Wigglitz Wins Toy of the Year: How a 3D Print Farm Beat LEGO and Disney

🏆 Update — February 22, 2026: Toy of the Year

On February 13, 2026, Wigglitz was named Collectible Toy of the Year at The Toy Foundation's 26th annual Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards in New York City. The competition? Pokémon. Disney. LEGO. Hot Wheels.

A 3D printed product — made on desktop FDM machines in a Utah warehouse — beat the biggest names in toys. This is the first time a 3D printed product has won a major TOTY category.

ZB Designs, the company behind Wigglitz, now operates over 3,000 Bambu Lab X1C printers (up from 2,700 just months ago). They're developing a filament recycling machine to address the waste problem inherent in massive print farms.

The Numbers Are Staggering

$18 million in annual revenue. 1.5 million units shipped in December alone. 3,000+ desktop 3D printers running 24/7 in a Utah warehouse.

Wigglitz isn't a stealth aerospace startup or a medical device company. It's a toy company making articulated fidget collectibles — and every single one is 3D printed.

The Product: One-Piece Articulated Toys

Wigglitz makes tiny, wiggly creatures printed in a single piece. No assembly required. The articulation is built into the print itself — each segment flexes and moves thanks to clever design that exploits FDM layering.

They come in hundreds of designs: animals, fantasy creatures, vehicles, keychains. They're sold in bundles, theme packs, and "build-your-own" bins at specialty retailers. Kids collect them, trade them, and according to Moose Toys (their distribution partner), they've sparked a genuine collecting craze.

The Secret Sauce: A Massive Bambu Lab Print Farm

Here's what makes this story relevant to makers: Wigglitz doesn't outsource to injection molding. They print everything in-house on 3,000+ Bambu Lab X1C printers, each equipped with an Automatic Material System (AMS) for multi-color printing.

Why Bambu? Speed, reliability, and the AMS. The X1C can crank out articulated toys fast enough to meet retail demand, and the AMS handles multi-color prints without manual intervention.

This isn't a garage operation anymore. It's a factory that happens to use desktop FDM machines instead of injection molds.

From Craft Fairs to Target

CEO Zachary Bailey started ZB Designs selling at craft fairs. The product caught fire. By late 2025, they'd partnered with Moose Toys — the company behind Shopkins and Magic Mixies — to push into mass retail.

The partnership keeps manufacturing in Utah while Moose handles distribution. Wigglitz is now in 1,500+ specialty stores and major retailers like Target.

What This Means for Makers

1. 3D printing can scale. The "one-off" narrative is dead. If the product is right, desktop machines can meet retail demand.

2. Design matters more than technology. Wigglitz works because the product is clever — articulated in one print, colorful, collectible. The printers are commodity; the design is the moat.

3. Bambu Lab is eating the print-farm market. When a company needs 3,000 machines, they choose Bambu. Speed, reliability, and the AMS ecosystem make it the default for production work.

The Business Lessons

Slant 3D's breakdown of Wigglitz highlights a few key lessons:

• Collector psychology — They built a product line designed to be collected, not just used
• Operational discipline — Running 3,000 printers isn't glamorous; it's logistics
• Strategic partnerships — Moose Toys brought distribution ZB Designs couldn't build alone
• Manufacturing in-house — They kept control of production rather than outsourcing

Should You Start a Print Farm?

Before you order 50 Bambu X1Cs, understand that Wigglitz succeeded because:

1. The product was right — A fidget toy that prints fast, needs no assembly, and appeals to collectors
2. The timing was right — Fidget toys are having a moment
3. They had capital — 3,000 printers is a multi-million dollar investment

Most print farms fail because they buy printers first and figure out products later. Wigglitz did the opposite: they had a product that worked at craft fair scale, then scaled the hardware to meet demand.

Watch the Breakdown

Slant 3D did a detailed analysis of the Wigglitz business model:

Watch on YouTube →

The Bottom Line

Wigglitz proves that 3D printing isn't just for prototypes anymore. With the right product, the right machines, and the right partners, a maker operation can hit $18 million in revenue — and win Toy of the Year — without ever ordering an injection mold.

The question isn't whether 3D printing can scale. The question is whether you have a product worth scaling.