Hasbro has launched a new site to give fans unprecedented freedom to create, produce, and sell art based off popular content such as My Little Pony, Transformers, and Magic: The Gathering.
Variety reports that Hasbro and 3D printing site Shapeways have joined forces under the aptly-named SuperFanArt, a new platform that will help fans print their designs, promote their artwork, and easily sell or shop for products created by members of the My Little Pony (or other Hasbro-owned content) community. John Frascotti, chief marketing officer of Hasbro, spoke to Variety about SuperFanArt’s potential:
Many fans of our brands have remarkable creative talents and SuperFanArt empowers these artists to create unique expressions of Hasbro brands. By partnering with Shapeways, the largest online marketplace for custom 3D printed products, we are able to provide artists with an unprecedented opportunity and also provide brand enthusiasts with access to unique one of a kind creations.
Hasbro and Shapeways have launched their collaboration with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan-creations, and will display some of the products at SDCC next week (you can also take a gander over at the site right now). In the coming months SuperFanArt will also begin to print and sell products from other Hasbro properties such as Monopoly, Play-dowh, Littlest Pet Shop and Nerf.
SuperFanArt is an exciting prospect for artists previously restricted by copyright concerns or the technological limitations of other sites, but it will also be a boon for Hollywood and major brands. The new platform is a novel way of supplying merchandise to an audience, as well as discovering what appeals to different demographics–and with a community like, say, My Little Pony‘s adult fans, it might be easiest if Hasbro hears it from the horse’s mouth. Says Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen, the new site “enables anyone to get the products they want, and with this partnership, we can further expand this to fans to design products based on a major brand.”
Hasbro and other companies stand to benefit from the partnership, but SuperFanArt’s design definitely puts the focus on creative fans. I’m a little drunk with all this new power, frankly–and I’m going to sketch up a Monopoly design expressing just that.
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