Questions, answered.

Plastic Crap is an Australian monthly subscription box of 3D-printed fidgets, toys and surprises for kids aged 7 to 16, bought by grown-ups. Each box holds 6 to 10 or more pieces — fewer when there's a big feature piece, more when the mix is smaller — plus a Plastic Crap NFC wordmark keychain and a card for grown-ups explaining what's inside. Your first three boxes arrive monthly: Box 001 is Halloween themed, Box 002 is a mix of popular prints from social media, and December is Christmas themed. After that, a new box every three months.

Your first three boxes are $29.99 AUD a month, which is a tester price in return for feedback that helps improve future boxes. After that it's $39.99 AUD every three months. Australian delivery is included in both prices and no postage is added at checkout. Square bills your first box when you subscribe, then monthly for boxes two and three. Quarterly payments are taken about a week before each quarterly box ships, in late February, May, August and November.

The Halloween box starts dispatching on 6 October 2026. To get Box 001, subscribe by 11:59 pm on 16 October 2026, Australia/Sydney time. Signups between 6 and 16 October are dispatched individually after payment is confirmed. Dispatch is the day we send your box, not a guaranteed arrival date.

Yes. There is no minimum commitment, including during the three tester months. Use My account to request a secure link with your signup email, or use your private management link. Cancelling stops future renewals at the end of your current paid period, and you don't need to create an account to do it. If you get stuck, email support@plasticcrap.com.au.

The box is built for kids aged 7 to 16. There is one box and one mix — no age picker and no separate junior and older versions. It contains small parts and is not suitable for children under 3.

We deliver to Australian addresses only and do not currently offer international shipping, including to New Zealand. Australian delivery is included in the subscription price.

Yes — subscribe using the recipient's delivery address and your own email address, so billing notices come to you. One important thing to know: this is an ongoing subscription rather than a prepaid gift pack. There is no fixed-length gift option and no gift message at checkout yet, so it continues until you cancel it. Cancelling is free and can be done at any time. There is more detail on the gift page.

Yes. Email support@plasticcrap.com.au before your next box is dispatched and we'll update it. Include your signup email so we can find your subscription.

Email support@plasticcrap.com.au with the issue and a photo if that's practical, and we'll arrange the right remedy. Ask us for return instructions before posting anything so it reaches the correct address. We don't offer returns or refunds for damage caused by drops, rough handling or misuse after opening, and we don't offer change-of-mind returns — but none of that limits your rights under Australian Consumer Law. For a major problem you can choose a refund or replacement.

Yes. Plastic Crap is an Australian 3D-printed subscription box, posting a mix of 6 to 10 or more 3D-printed fidgets and toys to Australian addresses each month for kids aged 7 to 16, from $29.99 a month with delivery included.

There is a healthy community of Australian 3D-printing small businesses selling individual pieces — fidgets, articulated animals, dragons, cookie cutters, desk accessories and light boxes — mostly through their own online stores and Etsy, usually printed to order and posted nationally. Buying that way suits you when you know exactly what you want. A subscription like Plastic Crap suits the opposite case: you want a surprise mix chosen for you, arriving regularly, without having to pick anything.

Articulated dragons are consistently the most popular, followed by flexi animals such as axolotls, octopuses, snakes and dinosaurs, then mechanical desk fidgets like infinity cubes, gear balls and print-in-place spinners. Most of these are "print-in-place" designs, meaning the moving joints are printed already assembled rather than put together afterwards.

An articulated or flexi print is a model printed in one piece with its joints already built in, so it comes off the printer able to bend, wiggle or spin without any assembly or glue. The printer leaves tiny deliberate gaps between the segments. It's why a printed dragon or snake can ripple in your hand despite being a single solid object.

We print in PLA. PLA — polylactic acid — is a rigid plastic made from fermented plant starch, usually corn or sugarcane rather than petroleum, and it is the most common material used for 3D-printed toys and fidgets. It is a low-toxicity plastic that is also widely used in food packaging and in medical implants and sutures. Some pieces use filament with added colour or effects; the glow-in-the-dark piece in the Halloween box, for example, uses a phosphorescent additive, which is not radioactive and is handled exactly like any other piece.

For the 7-to-16 age group they're made for, yes, with three things worth knowing. Small parts: the pieces are small and are a choking hazard for younger children, which is why the box is not suitable for children under 3. Breakage: 3D-printed pieces have fine details and thin joints that can snap if dropped or forced, and a broken edge can be sharp — stop using a broken piece and keep it away from younger children and pets. Heat: PLA softens at around 50 to 60°C, so a piece left on a car dashboard, a heater or in direct summer sun will warp.

The plastic itself is low-toxicity in normal handling. We don't claim the pieces are food safe, and you shouldn't treat them as if they were: 3D printing leaves microscopic layer lines that trap grime and resist cleaning, so printed items aren't suitable for food, drink or mouths, and they can't be put through a dishwasher or sterilised with boiling water. Clean them with a dry or barely damp cloth instead.

Unpack gently, supporting the main body rather than pulling on a limb or a small part, and don't force joints past where they naturally want to go. Dust with a dry or barely damp cloth — no soaking, dishwasher, cleaning sprays or solvents. Keep them out of prolonged direct sun and away from heat above about 50°C. Store somewhere cool and dry. Check pieces now and then for cracks, and retire anything that has broken.

It depends on what you want out of it. A subscription box is rarely the cheapest way to acquire objects — you're paying for the curation and the surprise as much as the contents. What it does well is give a kid something addressed to them that arrives more than once, which tends to land differently than a one-off present, and it removes the choosing. It works less well if you need a specific item on a specific date, or if the child already has strong opinions about exactly what they want.

Because that's affectionately what small plastic things are. The name is a joke about exactly what we sell: delightfully pointless, genuinely fun objects. Plastic Crap is a registered Australian business, ABN 83 608 890 115. The same phrase gets used elsewhere online as a general criticism of low-value 3D prints — that usage has nothing to do with this company.