Toymaker Mattel revives the '60s ThingMaker as a 3D printer

Toymaker Mattel is reviving the the ThingMaker of the '60s vintage into a contemporary 3D printer.

Mattels ThingMaker kinthe '60s

At the Toy Fair trade show in New York, Mattel told the media that it would offer the 3D printer on Amazon for $299.99 later this year.

The printer's 3D printing apps will rely on a partnership with Autodesk and would support both Android and iOS.

At the Toy Fair, visitors had a glimpse of the myriad items that could be made with the ThingMaker from dolls and dinosaurs to jewelry and robots.

The ThingMaker app allows users to customise so that they may choose from existing templates and from a number of drag and drop parts. After the completion of the assembly users need to simply tap the print button and wait for the magic to happen.

The ThingMaker also comes with a safety feature that allows the printer to auto-shut the door after pressing print.

"Mattel will have a variety of filament color options available for the ThingMaker 3D Printer with additional design content including branded options rolling out at a later date," the company said in a statement.

The 3D printing ecosystem works like any other available today, the difference being that the entire system is child-friendly. Kids and parents can browse through a catalogue of pre-made templates which could be printed or they could let their imaginations run wild by printing out just parts rather than combining them through simple ball and socket joints.

Though ThingMaker 3D Printer will be available from the coming Fall in the US, pre-orders will start from 15th February on Amazon. Mattel would make available more filament colour and design options. The ThingMaker app which is available for free on iOS and Android is advertised to work with other 3D printers as well.