Hasbro Is Letting Kids Make Themselves Into Superhero Action Figures Through 3D Printing

Business Insider/Rebecca Borison

Have you ever dreamed of being a superhero? What it would be like to swoop in and save the day? Well for a limited time, you can now create a 3D printed action figure that looks just like you.

Hasbro, Marvel, Walmart, and 3DPlusMe all teamed up to launch the “Super Awesome Me” experience, which scans your face to turn you into a superhero.

“There’s been this pent up demand for putting yourself into the fantasy,” Hasbro’s senior marketing director Kenny Davis told Business Insider. “They’re playing with these action figures, and they’re imagining themselves as those action figures, so it was just a very obvious thing to be able to literally give them the ability to make themselves into Ironman or into Captain America.”

From Sept. 19-28, 10 Walmarts and two Sam’s Clubs in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston will feature the “Super Awesome Me” experience in their stores. You’ll be able to scan your face in 30 seconds, select a superhero (Iron Man or Captain America), and see the superhero version of yourself come to life.

If you choose to order the 12″ action figure for $45, within four weeks Sam’s Club will ship it to you and Walmart will let you pick it up from the store.

While the price point is definitely higher than your average action figure, Davis doesn’t think it will necessarily be a huge obstacle for parents, since they will not only be getting a toy for their child but also a 3D capture of their child at age 7 or 8, which could take family photo albums to the next level.

And even just getting the price point down to $45 was a feat in itself, made possible only because of 3D printing. To create a personalized action figure using traditional manufacturing could cost tens of thousands of dollars and take three months in order to create the unique mold. 3D printing brings that cost and timeframe down significantly.

“It really wasn’t’t possible before, it was way too expensive, the technology wasn’t there to make it so you could actually have it delivered at a price point that a mass consumer could buy it,” CEO of 3DPlusMe Cydni Tetro told Business Insider.

This is what the whole machine looks like.

Business Insider/Rebecca Borison

And here’s me getting scanned.

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After my image was captured I got to pick between Iron Man and Captain America.

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I went with Iron Man.

Business Insider/Rebecca Borison

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