January 2025 set the pace for what has become a defining year at 3DCentral. Twelve new designs entered the catalog, production capacity expanded to 210 printers, the Commercial License subscriber base continued its growth trajectory, and community engagement reached levels that confirmed the 3D printed collectibles market is maturing into a legitimate collecting category. This wrap-up covers each development in the detail it deserves.
New Releases: Twelve Designs Across Multiple Categories
January’s twelve new design additions demonstrate the breadth and intentionality of our catalog development. Rather than concentrating releases in a single category, the month’s additions spanned articulated dragons, gnome variants, and the standout Anubis Duck, each serving different collector interests and price points.
The Anubis Duck
The Anubis Duck was January’s most anticipated release, and it delivered on the hype. Combining the collector-favorite duck format with ancient Egyptian aesthetic elements, the Anubis Duck features a jackal-headed duck figure with headdress details, a staff accessory, and hieroglyphic-textured base.
The design works because it operates on multiple levels simultaneously. For duck collectors, it is a distinctive new addition to a growing category. For mythology enthusiasts, it is a playful reinterpretation of an iconic figure. For display collectors, it is a conversation-starting piece with enough visual complexity to reward close inspection.
The Anubis Duck also represents the kind of cross-category design thinking that keeps the 3DCentral catalog interesting. Combining established formats like our duck series with unexpected thematic elements creates pieces that surprise existing collectors while attracting new audiences who might not have considered 3D printed collectibles before.
Gnome Variants
Three new gnome variants joined the gnome collection in January, each exploring a different occupational theme. These additions build on the proven gnome format while introducing new details, accessories, and narrative elements that give each variant its own personality.
The occupational gnome concept has proven to be deeply expandable. Every profession, hobby, and activity offers a potential gnome variant, and the format’s established popularity means new variants find an audience quickly. Collectors who already own multiple gnomes are predisposed to add new variants, creating a natural demand baseline for each release.
Articulated Dragon Series Expansion
The articulated dragon series received significant expansion in January, with new designs that push the boundaries of print-in-place articulation. These dragons feature more segments, smoother joint mechanisms, and more detailed wing and tail assemblies than previous generations.
Articulated dragons from artists like Cinderwing3D have become one of the most recognizable product types in 3D printed collectibles. The appeal is multifaceted: they are visually striking on display, satisfying to handle and pose, and technically impressive in how they combine complex geometry with functional movement. Each new design in the series explores different dragon archetypes, color schemes, and scale options, giving collectors variety within a beloved category.
Browse the full range of articulated and static designs in our figurines collection.
Fleet Expansion: 210 Printers and Counting
The production fleet expansion to 210 units in January was driven by new high-speed machines that reduce print times by approximately 30 percent on standard figurines. This speed improvement comes from hardware advances in motion systems and hotend design, not from compromising print quality through reduced resolution or faster-than-optimal movement speeds.
Speed Without Compromise
The relationship between print speed and quality is nuanced. Simply increasing movement speed typically degrades surface quality, introduces ringing artifacts, and reduces dimensional accuracy. The new machines in our fleet achieve genuine speed improvements through better hardware: more rigid frames that reduce vibration, higher-flow hotends that maintain extrusion consistency at faster speeds, and more responsive motion controllers that handle acceleration changes cleanly.
The result is a 30 percent reduction in print time with no measurable change in output quality. For our operation, this translates to higher daily throughput from each machine, which means faster turnaround times for customers and greater fleet utilization without extending operating hours.
Calibration at Scale
Expanding a printer fleet is not simply a matter of unboxing new machines and starting prints. Each new printer undergoes a multi-day calibration process that includes dimensional accuracy verification, extrusion multiplier calibration, temperature profiling, retraction tuning, and sample print evaluation.
This process ensures that a figurine printed on machine 210 is indistinguishable from the same figurine printed on machine 1. Consistency across the fleet is what allows us to promise uniform quality regardless of which specific printer produced a given piece. Collectors receiving their orders can be confident that what they receive matches what they saw in product photos because every machine in the fleet produces identical output.
Commercial License Momentum
The Commercial License subscriber base continued growing in January, extending a trend that began in late 2024 and has accelerated through early 2025. Several factors are converging to drive this growth.
Market Maturation
The 3D printing market is maturing, and with that maturation comes increased attention to intellectual property compliance. Print farm operators who built their businesses printing freely available designs are recognizing the legal risks and the market perception risks of that approach. A growing number of online marketplaces now require sellers to demonstrate licensing rights for the designs they print, making commercial licensing a practical business necessity rather than an optional nicety.
Value Proposition
The 3DCentral commercial license offers unlimited commercial printing rights to a curated catalog of production-tested designs for a monthly subscription fee. This means operators do not pay per-design or per-print, eliminating the per-unit licensing cost that other models impose. For high-volume operations, the flat monthly rate creates significant economics of scale.
Every design in the commercial catalog has been printed and validated on our own fleet. This production testing eliminates the trial-and-error process that operators typically endure when printing untested files. Subscribers can download a file and print it with confidence that the slicer settings, support structures, and print parameters have been optimized for reliable production.
Growing Catalog
The commercial catalog’s growth toward 5,000 designs by mid-2025 means subscribers have access to an expanding library that keeps their product offerings fresh. In a market where differentiation matters, having access to new designs monthly gives commercial operators a continuous pipeline of new products to offer their customers.
Community Highlights
Customer photos on social media showcased remarkable collections and creative display arrangements throughout January. These organic posts provide authentic social proof that resonates with potential collectors more effectively than any marketing content we could produce.
The community aspect of 3D printed collectible collecting is evolving from individual purchasing to shared enthusiasm. Collectors compare acquisitions, discuss upcoming releases, share display techniques, and build connections around shared interests. This community dynamic creates value beyond the physical products themselves. It transforms individual purchases into participation in a collecting culture.
We actively encourage this community participation. Sharing photos, tagging us in social media posts, and engaging with fellow collectors strengthens the community for everyone. The creativity collectors bring to displaying and photographing their pieces continuously inspires our design team and informs our understanding of what collectors value.
February Preview
Valentine’s Day collections launch in early February, including couple gnome sets, heart-themed ducks, and romantic figurines designed as gift pieces. New fantasy figurines from community artists are in final testing. And our Quebec-made filament line beta program begins accepting applications from Commercial License subscribers.
Every piece in our catalog is designed, tested, and printed at our facility in Laval, Quebec. Browse the full collection in the 3DCentral shop and learn more about our operation on the about page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Anubis Duck and why was it so popular? A: The Anubis Duck is a cross-category design combining the popular duck collectible format with ancient Egyptian Anubis mythology elements. It features a jackal-headed duck figure with a staff accessory and hieroglyphic-textured base. Its popularity reflects the collector appetite for creative, unexpected designs that combine familiar formats with surprising thematic elements.
Q: How does 3DCentral ensure consistency when expanding the printer fleet? A: Every new printer undergoes a multi-day calibration process including dimensional accuracy verification, extrusion calibration, temperature profiling, and sample print evaluation. This ensures output from any machine in the fleet is indistinguishable from any other, maintaining the quality consistency collectors expect regardless of which specific printer produced their piece.
Q: What are the benefits of the 3DCentral Commercial License for print farm operators? A: The Commercial License provides unlimited commercial printing rights to a curated, production-tested design catalog for a flat monthly fee. Subscribers avoid per-design licensing costs, gain access to files validated on our own 200-plus printer fleet, and receive new designs monthly. The license addresses IP compliance requirements while providing a continuous pipeline of market-tested products.
