3D printers have turned into big toys! Someone set up a stall to sell 3D printed toys and made over 20,000 yuan a day.

The AD5X 3D printer, which was released in November last year and was first supplied to overseas markets, has now sold out. The factory is working overtime to increase production. Wu Haotian, the consumer-grade product manager of Zhejiang Sunlu Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Sunlu Technology), said that even so, the production speed of the workers still cannot keep up with the rate at which new orders are coming in. "The production scheduling period for our consumer-grade 3D printers during the peak season is between two and three months."

Recently, China News Service and Jw Insights visited the FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) production base of 3D printing manufacturer Flashforge in Dongguan to learn on the spot how a 3D printer has transformed from a "geek toy" into a large toy that is easy to get started with.

According to a research report released by Headline Research Institute in 2023, 3D printing equipment, also known as 3D printers or additive manufacturing equipment, is divided into industrial-grade and desktop-grade. Desktop-grade 3D printers are also called consumer-grade 3D printers. Desktop-grade 3D printers are mainly used in fields such as education, personal creation, home decoration, model making, and manufacturing small tools and accessories.

At the FDM production base of Flashforge Technology in Dongguan, China News Service and Jw.cn saw that there were a total of four assembly lines in the workshop. A 3D printer starts from a frame with six columns and goes through 19 processes before being filled into a hollow machine. It still needs to be tested before being packed and sent to the warehouse.

FDM 3D printing technology, also known as fused deposition modeling technology, involves feeding thermoplastic filament materials into a hot melt nozzle during the printing process. The materials are melted and extruded through the nozzle for deposition and curing, with this process repeated layer by layer.

The Adventurer 5M series and AD5X of Flashforge are both FDM consumer-grade 3D printers. Taking the Adventurer 5M as an example, the factory staff introduced that as long as the consumables are installed and the filament is fed into the device, then the model slicing is processed in the software and imported into the printer, and the start button is clicked, the machine will automatically begin the printing process that lasts for more than ten hours.

Wu Haotian introduced that it takes about 19 hours to print a set of "Jiejie Beast" weighing 125 grams and 34 hours to print a set of "Nezha" weighing 120 grams. It only takes 3 hours to print 4 flat Nezha fridge magnets.

Wu Haotian said that for models like "Nezha" and "Barrier Beast", if they are to be printed with an appearance almost identical to the prototype, the first step is to match the color of the consumables, and the second is to apply vibration compensation. Wu Haotian explained that layer lines are a characteristic of models printed by consumer-grade FDM printers. During the high-speed operation of the machine, there will be amplitude, which affects the smoothness of the model. Currently, in the industry, the layer lines can be optimized through vibration compensation algorithms to achieve a relatively smooth appearance.

Wu Haotian is also a 3D printing enthusiast. He has several 3D printers at home. The desk ornaments in his office and the commemorative gifts he gives to friends are all made by his 3D printers.

In fact, 3D printed products are becoming increasingly common in daily life.

3D printed toys are the top sellers in domestic markets. Take Hangzhou as an example. No matter the size of the market, there will definitely be a stall selling 3D printed derivatives. Wu Haotian said that in the cultural and creative sections of the markets, apart from cat and dog toys, the best-selling category is basically 3D printed accessories. "For instance, 3D printed hinge toys are so popular among children that some vendors can earn over 20,000 yuan a day."

Wu Haotian introduced that consumer-grade 3D printing technology can achieve one-piece formed nested hinge joints that traditional injection molding processes cannot: like the Chinese dragon, which has interlocking and flexible swinging hinge joints, is directly formed in one piece on the 3D printing platform, while traditional injection molding processes need to be made into detachable C-shaped clips and spherical joint connections to achieve similar functions in joint processing.

China News Service and Jw.cn have found that many sellers are selling 3D printed toys on live-streaming platforms, including hinged dragons, dragon eggs, small bear pen holders, keychains, etc.

