It seems to me Cryptic could make a lot of money if they did a deal with a 3d printer in North America and Europe in order to allow our characters to be exported and printed.
I would gladly pay for a set of figures for my character, my crew, my ship (with registry number and name), any pets on the character, a specific pose for each character, etc.
It seems to me Cryptic could make a lot of money if they did a deal with a 3d printer in North America and Europe in order to allow our characters to be exported and printed.
Anyone know if this is on the cards?
I suggested this during beta, and I'm sure it has come up several times since then. Personally, I don't care as much about my crew, but I would love to have custom models of all of my ships made.
However, if merchandising for STO proceeds in typical Cryptic fashion, then we're not going to see anything happen with it. And I think that's a shame, because it could pull in a lot of money for Cryptic/Atari. Even if something like the 3-D printing is prohibitively expensive, they could do custom shirts with our ships and/or crew on them, or custom mouse pads, custom mugs, etc. etc. I don't know about you, but I'd get a bunch of custom shirts if I could have my ships on a shirt.
I suggested this during beta, and I'm sure it has come up several times since then. Personally, I don't care as much about my crew, but I would love to have custom models of all of my ships made.
However, if merchandising for STO proceeds in typical Cryptic fashion, then we're not going to see anything happen with it. And I think that's a shame, because it could pull in a lot of money for Cryptic/Atari. Even if something like the 3-D printing is prohibitively expensive, they could do custom shirts with our ships and/or crew on them, or custom mouse pads, custom mugs, etc. etc. I don't know about you, but I'd get a bunch of custom shirts if I could have my ships on a shirt.
Actually, I am a bit surprised there's not a comic book, especially looking at some of the comic tie ins that do exist.
(Case in point, the Star Trek/G.I.Joe/Transformers/Ghostbusters vs. Zombies crossover.)
The closest we got was Cryptic-designed uniforms in the Countdown comic.
This is a great idea, and is every time it's suggested.
Whether it was just the character, just the ship, or the whole crew, it would be awesome.
However, they would probably be very expensive for the project to be economically feasible to Cryptic/Atari (/CBS?).
Edit: This is what happens when you take too long to write a post... I think the idea of putting our ships on official mousepads/mugs/trading cards is terrific!
Although you may be able to do it yourself using Cafepress now...
Actually, I am a bit surprised there's not a comic book, especially looking at some of the comic tie ins that do exist.
(Case in point, the Star Trek/G.I.Joe/Transformers/Ghostbusters vs. Zombies crossover.)
The closest we got was Cryptic-designed uniforms in the Countdown comic.
Like I said, Cryptic tends to be bad at capitalizing on merchandising opportunities. STO may be a more difficult beast than their other properties (craptons of legal wrangling to worry about, I'm sure), but if you look at City of Heroes/Villains you can see what I mean. They had a unique IP that they could've marketed any way they wanted, and the only merchandise they had for a long time was a grand total of two T-shirt designs, some mediocre comic tie-ins, and some Heroclix figures.
Cryptic just doesn't have the lobes for merchandise, I guess.
Although you may be able to do it yourself using Cafepress now...
I've been thinking about doing just that. I'd like to find an artist to do a really nice drawing or rendering of a ship or two, then use CafePress to put it on a shirt or something. It's a shame I can't just go to the C-Store or something and do that.
This is one of those bad/good things. It's bad that we can't get them, but on the other hand with the amount of money us Trekkies are willing to part with for stuff like this it's also good because we also have to put dinner on the table.
If they released figureprints and such anytime soon my niece and nephew could say goodbye to any thought of a 3DS from their uncle.
I've been thinking about doing just that. I'd like to find an artist to do a really nice drawing or rendering of a ship or two, then use CafePress to put it on a shirt or something. It's a shame I can't just go to the C-Store or something and do that.
I haven't visited the site in a while, but mmoart.com would certainly do characters, and you could ask about doing ships as well.
Edit: Nevermind, the site is closed. Too bad, since there was some cool stuff. I'm sure there's something else like it out there, that does MMO characters for commission.
I wouldn't buy a 3d card of my captain, but I would almost certainly buy a crate of U.S.S. Eidolon figurines, complete with war paint, designation, sound effects, and glowing nacelles.
I used to be for this but honestly I can't exactly make out everyone the way I want them to be so... I'd rather just model them myself in 3d and then pay for a print of 'em.
I haven't visited the site in a while, but mmoart.com would certainly do characters, and you could ask about doing ships as well.
Edit: Nevermind, the site is closed. Too bad, since there was some cool stuff. I'm sure there's something else like it out there, that does MMO characters for commission.
There was some...unpleasantness with mmoart.com a while back (nothing I was personally involved in), so even if the site weren't closed I don't think I'd pay them for anything. The artist/founder was phenomenally good at art, but didn't have the lobes to make it a business.
Comments
Cryptic would make a killing off of me alone.
Go for it
However, if merchandising for STO proceeds in typical Cryptic fashion, then we're not going to see anything happen with it. And I think that's a shame, because it could pull in a lot of money for Cryptic/Atari. Even if something like the 3-D printing is prohibitively expensive, they could do custom shirts with our ships and/or crew on them, or custom mouse pads, custom mugs, etc. etc. I don't know about you, but I'd get a bunch of custom shirts if I could have my ships on a shirt.
I would love to have a statue of my captain, first officer and a miniature model of my ship all on the same base if possible. :P
Actually, I am a bit surprised there's not a comic book, especially looking at some of the comic tie ins that do exist.
(Case in point, the Star Trek/G.I.Joe/Transformers/Ghostbusters vs. Zombies crossover.)
The closest we got was Cryptic-designed uniforms in the Countdown comic.
Whether it was just the character, just the ship, or the whole crew, it would be awesome.
However, they would probably be very expensive for the project to be economically feasible to Cryptic/Atari (/CBS?).
Edit: This is what happens when you take too long to write a post... I think the idea of putting our ships on official mousepads/mugs/trading cards is terrific!
Although you may be able to do it yourself using Cafepress now...
Cryptic just doesn't have the lobes for merchandise, I guess.
I've been thinking about doing just that. I'd like to find an artist to do a really nice drawing or rendering of a ship or two, then use CafePress to put it on a shirt or something. It's a shame I can't just go to the C-Store or something and do that.
If they released figureprints and such anytime soon my niece and nephew could say goodbye to any thought of a 3DS from their uncle.
I haven't visited the site in a while, but mmoart.com would certainly do characters, and you could ask about doing ships as well.
Edit: Nevermind, the site is closed. Too bad, since there was some cool stuff. I'm sure there's something else like it out there, that does MMO characters for commission.
Christmas is coming, after all...