FigurePrints
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FigurePrints now immortalizing your Minecraft world with real-world replicas
Ed Fries is a former VP of publishing at Microsoft, Ouya advisor and the creator of Halo 2600 – he's got quite the resume. He also founded FigurePrints, a company known for making real-life recreations of your in-game content, like statues modeled after World of Warcraft avatars. Now FigurePrints is recreating Minecraft worlds.If you're interested, you'll first want to install FigurePrints' world exporter, compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows XP. Once you've installed the exporter, you can select a portion of your MineCraft PC world and upload it to FigurePrints where its artists will re-create your lovingly-crafted game world into a physical model. Then you only need to place your order and wait impatiently for the box to hit your doorstep. As for price, FingerPrints says "replicas of Minecraft worlds significantly vary in cost," based on the size of the area recreated.
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway: FigurePrint Statue
12 Days of Winter Veil is under way here at WoW Insider. That means 12 days of giveaways, from loot codes to gaming mice to decor and apparel. Whether you've been a good goblin or a naughty night elf, there's a chance that WoW Insider has a holiday gift for you this season. FigurePrints are, in my opinion, one of the coolest pieces of WoW merchandise out there. I've had my tier 6 priest sitting above my desk since 2009. A personalized, physical representation of years of gaming memories? Yes, please! Today, we're thrilled to give away a voucher for a free FigurePrint statue courtesy of FigurePrints. Want to know how these prints are made? Watch the video embedded above! To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. ET, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. Make sure the email address you use to post entry comments is one you check regularly, because that's how we'll contact our winners. We will pick one winner randomly. Official rules here.
FigurePrints now offering goblin and worgen character options
FigurePrints, the service who takes your WoW characters and turns them into a 3D replica miniature, has updated their lineup to include goblin and worgen characters! Players can go to the FigurePrints site, import their character information from the Blizzard Armory, and start customizing their personal WoW character figure or bust. Also, FigurePrints is now offering armor customization all the way up to raid tier 11 sets and PvP season 9 for your character to wear. People have been asking when goblins and worgen would be available in the FigurePrints store ever since Cataclysm was released. I know a few people with FigurePrints of their characters and they are pleased with the results. One of the coolest aspects of FigurePrints and their 3D printers are watching how the figures are actually made. Thankfully, FigurePrints has a whole page dedicated to seeing how it works! There goes 10 minutes of my day...
'Unleash' your Xbox Avatar with wall graphics and figures
Admit it, you like your Xbox Live Avatar. It's like an action figure version of yourself. But what if you could have a real-life action figure of your Avatar? Wouldn't that be awesome? If you want to indulge your more narcissistic tendencies, Microsoft has some new options to "unleash" your Avatar: Decorate your home with you -- get a custom wall print to make your Avatar larger than life; or have your Avatar stand proudly next to your GI Joe collection by ordering a miniature figurine; or even have your Avatar etched onto the back of a Zune media player. Before you unleash, check your wallet. A "jumbo" wall print will set you back $150, while a 16GB Zune with Avatar etching costs $170. In comparison, the $60 asking price for a figurine doesn't sound so bad. [Thanks Ben F!]
Win one of three free FigurePrints Busts
Bad news, folks -- some of you are in for a day-long maintenance period today, which means no WoW for you until tomorrow. We know, we know, life is hard to bear sometimes. But we've got just the thing to cheer you up! We're teaming up with FigurePrints to give away three of their new busts -- customizable high-detail statuettes based on your WoW character -- for free! How can you get in on the action, you ask? All you have to do is comment on this post between now and 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, June 11 with the answer to this question: "What would be engraved on a statue of your character?" We'll randomly pick three winners who'll receive gift certificates for a free FigurePrints bust. It's that simple! Of course, there are some other rules. Winners must be legal residents of the United States or Canada (except Quebec). You may only enter once, and winners must be 18 years of age or older. Make sure your email address is up to date, as we'll be using email to contact the winners. Click here for official rules.
FigurePrints announces Busts
FigurePrints announced that they are now creating busts of your character. You give them your character's name and server and they will produce a statuette of your character's head and shoulders on a World of Warcraft labeled stand. They are being offered now at $69.95, which is quite a bit less than the full statuette at $129.95. Half the fun of this announcement is the fact that you can get a preview of what your character's bust will look like. You can choose to not show the helm, cloak and/or tabard. Or you can have your character wear one of several armor sets available. I don't know if this was announced today in honor of Boobquake, but I like to think it is. Perhaps it's just the romantic in me.
