Every time I show off a new doodad for my fabled Cabinet of Awesomeness, I get at least a few fans asking when and how they can get their hands on one of their own. New plush? New figurine? Anything custom at all and folks want to have one in their collection. I feel for you folks, but the fact is, I don’t have enough fans to justify the cost of doing even a minimum run of a custom plush or toy. In fact, I wouldn’t even be able to afford to offer paperbacks if not for Print on Demand.
But that’s when it hit me. Print on Demand… That could work. Cue some research, some negotiation, some reference art, some revisions, and then?
These little beauties were designed by Liz Landis and based in large part upon the original Squee, sculpted by Leilia’s Clay Creations. They are printed on demand by Shapeways if you’d like to buy one.
Each figurine is about 3 inches high. I’ve got Solby, complete with the transceiver on the back of his neck, or Squee, sporting her Silo-approved pink nail polish, hoop earrings, and a bandage over her transceiver. You can buy either of them in any of four versions.
For $30 you can get a solid black or solid white plastic version. These are slightly rough to the touch, pretty robust, and may have some visible print lines. I got a sample of Squee in this form so you can see what you think.
For $35, you can upgrade to a full color print. These have a “sandstone” feel to them and are a little more fragile, but they survived shipping to my house just fine. As long as you keep them dry they’ll hold up fine, but if they get wet the color could fade slightly. Here’s Solby in that form, if you’d like to see.
For $45, you can get a full color coated version. These are the same material, but they’ve been given a glossy finish that makes the colors a bit sharper and protects them against water damage. Squee got a test print in this form as well, shown here beside her older sister in the original sculpt!
These are a beta run of potentially several characters to get similar treatment, so if you like the idea, let me know! And if you end up ordering any from my shop on Shapeways, I’d love to see pictures of when they find their new home!
And don’t forget, Squee and the rest are available right now in their latest adventure, Temporal Contingency!