The real story here is PETG pricing collapsing toward commodity levels while firmware updates quietly compound—ignore the sticker printer noise. Those Elegoo filament deals ($8.20/kg) represent what happens when materials competition reaches equilibrium; the days of 3D print margins subsidizing ecosystem lock-in are over. What matters: Prusa's aggressive release cadence (v6.6.0 through v6.6.3 in rapid succession) signals they're chasing stability on multi-material machines as that AD5X gains traction—firmware maturity now separates viable from abandoned hardware more than plastic price ever did. Skip the cardiac simulation paper; watch whether those sub-$200 multi-color systems actually hold color separation accuracy at scale, because *that's* the constraint turning aspiring users away, not filament cost.