It's every geek's dream to say "I am Iron Man!" while roaming around the floors of a comic con taking pictures with all of the fawning fans. While it's cheaper (and also extremely time consuming) to go the DIY route and build your own Iron Man suit out of foam, fiberglass or even cardboard, most of us geeks are just unashamedly lazy. That's okay, because so long as you have tons of cash, you too can become an Iron Man just like Robert Downey Jr.
The Shenzhen, China based Iron Man Factory is on a mission (most likely without Marvel's approval) to sell 3D-printed Iron Man suits for $35,000 a pop. These aren't just plastic pieces you slap onto your body. According to the company's website and demo video embedded below, the Iron Man Mark III suits only weigh about 6.6 pounds and are made from carbon-fiber reinforced polymer for the body with 2mm EVA internal cushion linings and metal joints for stability and durability.
Each suit also comes with a "sensor enclosure opening system" that slides the face plate up and down, light up eyes powered by AAA batteries, and a jetpack that flips out.
Sweet as this 3D-printed Iron Man suit is, and ridiculous pricing aside, the only downside is it only fits people that are 5'6" to 6'2". So, it kind of sucks for super short and super tall geeks who want to get in on that high-tech Tony Stark action. It also doesn't fly (in case you didn't figure that out already.)
There is some good news, though. If the company manages to snag up 5,000 pre-orders for the injection molded mass production (not 3D-printed) version, it can sell each suit for $2,000, which is a heckuva lot cheaper than $35,000 for the 3D-printed one. But if you seriously want the 3D-printed version, but don't have $35k lying around, you can also buy a 3D-printed helmet for $1,300. LINK
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