Meet The Makers #17 From Bankrupt to Building A 3D Printing Empire - with Nikko Industries

Welcome to Episode 17 of Meet The Makers! In this episode, we delve into the  journey of Nikko Industries, Join us as we explore his incredible transformation from facing bankruptcy to creating a thriving 3D printing empire.

Nikko introduces us to his latest creation – an AI platform that generates intricate 3D models. Explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and creativity as Nikko discusses the potential of this revolutionary tool in shaping the future of 3D printing.

If you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a 3D printing enthusiast, or simply captivated by stories of resilience and innovation, this episode is a must-watch. Tune in to Meet The Makers #17 - From Bankrupt to Building A 3D Printing Empire - with Nikko Industries and be inspired by a journey of reinvention, cutting-edge technology, and the spirit of a true maker.
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Where to find Nikko
Website: https://nikkoindustriesmembership.com/
Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@nikko_industries?lang=en
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2038943233057281/?_rdc=2&_rdr
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Come be a guest on meet the makers: https://forms.gle/wTqzxqGpsu9hZ39F6

Follow misfit printing on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@misfit_printing

Chapters 
Intro - 0:00 
Cosplay before 3D printing - 2:01 
Unique 3D printed Armor files - 3:01 
From Bankruptcy to Success- 4:12 
Do you need college - 6:32 
Getting into 3D modeling - 7:03 
spikes in model popularity - 12:12 
Expanding out of Armor - 12:23
The Importance of Market Research -14:33 
Hiring a team - 15:16 
Building a following with social media - 16:51 
Online communities - 17:58 
Diablo 4 - 20:33 
Surge in Interest for Movie Models -21:12 
Prototyping With the Bambu - 22:57 
K1 vs. Bambu - 26:31 
The Future of 3D Printing - 27:30 
New AI 3D printing tool - 28:38 
The Future of Nico Industries - 37:08 
Project Santa: Bringing Christmas to Every Child -39:45 
Find 1000+ files online -42:34 

Transcript

 Hey everybody. Welcome back to Meet the Makers today. I have a great guest with us. He is one of the most prolific, uh, designers in the three D printing community right now. Uh, super excited to be welcoming Nico from Nico Industries. How are you doing? So happy to have you here today. Thanks for having me.

The pleasure and the honor, I swear is all mine. Well, likewise, uh, you were a highly anticipated guest and, uh, glad that we got to have you on here today. So, uh, I'll kick you off with a question that I kind of start everybody out with and, um, I'm not sure if you wanna speak to maybe like the, I guess like just three d printing and modeling in general, and then maybe like a little more to the business side.

But how did you, uh, get started and get into these things? So it's really funny how that started. Um, it's really my kids, uh, When my kids were younger, this was about five years ago. It was at the height of Marvel, right? Mm-hmm. Um, my son and my, my daughter liked to dress up as Marvel characters. I would take 'em to the Disney store and buy them their, you know, their costumes.

Yeah. And so, um, being the type of that I am, I dressed up with them. Right. Okay. And, and what I did was I started with foam formats with pepper curra. Mm-hmm. Right. As a, I had a full foam. Uh, fomo Ironman mp, MK 46. And I just fell in love with the craft. I fell in love with the cosplay. I was like, oh my God, this is so cool, dude.

I'm, I'm Iron Man. Um, and then one day I was scroll through Instagram and I saw this leg piece of like this super highly detailed Ironman leg. And I was like, what is that? And the guy said, so I DMed the guy and he said, it's three D printed. I go, it's freaking what? He goes, it's three D printed. I go, what is that?

So, For about a month, I just, I went just deep like rabbit hole and I said, all right, let's get one. And the CR 10 had just come out and it was a nice, you know, 12 by 12 by 16 bed and it was perfect for cosplay. And poof, that's, that's how I got started. Uh, it's crazy. Like I, coming from a side of like being and doing, uh, cosplay and like doing the foam side of things and then like discovering three d printing, I, I've never like, uh, explored foam at all and like made anything with that.

But I imagine doing that, like, it probably like the level of detail that you can get and just like the amount of time that has to go in, I imagine it has to be just like way, way more difficult. It's far more time consuming, that's for sure. Um, and, and the quality that you put out with three D printing just is unmatched.

Um, when it comes to foam, I mean, foam just cannot compete with three D printing, I don't think. Yeah. , I've just recently started getting into, um, doing my first cosplay pieces. I just started my first Mando helmet recently. Uh, and yeah, it's, uh, yeah, shout out the Galactic Armory, though. They, they, they got good stuff, man.

Yeah, I, uh, frankly, bill had recommended it. I was like, okay, I have to dive in and I have to go over there. So I picked up my first helmet, and, uh, honestly, I've been having such a great time getting into that side of things. It's, uh, it's like kind of opened up a new horizon for me of, uh, you know, combining the pieces.

I don't have a large scale printer yet, so I'm still in the realm of, uh, kind of standing my pieces together, but, Yeah, it's been, uh, it's been a lot of fun getting into that side of things. You, I think most people, um, like know you're really well known for, um, doing like all kinds of different, uh, cosplay armor and helmets and stuff like that.

Um, it seems like it's kind of like a natural transition that, you know, that would be how you, um, you know, ended up going that route for modeling. But, um, I guess like what was kinda like the first, uh, models that you started putting out for that? Was it Ironman? Was it something else? Um, actually the first commission that I had was, it was for the macaroni Warhawk for War Hammer 40 K.

Okay. It wasn't even Ironman. Um, and, you know, it just, I was like, oh, um, there's a, there's a real, uh, demand for these things. And so I would, every time I would go on Facebook, I would see the Facebook groups from the ity of Facebook groups. It would all, you know, there's just an Iron Man helmet every other day, you know, three or four posts a day.

