The Margin: Immortalize yourself as a Star Wars or Power Ranger action figure for $60

The toymaker’s “Selfie Series” project with 3-D printing technology developer Formlabs will launch this fall and give U.S. customers the chance to put their faces on personalized 6-inch action figures from Disney’s
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Star Wars and Marvel franchises, as well as the Ghostbusters, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and G.I. Joe.

The way it works is, U.S. fans ages 16 and up will scan their faces using the Hasbro Pulse app, pick their character, and then their mugs will be 3-D-printed onto their own bespoke action figure. “Make room on your shelf for yourself,” says the tagline on the Hasbro site, which is inviting interested shoppers to sign up for notifications about the project. It’s still too early for preorders, however.

It should be noted that only the head will be customized; the rest of the figure will be a “standard off-the-shelf action figure body” for the character you pick, Formlab explains on its site. The body types appear to be generally fit and athletic.

The custom action figures will debut at San Diego Comic Con later this month, when Hasbro teases that “a select number of fans” will be among the first to create and purchase their own action figures, which will ship in Fall 2022. It adds that San Diego Comic Con attendees should visit the Hasbro Pulse Info Desk in Booth #3213 to snag a ticket for an assigned time slot, and limited tickets will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.

Hasbro was not immediately available for comment. But the idea to immortalize yourself as an action figure from one of your favorite franchises was drawn from the realization that “fans wanted to become the characters in the stories that they love,” as Brian Chapman, the head of Hasbro’s global development and design, explains in a YouTube video introducing the one-of-a-kind toys. 

The early models include a “Rebel Princess” resembling the late Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia in “Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back,” as well as a Rebel X-Wing pilot, a Stormtrooper or a Mandalorian. MCU fans can see their likeness displayed in Black Panther, Black Widow, Spider-Man or Iron Man action figures. G.I. Joe fans can become their own real American heroes as characters Snake Eyes or Scarlett. Or folks can morph into the Red Ranger or Pink Ranger, or try not to cross the streams as rookie Ghostbusters in the signature beige coveralls.

And now the technologies for scanning and 3-D printing have reached the point where they can mass produce personalized action figures (aka “mass personalization”) in an affordable way, he adds. 

Check out the video introducing the project below.