An Invite to Submit Your Designs to SuperFanArt
Shapeways is super excited to be working with Hasbro to help bring more 3D printed awesomeness to the masses via SuperFanArt. The first wave of the groundbreaking Intellectual Property and 3D Printing partnership was a huge success, and now we are ready for you to help take it to the next level. Following is an open letter inviting the Shapeways community to participate.
As you may have heard, Hasbro and Shapeways are working together to encourage artists to create and sell 3D designs based on Hasbro’s iconic brands. Our July launch of SuperFanArt.com featured five artists and their My Little Pony-based designs. We’ve generated substantial press and attention for the artists, Shapeways and Hasbro with our story of a major entertainment company empowering fans to engage with their brands. Given this early success, we want to expand this opportunity to include more artists, more Hasbro brands and more 3D printed awesomeness.
This letter is an invitation for you to become part of SuperFanArt and the broader Hasbro and Shapeways communities, so we can help you promote and sell your designs to other fans. If you have a passion to develop 3D-printable art based on any of the following brands, we’d like to hear from you:
• Dragonvale
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Monopoly
• My Little Pony
• Scrabble (to be sold in US and Canada only)
• Transformers
Get your designs ready and visit SuperFanArt.com on August 22 for instructions on how to upload your work for promotion and sale. We hope you’ll join us in expanding the power of 3D printing by becoming a part of this exciting movement!
Your friends at Hasbro & Shapeways.
Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
Posted by El Duque
Aug 17, 2014 at 11:12pm CDT
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Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Mkall
Aug 18, 2014
I would be more interested if Shapeways better quality materials were cheaper. As of right now, I ain't interested, but I'm keen to see where it goes.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Rated X
Aug 18, 2014
All I see from this is the prices of shapeways going up. Other than an endorsement, does shapeways really need hasbro to sell new heads and weapons ? On the other hand, hasbro is probally trying to buy into the biggest potential future competiter before it becomes a threat. The technology is still at its infancy, but if it could be refined to a point where you dont have to sand and paint the pieces, I could see it being a potential threat. I think Hasbro wants to establish an "IP" presence in the industry. That would mean any future printable figures would cost as much as store bought figures. This would place assembling these figures more as a craft hobby than a way of saving money. Just my opinion here.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Burn
Aug 18, 2014
I'd actually be okay with printing and assembling my own figures.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Bumblevivisector
Aug 18, 2014
Looking through the list of other brands, I can understand Monopoly: making the custom player token you've always wanted, be it a particular make of car, a Cobra Trouble Bubble, Donald Trump...a single piece far easier to produce than the myriad of interlocking parts necessary for a TF.
Scrabble, on the other hand...would the point be printing extra Qs and Zs to stack the bag? Seems a bit unsporting. Or can some printers create objects in candy instead of resin, allowing Chocolate Scrabble enthusiasts to expand into other flavors?
I'd be OK with printing some of my own toys, but I'd personally get bogged down in troop-building.
It'd be nice if cheaper printers reduced sweatshop labor, but the majority of that is still probably geared towards the garment industry. I'd also like to know just how closely the price of the resin is tied to the price of oil.
Scrabble, on the other hand...would the point be printing extra Qs and Zs to stack the bag? Seems a bit unsporting. Or can some printers create objects in candy instead of resin, allowing Chocolate Scrabble enthusiasts to expand into other flavors?
I'd be OK with printing some of my own toys, but I'd personally get bogged down in troop-building.
It'd be nice if cheaper printers reduced sweatshop labor, but the majority of that is still probably geared towards the garment industry. I'd also like to know just how closely the price of the resin is tied to the price of oil.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by rpetras
Aug 18, 2014
But, look at it this way; if I can officially license that my 3d printed shapeways gun is for the new Generations Skrapnel, instead of calling it "Insect Robot Gun #1", I am more likely to generate traffic to my item.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by SentinelA
Aug 18, 2014
Is this why I was able to order fists for my G1 Ultra Magnus (inner bot) today?
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by TulioDude
Aug 18, 2014
Holy heck! 
