it's enough to produce subsequent waves of accessories. Would love to see some of the large casting stores go this route and cut their prices in half.

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It'd be nice to see some of the casters go that route, but it isn't feasible for them either. With John he can make enough of a single item to make it profitable. Everyone can use his stuff, customizer or no, and the items lend themselves to multiple purchases. Not so with a custom torso or head. Yeah you'll get multiple sales, but in the dozens, maybe in rare cases hundreds, whereas I bet Marauder produces runs in the thousands. There just isn't enough widespread demand for most of the products that stores like Slayer produce to make any kind of mass production worthwhile. 3D printing will get cheaper though, eventually. It's still limited though, especially since organic shapes are a lot harder to produce, its doable, but it takes a lot more skill and time.