Again in September, 3DPrint.com reported that LEGO was getting ready to launch its first mass-produced 3D printed factor inside an upcoming LEGO Christmas set. On the time, particulars had been restricted to a LinkedIn announcement from Ronen Hadar, Senior Director of Additive Design and Manufacturing on the LEGO Group, and an outline of the miniature blue locomotive that might debut the corporate’s high-throughput polymer AM course of.
Now the set, referred to as Vacation Specific Prepare from LEGO Icons, is formally out there for buy worldwide, and LEGO has revealed a have a look at the know-how behind the tiny practice, confirming each its significance and the lengthy growth timeline that made it attainable.
Based on the model, the miniature locomotive included within the Vacation Specific Prepare is the primary 3D printed half ever bought at retail in a LEGO set. Whereas the corporate has launched a handful of AM-made components in restricted portions over the previous a number of years, together with a drafting arm, duck, and pogo stick, this marks the primary time a printed piece is being produced at scale and distributed by one in every of its commonplace business units.
This 3D printed practice piece is a part of the LEGO Icons Vacation Specific Prepare set.
The half itself is a micro-version of the set’s foremost practice, full with spinning wheels and a practical chimney. LEGO designers Bo Park Kristensen and Jae Received Lee collaborated with the additive manufacturing crew to create a geometry that might not be achieved by injection molding. For LEGO, the purpose was to not substitute molding however to open up solely new varieties and capabilities for future play options.
“October 2025 marks a milestone that has by no means been executed earlier than,” described Park Kristensen in a social media put up. “I’ve been so lucky to discover and develop a brand new brick in additive manufacturing for a retail product in mass manufacturing for The LEGO Group. Now we have for a few years used 3D prints in our growth part, however it’s the first time we apply it to a full scale. Many issues wanted to be settled for this to return alive, however in the long run, we succeeded from all ends to ship this piece. This marks a brand new addition to our product choices. Hope you get pleasure from.”
Park Kristensen additionally explains that the 3D printed factor might have been many issues, however in the long run, the crew determined that this practice could be the primary mass-produced 3D print in a LEGO field.
LEGO Icons Vacation Specific Prepare set.
For the LEGO Icons Vacation Specific Prepare set designer Received Lee, the 3D printed practice was the right approach so as to add an additional dimension to the brand new set, which was itself an replace on the LEGO Creator Skilled Winter Vacation Prepare set from 2016. Two little one minifigures from that earlier set now characteristic within the Vacation Specific as grown-ups delivering toys to a brand new era of youngsters, and the design crew, curious concerning the potential of 3D printing and desperate to strive it out, realized that these small toys might be a chance to create that first printed factor, famous Received Lee.
LEGO engineer engaged on 3D printed components.
LEGO additionally confirms a number of new particulars not beforehand disclosed. Hadar says the corporate spent 9 years creating the AM platform in Billund, Denmark, constructing a system able to producing high-quality components at a fee appropriate for client merchandise. The crew has already doubled the output velocity of the machines and is concentrating on additional enhancements as extra units incorporate printed parts.
LEGO Icons Vacation Specific Prepare set.
Whereas LEGO doesn’t point out the precise machine configuration used to supply the factor, the corporate beforehand referenced EOS know-how in inside communications. What is obvious is that LEGO considers this launch a serious milestone, with Hadar even evaluating it to the corporate’s adoption of injection molding within the Nineteen Forties. He says his long-term purpose is to make 3D printed components “boringly regular,” a typical a part of the LEGO design toolkit quite than a novelty.
Though for now, the Vacation Specific Prepare is only a first actual glimpse of that future Hadar describes so passionately, the printed micro-train represents an enormous step in bringing industrial additive manufacturing instantly into the palms of thousands and thousands of LEGO followers. As extra designers start experimenting with the know-how, LEGO hints that related “dynamic components” might seem in upcoming units.
LEGO Icons Vacation Specific Prepare set.
Pictures courtesy of LEGO
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