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Va'al
Aug 26, 2014
A small but significant update on the collaboration between Hasbro and 3D printing company Shapeways, thanks to a tip from fellow Seibertron.com user Autobot Genocide. It appears as though the initial licensing agreement worked better than expected, and Makezine reports the new initiative of allowing fan-made material to be designed and printed for a fee - check out more here and below!
Hasbro and Shapeways want you to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.
The announcement is an expansion of the two companies’ new partnership; last month they launched a joint venture to allow select independent artists to post and sell their My Little Pony creations on their new collaboration site superfanart.com. The companies would split the revenue from art sales based on the kitschy, popular colorful horses.
[...]
"It was clear to me when we were only doing original work that the next big step is derivative work,” says Shapeways’ cofounder and CEO Peter Weijmarshausen, explaining the movement into a new area for the company. He also explains that the project came together relatively quickly, moving forward in just the last few months after some initial discussions with Hasbro at Maker Faire earlier this year. “Hasbro has the attitude to enable rather than disable,” he says.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Flashwave
Aug 26, 2014
I was waiting on this to come up. Glad to see its beign handled tastefully,although I imnagine a lot of hurt feelings over raised licensing costs.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Convoy
Aug 26, 2014
I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Gallifreyan Autobot
Aug 26, 2014
i know this might be a stupid question but would this go for pretty much everything on Creative round up and all of them fanfics? 
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by Rated X
Aug 26, 2014
I was under the assumption that "fan art" was always going to be considered fan art. Honestly I see this business collaboration with Hasbro as a downfall for fans. Expect to see the prices go up on anything that resembles Hasbro IP. Probably to the point where printing a full non assembled figure costs as much as buying a 3rd party figure. And that’s not including the cost of paint plus hours of sanding. In my opinion, Shapways sold out.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Nah, just on designs printed and purchased/sold via Shapeways. So figures, not visual art, fiction or the such.
Comment by Va'al
Aug 26, 2014
Autobot tap out wrote:i know this might be a stupid question but would this go for pretty much everything on Creative round up and all of them fanfics?
Nah, just on designs printed and purchased/sold via Shapeways. So figures, not visual art, fiction or the such.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.
Comment by MCutter
Aug 26, 2014
Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!
I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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I haven't bought anything from Shapeways or Renderform yet, and honestly haven't been following it that closely, but the first thing I will buy when I get around to it is that cassette scorpion. Though close kin of the IDW-esque Rewind in the thumbnail, could Hasbro really do anything about that particular item? Stinger only exists in an early draft of the TF:TM script, without so much as concept art for this or any other toy to bear a distinct likeness to. Just a quick description of something that never officially existed.
Expensive gestalt teams are the 3rd party items that get the most attention while Impossible Toys is going out of business, but the stuff they made their mark with might be most relevant here. If it's a design from TF media that Hasbro never has and never will touch in the official toy department (Quints, Prime hand blasters), what exactly could Hasbro do, and would they even bother? Also, if the printed object was something that would never pass U.S. toy safety standards, might Hasbro be so tepid about having their name associated with it in any way that they wouldn't even try to block it?
Factor in the threat of backlash from biting too many of the hands that feed them via sweeping 3rd party crackdown, since anyone who buys 3rd party stuff surely collects plenty of the real deal as well, and Hasbro will surely be tiptoeing cautiously into this printable minefield.
Comment by Bumblevivisector
Aug 26, 2014
Maybe, but I think it'll still be a while before Hasbro can tell just how far its foot can get into the 3D printable market. There be much blurriness between distinct likenesses and same-general-ideas here.MCutter wrote:Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!
I'm pretty sure that's how you should read it.
Once Hasbro has a foot in the door of the third party market it'll give them grounds to try and take control of those products and profits. Designers should probably expect an increase in cease and desist notices on products that "threaten Hasbro's market", unless one agrees to license their work out to Hasbro.
