MakerBot

We arrived yesterday to attend a class to find the store seemingly closed. The sign on the door was not too clear about that.

Do I NEED a 3D printer? No… but I know where to find one when I have $ 800 to burn.

I was very interested in purchasing a printer and was excited to literally stumble upon this place. The place was obviously interesting, but I found the staff lethargic and treated me like some ill-​informed newb (which I am), but isn’t that why they are there? Turned off of this company, especially after seeing the documentary on how douchy the company is.

Cute store, fun stuff. Interesting as hell. The big boy at the desk just could not be bothered. That was in July. I hope he has moved on to a comic book store or something.

This store is AMAZING.
It’s one thing for me to research 3D printing for a year and create a business plan out of it and it’s totally another thing to actually come to this store and physically see things being made. Mind blowingly refreshing, fun, and a visit that totally re-​energized and excited our team.
You know what’s the best part? FREEBIES. They have a whole bowl of freebies from models they make in store but don’t know what to do after. I got chains, I got bracelets, it was great :) teeheee.
They got a photo booth where they can scan your head and make a 3D model out of it. They have a bunch of creative, innovative toys made from 3D printing technology. You’ve got multiple makerbot machines going off making super cool things. There’s a 3D printed samurai head, a ukelele, rabbits. There’s also those token machines where you can get a little 3D printed toy– though a token costs $ 5.
Mixed feeling with the staff. The 2 gentlemen working on ⁴⁄₁₀ ~2pm could barely keep eye contact with us as we asked questions. They were distracted with what was on their computer screens. They lady, however, was really friendly and willing to help.
It’s really exciting where the engineering of 3D printing is heading. Stepping into ‘MakerBot’ will solidify this reality for you and leave you going ‘WOW.’

Super nice staff that is all about talking up the newest tech marvel — 3d printing. Yes, the printers are incredibly expensive (around 2k) — but if you’re reading a Unilocal review on this shop, you’re probably not actually going to buy one at this point.
Instead, head down to the store to see what the fad is all about. Yes, it is plastic doohickeys, made by feeding a string of plastic through what is essentially a hot glue gun that precisely lays down the plastic into 3d objects according to a computer program.
They are making some pretty cool things in shop — a large plastic model of a cathedral is being printed part by part, lots of gnomes, tiny models of fenway park and Copley hall (for sale for 5 dollars) and plastic bracelets they hand out to girls that hang out long enough.
I don’t know if going here will make you actually want to own a 3d printer — though a few were bought while I was there — but it is amazing to see this in person after hearing so much about it. I really can’t wait to see where this technology goes and what people do with it.

SO COOL. And scary.
The staff are nice and funny and they’ve got the machines running for you to see how things work.
Quite expensive, understandably, but they had a good sale before christmas.

I went to the new MakerBot store in Boston on Black Friday. Amazing technology at just under $ 2,000. They take an accretive (versus reductive) approach to 3D modeling, i.e., they don’t chip away at a medium, but use PVA to build surprisingly detailed things. A guy from the Boston ‘burbs built a prosthetic hand for his son. Amazing! With a $ 2,000 printer. Extraordinary! The staffer showing my son and I around was informative without being pedantic. And he gave my son a huge snowflake made with the MakerBot. I am getting one of these for Christmas.