Danboard (ダンボー) is a cardboard box robot. It's as low-tech as one can possibly get I think. In fact, its not actually a robot at all....

Danboard (ダンボー) is a cardboard box robot. It's as low-tech as one can possibly get I think. In fact, its not actually a robot at all....

Available from HobbyLink Japan, Danboard comes from the manga Yotsuba&! In the manga, Danboard is a costume worn by Miura Hayasaka, a friend of Yotsuba's most frequent playmate, Ena Ayase. Ena does not have the heart to tell Yotsuba that Danboard is not a real robot, so Yotsuba thinks Danboard is real. Danboard first appears in chapter 28: "Yotsuba & Danbo (よつばとダンボー)"

Danboard looks great, and despite its blocky appearance, is actually poseable. It utilizes Revoltech joints at the head, arms, waist and hips.

You can swap out Danboard's head with that of Miura Hayasaka, revealing the character inside of the box.

In a Revoltech first, Danboard has a light-up feature! Flick the switch on the head and the eyes light up! Danboard is cute and creepy at the same time.

Danboard includes a stand, but honestly it stands just fine on its own. The stand has the series motto "ENJOY EVERYTHING" printed on it.

It's ironic that I should get this toy now. I just moved into this house and am SURROUNDED by cardboard boxes. I've been cutting them up and recycling them, but I think this is one set of boxes I will keep.

Danboard is also available in an Amazon.jp box version. You can get yours at HobbyLink Japan.

Who is that little green haired girl that manages to sneak into the shots of the Japanese uber otaku reviews? Why, it’s none other than Yotsuba!

Who is that little green haired girl that manages to sneak into the shots of the Japanese uber otaku reviews? Why, it’s none other than Yotsuba!

Once only available has a hard to find static figure, Kaiyodo brings us the Revoltech 2G Yotsuba, available from HobbyLink Japan.

Anime and Manga nerds know Yotsuba as the title character of the series Yotsuba&!, a manga created by the same people as Azumanga Daioh. But for us toy nerds, we recognize this little girl as one that has shown up in countless toy reviews in Japan. Yotsuba has become a sort of an indicator of scale. By placing a small Yotsuba figurine in each review, readers can get a sense of scale of the toy being discussed. You can see a good example of the previous Yotsuba figure here.

The previous Yotsuba figure

Kaiyodo recognized the demand for people to have their own, articulated Yotsuba figure and responded with the Revoltech 2G Yotsuba figure.

This figure is really cute. There aren’t a lot of Revoltech joints, but it’s quite poseable and absolutely adorable. Yotsuba features 2 heads, 2 extra hands, a squirt gun, Popsicle, and display stand. The head swaps out easily and is attached with a Revoltech joint. The shirt is new for the Revoltech line – its rubber, making for more poseability. In fact, Kaiyodo included an extra dual Revoltech joint to be swapped out with the existing chest joint for added flexibility.

The shoulders are dual swivel joints and not as articulate as I would like. You can put Yotsuba’s hands up, but the shoulders end up looking odd. The elbows are Revoltech Joints, and the hands can be swapped out easily via standard plug joints.

The hips and knees are standard joints but the ankles are Revoltech joints. Youtsuba stands up pretty well but does benefit from the stand when trying advanced poses. The stand can be used as the base only or in conjunction with the included metal rod.

If you are not into cute, this is not the toy for you. But if you are sick of using AA batteries and cigarette packs for size comparison, why not pick up a Revoltech Yotsuba? It will add some color to your otherwise boring life.

Enjoy Everything!

Get yours now at HobbyLink Japan