In case you’re curious…
Originally shared by Joseph Chiu
Some closer-up pics of the MakerBot Replicator Gen 5
http://toybuilderlabs.com/blog/2014/2/1/replicator-gen-5
I’ll be getting that in about a month!
…it’s ok back order 
We’re you able to tell whether it will be possible for third parties to supply filament for the new printers?
Bill, it uses non standard sized spools, and rumor has it that it won’t let you just feed filament in from an outside spool carrier/stand.
I knew about the odd sized spools (though I hadn’t heard of the half-pound variety before) but I’m really wondering whether Makerbot is going to allow outside filament suppliers to make spools for these printers. Either way I won’t be buying one, but it’s an important question for the community, IMO.
From what I saw, it should be possible to get 3rd party filament to work.
On a related note, did you know that Stratasys patented (and Makerbot now uses) the Greg’s-style extruder in 2008 (applied in 2005)? https://www.google.com/patents/US7384255?dq=7,384,255&hl=de&sa=X&ei=v4buUo7dOcOBywPXt4HQDg&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA
And, as usual, “Additional patent applications pending.”, so they might be cracking down on alternative/compatible filament from a legal perspective as well, just like 2D printer manufacturers are with regard to ink containers and the technologies used in those.