What tha thang is going on here? Shapeways 2.0

[randgust]

So I got an email from Shapeways (2.0) that they are restarting the marketplace, and point to this thang:

https://thangs.com/?sort=trending

And are putting out videos to explain it

"A few months ago we shared big news with you; Shapeways is not only back home, but we’ve added Thangs to the family! Now, we’re excited to share, you can start selling your models again! It’s our goal to bring back the shop owner experience, but better, with much more discoverability!"

So..... OK..... but I'm still assuming all the files are Kaput, right?  Nobody preserved or got any rights to that stuff..?

But I will agree that the "Shapeways Marketplace" was the worst search engine I've ever seen.  You'd get better results searching on Google and coming in backwards, or working with somebody elses web page that worked it backwards.

I only had one model I'd expirimented with, my son has successfully printed them on his home printer, but that's not a solution either.

[Chris333]

Shapeways in other countries (Netherlands?) is still going. I haven't ordered, but have seen others receive orders.

[brill27mcb]

Why would the files be kaput? The individual designers owned them and uploaded them to Shapeways, so they could get on Thangs and upload their files to that marketplace now, I would think. It's a question of each of them doing it, though. Plus, I do not think the new enterprise has printers in the U.S. so the prints would be imports (gasp) and subject to all of that malarky.

I noticed in their emails that the new Shapeways team always talks about "your models" and "your designs." They seem to be focused on the 3D designers at present, not the end consumers in an online marketplace.

Rich K.