With Super Fan Art looking to be one of the big new pushes for pony figures this holiday season from Hasbro and Shapeways, I figured it would be a good idea to grab some for review! And since my Celestia, Nightmare Moon, and Zecora stockpiles were running a little dry, I settled for these three. So far we haven't had a whole lot of them pop up in the molded line without copying the same template, probably due to the complexities of their jewelry, armor, and flowy manes.
3D Printing is something I've been following for a while now (Mainly via the various kickstarter machines), and I've collected a few "versions" of the technology over time. As someone who checks /r/futurology religiously, this stuff fascinates me.
So how did the Shapeways Sandstone versions measure up? Find out below!
Lets start with the non-alicorn. Zecora doesn't have a whole lot of merchandise out there, with only a blindbag and brushable to her name from the figurine side. This is also my favorite of the three. The good thing about 3D print vs. the usual plastic molding is the intricate details that can go into smaller items like her jewelry. While the others tend to be painted on, these are each built from individual links, in a much more orderly fashion.
The main thing that I like about this one though, is the front on view. Very rarely do we see a good head-on view of any pony figures, with Funko popping fish eyes sometimes, blindbags being uneven with the paint. Zecora just looks perfect. The eye sockets are actually indented in, even though the image above doesn't show that very well, and her nose is as expected from the show.
I do need to make a mension though, that all of these figures are extremely fragile. Unfortunately my Zecora came with a broken off tail. I had to glue it back on with a bit of super glue. They definitely aren't toys, and hopefully your delivery guy doesn't jostle them around too much. Consider them full on collectables. Luckily the quality level lets them get away with it, and it's an easy fix.
I think Celestia here is a testament to what can be accomplished by 3D printing. Everything about this one is intricate, from the individual feathers to the hoofboots. She also had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction in the mail though, with her wing coming unattached. The tiny pieces aren't something to jostle around, with an almost glasslike durability. You will want to keep Celestia especially in a safe place.
Loss of wing aside, the figurine as a whole does a great job of portraying her, with colors that were much more vibrant than I expected (usually my 3d prints are a lot more washed out). While they still have a bit of a white haze over them, the technology has obviously come a long way.
There is a bit of an issue with her mouth though. As you can see from the image above, the red they used bled over a bit, which compared to a lot of the other small details doesn't look very clean. With the eyes showing off even those little white shine bubbles, it was a bit disappointing to see the mouth smudged.
Nightmare Moon is your more standard pony pose, with the wings back and hooves straight. Fortunately she survived the delivery completely intact, even with the same wing style as Celestia. Each armor piece is molded on rather than painted, with her helmet popping out really well in comparison to the eye. Again, more bonuses of the 3D printing.
Front and back, I can't find anything to complain about. Like Celestia, the colors are well well done, especially for the use of black. Usually with powder based printing, darker colors are a lot more difficult to pull off. These just have a sort of shine to them. He front view looks sufficiently Nightmare Moony, with the usual sinister expression in full view.
And for a final quickie, have a size comparison. The Twilight Sparkle is Funko, and the Zecora on the right is from the Blindbag line. As you can see, they are a little bit bigger than a blindbag. These guys could use a bit more size on them, and they might be more durable because of it, but they fit in pretty well with other figures, albiet with a lot more detail and precision coloration.
Overall, I'm happy with how these turned out. They could probably ship them with a bit more support to avoid any limbs popping off in the mail, but aside from that they are what you would expect from a good quality 3D print. As most of you probably know by now, if these three aren't your thing, they have a whole bunch available in the sandstone lineup from various fandom artists. For specific characters, have some links:
Celestia
Zecora
Nightmare Moon
Hopefully we see their linup expand with even more artists in the near future! 3D printing is the future, and what better place to milk the hell out of the technology than with pony?
