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Skylanders Imaginators will let you 3D print your characters

Fans of the popular game series can pay $50 to have a 3D printout made of their own custom-designed characters.

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Headshot of David Katzmaier
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Activision

Parents with kids of a certain age, prepare to spend even more on Skylanders this holiday season.

Activision's popular game-to-life franchise, which releases the Skylanders Imaginators game for $75 on October 16, says fans can order real-life versions of the characters they create and play in the game. They'll ship directly to their creators for $50 a pop in North America.

The 3D printouts come in full color in their own clear protective dome.

The new game offers an intricate character customization process. "The level of customization shown to me during a brief demo of the game was outstanding, and it'll likely be something that kids (and adult fans of the franchise) will obsess over," said Gamespot's Randolph Ramsay in his preview, entitled "The New Skylanders Game is Like Diablo For Kids."

The new game is accompanied by a Skylanders Creator app, available starting today, allowing fans to create characters on the go. Custom characters can also adorn T-shirts and trading cards for $25 and $15 apiece. And to further entrench fans in the franchise's universe, the Skylanders Academy series debuts on Netflix October 28.

Skylanders created the toys-to-life category in 2011 and has sold 250 million toys to date, amounting to more than $3 billion in sales of Skylanders figurines.