The Daily Kerbal: highlighting our 3D printed figurines

[SQUAD]

<figure data-orig-width="480" data-orig-height="68" class="tmblr-full"><img data-orig-width="480" data-orig-height="68" src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/029295276005d87285b9343b52aa5b9c/tumblr_inline_nt74xwvD9I1rr2wit_540.png"/></figure><figure data-orig-width="625" data-orig-height="465" class="tmblr-full"><img data-orig-width="625" data-orig-height="465" src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/579c8904019b4c16b4751b1ab46002c6/tumblr_inline_nt751sYwnB1rr2wit_540.jpg"/></figure><p>A little over two years ago we partnered up with Shapeways​ to make Kerbal figurines for our fans, and nowadays we offer many different models varying in topic and sizes. </p><p>The series ranges from the very affordable <a href="http://shpws.me/CpP4"><b>Small Stargazing Kerba</b>l</a> to a <a href="http://shpws.me/IU4K"><b>full sized set containing Jebediah, Valentina, Bob and Bill</b></a>, and also contains 3D printed versions of the planets and various miscellaneous characters from the game. </p><p><a href="http://www.shapeways.com/shops/kerbalspaceprogram"><b>Check out our full catalog on Shapeways!</b></a></p>

[NovaSilisko]

I have a question: Why's the stargazing one so much cheaper than, say, the planets? The stargazer there is 7.07 cm tall, and the planets are only 4.8ish cm in diameter, but the stargazer is 15 dollars, and the planets are 22?

[basic.syntax]

Just speculation: IF the stargazer is sitting on a hollow helmet, and IF the planets are solid material - mass of materials might be a reason.

[Alshain]

It's arbitrary pricing. It has nothing to do with mass, materials, or size. I mean, look at Valentina, she's only a cm taller and 1.5 cm wider than the Stargazer and she's $50. I'm pretty sure that little extra dimension does not add $35 worth of material.

Basically what is going on is perceived pricing. It's the principle that people will pay more popular items willingly. So, Jeb, Bill, Bob, and Val are sure to fetch a higher price than a nameless Kerbal. Notice Moho, Duna, and Kerbin are slightly higher priced as well, despite being the same size as the other planets.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Alshain

[Smidge204]

It's arbitrary pricing. It has nothing to do with mass, materials, or size. I mean, look at Valentina, she's only a cm taller and 1.5 cm wider than the Stargazer and she's $50. I'm pretty sure that little extra dimension does not add $35 worth of material.

Pricing is based on the amount and type of material, the physical volume occupied in the machine (a large, hollow print will be more expensive than a small, solid print that uses the exact same amount of material), and labor to process the part (e.g. cleaning the unused material from the part).

The small stargazer has a bounding box of 84.27 cubic centimeters. Valentina takes up 247.55 cubic centimeters. That's nearly three times the volume and hey, she's about three times the price!

=Smidge=

[Superfluous J]

Things are worth what people will pay for them. Selling something based on how much it cost to make sounds reasonable but it's not the way economics works.

The cost of creating the item is taken into account not when deciding on the selling price, but when deciding whether or not to make it at all.

[metl]

As much as i would love to have some of these, they are just too cost prohibitive for a plastic paperweight. Shame too as they are really cool.

[EatVacuum]

They're not plastic but a composite material that has a texture like sandstone.

I like them although I had problems with my order. The excess white powder was not cleaned off properly and adhered to the figures giving a couple a washed out colour. One came missing an arm, another had a missing finger. To be fair Shapeways did replace the one missing the arm. Overall I don't regret my order but the pricing is high and does seem inconsistent.