I was like, all right, well there's a demand for this. So, um, but what is it that they said, the people who got rich weren't the ones panning for gold? Is someone selling the shovels? Mm-hmm. So I said, all right, let's sell some shovels. Yeah, it's, uh, you know, you've built a really interesting way around doing models.

'cause I think a lot of people that I see, um, who do models, you know, they kind of go a more traditional route of, uh, you know, they'll post your models on cults or, uh, think averse things like that. Mm-hmm. And I think that's what, uh, I like, I feel like the way that you present your models and you offer your models is, is a little more unique.

Not a ton of people have a website built out like you do. Um, I guess like did you have a background in business that like. Made you comfortable going that route? Or how did you kind of like, go down the path of like developing your own website and like you have a really strong brand around it? Like how did that kind of come about?

Um, so the first, when I first came out with, with Nico Industries, the only cosplay brand was due three D. Okay. They were the only ones. Um, but before Nico Industries had started, I was already vastly interested in, in business and, and marketing and, and, you know, uh, working for myself. Um, so I guess it was just really a lot of experience and, and knowledge that had built up before that actually, um, funny story.

I had failed in several businesses before Eco Industries,  actually, while Nico Industries started. I was in chapter 13 bankruptcy. Yeah, I was in chapter 13 bankruptcy. Um, I had failed the fitness business that I, that I had. Uh, I used to own a gym. Mm-hmm. And, uh, it failed. I was a hundred thousand dollars in debt.

And, um, yeah, it, it was just one of those deals that, um, I said, you know, Etsy's taking too much.  These just take a lot. Now they're taking even, even more. Yeah. Cost takes away a lot. And I heard they don't pay their, their, um, their designers, but I've never had that problem. Um, Patreon takes a lot, and so I said, you know what, why would I give these guys more money?

So I said, you know what, I'll just build everything out on my own and then I'll, you know, just market it myself, basically how it went. Well, uh, it's, I, in my opinion, it's a really smart way that you went about doing it. And thank you. You know, I, uh, I likewise, I've had multiple, uh, business failures in the past, and I always like to think of them as like, you know, uh, it's, it's crazy hearing, you know, kind of somebody go from this position of, uh, being, you know, like you said, a hundred thousand in debt and like transitioning to this new business.

I always like to think of those failed business ventures as like almost an investment. Like I feel like, at least for me, There was situations where like me failing in a certain business, it like Cannon puled me into the next thing that I was doing. I don't know if, uh, you kind of felt that way with that business that you had first.

Like do you, was there things that you learned in that business that kind of, um, evolved how you went about doing Nico Industries? Yeah, it's, it's definitely the school of hard knocks, right? Um, it's, it's, it's a big price to pay, but. Boy do you learn and you learn so much? I feel like the, the money I spent in all my business failures got me a PhD and a ma at, at the very least, a master's in business.

I. Yeah. Um, and I mean, you know, not to toot my own horn, but it's done me pretty well. Yeah, no, it, it seems like, uh, like I said, it seems like you've really built like a great brand around this. Um, if you don't mind me asking this, it's always a topic that I'm curious about, but do you have like a formal, um, education business or was it really like, like learning from just your own experiences?

Nope. I have an engineering degree. Oh, okay. I am, I'm prior military, uh, I'm not sure how, if, if that's, uh, relevant, but no, I'm just a poor boyfriend. Philippines, just a poor B from Manila, man. I'm just, you know, just Nico, just a, I'm just gonna do the garage trying to play, trying to be a nerd, you know, I'm just a nerd in the garage.

That's all I am. Well so you said that you went to engineering school. Um, I know that that can like span across a lot of different broad ranges. Did that, um, kind of play into like how you got into mod three D modeling? So what got me into three D modeling really was just, I said, So how it's, when three D printing first started, I said, how do you three D print stuff?

Well, the machine needs files to make something. I said, oh, okay. So I have to design it. All right, cool. So how do you design? And I just learned, um, the artistic side came, um, from my family. We're all a family of artists. I've been drawing, you know, dragon Ball Z anime stuff since I was five. Um, so that helped definitely.

Um, And so yeah, that's just, that's how that started. It's very cool. No, it's, uh, you know, you, it again just seems like you have like a lot of like, uh, small experiences that might not seem related, but they all kind of keep together in the right way. Like, you know, it's like kind like making like a super something.

You just like throw a bunch of stuff in the pot. Right, exactly. And like, something good comes up. I love to cook, so it's just this ingredient, this ingredient that like, oh look, it's something delicious. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Um, now that's like, uh, another thing that I see, like you, uh, I think what again, uh, captures the interest of a lot of people in the designs that you do, um, you know, whether it's Marvel stuff, uh, I see that you recently have like some Dragon Ball Z related files.

You have like, A lot of stuff that just is, it's very cool. But what, um, really stood out to me about your files is, uh, the ones that come to mind in particular. I know you have like a  samurai Batman, uh, yeah. Style helmet. You have like a, a skull storm trooper, like all these cool, like, uh, what would be traditional helmets, but then you have like your own twist on it.

Um, do you, like, as you're designing, do you find those to be like a little more fun and like experimental to play with? Where did the ideas Much fun. Oh my gosh. Come from, they're so much fun because, I mean, look, You're just going through something and you're like, well, what if that, that's how everything started, right?

Like the show, what if, like what if, right? What if, you know, the storm trooper was a, was a bone poof, right? What if Batman was a samurai? What would he look like? What if Batman was a ninja? Right? What if the predator was a Mandalorian? You know, and you just, you just go. Um, I'm definitely inspired, you know, when I'm going through Pinterest, when I'm going through Instagram, I'm just scrolling and I'm kinda like, oh, oh man, that looks cool.

Well, what if this? Yeah. And then, you know, it's off to the races. Um, I, I will say at this point I have removed myself as the designer and now I have a team of people who are doing that for me. Okay. Um, and that allows me to spend more time with my family, spend more time with my kids. Right. Because that's what this is all about.

