It Came from the Toy Chest: 3D Printing is Magic!

No, I am not talking about the Cool 3D Printed MLP statues that you can get from shapeways, but I AM talking about stuff that you CAN get on Shapeways:

-DJ Force's Trap Jaw 200X Upgrade
-Evilmike's Horde Leader sword (designed by Chris Sunday and yours truly)
-Der Waffen Meister's Ninja Nunchucks without chain

Before I get on with the not really a review, but more of a showcase; I need to point something out.

Shapeways NEEDS to improve their shipping options to Puerto Rico. While UPS is a nifty option, having a Post Office as my only shipping Address can be a bit of a bitch to get my items...

Now unto the items:

I'll remove that sprue once I get the chain!!

I'll start with the ninja nunchucks, because these are very straight forward. These are my plan A to "Fix" some issues with Ninjor Ninja Warrior coming soon for MOTUC Subscribers. The figure has nunchucks, just like we remember, but they are one piece of soft plastic. Think most of the Playmates Michelangelo nunchuks kind of thing. These very inexpensive set allows you to fix that. There is an option that has the chain sculpted in 3D plastic, so you don't have to get your own chain.
I got it in black plastic to avoid the need to paint the nunchuck and cause some paint to stick to the figure's hands... especially a figure with RED Gloves. So, I got a set of chucks. I need to get the chain for it though. Also, if you can get a small ball and add an eye hook to it you could make a pair of chain whips out of the ninja chucks without chain... But this will wait on for a little bit since Ninja Warrior won't be here until Early March.

Hey! These are supposed to be Gunmetal black!

Now, I'll take on the most expensive item in the set, because it's also two pieces.
Trap Jaw's 200X Armor. I mean, it's no secret that I prefer the 200X Designs in most cases for MOTUC. Some of my 200X-ized MOTUC have made it to multiple reviews. Also, the reason why I'm super excited for February's items... (Ninjor will donate Jitsu the 200X loincloth and a 200X He-Man and Hiss will join the shelf...) So, I don't need to explain this armor too much... Hopefully sometime in the future, DJ Force can figure out a way to make Trap Jaw's 200X Weapons in MOTUC Scale and Style to complete the look. I have to admire the cleverness of how this works!

TJ: "I'm 200X-ized and ready to kick ass!"
Rammy:"Uh! You need a black MEF crotch to be 200X-ized"
TJ:"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFU-!"

The Shoulderpad clips on the Actual right Shoulder while the shield clips on to the mecharm! No glue or other frankensteining is required! Now, I have to say this: If you can, go straight for the black plastic one. It's a bit more expensive and not polished, but you won't have to paint much.
Once you paint it, it looks AMAZING!! I later went in with a second coat of gloss black with a bit of metallic black mixed in to make it pop!
I'd recommend a semi-gloss clear coat if you want to make it match the completed toy look.


The last item is the Horde Leader Sword. This one has a REALLY LONG Explanation.
In the Standor Review, I did make some crude drawings showing ideas for weapons. So, a long time ago I had made a crude drawing on an idea for a Horde Sword... Mostly to showcase the shape and color palette. I was able to find a copy of the original drawing that you can see on the left. (I just noticed that the blade is a bit off-center. Bugging me a lot now...) The Horde Insignia was lacking the details on purpose. I just made the shape of the insignia as a placeholder.

a WHITE Sword in one go!? It took *snort*
3 Tries for Mattel to give me a white
*snort* Crossbow and I had to get a cherry clone
in order to get it! 

The design was improved A LOT by Chris. You can see the added details on the Middle prong and how elegant the blade looks now. Fitting for an evil ruler.
The improved sword was made in 3D by Evil Mike and is available to everybody via his Shapeways shop.

The sword is TECHNICALLY SPEAKING a Trident. The inspiration for Hordak having a Trident came from the Classic imagery of the devil with his Pitchfork. Since, the Horde is basically the BIG Evil in MOTU... (not counting UNO here.), then the pitchfork made sense.

Let's take a look at the three blades once more. The two thinner ones look a bit fang like. Almost like Vampire fangs, right? The third prong is the bat's tongue. The handle is meant to mimic the Hordak Staff Handle. The Handguard is quite obvious. Horde Sword and no Horde Handguard would be wrong.

That was the ORIGINAL Reasoning behind the original design which was mostly the crude shape of it and the palette. Chris Refined the look and embellished the blade making it a regal weapon for the Ruthless (sometimes Evil) Leader of the Evil Horde.

There is an extra aspect that I hadn't noticed. The shape of the whole thing...
It's basically BOTH Versions of the vintage Power Sword...

Ah *snort* the Twins of Power! I have a sword too!

The Original look and the 200X Pitch where Skeletor had both halves of the sword and He-Man needed a Techno Sword.

Now to explain the color choices on my Horde Blade.
The Handle is mimicking the Staff. The red bat used the last bit of dark red that I had. The middle prong is in light Crimson with a metallic rust color (mix of copper and crimson) which is inspired by the whole Power Sword idea mentioned a bit early. Of course you can paint it in any color scheme that you like.



Now, at the end of the day, the whole 3D printed item business is a tad too expensive when factoring in the shipping costs. These pieces are not toys and are not meant to be played with. They are a bit on the Fragile side, so they might break if handled too roughly. As display pieces they are AMAZEBALLS!! I mean, just look at them. They can help to spice up some displays. Not to mention the other stuff that I did not buy. IF Shapeways figures out that USPS CAN deliver to PO Boxes in Puerto Rico, then I may be ordering a lot more from the various MOTUC Shapeways artists.