Blue_SpeedSlowly but surely, 3D printing is going mainstream. Big names are starting to notice: Costco, Best Buy, Target, and more are now selling filament and accessories. More competition is good for us as consumers, so let's see what everyone's up to. Let's get into it.
Costco
Probably the least involved player here, but still worth mentioning. They're getting into 3D printing, but it's online-only: no buying in person, just ordering and having it shipped to your door. Right now they carry printers and filament, though the pricing and selection aren't my favorite.
Starting with filament: they carry Polymaker PLA in 2-packs and Overture PLA in 1-packs, and the value here is hit or miss. There's a Polymaker 4kg bundle (red, blue, black, white) for $59.99, which works out to roughly $15 a spool - about the going rate, and honestly I try not to pay more than that unless it's a special case. There's also a second Polymaker 4kg bundle (orange, purple, an odd green, and white) for $69.99, around $17.50 a spool. Still solid since it's Polymaker, one of the better PLA brands out there. Then there's Overture PLA at $79.99 for 10kg, in white or black, which comes out to just $8 per kg. If you need 10kg of black PLA, that's tough to beat (someone out there probably has a better deal, but I'm not digging for it).
Now for the printers. Costco currently sells three: the K2 Combo for $499 with 4kg of filament included, the i7 SparkX Combo for $419 with 4kg of filament, and the A1 Combo for $469 with 4kg of PLA plus a 0.4mm hardened steel nozzle and a 0.2mm stainless steel nozzle. At first glance these prices look steep, but do the math: 4kg of filament at roughly $20/kg is $80 worth of material. The i7 SparkX alone normally runs $359, so tack on that $80 and you're at $439 worth of value for $419 - already a deal. The K2 goes for $499 by itself, so bundling in $80 of filament means you're effectively saving that much (less if you're pricing filament closer to $15/spool, but still a win). Same story with the A1: $399 on its own, plus roughly $80 in filament and $20 in extra nozzles, makes the $469 combo a pretty easy call if you're in this for the long haul. But if budget is a concern for you, you can buy from the official sites instead, since you can't even buy in person anyway.
Best Buy
This one I LOVE, because they're actually starting to compete. Before, they did carry 3D printers, but they were expensive and out of stock 90% of the time. Not anymore. They're serious about this now, with inexpensive filament and printers at the right price, and most importantly, actually in stock.
They're the real player when it comes to buying in person. They're selling printers like the Bambu Lab A1 Mini, P2S, P1S - basically every Bambu Lab printer - at the same price as the official site. They also carry the full FlashForge lineup, including the 5M Pro, Creator 5, and 5 Pro. They even have Creality printers, not all of them, but most of the ones you'd actually care about.
They also made their own filament called Insignia, which comes from the same factories that make eSun PLA - an amazing PLA that I'll be reviewing later on. In short: it works, and it works great. It's not quite Bambu Lab quality, but Bambu Lab quality is a bar that's just extreme most of the time. The best part is the price: PLA, PETG, and whatever else they carry runs cheap, really cheap, at only $13 per kg for PLA and $12 per kg for PETG. It's an amazing deal that most Amazon brands can't compete with.
Target
Another in-person competitor, though they're going with the slow-and-steady approach. They haven't gone all in yet: just one Bambu Lab printer, a few FlashForge printers, and overpriced filament. This isn't a sprint for them, more of a small walk.
For Bambu, they're only selling the A1 Mini, at the same $219 price as everywhere else, along with $23 filament. They're also selling FlashForge's 5M, 5M Pro, and AD5X at the same price as the official site - but online only, same as every filament brand other than Bambu, which is the only one you can actually buy in person.
Hobby Lobby
One of the first stores to get into in-person 3D printing supplies. They don't sell printers, just filament and tools. They were kind of the ones who started this whole trend, back when the 3D printing community first noticed the hobby was getting bigger - and that's great.