Right. Um, To, to free up ourselves and our, our time so we can do what we want with our time. Because let's face it, that's, that's, that's what it's all about. It's the freedom. Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think that that's something like, that's difficult for a lot of business owners as well. Like something I've always struggled a lot with is like delegating out tasks and like deciding what, like what is the thing that like, only I can do, where is my energy best spent?

And then like, what should I delegate out to other people? Was that like, did you struggle with that? How was that transition for you when you first got started? It, it was right off the bat. Right? I, I, okay. Came in and was like, all right, if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this for scale. Um, and I said, what, what do I have so I, that I can leverage?

Um, and it was money. I, I was making really good money 'cause I was working for the utility company. Mm-hmm. Okay. Um, I was bringing in, you know, six figures and I said, well, what, what, what can I do so I can scale this faster? And I said, well, if I'm designing, can I hire several more people to do this? Right.

And I hired from the gun, four designers, and I was like, oh, dang, I can remove myself immediately from this. And so I did. And then poof, it scaled up. Um, and then it wasn't until this year that I really, really scaled up, um, with, with the designs where we're putting out a model every single day. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I, uh, I'm not sure the last time I checked, I think you were around like 900 models are you hit a thousand.

Oh my God, that's so exciting. That's awesome. Well, because actually, for people that who don't know, we were going to do this, uh, podcast, we had to reschedule. We were gonna do it last month, month, early last month. Yeah. But I had to go pick up the kids. And you were busy for that day too. Yeah. Yeah. And at the time, I, I have my podcast notes.

Uh, leading up to these, and at the time I had it in there, I was like wondering if there was gonna be a special model for a day a thousand. So it's like, it's just ironic and it's funny that, uh, this came off. Yeah. Yeah. Today I uploaded today and I was like, dude, I think about a thousand today. And sure enough.

Um, so really excited. We hit a thousand today. Um, I'm pretty sure I'm one of the biggest, if not the biggest membership, um, for files for three D printing. So really proud of that. Congratulations. That's a huge milestone. I mean, thank you. Um, and you know, like you have a team of people, but again, for um, kind of like a single like standalone, you know, you're not COL three d, you're not things where you have like all these people contributing.

Um, it, it's a huge milestone. So that's, uh, thank you. That's awesome. Thank so much. It's, it's been a long time coming. Yeah. Now for you guys, so, um, in terms of like where you guys are kind of going in the future, um, I'm not sure how much you can like, share if there's things maybe happening behind the scenes, but, um, is the plan right now to kind of just like continue at the pace that you're at, like continue to add these files every day?

Is there like, A different direction that you see things going? Where are you guys kind of at right now? So I'm waiting for the X-Men. Okay. As long as Marvel is putting out movies, I'll be here. As long as DC keeps putting out movies, I'll be here. As long as there are video games, I will be here. And so it doesn't like, it doesn't sound like I'm gonna be going anywhere anytime soon.

Right. Yeah. So we are gonna continue to keep, uh, building the props and, and the armor and, and the cost and stuff like that. Um, recently we had a, um, A big stint on, on Mortal Kombat. Mm-hmm. Um, this past couple, this past week actually, um, a lot of Spider-Man 2099. Um, Miguel was great, loved him in the movie.

Um, but we're also going towards the everyday things that you, you know, for people who don't necessarily wanna print superhero stuff and, and other things. Um, we are going into more, uh, just random designs. Like, you know, just flexi, flexi toy, so on and so forth. Um, and we're also trying to go into, um, just home decor, just stuff like that.

Okay. Just things that aren't necessarily pop and mainstream. Mm-hmm. That just things that, oh, that'd be a cool three d print. And so it, it'll be more all encompassing, not just from the niche where I started from. Right. I started from this niche and now we're going broader. Okay. There is one more thing that I wanna talk about, but, ah, maybe on another episode.

Okay. Maybe on another episode we'll have to have you back. Yeah, we'll have to have you back for part two. Definitely. Definitely. Um, yeah, I'm sure out about it right now and I really wanna talk about it, but I can't, man, you're giving us quite the cliffhanger here. My eyes are gonna be like attached to the emails every time they're coming in down.

Yeah. Yeah. What's coming out? Um, no, that's, it's interesting. It's interesting hearing you say, um, like diversifying out, uh, for you guys. Like right now, I'm not sure how involved you are with, guiding the modelers that you guys have or if they're kind of like, um, on their own accord.

But like, do you guys, um, do you like, I'm not sure if there's like, uh, research that goes into, what to add to the website of like what you think are going to be um, enticing products to people, or is it more so like, just like, we think that this is interesting, so we're gonna make it. So all the ideas that the designers get are from me.

Right? Okay. I am not 100% removed from the business. Um, I'm still the head of the snake, right? Okay. So, so I'm the one who says, all right, I need this, I want this, I want this, I want this. Then it comes to me. Then I'll come take it like, all right, this, I don't like this here. And then I'll tell 'em, change this, change this, and this and this.

And then it comes back and like, okay, cool. That's cool. Um, and as far as ideas go, It's always, it's always through me. They're always, it's always through me. They're like, all right, what's my next project? Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. I have a spreadsheet of, and we laugh about this in our, our Facebook group.

Um, it's, it's never ending. Like my list is just, I'll take off one, I'll put four on, literally, and then the guys are just like, Hey, can you make this? Can you make this? Can you make this? And it's always, Hey, does everyone else want it? Mm-hmm. I can't do just for John. Right. Right. Or for Kevin or whoever.

Right. I, I can't do just one-offs for one person. It has to be something that everyone's gonna want, or a good, a good amount of people that are, are gonna want. Yeah. Um, no, that, that, honestly, it, I have to say like one of the hardest uh, lessons I learned in like business and life, it was, uh, you know, doing like the market research and understanding that just because I like it or just because I think it's cool or like you said, just because John thinks it's cool and it's a good idea doesn't mean that it's gonna have that mass market appeal.