Razer and FigurePrints hold another Facebook contest
You'd better level out of those mismatched greens quick, because Razer and FigurePrints are doing that whole Facebook thing again. You actually have to be on Facebook to join since you need to write on Razer's wall and all that. I know, bummer, right? But it's a free $129 worth of three dimensional badassery -- assuming you're not wearing clown suit greens or something -- which should be tons better than playing Mafia Wars. No, really, stop sending me requests to whack somebody. That's just mean.The figures are made through an interesting process (watch the video, it's awesome), and I wish I could get my own characters immortalized in resin powder, too. All you have to do is write on the contest page answering the question, "What World of Warcraft race/class do you play and why should your toon get the FigurePrints treatment?" The winner will be revealed in four days or so, and just like our contests over here at WoW.com, posting more than once will get you into all sorts of trouble with ninjas (or just disqualified, I think). Speaking of contests, we're still looking for some lucky readers to win those World of Warcraft headsets from Creative. So much swag being thrown around these days! Statues? Headsets? What's next, Thrall underoos? Stay tuned.
Razer and Figureprints hold contest over at Facebook
The social media convergence continues! Razer and FigurePrints have teamed up over at Facebook to hold a contest for World of Warcraft players, giving away a custom WoW FigurePrint to fans who write on their Facebook note. The contest is simple -- FigurePrints simply asks, "What WoW Race/Class do you play and why should your toon get the FigurePrints treatment?"The winner will be announced in five days (well, four now... time's running down, tick-tock!) and they remind everyone to answer only once. Fans who submit multiple entries will be disqualified. Exactly what role Razer, a company that makes gaming peripherals, has in this contest aside from promoting it on their Facebook page, I have no idea. But if you've been looking to immortalize your character but didn't have the spare $129 lying around, here's your chance! At any rate, if you don't win, you might want to console yourself with a cute, little FigurePet.
FigurePets: A Croc, an Egg and a Willy?
Back in June I brought you the news that FigurePrints were bringing out a new range in their 3D printed collectable WoW models named FigurePets. The original line up featured a limited run of three non-combat pets: The Clockwork Rocket Bot, Stinker the Skunk, and Speedy the Turtle -- who was by far my favorite!For the readers out there who were fortunate enough to get their hands on a set of the original FigurePets then you can attest to how awesome they really are -- these little guys rock! I've got mine standing in formation around my Kungen FigurePrint letting everyone who comes near my computer know that I am a WoW player (or should that be "playa?" It does sound far more "gangsta" that way). So it gives me great pleasure to inform you that FigurePets are back with a brand new limited series of three new non-combat pets. The line up this time is as follows:
FigurePrints price reduction, armor sets available
Our friends over at FigurePrints have a few pieces of news to share this weekend: first of all, they've dropped the price in the EU from €129.95 (which was about $166) to €99.95, which lines up with the US price of $129.95. The reason given for the original higher price was exchange rates, but they now say things have settled down enough where they can line up the prices. No word on if EU people who ordered them at the higher price will be getting a refund, so I'd assume they won't.Also, they have now implemented the Tier armor sets we were told about in our interview at BlizzCon -- instead of ordering a FigurePrint with your usual gear on it, you can instead choose to dress your character in Tier 1, 2, or 3, dungeon set 1 or 2, or the original PvP Rare or Epic armor sets. That's designed so that characters don't have to go back and collect all of those pieces -- if you'd rather remember your character in that original armor from the vanilla game, there you go.
The Queue: A message from the past
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday afternoon. I know I am! Well, actually, I don't know that. I'm writing this Sunday night, and I don't have a time machine powerful enough to show me what's happening tomorrow afternoon. Ideally, though? I'm having a wonderful time. Ask me tomorrow (which is today), and maybe I'll have a different answer.Ryael asked..."I was watching the BlizzCon feed online and there was a short interview with a man that was advertising how you could purchase a sizeable poster with one of our characters on it. Any idea what site that was from?"
