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Summary
- Unique & nostalgic cream-white 3D printer filament brings back 20th-century tech vibes.
- Joe Strosnider started the color matching process to create a Classic Mac Platinum PLA filament.
- Thanks to Joe's efforts, after personally investing $900, the filament is available for purchase for $21.99/kg.
There's something about the cream-white that computers used in the 80s and 90s that really brings the nostalgia home. While you can 3D print miniature versions of classic hardware, really nailing that unique color that invokes a different time can be hard to do. Fortunately, if you've been making do with colors that aren't "quite right," you need not suffer anymore, as someone has gone through the tough process of getting the filament just right, and you can purchase some yourself.
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This amazing 3D printer filament brings us back to the 20th century
As spotted by Ars Technica, this amazing feat was performed by Joe Strosnider of Joe's Computer Museum. Joe made a post on Bluesky announcing his new "Classic Mac Platinum" PLA filament, which is as close to the real deal as you can probably get.
It turns out that Joe had to sacrifice quite a bit to secure the right color for his filament. In a post on the Tinker Different website, Joe goes into detail as to how he managed to nail the exact color:
I ran into Chris Auger at the SEMVCC meetup this year. He noticed the SE Mini case I had and asked about the color. I told him the story about ColorFABB. He said he had a place that was local to him that made color matched filament. WOO HOO.
I paid them a fee to color match the speaker box from inside my Mac Color Classic. Then, I paid them for 25KG of filament - all in about $900. In exchange, I asked them to release the color to the public so anyone can use it.
Go get a spool or three and let them know it's popular, so they keep making it!
Yeah, you read that last bit right. Not only did Joe manage to get the filament, but he's currently selling some for people who want to 3D print old hardware, the right way. Fortunately, it'll cost you far less than $900, as Polar Filament lists the Retro Platinum PLA filament for $21.99 a kilogram.
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