And, uh, man, if I could like, go back in time and like pound that lesson into my head, that was, uh, That was a hard one for me to learn and still like I struggle with that. So Yeah. It's an expensive lesson. Yeah. Expensive. It, it's cost me a few $10,000. Yeah. I do it. I believe it. I was like, oh, Nico thinks it's cool.

Everybody else is gonna think it's cool. Yeah. Zero, zero purchases and I was like, oh my God, is this for real right now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, uh, you know, it's hard to like separate yourself from it sometimes. And I think, honestly, like that's another thing where I think if you have a really great team around you too, that it can be like another, like sounding board even to, um, kinda like bounce those ideas off of, and like, see it resonates.

I, I know for me, like I've been really fortunate to have like different people around to bounce ideas off of it. It's been super helpful. But, uh, yeah, uh, I would say like that's always like something I try and like put out there for anybody who's like looking to start a business or. Is newer to business, definitely.

Um, you know, validate your ideas that you have and make sure that there is interest in them, especially if you're investing heavily in those, uh, before you start developing them. Yeah, I mean, there is a way to validate that is no cost to you, that that's not gonna cost you any money. It's, it's it instant validation and it's instant feedback.

Right? Yeah. You guys ready for it? Yeah. Ask. How crazy is that? Right? Just ask, Hey, what do you guys think of this? And they'll tell you. Yeah. And if it's crickets, don't make it. Yeah. It's, it's really as simple as that. And it took me, it took a while for me to learn that lesson, so, yeah. No, absolutely. And I think, um, To that point, like, I don't know if I don't, I'm not sure if like, when you guys are doing models, if this is like, um, something that comes into play there.

Um, but like, I know for me, even just like social media can be a great tool of exactly like you said, like ask, like put it out in the world and uh, like see what the interest is in it. Uh, even if it's not like done or if you end up not, like if there's not interest, like it's, it's almost better to get that feedback up in front and not have to like go through the whole development process.

So, um, absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yes. Um, so okay, you have, um, Um, you know, your, your different models that you guys are working on, um, it sounds like you guys have, uh, a lot of different moving parts right now. Again, I'm curious to see what's coming up in the future. Um, kind of thinking back to, uh, the different models that you guys have right now, and like how, um, you know, you have gone to where you are.

Has social media been like a big thing that you've leveraged to like, get interest in models or like where has like most of your traffic would you say comes from. So traffic for the website, right? Yeah. Yeah. , how overall you've, um, marketed the brand and like, more specifically get website traffic.

So it started off as the Armor group 'cause there wasn't one. Okay. Uh, five years ago there was no armor group. And I said, well, let's start one. And so anytime there was, I saw, anytime I saw a post that was an Iron Man or whatever, I said, Hey, you should post this in the Armor group. Oh. And it went nuts. It went bonkers.

Um, I went from zero I, I'm, I don't, I'd forgotten how the rate of how it went goes. Um, we're currently sitting at 25 to 20, I think 26,000 members now. Okay. What was faster though was the side hustle group that I started around this time last year and we're currently at 18,000 members in one year. Mm-hmm.

So, wow. It's, it's, it's, it's, my strategy has always been build a community, build a community around the one thing that they want to do. So the Armor group was, they wanted to build props from video games, movies, uh, and shows, which was, you know, my, my original group. And that's how most of the traffic comes.

Um, and in the Side Hustle Group is for people who wanted to start businesses in, in that sense, um, I haven't really, you know, dived into that. 'cause my focus has always, and will always primarily be eco industries. Um, and it started off also, As a YouTube channel where I would, so on Facebook, I would tell people to, Hey, join the group here.

And when I first started my YouTube channel a long time ago, I would show people how to san, you know, how to post process of their helmets to so on and so forth. And then I would tell 'em, Hey, join us in this group. Join us in this group. Join us in this group. And there was a link to it, uh, in the, the YouTube description description.

And that's how you, that's how I built it. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Uh, community, it's, I think it's an underrated way of, uh, kind of like getting people involved and getting people, uh, like aligned on what you're doing. It's, uh, I've recently been exploring something. I'm not sure if he follows Sam Ovens at all or if you'll know what I'm talking about, but, uh, he, uh, lunch, it's called school groups, and it's like these online communities, which I've been, I've been really curious about, interest about.

But, uh, no online communities. I think it's, uh, it's a really interesting thing. It's something I've been, uh, Kind of just curious about like, over the years before I was into three D printing, I had, uh, I put out like a lot of content around house plants and, um, it's always interesting to me the way that these, like hobbies, I think like that people are so passionate about really, uh, like have these very strong communities around them.

And, uh, I think it's like a really good way to leverage a business for that. I agree. Communities be, it's because it's everyone who is looking to do the same thing. Have a space to talk about that one thing, and it's just a bunch of nerds trying to, you know, it's a bunch of grown 12 year old men. Yeah, no, it, it really, I think, uh, honestly like the three D printing community, it's like everybody really embraces their inner child there, which I'm a big fan.

It's, uh, it's, uh, it's a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah. now to that point of your YouTube videos, that was something that I also thought was pretty cool about yours. Um, you know, you obviously like a lot of the models that you guys released from Nico Industries. Um, I, I have one behind me. I have the, uh, skull, uh, apple mug.

Love that. The poison apple mug yes. Yes. Um, and you coincidentally you had a video on this one, which this isn't even close to, like the, one of the craziest models that you guys released, but I thought what was cool is, um, some of the videos that you guys have, Um, you kinda like walk people through, like, you know, how to set up the supports or how to best, like, orient things.

And I think that that's, um, something that's really valuable. Yeah. Thank you. Um, yeah, I, I, I really should get back to more of those. I, yeah. Diablo four has, I'm, I'm not, I'll admit on camera right now live, I haven't been on. Diablo four has my attention.

