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The Mini World is Young Again


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10 hours ago, akelly318 said:

Great articles! 

Am I the youngest one on this site? I'm 25 years old...

You might be.  Our forum has many younger members, so I know our hobby is continuing; but until more kids discover the joy of seeing their ideas take shape from their own hands I don't think it'll ever grow back to be as popular as it was 40 years ago.

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11 hours ago, akelly318 said:

Great articles! 

Am I the youngest one on this site? I'm 25 years old...

Twinkle is an active teen aged miniaturist who shares space here with her grandmother, Selkie. And Twinkle's younger siblings have also created some pretty awesome miniatures. And I'm pretty sure I recall others posting photos of works of their own young children and grandchildren. 

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I'm glad younger hobbyists are finding their way to miniatures with or without parental influence (I am always disappointed when parents buy the plastic cheap dollhouses that  children get bored with fast) - with so many younger folks growing up with computers/cgi/apps  I figured the younger ones would be early adapters of 3D printing (assuming one has access to them). 3D printers, once they become more mainstream, will also be powerful for all ages of hobbyists. 

Mattel claims it will have a $300 3D printer for kids:

http://phys.org/news/2016-03-kids-key-potential-3d.html

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2 hours ago, Elsbeth said:

 

Mattel claims it will have a $300 3D printer for kids:

http://phys.org/news/2016-03-kids-key-potential-3d.html

Oh, is that all? Well, I'll be sure to pawn my diamonds to get that printer! Better yet, $300 would buy a good dollhouse, or two, or three, or four.....just sayin'. LOL

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That was a very interesting article Debora. I'm so glad the NY Times printed it. Maybe it will make more youngish people take a look at miniatures.

The test tubes are amazing and fun Chris, thanks for posting that!

I'm doing my best to keep my grandchildren interested, I'm building my granddaughter a second house, the Orchid, because she wants a Ladies Emporium just like the one I built for myself. The boys each have their own house too. A Taft and Brimbles.

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16 hours ago, Elsbeth said:

I'm glad younger hobbyists are finding their way to miniatures with or without parental influence (I am always disappointed when parents buy the plastic cheap dollhouses that  children get bored with fast) - with so many younger folks growing up with computers/cgi/apps  I figured the younger ones would be early adapters of 3D printing (assuming one has access to them). 3D printers, once they become more mainstream, will also be powerful for all ages of hobbyists. 

Mattel claims it will have a $300 3D printer for kids:

http://phys.org/news/2016-03-kids-key-potential-3d.html

I'm a librarian in a very tech-forward school district. Every student in our middle school has an Ipad or a Chromebook, issued by the state for school use. Our admin's are all about staying technologically relevant. I think 3D printers are cool, and I definitely see potential for them in many different facets of education, business and leisure, but right now I think they're more about consumption than production.

They consume money (the purchasing of the machine, and if it breaks you need someone qualified to repair it), they consume the plastic filament they use to print (which also costs money) and they consume alot of time, too (printing one thing can take 6 hours).

Personally, I think that right now the 3D printers aren't sustainable enough to justify a toy version- I just see piles of them in the landfills after the kids use all the filament/get bored/break the machines. Since the 'younger' generation is all about upcycling and repurposing, I think I'd rather see them encouraged to create miniatures on their own or from recycled materials rather.

Just my humble opinion.

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On 23/05/2016, 01:12:11, akelly318 said:

Great articles! 

Am I the youngest one on this site? I'm 25 years old...

I'm not the youngest on here but I'm 28. At my miniatures group I'm the youngest by far and they like having me there, discovering the hobby. 

Enjoyed the articles :) 

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I'll be 35 in a couple of weeks, but my daughter is 10 and loves making miniatures! She's made me several "creatures" for a future build, a witch cottage. We have a Buttercup that I've dry fitted and we've been waiting for it to tell us how it wants to be bashed. :) this will be my daughters first build. I'm super excited for it. 

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On 5/26/2016, 5:42:27, Tinkerbelle said:

I'm not the youngest on here but I'm 28. At my miniatures group I'm the youngest by far and they like having me there, discovering the hobby. 

Enjoyed the articles :) 

I'm 33 now. I always loved dollhouses and I remember making a pretty elaborate house for my troll dolls out of cardboard box, but I built my first dh kit as a teen.

I've never known anyone else (in real life) with this hobby, young or old. :(

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3 hours ago, shamrockgirl18 said:

I'm 33 now. I always loved dollhouses and I remember making a pretty elaborate house for my troll dolls out of cardboard box, but I built my first dh kit as a teen.

I've never known anyone else (in real life) with this hobby, young or old. :(

And we are all figments of your imagination? 

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55 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

And we are all figments of your imagination? 

LOL Holly - I really didn't know anyone around me that did miniatures either.  I briefly joined a group an hour away from me, and maybe someday I will go back to the group...but in the meantime, I know of no others in my area.  Oh, I hear rumors of them when visiting my one and only local shop (run by a 90 year old woman).... well, I guess when I am attending the local annual mini show I should just make a point of introducing myself to other shoppers!  :D

 

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17 hours ago, havanaholly said:

And we are all figments of your imagination? 

Sorry, I didn't mean any offense. It's just I wish I knew people who could show me things in person- it's easier for me to learn watching a real person and being able to ask questions rather than trying to follow along an online tut.

If I didn't have this forum- I'd have NOTHING! YOU ARE ALL VITAL AND VALID! ;)

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