From Swainson in 1968 to the patents that expired in 2009 and 2014

The idea of a photopolymer printer is placed in 1968 with Swainson, not yet a product. Kodama Hideo applied in 1981; Chuck Hull’s SLA patent in 1986 opened a path to sale. SLS, proposed by Ciraud in 1972, was realized by Carl Deckard in 1987 and patented in 1989. Scott Crump’s FDM, from making a toy for his daughter, was commercialized by Stratasys in 1991.

In the 2000s Gartner and Chris Anderson put the technique among essential future tools; the essay also places support from the World Economic Forum and Barack Obama, without dating those remarks. Adrian Bowyer’s open-source RepRap project in 2007 widened access, and when major patents at Stratasys and 3D Systems expired in 2009 and 2014, custom small-batch making became more ordinary.

4D Box in Sejong, Samdabang in Bucheon, and K-Star Figure in Gasan

4D Box, in Janggun-myeon, Sejong, is a figure café against Cheongbyeoksan, with Disney, Marvel, and mythic displays, custom face miniatures, and, as placed here, more than a hundred orders a month, some waiting more than a month. Samdabang, in Bucheon, works with Samdimall; about 80 percent of the figures on show are made in-house, guests can try the making, and monthly orders are placed above two hundred.

K-Star Figure, in the Gasan Digital Complex, makes hole-in-one trophies, retirement plaques, and wedding figures, and shows the printer at work. A Crayon Shin-chan robot figure is placed with 3,550 likes, 42 comments, and 1,440 messages, without a date. Jang Hye-seong 2018, Oh Won-bin 2021, Han Seung-uk 2024, Jo Byeong-cheol 2014, Lee Seung-hwan on 6 August 2024, and Seo Min-woo on 20 November 2017 are the named sources. This page stays with those dated notes and undated shop counts, and does not add later official sales tallies. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.

Sources

1. 3D printing is placed at the center of a shift in making things, in a third and a fourth industrial revolution. The idea begins in 1968, when Swainson set out a photopolymer (light-curable) 3D printer; it was not commercially realized then, but the concept is called a foundation. In 1981 Kodama Hideo applied for a photocurable patent. In 1986 Chuck Hull obtained an SLA (stereolithography) patent, a first step toward commercialization. Development continued with selective laser sintering (SLS) and fused-deposition modeling (FDM). SLS, proposed by Ciraud in 1972, was realized by Carl Deckard in 1987 and patented in 1989. In the same year Scott Crump, inspired by making a toy for his daughter, developed FDM, commercialized by Stratasys in 1991. In the 2000s the IT consultancy Gartner named 3D printing among future essential technologies, and Chris Anderson called it a leading technology of a third industrial revolution. The essay also places support from the World Economic Forum and from Barack Obama, without dating those remarks. A turn toward popular use came in 2007 with Adrian Bowyer’s RepRap project: an inexpensive open-source printer, published so that use could spread. Major patents at Stratasys and 3D Systems expired in 2009 and 2014, and the machines became more ordinary, a tool for custom and small-batch making. Modeling software such as CAD extended the work into architecture, aviation, and art as well as manufacturing, which the essay places at the core of a fourth industrial revolution. Against that history it looks at unusual start-up cases nearby, including a figure café using 3D printers. 4D Box is a 3D-printer figure café in Janggun-myeon, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, offering a mix of technique and art, with seasonal views of Cheongbyeoksan, displays of printed figures, and coffee and dessert, aimed at couples, families, and groups of friends. It is placed as the only 3D-printer figure café in the area, with displays of Disney, Marvel, and mythic creatures and famous landmarks. Named products include a Disney Classic Collection, a Marvel Hero Set — said to add a new character each month — and a Mythological Figure Series. Guests can also order a custom figure, including a miniature of their own face. The café is placed as handling more than a hundred orders a month, with high satisfaction; recently, wait times have grown, and some customers must wait more than a month for a custom piece. Those counts stay as the essay places them, without a year. The main guests are couples, families, and people in their twenties and thirties, who like a place worth photographing; reviews praise the view and the figures together, and call it a good date spot. The founder’s motive is placed as a wish to join technical progress with nature, against Cheongbyeoksan, so that people might make a distinctive memory. Samdabang is a 3D-printer figure café in Bucheon, offering both a chance to try printing and a large display, in cooperation with the specialist firm Samdimall. About 80 percent of the figures on show are placed as made in-house. Popular items include a Marvel hero series, a limited Joker and Deadpool set, and a Baby Groot miniature. A “make my figure” program lets a guest work from an idea, often a family or a partner’s face, frequently as a gift. The shop is placed as handling more than two hundred orders a month. The main guests are figure fans in their twenties to forties and young families, who want more than a look; reviews praise the fine work and the chance to spend useful time with children. The founder wanted a familiar café in which more people could feel an industrial technique. A third case, K-Star Figure, is a 3D-printer firm in the Gasan Digital Complex, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, specializing in custom figures and souvenirs: hole-in-one trophies, wedding figures, family memorials, retirement-thanks plaques, and the like, for private buyers and companies. Production time is called relatively short, and demand for retirement and wedding pieces can lengthen the wait. The essay’s visitor notes describe Marvel figures that can change an Iron Man armor color or a pose; a public view of a printer laying down a figure layer by layer, so that a guest feels part of the making; and online custom sales of face miniatures, wedding figures, and sports trophies. A Crayon Shin-chan robot figure is placed as having 3,550 likes, 42 comments, and 1,440 messages, many of them about changing color, pose, or size; those social-media counts stay as placed, without a date. Named sources: Jang Hye-seong, 2018, master’s thesis, Semyung University, on types of custom products made with a 3D printer; Oh Won-bin, 2021, master’s thesis, Incheon Catholic University graduate school, on improving the quality of printed objects; Han Seung-uk, 2024, master’s thesis, Jeonbuk National University graduate school of education, on art-toy sculpture with a 3D printer; Jo Byeong-cheol, 2014, master’s thesis, Silla University, on making Busan character goods; Lee Seung-hwan, Maeil Kyungje Premium, 6 August 2024, on eight figure artisans gathered on the first floor of the Nowon-gu office; Seo Min-woo, Seoul Economic Daily, 20 November 2017, on Choi Seong-hwan, representative of Centrol, making figures and jewelry with a 3D printer. This page stays with those dated patents and notes, and with the shops’ undated order and social-media counts, and does not add later official sales tallies.

Last updated: 14 November 2026