It's funny you say that. My, uh, my coworkers are all gamers and I, I, it was, it must have been a couple weeks ago that it came out, but I remember I was like, oh, what are guys to this weekend? They're all like, oh yeah, we're playing Diablo the entire weekend. Yeah, Diablo four got come on full attention. Yeah.

No, I don't blame you. I don't blame you. Um, But, uh, it's, I guess like, kind of an interesting thing to go off from that. So like, obviously for you, like right now, Diablo is where the attention is at, um, since you guys like, have a lot of, um, your like, current like market that you guys do is around, you know, um, games or movies or things like that.

Like, let, and I always feel so bad saying this, but like, I pre I haven't seen like, uh, really any of like the Marvel or DC movies. Uh, but I, so I can't tell you like what the most recent one is that came out, but like, let's say I'm leaving this podcast. I know as soon as I say, people are always like, what are you talking about?

But, uh, it's so bad. I, I need to, I need to get caught up. But, um, you know, let's say a new Spider-Man movie comes out when mm-hmm. Like releases like that happen. Do you guys see a surge in like, the interest for those types of models? Yeah. Huge. Yes. Like, uh, for the past week, my number one downloaded product are my Spider-Man.

Um, That's Spider Man 29, 9 face, uh, uh, face shell, the bust and the statues. 'cause I, because I have five different things, right? So I have the 2099 face shell. Um, I have a spider from the movie 2099 bust. I have the 2099 statue, and I wanted to do the original comic book, spider-Man 29 9. Okay. So I have a bust of that and a statue of that as well.

And those are like, They're huge right now. Yeah. I, I believe that they are. 'cause I, uh, it seems like it comes in waves on my feet of what I see, but like, it's like one day all of a sudden, like there'll be certain types of models that mm-hmm. Everybody's just like, everybody's printing Spider-Man now, or everybody's printing.

When the Mario movie came out, it was like, everything was Mario. Oh my God. Yeah. Um, this, uh, Mario cart that we made that uses bearings, um, I think a few people made this, uh, this is one of my favorites actually, where you can actually put Mario inside. I can't find Mario right now though, but I printed the, the wheels in T P u, there's ball bearings inside that snap on and it's fully functioning.

Yeah, that's a, that's a cool model. I wanna say I've seen a couple people print that, I can't remember who, but, uh, I think I've seen that one floating around. Um, now I guess going off of that, so for you guys, I, I know that like you have the people who model, um, like a team of modelers right. Now, for the people who do the modeling, do they also do the prototyping of the models when they come out?

Or do you Nope, that's me. Nope. Okay. Gotcha. Um, yep. In terms of prototyping those, I see you have the two bamboos behind you. Yes. Have those machines helped you in terms of like launching the prototypes and getting different things, uh, out quicker? Yes. I love these things. Um, I sold all my reality, um, CR 10 s fours and weren't we just these two?

And they do the job. They, they do the job. Um, I do wanna get my hands on the K one max. Okay. Which would be the biggest core xy, um, pre-built. You know, um, so far, so that's, that's the one, that's the one Daddy wants man. Yeah, they do get the prototypes out, uh, very, very fast. Yeah, I actually just ordered myself the P one last night.

They just went on sale and I was like, okay, finally I broke down. I had to do it, so I'm excited I for, so I was like so against it for, so I was like, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. And then I, somebody made it. Yeah. I broke. I was like, I've gotta do it. So I'm excited to finally get into the, the Cool Kids Club with my Bamboo.

But um, yeah, they're, uh, they seem like they've really, for a lot of people, been a great tool for just, uh, being able to like quickly iterate on getting things out. So that's, uh, the flexes come out in two hours. I mean, they're phenomenal. Yeah. That's, uh, that's gonna be like a, a huge turnaround from, uh, it sounds like you came from mostly c reality machines, so that's gotta be, uh, a big difference.

Yeah. Um, now for the K one, it's interesting that you said that because I haven't seen a lot of people, I've seen a couple people testing 'em, but I don't hear a ton about them yet. Um, you know, coming from the bamboo that was like kind of the machine that I feel like was like the standard for a while of like, um, core XY printers.

Do you, have you done like a lot of research on it? Have you heard good things about the, um, K one or, uh, what are you kinda hearing about that machine? And it's interesting to hear that like, that's like kind of on the top of your list right now. So I've heard mixed reviews about it. Um, but from my closest friends who have it, every single close friend that I have who has it all, love it.

They love it as much as they love the bamboo. Okay. Um, and so that's enough for me. Like I'll trust my friends over, you know, some random person on social media, right? Yeah. Um, the person on social media could just be a, a hater, right? Why? Why do my friends have to lie to me? Like, ev all my friends are like, dude, you gotta get one.

Like, oh, dammit. I just, I'm good with these too. He is like, no, bro, you gotta get one. I was like, oh, you suck. Actually, funny story. It was a Saturday morning last year. I think around this time last year, I was on the phone with Uncle Jesse Saturday morning. It was like eight a, it was like 7:00 AM here, 10 o'clock his time.

I said, Hey man, dude, should I really get this, this bamboo? He goes, bro, yes. So while he was on the phone, I bought one. I said, all right, man, if this thing sucks, you know? Yeah, yeah. I'm calling you back up. Yeah. Um, but it's quickly become my favorite printer, uh, up there. One of the greatest of all time. Um, yeah.

And now reality's coming out with, you know, so Bamboo set the bar for, uh, for, you know, prebuilt core x y machines, right? Bamboo said, Hey, here's, we're the, we're the new standard. And so Allego C reality, any cubic, everybody's like, all right, well, they just stepped up the game, so we gotta step up. So kudos to Bamboo for, for setting that bar and that reality saying, well, here's the, here's the X one, here's the X one max.

