Rapid Prototyping has been Growing Up

And it's not just for prototyping anymore (Modern Plastics)... One of the key problems with making anything out of plastic has been the cost. The tooling can be cost prohibitive even if you have it made in China (about 1/3 the cost of making it in the US and it's not uncommon to spend north of 20K+, even 100K+ for a mold). I started following a small company called Stratasys a few years ago which has significantly brought down the cost and improved the speed of the machines required for RP. It's only a matter of time before it becomes affordable to have a desktop 3D printer.