With all the hype...Over-hyped = Yes
Overrated = Perhaps there will be 2nd gen 3d printers that can easily make your football and other complex items?
Ermm... Not 2nd gen but that would come much much later. It's already 2nd or 3rd gen.
Because objects with such variety in material features require many different types of plastics to be used.
Hard, soft, elastic, robust, heat resistant, soft in room temps but hard in cold, those that can change form and keep it and those that return to its original form after a while... So many opportunities. The most interesting ones are those that are mixed in the manufacturing process. A single piece/part can be made with various types of plastic. One end can be elastic and the other end, hard like metal all the while keeping a solid rectangular prismatic shape on both ends and throughout the whole piece, for example. This can be done today but not with 3D printing yet AFAIK. I think they'll have to involve different metals in the future to add to this variety.
If you're into modelling, don't wait for all that and start with something like paper modelling with Pepakura designer, then cover it up with epoxy or similar mats to get a solid model. See
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL43D27B96B86684A9 and such for example. Of course, this is a modelling technique and not suitable for production in any way.
