14 DAY TRIAL // Even decades after her first introduction in 1959, Barbara Millicent Roberts, daughter of George and Margaret Roberts, continues to dazzle the world with her omnidisciplinary scientist degree and figure. Now, Barbie is making a trip to the past with the new medieval and ancient armors you can get for her.
Admittedly, Barbie dressed in armor before, but she didn't have access to that many different kinds of equipment, and the plates / weapons fit awkwardly on her.
Now, though, 3D printing technology has made it possible to provide her with perfectly tailored and suited armors, togas, swords, shields and helmets. Indeed, there are three full sets of battle armor in the “Faire Play Battle Set” that Jim Rodda has just unveiled.
A 3D designer, Rodda initially wanted to make glitter cannons for My Little Pony figures, spring-loaded ones, but he ran into technical problems with them and gave up.
He is still targeting little girl toys though, and there are few as well suited to start (or in this case revive) a fashion trend as Barbie.
Of course, there is some mystery as to why a “rad” young lady from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin, would switch to Middle Ages or Antiquity garb. Maybe Barbie was part of a club while attending Willows High School, or maybe she was part of a Sorority or other at the Manhattan International High School in New York City.
Anyway, the point is that Jim Rodda made three sets of cool armor for Barbie. They will really bring out her “girl power” and once more raise questions as to what the dynamics in her relationship with boyfriend Ken Carson are like.
Now all we can do is wonder if maybe Barbie will be ordering some ballistae or catapults. Rodda previously designed some of those too, in proper size. Sure, they were made for tabletop gaming, but they should work as “accessories” in this case as well.
Ironically enough, throughout the Kickstarter project that funded the armor, Rodda ended up buying more Barbie dolls than his sisters ever owned. You can buy the files (in order to print your own copies) for $29.99 / €22.17 under a Creative Commons license.
We actually reported on Barbie going Medieval before, back in March. That was when the Kickstarter crowd-funding project first went up. Obviously, it turned out to be successful, exceeding the funding goal (Jim Rodda made $6,000 / €4,435 instead of $5,000 / €3,696).