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!

The MakerBot materials group has been busy. Look at all the amazing new colors that popped up in our store recently! Jason and Todd put together some sweet examples to inspire you.

LEFT TO RIGHT…

SLATE GRAY

This Castle of the Maker Empire by jbakutis looks like every story book mansion you wanted to crawl around in. The texture detail looks so good in our new Slate Gray ABS, you almost want to go find all the secret passage ways, amirite? Buy it here.

STONE

Jason’s Olmec Diorama shows another beautiful natural color, the new Stone ABS plastic. Teachers, this color is perfect for making some of the Egyptian artifacts that have popped up in Thingiverse. Everyone else, how about something new for the garden? Buy it here.

HELSINKI SKY

This picture perfect Bluebird shows off a bold addition to our blues, Helsinki Sky. Perfect for jewelry or things around the house, or for the eyeballs on that Frank Sinatra statue you’ve been dying to make. Buy it here.
 

GREEN SEA

Todd’s Genie Bottle couldn’t be better to capture this exotic green. This color may inspire you to put all of your favorite Moroccan jewelry designs on Thingiverse, or match up with Helsinki Sky for the rockingest diorama ever. Buy it here.

GRAPE CANDY

Our first real purple filament! Make surprisingly real-looking grape candy, or a Cute Octopus waving one tentacle at the world. Buy it here.
 

NAVY WOOL

This deep navy blue has an incredible richness to it. It’s such a monumental addition to our store, Jason had to model the largest animal that ever existed for his Escape From Leviathan design. Buy it here.
 

DARK SANGUINE RED

Another really rich new color for you to go wild with. Wild like a freaking awesome Automaton Dragon! Something about “sanguine red” also screams Halloween. Buy it here.
 

ACID LAKE

Somewhere between cyan and turquoise, this new blue-green plastic makes for some eye-popping creations. Check out Jason’s Labyrinth Game above and start thinking which games or sculptures or masks you might get started on. Buy it here.

DEEP DARK TEAL

Papa needs a new pair of shoes; deep dark teal shoes. Combined with some of the other rich colors in this collection, you could make some pretty striking stuff. Buy it here.

One of the questions I hear a lot when I am out at events – showing MakerBots to people who have never seen them before – is, “What is the cost of materials for a MakerBotted object?” Sure, filament is inexpensive, but how much filament are you using when you print? In this episode I’ll show you exactly how to calculate that cost. I’ll also reveal the number of chess pieces that can be printed with a single spool and the cost of MakerBot plastic by cm³ and inch³. All that and more on this week’s episode of MakerBot TV.