Wargames shows and 3d printing - a gripe

[Robosmith]

Going to almost any comic convention today and 90% of the stalls will be selling funko pops. Cheap disposable tat with no value but easy impulse purchasing or rarity dominates the entire convention scene. If you want a good deal you look for one online because conventions just aren't the niche specialist things they used to be any more.

The big 3D printing companies don't tell you who sculpted their stuff or who designed it. They're all.. model mills? Not sure on the right term here because the designers and sculptures are almost always free lancers with 1 dude sitting at the top deciding which warhammer army to clone. They're way more nomadic and flightly since it's digital all the way down. You would be shocked how many of them don't even print their own models before release.

Commercial licenses in 3d printing don't exist. It's a digital format so piracy is rampant and there's no way to control it and no one's going to go knocking on doors over 'illegal 3d print selling'. The business model these companies use is really crappy for everyone involved except it lets them keep a pretty stable income the same way Amazon Prime makes a killing off of people who forget to unsubscribe. As someone who 3D prints a lot and buys very little.. The current business model is unsustainable and very bad for creativity in general. As with most online content models like this the top 1% make 99% of the money and everyone else gets diddly squat. Customers can't selectively support stuff (No I don't want 3 furry final fantasy characters and a goofer with a rocket launcher. I just want the one sci fi dude please!) so you end up with a mess of conflicting and half-finished army releases chasing GW's latest releases.

Maybe I'm old and cynical now but the convention concept seems really outdated to me. Everything except meeting up to host large competitive play can be done better else where. Online shopping is easier and cheaper, marketing no longer has to rely on you seeing it in person, you can network online and most of us are chubby lads who can't be bothered to travel several hours to get squished in crowds and paying £6 for a cup of tea. Low hanging fruit is really the only people who need to sell at conventions any more and they're more likely to jack the price up than reduce it. It's another one of those sub cultures that's really changed in the last 20 years. It's not just wargaming taking the hit either, almost every large event has this same problem of cheap junk stalls replacing passionate and unique aspects of these shows.

[mikedemana]

Commercial licenses in 3d printing don't exist.

Are you sure that is true? I have a friend who insists he paid more for the STLs (I'm assuming that's the term for digital files) from a company so that he could sell them. He has no reason to lie to me, so I find it hard to believe that you can't buy these files with permission to print and sell (as opposed to reselling the STLs). It is logical that every designer who creates these files do not necessarily want to be involved in massive printing, cataloging inventory, shipping, dealing with customer complaints for damaged products upon receipt, etc.

Mike Demana

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Are you sure that is true? I have a friend who insists he paid more for the STLs (I'm assuming that's the term for digital files) from a company so that he could sell them. He has no reason to lie to me, so I find it hard to believe that you can't buy these files with permission to print and sell (as opposed to reselling the STLs). It is logical that every designer who creates these files do not necessarily want to be involved in massive printing, cataloging inventory, shipping, dealing with customer complaints for damaged products upon receipt, etc.

Mike Demana

They exist, but are very hard to enforce.  I see knockoffs of my copyrighted jewelry work almost every week and it’s not even easily duplicated digital files.  (Most of this was made from 3d meshes created by analyzing just my website photos). I send out cease and desist letters all the time but Chinese factories in Thailand still steal the IP and flood the market. No artist is compensated.