Because they already knew we were gonna ask for bigger. Yeah. Yeah, it's, uh, it's, like I said, I've only been doing this a little longer than six months now, but, uh, it feels like you've made it longer. I feel like I've been doing this long. I feel like I've been doing this for like 10 years, but, um, yeah.

Yeah. No, I've only been, uh, printing for about six months now, but I kind of like, it's like amazing. Six months. Yeah. , kind of like right when I first got into it, I remember like people were ju like,  it's boy space and, uh, a few other people. I can't think of who else, like, was like in the first release of 'em.

And I remember seeing them and , I didn't even know enough about printers at the time to like realize how cool it was. But um, you know, just in the time that I've been printing, seeing like how much it's evolved out of like, you know, just most people printing on, uh, you know, under three, it's, uh, it's.

It has me really excited to see over the next five years what it's going to evolve into. And um, I guess like what direction, just three D printing in general goes and if it becomes more of a mainstream thing and for you guys, that has to be really exciting with these machines that are coming out and being more accessible to, you know, you don't need to be a super technical person now to get one of these printers.

. So what I feel should happen eventually, Who, here's the thing. Whoever can put a three D printer in every home in America is the next billionaire, right? And they need to solve the problem of how fast or how easy can we make this, can we make this work? And bamboo just leap forward with that because of how easy it is to, to get this machine going now.

It becomes a real, a reliability issue at this point, so that when the machine does break down, how easy is it to, to repair, you know, it's, it's not like it's a toaster where you can just mm-hmm. If it breaks, I go down to the mall or go on Amazon, buy another one. Right. These things are expensive, so I think it's got another 15 to 20 years before we get to the point where someone is gonna put a three D printer in every home in America, but, We are, we're moving, we're moving along, and, and, and it's, we're headed in the right direction.

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, you know, where my mind kind of goes on that note of like, where you took us is almost not even how easy it is to repair, but almost how reliable it is and, uh, how much you can get the price done. Like I, what I think of it being comparable to is a microwave. I would never try and repair my microwave, but my microwave never breaks.

Right? Like, you know, I'm, I buy a microwave and it runs for what, like 10 years and I never have to think about it until I've remodeled my house and buy a new one. Um, that's like, if we can get to that point where, you know, there are a couple hundred dollars. They run for 10 years and they don't break down every day.

Uh, that's where I start to get like really excited and start to think that like this is an appliance that everybody has in their home. Um, I know one of the things that you said is like a newer market that you guys are getting into is furniture. Is that like, uh, the idea of like more people getting into three d printing and it becoming more of this mainstream thing, is that kind of something leading you down that path?

Or is that just like a market that you think is like under, um, utilized right now for like models so, so. Um, we are not doing furniture, we're doing home decor. Oh, right. Oh, okay. So like, so like shelving, um, okay. Wall art, you know, stuff like that. Uh, we haven't really dove a, a huge, uh, huge amount into it.

And I know Hugh Forge. Oh my gosh. Have you seen those things that the people are printing on? Hugh Forge. Beautiful, beautiful pieces of work. Hugh Forge. So they're, they're they're printing, they're painting with the machine. Oh, yes. Okay. Yes. I do know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. It's a huge forge.

Um, shout out to those guys. Um, I, I think Q Forge, um, UI could use work. 'cause I looked at it and I was like, what the hell am I doing here? Um, but once you figure it out, man, it's great piece of software. Um, so as far as as back to the question, um, I. We're, we haven't really dove too much into the home decor space.

Um, but that is what's coming up next, just so that we can broaden, um, what we can do. And so when you come to the eco industries, it's more like a, what doesn't he have is, is a better question, right? Rather than what does he have? Okay. Gotcha. Um, on that note, I hope I'm not mistaken for saying this, but I believe I saw an email from you guys the other day.

You guys just recently started, uh, launching an a option where you guys are able to use an AI tool to take ah, you sucked. Ah, yes. Was I not supposed to say that? If we can cut this part out? No, no, no, no. Let, let's take it, let, let, okay, let's go there. Okay. Okay. So yes, we, we, we are, there was an email. I didn't know you were on the mailing list.

You, sorry, sorry, sorry for opening your emails. I won't open them in the future. No, no, no, you're fine. You're fine. You're fine. I'm just kidding. So, yes. Um, we are able now to take any photo and turn into a three D model, any photo. So if you took a photo of this can Right. I want a photo of this can Great.

Send it to me. And then within minutes you'll have your three D model. Um, that's, uh, yeah, I was beta testing it over the weekend. I sent an email out on Sunday. Um, had a few people help test out. They purchased, uh, a low poly, some, some low poly, some high poly, uh, work. And their models are coming out. And they're coming out.

They're coming out pretty good. In term, in, in, in, in relation to it being AI software, right? Mm-hmm. So it's using photo geometry, um, it's scanning a photo and it's using, you know, machine learning to, to see, hey, here's what it's doing, here's what it looks like, and here's the three D shape, and it spits it out.

Um, we are gonna be launching the website here pretty soon. Um, right now everything's done manually, so if anybody wants to try that out, they can go online, they can purchase, um, whatever it is. They can purchase the two D to two D to three D model, um, option in my shop. Um, we have to process it manually, but once the website is up, which should be in about another month or so, um, You know, with, with testing and whatnot, um, everything is, you upload, you choose your photo qual you, you, you choose your three D model.

Quality comes out, the asset's yours. You can do whatever you want with it. You can sell it, print it. I don't care what you do with it, it's yours. You have full rights to it. Wow. And you'll always have access to it in your profile and your generated asset. Wow, that's, uh, you know, in terms of things that like, uh, really get me excited personally, it's how AI is going to come into play with models and things like that.

And, you know, I've talked about this a lot with different people that I've had on and different modelers. Um, obviously, you know, coming from a space where you guys have historically made your models, uh, like. The, if you wanna call it the traditional way, um, it, like when you guys first started hearing about these AI tools that like, I don't think anything mainstream is like currently pushing out models, um, like super fast or anything like that.

