Amateur Collector here. Today I'm bringing you a most adorable little figurine. Based on a fictional character made up by another fictional character within a fictional story, I give you Danboard, AKA Danbo:
Danbo is from a very cute Japanese comic (AKA manga) called Yotsuba&! (pronounced Yotsubato.) It is a costume made of cardboard created by a character named Miura Hayasaka for a school project (and to freak out titular character Yotsuba.) Danbo has gathered a cult-following among the anime fandom and so as a result there are many figurines and other merchandise based on it available on the market. This particular one I got is called the Revoltech Danboard mini ("mini" due its small stature. It's about the size of my hand) by Kaiyodo. It only cost me 110 HKD which comes to about £8.30 in the UK and around $14 US. Already that's a good price, and it was the cheapest I found it at (other stores had it at about $118-125 HK.)
Now on to reviewing it! The packaging already has me drawn to it. It is made from actual brown cardboard with no bold colours or striking designs, which suits the character very well and makes it stand out from all the other showy boxed figures on the shelf. I bought the "basic" figure, but there are in fact several different editions of this same figurine and its packaging. If you're willing to pay a few extra dollars more (generally $25 HK more) you can get a Danbo with the figure and packaging stamped with logos from actual brands, which makes the box seem more "authentic"... as well as provide some advertising for those companies of course haha. Check out this page belonging to collectiondx to see the other variations of this toy.
The other major feature of the packaging is the back:
The staring, the constant unblinking staring, aaaaaaaah!
Yup, Danbo's face is cut into the back of the packaging. It actually looks really cute with lots of personality, despite only being two small circles and a triangle.
Anyways, enough on the packaging, lets check out the figure itself.
Come out, come out Danbo! It's time to play!
The figure is quite small, about 7.5 cm tall (3 inches tall). It comes with a base and requires no additional assembly.
Its arms are very moveable and its head has quite a bit of movement too. Sadly the legs are not as moveable. Overall the articulations and pose-ability is very limited but I guess that's only natural for something that's meant to be made from cardboard.
The figure stands well on the base it comes with, however I was a little annoyed that the sprew didn't go all the way in to the hole in the foot. The figure might also have a few issues with balance depending on how you pose it but otherwise stands up well.
I'm the king of this here castle, you're all nothing but dirty rascals!
Run Danbo! Run!
You might notice that Danbo has a switch on the side of its head. I initially thought it was a part of the design, but no, it does indeed serve a function.
Well, it turns out that the head is removable, and underneath you'll discover a little panel to open with a bit of clear plastic sticking out. If you remove the plastic you'll activate the batteries inside.
Underneath the head.
Pop the head back on and flip the switch and voila! Danbo has ominous glowing eyes!
Bear in mind, from what I have read these are small batteries that do not last long, though they seem to be replaceable.
So overall I'm very happy with this purchase. Yotsuba& is easily a favourite manga of mine and being able to own a great little figurine from that series for a really cheap price is fantastic. It's not the most posable and dynamic of figures out there, nor complex in its design; but it's cute and a must have for any fans of the series (and very cost effective for those who don't have much to spend!)
That's it for today! Feel free to share and comment.
My next post will be another Pokémon TCG booster pack opening, so look forward to that.
For those who are not interested in that, stay tuned anyways for further updates since I have more collectables and figures to post about!
Until next time,
Ciao!