In addition, when China News Service and Jingwei News searched for the keyword "3D printed toys" on e-commerce platforms, most of the products found were 3D printed dragons, dragon eggs, snakes, stress relief spiral cones, etc. Among them, the "hinged dragon toy" was "hot-selling 50,000 units across the web". On the overseas e-commerce platform eBay, 3D printed hinged dragon toys were priced from tens to hundreds of dollars. Many overseas buyers commented that they were "of good quality", "very vivid in appearance", and "good value for money".

Wu Haotian introduced that since 2023, the 3D printing field has seen a continuous stream of best-selling products. 3D printed toys like the hinge dragon and dragon eggs have sparked a craze in the global market. Starting from 2025, people began to experiment with hinge snakes, and these products were subsequently sold worldwide through major e-commerce platforms.

In the domestic market of China, as the usage threshold has been lowered, more consumers have started purchasing 3D printers for educational and interest purposes. In 2024, the annual transaction volume of 3D printing products on JD.com increased by over 160% year-on-year, and the number of users rose by more than 200%. According to the 3D printing procurement and sales department of JD.com, consumer-grade 3D printers are gradually approaching the standardization of 3C digital products in terms of usage threshold and price. However, during the usage process, there will be continuous interactive demands for content adaptation and development, such as the upgrade of resource libraries and gameplay.

When discussing potential best-selling products in the coming period, Wu Haotian said, "The major consumption nodes like Christmas and Black Friday have not yet arrived. Right now, everyone is still trying out different products."

"Geek toys" turn into "productivity tools"

In the production workshop of Dongguan Flashforge Technology, there are also multiple rows of consumer-grade 3D printers, simulating the testing scenarios of a 3D printing farm environment.

Wu Haotian said that with the popularity of 3D printed toys, the consumption trend of 3D printers has shifted from "geek toys" to "practical production tools", and suppliers known as "3D printing farms" are also very busy.

A "3D printing farm" refers to dozens or even hundreds of consumer-grade 3D printers operating in the same environment, used for small-batch production or rapid manufacturing of various products. The person who manages and operates a "3D printing farm" is called a "farmer". Workers only need to send the template to the machine, set the parameters, and load the consumables, and the 3D printers can batch-produce products according to the preset program.

Why are centralized factories called "farms" when they are clearly not?

Wu Haotian explained that when the 3D printer completed the batch production of products, workers would carry baskets and collect the printed models one by one from the machine. The entire process was very similar to harvesting vegetables in Happy Farm, so later on, the term "3D Printing Farm" became widely used.

Wu Haotian recalled that at the beginning, the operators were called small-batch manufacturers, who mostly took on student graduation projects and real estate center model making. In 2023, hinge-jointed dragons suddenly became the new favorite in the marketplace. Sensing the business opportunity, the "farmers" began to mass-produce jointed dragons and set up their own "3D printing farms". This concept also emerged and became popular in China.

In the past two years, "3D printing farms" have begun to "race". At first, everyone printed one dragon on a single plane. Later, the "farmers" found that printing one dragon at a time was too slow, so they started to study "arrangement". At first, it took an average of 3 hours to print a 30-centimeter joint dragon. Later, the printing time was optimized to only 1.5 hours or even 1 hour for each dragon. Some "farmers" also studied printing parameters. Generally, it takes 14 hours to print three 45-centimeter Chinese dragons. Some "farmers" directly compressed the time to 4 hours. Some "farms" can recover their costs in just three months.

At present, Flashforge has established partnerships with over a hundred 3D printing farms in China. Among them, Yiwu Jinqi Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Jinqi Farm), a business owner in Yiwu International Trade City, Zhejiang Province, is the largest "3D printing farm" that Flashforge has collaborated with. With 4,000 3D printers, it produces 50,000 to 60,000 toys every day, and 70% of them are sold overseas.

In order to prepare for the Christmas and Black Friday shopping seasons in the West, at the beginning of this year, Jinqi Farm placed another order for 2,000 3D printers from Flashforge Technology. The total number of 3D printers in the farm will reach 4,000. "We have used industrial-level technology accumulation to break through both B-end and C-end markets. Anyone who has played with 3D printing knows that there is a saying in the industry: 'Those who know the business, use Flashforge.' " Wu Haotian said.