But like, when you guys started hearing like, uh, murmurs of this happening, was the first thought for you, like, I'm excited, or were you nervous when you first started hearing that? Both. I was like, this is about to take my job. I was like, my business is about to go down. This sucks.

I have to go back to work. Um, but with any disruption is huge opportunity, right? And so I said, all right, well, what are we gonna do? I said, I need to, I need this, I need this, and I need this now. Um, and so, uh, we, we partnered up with a company and I said, we are gonna be, we're, I'm gonna take this to the three D printing community, and I'm gonna be the first, and I'm gonna be the best.

Uh, that's what I said to myself. Um, and so we're, we're, that's where we're headed. Yeah. Well, I'm really, I'm really excited for you guys because I think it's a huge opportunity right now. Um, and I don't know of anybody else who's like, uh, at least not, like, I know that there's some tools out there that are being developed or in talks of being developed, but, um, I don't hear it being talked about like in the three D printing community.

I hear it being talked about for like game design or things like that. But, um, I feel like. No, it almost seems like to me a lot of times, like the three D printing market gets overlooked, um, on a lot of opportunities. So, um, I'm, I'm really excited for you guys and I think it's gonna be a big thing thing for you.

So thank you. I'm excited you. Thank you. I'm really excited. I'm nervous. Um, but I, I think it's gonna be a huge opportunity for us. Um, so we're. Crossing our fingers. Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, sorry for letting the cat outta the background, that one. No, no, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. So that was, um, earlier while we were talking, that was the one that I didn't wanna talk about.

Um, but you know, Kate said, Hey, what's about that email? Like, okay, well now we're gonna talk about it. Yeah. It's not really so much out of the bag. Right. We were doing, we're doing some beta testing. Um, the email went out to only the membership members. Okay. Gotcha. So the only membership members got got the taste of this?

No, no one else got it. Awesome. But, but we are, we're on our way to, to ai. AI can now make you your own three D model. Um, right now you have to upload a photo and it's gonna give you one. Um, eventually we are gonna, what we're gonna try to do is we're gonna utilize, uh, different software where you're gonna type something.

It's gonna generate a photo. You're gonna approve that photo. That photo's gonna be a three D model. Yeah. It's gonna, so it's eventually gonna be text to three D model. That's, that's where I'm headed. It's absolutely nuts. It's crazy. Yeah. It's a crazy world that we live in. I, I mean, like, I know even, I know, I, I don't know if you guys like use this on like the, like, um, just like in terms of like getting ideas or things like this, but I've recently been like really getting into mid journey and like even the stuff that mid journey pops out to me, like, it just, like how fast this has come along, it's mind blowing to me.

Yeah, I, I agree. Uh, mid, mid journey's phenomenal. Um, that. Batman's Storm Trooper, hang on. This Batman's Storm trooper was from Mid Journey. Oh, okay. And this went nuts on social media. So somebody posted this in the Facebook group at, uh, on, on, um, in our armor group, and people were like, dude, I need that. And I said, all right, let's, let's model it.

And then poof. And I was like, man, what if somebody could just say, Hey, you know, make me a, you know, X, Y, Z. And then poof, a photo comes up. All right. Give me, You know, a front, a back, a front a side and a top view of just the helmet, and then poof and then, all right, three d model that and then bang. You know what I mean?

Like that's, that's possible and that's what I'm working on. Yeah, it's, uh, you know, for me and I, I've never been like a super, um, talented, like  modeler or like designer, things like that. Like I've al I've always been more of a creative person, but like I've never, um, I. I've never like, developed the skills to like be able to execute it on it super strongly.

And I think for me, that's where AI gets me excited for people like me who, um, like have a lot of ideas and have a lot of like, uh, you know, like I can imagine in my head, but can't quite execute on it. Yeah. And I think that opens up the world a lot for people, uh, like myself. Yeah. Because your mind can imagine things, but then he has to outsource.

The T of your body and it is like, oh, it's crystal clear of here. Yeah. Right. Yeah. On paper it's not quite crystal clear, but, uh, yeah, it's, uh, I think that's, you know, when I, I, I, uh, anytime I sit down and I'm like, oh man, it is like in a year from now, like, is AI gonna take over? Like, The things that I do.

Um, I think that there's always gonna be an opportunity for people who want to evolve and want to, um, you know, just stay on the top of things. I think it's going to take out a lot of the mundane tasks and, um, overall, personally, like I'm, I'm very excited about ai. For AI personally, I use it personally to, to, um, to get ahead of the modeling.

Right. So when you're three d modeling something, You get, you gotta have your base shape first. This gives me my base shape like this and it's like, oh, it cut out, you know, like eight hours outta my work. This is fantastic. Right? Yeah. And then I can just go straight into, into the work,  yeah. I hope I'm not regretting saying this in like two years from now, but I really do think that it's gonna be a positive, uh, thing for.

Um, people, you know, artists, not artists. I think it's gonna be good. So I'm, it's, I agree. I agree. Again, it's a crazy time to be alive, but I'm excited to see where it takes us. Same, same. Same. A parting, uh, question that I'll leave you with here today. So, you know, you've done a really fantastic job of building up this umpire building Nico Industries.

Um, it's, you are doing all kinds of new exciting things that are, we've let people know about now. But, um, you know, if we fast forward 10, 20, 30 years, what's kind of, I guess, like where do you see this going and I guess like what's like. If you could just like, have things go perfect, like where do you kind of see things in the future?

Um, 10 years, well, Nico Industries hopefully will have, you know, 5,000 files. Uh, you know, Nico is still around. I'm still around. Um, Um, I, I really hope that the charity work that I've been doing, um, is bigger than I thought it was gonna be. Um, the reception for that has been, has been amazing so far. Um, and honestly, I, I'm blessed beyond what I deserve.