I haven't bought anything from Shapeways or Renderform yet, and honestly haven't been following it that closely, but the first thing I will buy when I get around to it is that cassette scorpion. Though close kin of the IDW-esque Rewind in the thumbnail, could Hasbro really do anything about that particular item? Stinger only exists in an early draft of the TF:TM script, without so much as concept art for this or any other toy to bear a distinct likeness to. Just a quick description of something that never officially existed.
Expensive gestalt teams are the 3rd party items that get the most attention while Impossible Toys is going out of business, but the stuff they made their mark with might be most relevant here. If it's a design from TF media that Hasbro never has and never will touch in the official toy department (Quints, Prime hand blasters), what exactly could Hasbro do, and would they even bother? Also, if the printed object was something that would never pass U.S. toy safety standards, might Hasbro be so tepid about having their name associated with it in any way that they wouldn't even try to block it?
Factor in the threat of backlash from biting too many of the hands that feed them via sweeping 3rd party crackdown, since anyone who buys 3rd party stuff surely collects plenty of the real deal as well, and Hasbro will surely be tiptoeing cautiously into this printable minefield.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by ausbot
Aug 26, 2014
So this means that this stuff is now sort of official! Hmm now I'm interested.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by SKYWARPED_128
Aug 26, 2014
As it is, Shapeways is already taking the lion's share of the profits made from each sale. With Hasbro's in on it too, does that mean even slimmer profits for the artist?
"...The companies would split the revenue...."
So, what's in it for the artist himself? Free advertising for his work?
A more important question: If a designer's work is not accepted by Hasbro, is he still able to sell them at Shapeways? Except for complete transforming figures (and even that is an open-ended question), AFAIK weapons and accessories aren't officially copyrighted. This is especially true for add-on parts and original weapons, where the designs are 100% made by the artist and not copied from onscreen CGI models or concept art.
"...The companies would split the revenue...."
So, what's in it for the artist himself? Free advertising for his work?
A more important question: If a designer's work is not accepted by Hasbro, is he still able to sell them at Shapeways? Except for complete transforming figures (and even that is an open-ended question), AFAIK weapons and accessories aren't officially copyrighted. This is especially true for add-on parts and original weapons, where the designs are 100% made by the artist and not copied from onscreen CGI models or concept art.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Comment by OptimalOptimus2
Aug 26, 2014
Fan made artwork into toys eh? I wonder if I could get all of my characters in Transformers: Advanced Combat into toys. Probably not! Oh well it's just a dream. Just a dream folks.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.
Comment by Flashwave
Aug 26, 2014
Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!
Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.
Re: Press Release: Hasbro & Shapeways Expand Partnership to New Properties Including Transformers
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The question is, what does Hasbro consider as "derivative work"? Does one consider a transforming cassette robot a derivative work of the Transformers brand, even if it bears no aesthetic resemblance to Hasbro's copyrighted material and has an original transformation sequence?
Weapons and accessories are even more of a gray area.
It's all open to interpretation, so it's really a matter of how generous Hasbro feels in letting independent 3d designers do their own thing. Generally-speaking, though, Hasbro has been quite nice to it's collector fanbase, so it's unlikely that they'll pull a Harmony Gold with this.
Comment by SKYWARPED_128
Aug 26, 2014
Flashwave wrote:Convoy wrote:I misread that first line as, 'Hasbro and Shapeways want to profit from your fan-made artwork based on Hasbro toys.' twice!
Okay, stop. No. This is not artwork. This is product. Artwork is stuff on canvas, or digital prints or one off customs. And even then sketchy (get it?) If art is being sold en masse by amteur artists Because its still Hasbro intellectual property. There is no difference between Shapeways and Fansproject beyond the material used for assembly.
The question is, what does Hasbro consider as "derivative work"? Does one consider a transforming cassette robot a derivative work of the Transformers brand, even if it bears no aesthetic resemblance to Hasbro's copyrighted material and has an original transformation sequence?
Weapons and accessories are even more of a gray area.
It's all open to interpretation, so it's really a matter of how generous Hasbro feels in letting independent 3d designers do their own thing. Generally-speaking, though, Hasbro has been quite nice to it's collector fanbase, so it's unlikely that they'll pull a Harmony Gold with this.
