New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: What kind of impact will 3D printing have on Lego?

Ask HN: What kind of impact will 3D printing have on Lego?
3 by pipeline_peak | 4 comments on Hacker News.
I think in the eventual future Lego will render into a legacy brand when it becomes more possible to create compatible bricks. The company has had many cases against Mega Blok, Tyco and other competitors. Some were successful, but many others slipped by over patent expirations and loopholes. A home 3D printer capable of producing compatible bricks won’t be around for a long time. However, what’s stopping thousands of independent online brands from using high end printers and operating through Amazon, Etsy, surviving all these years later, I think Lego is going to have a lot of bugs to squash. I know it’s a rough comparison, but we didn’t think the music industry would get carved out by independent artists in bedrooms. Because Lego has a Disney/Nintendo brand leveled profile, they’re always going to be the highest quality. I can’t help but predict a thousand no name companies from China manufacturing and selling fake legos on AliExpress.