I know that it's, it's not lost on me. Um, I am, I, I know there's gonna be taken away from me like this, and so I don't, I don't take it for granted. Um, honestly, I, I'm just, I'm thankful to be here. I'm blessed to be here. I'm so grateful. And, uh, in, in 10 years, I'm, I'm hoping that the AI business that we're starting, the website that we're starting has grown tremendously.

Um, I, I, I hope that it finds the same success that Neco Industries did, and they can both grow together, um, in 10 years. Um, I'll be close to 50. So, you know, you've, that's surprising to me 'cause you don't look a day over, uh, you don't look like a day over 25. So thank you. Ah, yes. Favorite interview ever.

I've done a lot of podcasts. Favorite interview? Ever Favorite. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm close to 40 and so Wow. Okay. In 10 years I'll be, I'll be close to 50. Um, I look like it when I play basketball. It doesn't feel like it, it doesn't. Um, so yeah, just, you know, I really hope that the AI business, um, takes off the way Nico Industries did, and they can both grow together, um, and hate to say this, but eventually Nico will have to step down.

Um, and, you know, uh, hopefully my son comes up and takes the brand or, or wherever, wherever it is. That, that we'll be in 10 years and he's the head of it and I'm chilling in the back playing Diablo five or whatnot, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like a good, uh, a good end to the story. Well, not end of the story.

Good. Next chapter of the story. Yeah. We'll say it that way. It it would be a start for my son's story. Yeah. And my daughter's story. Yeah. Not, not necessarily a closed on mine. It's just a, it's a start for them. That's all. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I did say that this was gonna be the last question, but I'll pose one more for you 'cause you brought up something that Sure, go ahead.

I wasn't, uh, I wasn't in the loop on, um, you mentioned that you, uh, recently have been doing stuff with charities. Can you just talk a little bit about what you've been uh, doing there? Yeah. So when I test three D prints, right, like toys, like, oh lord, like this, uh, stone dragon, right? So this, the stone dragon, uh, I'm not even on the right camera.

So this stone dragon, right? Yeah. Um, When I test prints like this, um, my kids are all, they're big. They're, they're too big for these toys, that's for sure. Yeah. And so, um, I've always believed that every child should have, should be opening something for Christmas. Mm-hmm. Every single child that should have something for Christmas.

Um, one day I was looking at my kids and I said, you guys want for nothing? Said, you know, we're born. And you, you guys were born in this country. I wasn't born in the in the United States. You're born in the United States. You guys want for nothing. You guys are so blessed. And I grew up in the Philippines and I've seen homeless kids.

I've seen kids sleeping in the streets, nothing to eat, just sitting there like, holy shit. Like what is going on? And so I started this project called Project Santa, where I go, I all the. Prints that I have, right? So they're not running right now, but normally these guys are making toys. And so I take all the toys that I make for the year and I go back to the Philippines for Christmas for about a week, and I go to orphanages in the Philippines and I give them the toys that I made for the year.

And not only that, um, I give money for clothes for, um, food. For supplies, for diapers, uh, beds, uh, sheets, anything that the orphanages need, um, I provide for them. Um, when I go back to the Philippines, so that is, that's called Project Santa. It's, it's so that every kid has a present for Christmas. I. Yeah.

That's amazing. I absolutely love that. Um, for people who are listening, like if um, people want to, um, contribute to that, is there like a way that people can like either contribute like money or contribute like maybe if they have Prince, is there, um, do you like have that open right now? Yeah, I do. So my Patreon stayed open when the membership opened, right?

I used to have a Patreon for the files and I said, you know what, y'all are taking too damn much. And I said, so I said, I'm gonna start my own website. It makes it easier for people to find stuff on the website anyway. Yeah. But Patreon has now been con has now since been converted to, um, project Santa.

Okay. Right. So it's the industries Patreon, but it's for Project Santa. Um, and they can donate 10 bucks a month. Dude, y'all pay 10 bucks for a cup, cup of coffee anyway. Yeah. Um, and so I take that money and throughout the year, Right now we're at, it's June, right? So there's $6,000 in there, and all $6,000 is gonna go to the orphanages where we buy rice, canned goods.

Mm-hmm. Clothes, diapers, whatever it is. Whatever it is that the, the orphanages need, I buy it. Great. Awesome. Uh, well that's, it's exciting to hear and that's, uh, a good, a good way to repurpose Patreon. So, uh, glad to hear that. Um, for, I guess we'll kind of wrap things up, uh, and finish with, uh, for people who across the board, um, want to follow you, find your files online, where can people find, uh, the rest of your stuff online?

Oh, there's a lot. Okay, so we'll just, we'll just go with the two things, right? So if you guys wanna buy or get. Access to 1000 plus. 1000 plus now. 'cause by the time this show comes out, I'll be at plus. So if you guys want 1000 plus files access to it, you'll get flexes, you'll get statues, bus toys, props from video games, movies, shows, whatever it is that you guys want, over a thousand of them.

You guys can find that@nicoindustriesmembership.com. Okay? That's the membership. Now, if you guys want to donate for the charity, You just go to the Nico Industries Patreon, and that's where you guys can donate if you guys wanna support that, um, that charity. Um, I would love to. The kids would absolutely love it.

It helps buy filament, it helps buy, you know, toys. It, it helps buy all kinds of things. And a hundred percent of that goes to the kids. Um, and the orphanages, I take zero of that. Awesome. Well, Nico, I appreciate you so much for coming on here today. It was, thank you so much for having me. No, it was, it was my pleasure.

It was so interesting learning about all the different things that you have going on, um, including your secret projects. Uh, the not so secret project, sorry, the not So Secret project anymore. So sorry for the last time. Um, but uh, again, thank you so much for coming on here today. And that said, that is thank like the Makers.