They do make their own filament. I haven't tested it yet (I probably will soon, no promises), but from the reviews I've seen, it's pretty good. Pricing is a little weird and inconsistent - sometimes I'll see it at $14.99, other times $16.99. Right now the basic PLA is $14.99, which is a solid price. Wood PLA runs $16.99, marble PLA is $20.99, and then there are some novelty ones like "Burnt Titanium Sparkling" at $20.99 and "Luminous Green" at $21.99. I'm not going to go through every single roll they carry, but at that price range, some of it's honestly expensive - you'll find a lot of these on Amazon for cheaper. They've also got some TPU for $20.99. If you want to check it out yourself, search "3D printing" on hobbylobby.com.
They also carry a handful of tools. Starting with the ones I haven't tested: a Filament Vacuum Pump with storage bags for $10.99. Based on similar products I've tried (a lot of this stuff is drop-shipped like everything else on Amazon), I'd guess the pump barely does anything, but the bag itself is enough to keep your filament dry a bit longer. There's also a 3D Printing Platform Adhesive Spray - haven't tried it, and honestly not that eager to. My guess is it might help with ABS on an open printer, but I can't confirm that.
They also sell their own build plate for $18.99, which looks like it's meant for Bambu-sized (256mm) printers. I'd just buy the official Bambu one for around $12.99 instead - I doubt Hobby Lobby's version beats it. Bambu tends to nail this stuff.
They also carry a refillable filament spool. It exists, sure, but you can get the same thing on Amazon for the same price, or just 3D print your own. The build quality is fine, but I wouldn't waste money on one - most manufacturers still don't support refills, or if they do, they price it the same as buying a new spool, so there's no real advantage. I'd rather design a custom spool that actually fits my filament and know it works.
Now for the two things I have tested: the deburring tool at $9.99 works great - does exactly what it should, cuts cleanly, and comes with extra blades, so when one goes dull you've got a backup ready to go. And the calipers, which also work, but the battery died fast. If you only need them for a few months, they're fine - but for anything longer, spend a bit more on a pair that'll actually last.
Verdict: worth a stop for the deburring tool and if you want to try their PLA, but skip the accessories until more of them are proven out.
Michaels
They've also got their own filament under the "Make Market" brand. Haven't tried it myself, but it's their in-house line, and given the quality of the other stuff they sell, it should be decent. They also carry overpriced filament from brands like Creality, running around $30 a spool.
They do sell printers, but most of them are online-only, which kind of defeats the purpose - at that point it's basically the same as just ordering from the official site. Online, they carry the Creality AD5X Hi Combo, K2 Pro Combo, K2 Plus Combo, and the FlashForge Adventure 5M Pro and 5M. In-store, though, they only stock one printer: the Creality Sparkx i7 Combo. My guess is Creality's trying to hook people who've never even heard of 3D printing before - being the first (and only) printer someone sees in-store is a smart way to build brand recognition. Smart move, honestly. We'll see how it plays out.
Verdict: not much reason to buy a printer here over the official site, but keep an eye on Make Market filament if you want an in-store option.
Micro Center
This one's going to be short because most of you probably already know the drill. Micro Center sells most of the printers people actually care about - the A1 Mini, Creality Hi, Anycubic Kobra X, Snapmaker U1, that kind of lineup. They're not stocking random niche printers that only a handful of people want; for about 98% of people, if there's a Micro Center near you, it's worth a look. If you already own a Bambu printer, even better, since they carry spare parts too.
Filament is where they lose me, though. It's some of the priciest I've seen - $25 for 1kg is rough when I can get 1.75kg for that same money elsewhere. That's probably worth its own blog post down the line.
That wraps up today's blog. 3D printing is slowly but surely going mainstream, and hopefully it keeps growing - more people in the hobby means better printers for all of us, and easier access to the parts and materials we need. If you're trying to figure out which printer actually fits your budget and use case before you walk into any of these stores, run it through the printer quiz first, or check the cost calculator to see what a "deal" actually costs once filament and accessories are factored in. As always, happy printing.