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Right before our press conference today to announce the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, the Replicator 2X, MakerWare, and the MakerBot Store, our table looked like a USB cornucopia. The table was flowing forth with USB sticks.

We wanted to give members of the press something easy to carry around, but you know we couldn’t just toss out a random USB stick. It needed a special MakerBot touch, and in keeping with the spirit of the day, it needed to be high resolution and made from MakerBot PLA. Our designer Jason nailed it. The shape has detailed wings surrounding a MakerBot logo. At the 100-micron layer resolution of the Replicator 2, none of this detail is lost and it all looks amazing, like something you’d normally buy off a shelf.

The stick is also perfectly shaped for the USB insert, which snaps snugly into place. This is one of the reasons we love PLA. When you’re designing at the scale where things need to fit together reliably, you need a material that won’t expand and shrink significantly. PLA is perfect for this; you just get what you expect.

If you’re not already familiar with PLA, check out the new filament page in our online store. You can easily click through ABS and PLA options in one place and see all the colors at once. PLA gives us the chance to explore matte colors like the yellow USB stick in the picture, but also finishes like shimmery, metallic, translucent (like the Green PLA in the picture), and sparkly.

Here’s a nice family shot of our current PLA offering, but watch this space for more to come!