Hey there, everybody!
Now, I'm not going to lie. There was little work done this past week. We wrapped up the final birthday weekend for my kiddo with his first birthday with his grandparents (he turned 15 this year, so that was a big deal) and then I devoted a lot of free time to making stuff for Troxell's Trading Post.
For those who don't know, Troxell's Trading Post is something my kid and I put together to get some extra cash for our hobbies. He enjoys making Perler art, and beaded Kandi bracelets and has been slowly making some cool stuff for sale up on the site from stuff he likes that he doesn't see much merch from. Myself, well, you know I do 3D Printing, but I'm also working to relearn leather working, so I can do some cool simple stuff like dice trays and journal covers.
Now, those who do this sort of thing on top of a full-time job, I salute you. I never really considered the amount of work it took to make the items, photograph the items, crop the photos, and add a watermark, before uploading everything to the e-commerce site, writing up a description, figuring out categories and variations, deciding on a price that isn't too high but also isn't costing me money to make things, and then start promoting it. Even for just four items, this can take the better part of a day, so I feel like I should be pushing this a bit more to help cover my time!
In all seriousness, you know what my kiddo makes, and you've seen a portion of what I can print. I am currently paying the merchant license fees to be able to sell prints using files from Fate's End, MatMire Makes, Mystery Maker Studios, Big Fred's Customs, Galactic Armory, and Propsmaker. While I do try to only sell what I have in stock, I'm willing to work with friends on getting some pieces I wouldn't normally get printed made, though, for some of them, it'll cost a pretty penny. For example, there's the Optimus Prime helmet I made for display at VoltCon last year. That thing, for just the print itself, costs approximately $350, because it's a beefy boy. However, if you're looking at something more like a lightsaber or prop gun, those run significantly less, so far averaging around $25 for an articulated critter, $60-$75 for a dice tower, and $45-$75 for a prop replica. Heck, I've got the TNG Type 3 Phaser Rifle up on the site for $75, and I bought a resin kit in 1993 that was nowhere near as accurate and had some horrible seam lines for somewhere in the neighborhood of $100-$150. Sure, this one is a 3D print and will need the normal work, but it's still so much nicer than what I got as a teen.
Anyway, I'm doing this post today to try to get this out to more eyes. I'm running the shop on Square's free merchant platform for a bit, because I'm already in a good chunk of change every month to cover merchant license fees, and it does not have nearly the reach or discoverability of Etsy. However, Etsy is also home to all the IP lawyers, and since some of what I deal in is prop replicas, I figure it's best to not get caught in any nets over there.
So if something like this interests you, here's where you can find the shop and all associated social media:
If you could check it out, and share it around, that would be fantastic. If you check it out and find something you like, that would be even more fantastic! Also, if you check it out and see something you like that's listed as out of stock, reach out. I've got a doc where I've listed most of the filaments I've used, so I should be able to get you something similar.
In the meantime, I'm going to cool it this "commercial break" and get back to work. I've got an opossum to pack and I have some parts I need to sand down in the workshop, so I will HOPEFULLY have actual work up next Wednesday! Until then, remember to take good care of yourselves, and each other. The world sucks out there, so try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck just a little bit less.
Tony
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