Singapore’s iconic Merlion, a half-lion, half-fish statue by the waterfront at Merlion Park, is a favourite with each locals and vacationers. Now, Singapore design model Uniplay (a sustainable artwork toy arm of Unigons International) has reimagined this nationwide image with a enjoyable and low-waste twist. Their Fortune Merlion is a 3D printed collectible created from round 30 recycled plastic bottles. It was first launched as a vibrant, limited-edition shock field for Singapore’s sixtieth Nationwide Day (SG60) and shortly offered out. A new white model is now out there to order, giving followers one other probability to personal this particular determine.
What Is a Merlion, Anyway?
Towering at 8.6 m and weighing 70 tonnes, the unique Merlion statue is situated at Merlion Park, a 2,500 m² waterfront plaza close to the Central Enterprise District at Marina Bay. First unveiled as the brand of the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964, the enduring statue at Merlion Park was later constructed in 1972 by sculptor Lim Nang Seng. What’s extra, it captures the nation’s twin identification: the fish half symbolizes its origins as a fishing village (Temasek), and the lion’s head represents its unique identify, Singapura, that means “Lion Metropolis.”
Greater than a statue, the Merlion is a cultural image and a photographic attraction. In a nation that welcomed 16.5 million vacationers in 2024, the Merlion retains rating among the many top-visited websites, alongside Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay. In truth, a whole lot of vacationers have shared selfies with the so-called “legendary guardian,” which has been often featured in souvenirs and movies, like Loopy Wealthy Asians.
The Merlion sculpture at Merlion Park. Picture courtesy of Go to Singapore/Singapore Tourism Board.
The Fortune Merlion
To mark SG60, native startup Unigons teamed up with Uniplay to create the Fortune Merlion. In contrast to any collectible earlier than it, this model is 3D printed completely from recycled PET bottles. The primary restricted run of 60 blind-box editions offered out virtually immediately and included ten colours representing Singapore’s range and festive spirit.
Now, a brand new white version is again for US$118. Every 18-centimeter-tall figurine comes blind-boxed and features a secret compartment with attraction tokens. This newest launch, referred to as the “LOVESG” Fortune Merlion, contains a blind-box collection of 9 colourful, heart-shaped magnetic bubbles that snap onto the Merlion’s mouth, together with six charms representing common values like progress, love, luck, pleasure, fortune, and bloom.
Unigons partnered with native organizations, together with Yeo’s, PlasticTinkers, and Greenfinity, to carry the Fortune Merlion to life. Yeo’s contributed recycled plastic bottles, Greenfinity supported assortment by native recycling applications, and PlasticTinkers dealt with the manufacturing, utilizing fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing with customized filament created from recycled PET. Collectively, they not solely sourced the supplies sustainably but additionally made certain the challenge was significant sufficient to be acknowledged by the Singapore Guide of Data.
The “LOVESG” Fortune Merlion, new white restricted version. Picture courtesy of Uniplay.
The Fortune Merlion is on the crossroads of a number of large concepts. It blends 3D design with sustainability, displaying how fashionable applied sciences like 3D printing can be utilized in smarter, greener methods. It additionally reimagines a well-loved cultural image in a inventive means. And through the use of recycled plastic, it helps the round economic system, holding waste out of landfills and giving it a brand new life.
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