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3D-printed Stormtroopers kick it on custom foosball table

You haven't foosballed until you've "Star Wars"-foosballed with ball-kicking, goal-scoring Stormtroopers.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
2 min read

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Foosball goes to the Dark Side. excite

Foosball is a noble sport involving fast reflexes, hand-eye coordination and the ability to ruthlessly take down your enemies. This also pretty much describes what it takes to be a successful Stormtrooper.

YouMagine user excite decided to put the two together to create a customized foosball table that involves a battle between rival sets of helmeted Stormtroopers. YouMagine is an online community where 3D-printing enthusiasts collaborate and share designs.

Excite originally meant to 3D-print a set of entirely new figures for the table, but instead went with the simpler solution of printing snap-on Stormtrooper heads to adorn the existing plastic players. It changes the balance of the figures slightly, causing them to be more top-heavy, but any true-blue "Star Wars"-loving foosball fan will be able to deal with this minor alteration to the game.

The heads are based on a 3D design from Thingiverse user Christopher Zuk. Once printed out, excite used permanent markers to add detail to the eyes, brow and mouth areas of each helmet. The helmets match the white and red colors of the players, but the goalie on one end gets to wear a helmet done up in Darth Vader black.

Excite made the 3D files available to anyone to print their own foosball mod. The helmets are sized for figures from a Sportcraft table. Owners of other tables may need to alter the size of the heads to fit.

The Stormtrooper foosball set opens up a world of potential modifications. You could make snap-on Princess Leia buns or snap-on Vulcan ears for one team to do mini-soccer battle between "Star Wars" and "Star Trek." May the best franchise win.

(Via 3DPrint.com)