BlizzCon 2009: Ed Fries of Figureprints
FigurePrints was at BlizzCon again this year, and we stopped by their booth to say hi to our friend Ed Fries -- his company has been making virtual World of Warcraft characters into real-life 3D figurines for a couple of years now. Since the last time we'd spoken, FigurePrints had not only raised their prices, but we'd unveiled their new FigurePets series right here on WoW.com. Fries gave us a few more things to unveil in this exclusive interview, including the fact that FigurePets will have another series get released next month, and that they're planning to offer some new options to players who want to print characters out but don't have the time to go find their favorite armor. Additionally, we asked him about the price raise, and what the company planned to do about people who really wanted to immortalize their figures but didn't really want to spend all that money.Additionally, we've got a short video after the break showing one of their employees manually removing some of the powder from a newly printed figurine in the booth at BlizzCon. It doesn't have much explanation of what he's doing (for more on the process, you can see last year's BlizzCon interview), but you can see inside the printer and what it's like to create these figures.
wowtwitter giving away a FigurePrint for a screenshot contest
We've talked about wowtwitter here on the site before -- they're the ones who created a whole other Twitter-like service just for your WoW characters (and that featured verification of your toons, so that no one else could claim or tweet as them). The site is definitely growing, but they wanted to give it that extra oomph, and so they're giving away a free FigurePrint to someone who joins up and posts a special screenshot. If you want a chance at the prize, what you've got to do is log in to the site and verify your character (as we said last time, it requires that you remove a piece of gear and then log out so the Armory can see the change), and then use their new screenshot uploading tool to post a screenshot with "wowtwitter" somewhere in the picture. Then they'll take the screenshots with the top three "like" totals (other users on the site can approve of your uploads), and the one they choose will win a real-life 3D sculpture of their character from FigurePrints.Seem like a lot of work? It does to us, too, but FigurePrints are still $130, so if you want a representation of your character but don't want to cough up the cash, this is probably easier. So good luck to everyone who enters -- the contest runs through July 31st, so you've got a little bit of time to get your picture in and get it voted up somehow.
TurpsterVision: FigurePets Unveiling
We can't believe it either – Turpster has been let loose on WoW.com to bring you videos from in and around the World of Warcraft! You've heard him on The WoW Insider Show now see him on TurpsterVision right here on WoW.comToday FigurePrints revealed their brand new line of 3D printed WoW products in the form of 3-piece collectible non-combat pets -- FigurePets! As always I was on hand with a camera, a knife and a box of products to open cautiously on camera to give you the first impressions on this exciting new product range.Also I managed to sit down with Ed Fries, the FigurePrint founder, and ask him a few questions about the new FigurePets and what else might be on the horizon for 3D Printed WoW Products.Behind the break you'll find the video, interview and a photo gallery of the FigurePets.
TurpsterVision: FigurePrints review
We can't believe it either – Turpster has been let loose on WoW.com to bring you videos from in and around the World of Warcraft! You've heard him on The WoW Insider Show now see him on TurpsterVision right here on WoW.com This past week I undertook an epic unveiling of not so epic proportions in opening up my very own FigurePrint. Fortunately for you, the lucky viewer, I've captured this live on video -- a first encounter of the most awesome kind -- which can be found below the break!The first thing that struck me upon opening the package was the weight of it all; the dome is real glass and is a fantastic way to display your character, keeping them free from dust and many other household evils that lurk outside of Azeroth. The reason I would want to go for a FigurePrint would be to immortalize my character, preserving the culmination of four and a half years hard gaming, and this extra layer of protection allows that to happen. It does however present a barrier, much like we have when playing the game, where we can't touch our character (This statement takes on a whole different meaning with some of Night Elf female mailbox dancers out there) but obviously it serves the purpose of protecting the FigurePrint so I guess I can let it slide.Click on past the break to catch the video and check out the gallery getting up close and personal with FigurePrints!
FigurePrints celebrates Ulduar with 10% discount
In celebration of the release of Patch 3.1, Secrets of Ulduar, FigurePrints is having a little sale. When placing your order, if you enter the promotional code 'ULDUARSECRET' you'll get 10% off of the price of your Print. Normal price being $129.95, you get $13 off bringing the subtotal to $116.95. Shipping is about $20, so your print would come to $136.90. This sale will only last through the 30th, so you have a little under two weeks to make your purchase.I suspect that discounted price is still too high for most people, and only the crazy folk like me will pick up on it. I bought a FigurePrint at full price awhile back, and it was certainly worth it to me, even if the print was much smaller than I expected it to be. It was less a monument to my character, and more a little physical memory of what I've been doing for four years. That's worth $150 to me. To most people? Probably not. That's rather steep for what you get, even if it is crafted for your character.
