A 3D Printer Kit for only $499 (March 2011 – November 2012)

In March 2011 MakerBot Industries, Brooklyn, New York, introduced the Thing-O-Matic, a 3-D (3D) printer kit selling for $1,299.

Little more than a year later the Portabee 3D printer, the "first conveniently portable 3D printer," manufactured in Singapore, was available for $499. "It is easily collapsible in a matter of seconds and fits into a laptop bag." 

3D printing, a type of additive manufacturing, evolved from from rapid prototyping, which began in the 1980s.