Danbo!

[also x-posted to my other blog]

It ("It" being my OCD obsession of the day) all started when my boyfriend showed me this adorable photo of a tiny box person helping a tinier box person over a sidewalk ledge. The image was so enchanting, I had to know more.

That particular photo was taken by Anton Tang, but it seems to be part of a larger phenomena involving many different photographers and their own box people. The little cardboard robot(s) are actually plastic figurines from Japan, based on a comic character named Danboard, or Danbo.

A little internet sleuthing turned up literally hundreds of Danbo photographs on the web. [HERE] [HERE] and [HERE] just to name a few.

I wanted a Danbo figure to play with too! Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I was too impatient to eBay one from Japan, so I made my own, with some modifications to this handy template someone else made. I deleted the colors and printed it on some recycled paper. Folded, glued, and stuck his head to his body with a toothpick. I modified the face, arms and legs just a bit, and he's got dirty toes, but he still came out cute as a button. I know I'm really late to the Danbo party, but who can resist playing along when even a rip-off version of this little guy is so darn photogenic?