Wu Haotian believes that the domestic consumer 3D printing market in China will explode in 2024. Farm equipment accounts for about 30% of the consumer market, and it is the farm that has made more people aware of 3D printing.

The "Statistical Communiqué on the National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China in 2024" released by the National Bureau of Statistics in February 2025 shows that in 2024, China produced 3.418 million 3D printing devices, an increase of 11.3%.

At present, over dozens of 3D printing brands can be found on JD.com. According to relevant personnel from JD.com, these brands were introduced by JD.com starting from 2023. In 2024, JD.com has invested nearly 20 million yuan in various subsidies to promote the growth of the 3D printing category. The platform has deeply collaborated with brands to integrate the supply chain for domestic sales in China, solving a series of problems such as warehousing, sales, services, and consumer experience for 3D printing. It has also carried out a series of marketing activities including popular science promotion, offline exhibitions, and factory exploration live broadcasts, so that consumers no longer have to worry about not understanding when choosing, purchasing, or using 3D printers. Meanwhile, under the promotion of the platform, the consumer-grade 3D printing market has seen a more diverse range of products at various price points, including entry-level 3D printers suitable for children priced at around 1,000 yuan.

China News Service and Jingwei saw on JD.com that the aforementioned AD5X 3D printer from Flashforge Technology is priced at nearly 2,400 yuan, and the Adventurer 5M Pro 3D printer is priced at nearly 3,000 yuan.

"The 3D printing farms have created a suction effect. Larger-scale farms have taken in the majority of orders, forcing smaller-scale ones to start exploring product innovation and differentiation," said Wu Haotian.

It is worth noting that overseas markets are also becoming an important terminal market for consumer-grade 3D printers in China.

At the series of press conferences on "The Achievements of High-Quality Economic Development in China" held by the Information Office of the State Council in January, Wang Lingjun, the deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, introduced that in 2024, the export of 3D printers achieved a growth of 32.8%.

Wu Haotian introduced that the smooth export of Chinese 3D printers mainly benefits from their high cost performance and the rapid response of the supply chain.

At present, Flashforge has expanded its business to over 200 countries and regions worldwide. It has more than 1,000 global brand distributors or agents. The company has sold over one million 3D printers globally. The entry-level consumer 3D printer Adventurer 5M has topped the Amazon Best Seller list for over eight months.

During the 2024 Christmas season, the Adventurer 5M set a record of over 20,000 units sold per month on Amazon in the United States. To ensure timely delivery, we had to ask other regional distributors to give up some orders, said Wu Haotian.

Wu Haotian introduced that the domestic and overseas market shares of Flashforge's consumer 3D printers are 70% and 30% respectively. The main export destinations are North America, Europe and Australia. The main application scenarios have gradually expanded from the digital geek community at the beginning to educational institutions and families. Overseas, the form of 3D printing micro-farms plus street vending is also emerging.

Wu Haotian said that after the 3D printing components were localized, relying on the advantages of the supply chain in the Pearl River Delta, the equipment cost continued to decline. The rapid iteration of products and quick delivery also made the price of 3D printers more acceptable to the public. "The scale production and supply chain optimization may bring the price of relatively decent entry-level 3D printers down to the thousand-yuan level. In the future, consumer-grade 3D printers might become a standard household item, just like how a family uses a microwave oven."

In March this year, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Special Action Plan for Boosting Consumption", which mentioned "Supporting the accelerated development of new types of consumption", and required "Carrying out the 'Artificial Intelligence +' action, promoting 'Artificial Intelligence + Consumption', accelerating the development and application promotion of new technologies and new products such as additive manufacturing, and opening up new high-growth consumption tracks".

Wu Haotian believes that in the future, AI-generated models, more user-friendly software, foolproof 3D printers and further reduced prices of consumables will promote the popularization in households.