Figureprints in the EU
Our buddies over at Figureprints, the company that makes custom 3D printed sculptures of your WoW characters, have expanded their business yet again -- this time, they're opening the doors to you EU players. Ed Fries, who we have spoken with twice now, says that they are finally ready to expand overseas, and EU players can now order their own custom figurines through the website.There is a small catch, however -- at this point, while there is no lottery as far as we know, they are charging European customers €129.95, which ends up being about $166, or about $30 more than the US price of $129.95. And obviously shipping overseas from the company's HQ here in America probably won't be too cheap either, and shipping is extra no matter where you're buying the figures from. It looks like Figureprints just figured they'd charge "129.95" to both sides of the world, but thanks to the exchange rate, EU folks are actually paying more.But then again, we're guessing that people who have been waiting for their chance in the EU to pick one of these up will probably go for the higher price anyway. Figureprints started out a little rough with their limited production capabilities, and a few early bumps in quality, but lately it seems like they're rolling along better than ever.
Figureprints lottery is over
Blizzard has posted on the official WoW site that the Figureprints lottery is over, and though there are no big news items over on the Figureprints site, all mentions of the lottery have disappeared also, so it looks like if you've been waiting for demand to clear up over there to order your figure, now's your chance. Figureprints is a company we've covered extensively here at WoW Insider - they'll make little custom statues of your character with a 3D printer. A print will run you $129.95, but if you're willing to pay for it, you can have a custom-made real-life souvenir of the toon you've spent so much time playing in game.The last time we talked to the guys over there they were working on all kinds of ways to make printing the figures easier and better, and it looks like they've found a few: Blizzard says that better methods have led to increased production, so even if you haven't heard from your lottery entry yet, odds are that you will soon. Unfortunately, they still haven't landed on a way to print out Hunter and Warlock pets to go along with those figures (their site still says they're working out how best to do it), so if you want Battlecatlol to go with your Hunter, Hemanlol, you'll have to wait a while longer.Of course, like Rossi, you might still be saying to yourself, "what's the point?" But if you do want one, now's apparently the time to come and get it.
BlizzCon 2008: A followup with FigurePrints
Last time we talked to Ed Fries, he was a man setting out with a brand-new company, new not only in terms of age, but new in that they were doing something no one had ever tried before: bringing 3D printing to retail. FigurePrints started printing 3D figurines of WoW characters last year, and since then, they've been through good and bad (the earliest figures were plagued by quality concerns, but the company is doing well enough that they've even raised the price since they started already). So we were very curious to each up with Ed at BlizzCon and see how things were going. Was demand still up? Has the process changed at all? How's the quality thing being dealt with? And we were perhaps most curious about just what people were putting on their figures when they got them printed.Ed answered all of our questions and more: demand is still up, quality is getting better, and people are dressing in.. tuxedos and beer steins? Click the link below to check out our second interview with Ed Fries, founder of FigurePrints, and catch up on the company that promises to bring your virtual WoW characters to real life.
BlizzCon 2008 Breakfast Topic: We need your questions
Today's the day! BlizzCon 2008 is underway in Anaheim, and WoW Insider is of course here -- stay tuned all day today for news from the panels going on all morning and afternoon. We're going to see Blizzard, talk to Blizzard, listen to Blizzard, and if we can get close enough, we may even smell Blizzard, too (Bornakk probably has a musky Old Spice kind of odor, right? Chris Metzen probably smells like bourbon and granite).And we need your help -- let us know what you want us to ask Blizzard. Is there a class question you need an answer to, or something that's been bugging you since launch? Want to know something about Wrath of the Lich King that we haven't heard yet?And let us know if there's anyone else you'd like us to talk to -- FigurePrints, Upper Deck, and DC Comics are all here, and we'll be talking to the folks from The Guild later today, so let us know what you want to know and we'll make sure you get to know it. Thanks, and enjoy the show -- we definitely will.
