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Writer's pictureGlood Paper Toys

The Urban Paper Toy: A Brief Overview and History.

Updated: Feb 2, 2021


The Paper Toy is a unique form of art toy which is commonly downloaded to print onto card and build. The designer creates a flat net which folds up into a 3D shape, and applies illustrations and graphics. It is also common for an artist to release a blank template for others to colour with their own designs. Paper Toys combine art, illustration craft to create something fun to collect and display!


A collection of early paper toys

Paper Toys are not always free, or even digital. Some artists choose to sell downloads of their toys and some sell pre printed physical toys. The most exclusive form of Paper Toys are those which only come pre-built. Artists such as Shin Tanaka are known for this. Another example, ITP Studios, hand cuts and builds a limited number of toys from layers of textured, coloured paper. There are also many published paper toy books which can be easily found online.



We are Paper Toys book

There are plenty of books out there filled with toys for you to make. Some notable examples 'We Are Paper Toys!' and 'Urban Paper' can be bought at a low price and are a great resource for learning about toys. The books Papertoy Monsters, Papertoy Glowbots and Paper Robots feature large collections of toys from some of the most famous paper toy designers. With 9 issues, free online magazine II Love interviews the most prolific artists and gives a great insight into the hobby. It is a great place to start if you want to know more about the hobby and the people behind the designs.


Paper Toys first gained popularity in the mid 2000s. They were often seen as a response to the inaccessibility of the popular urban vinyl toy trend where barriers of cost, exclusivity and limited availability prevented many from collecting. They not only allowed anyone to own the toy, but also to participate in designing their own. Whether that be customising an existing template or making one from the ground up. The hobby is without gates or pretention, encouraging amateurs and professionals alike to get involved and create their own toys. They joy of Paper Toys is that anybody can make and share their character or creation.



Just a few Speakerdogs

Like with vinyl, early viral Paper Toy platforms such as Speaker Dog or Nani Bird were a largely successful way for illustrators and designers to share their work to a large audience, even if they had no experience with Paper Toy design. These series featured hundreds of artist designs. Certain artists were also known for having immediately recognisable styles in their own toys and customs. Some of the first big names in paper toys include Marshall Alexander and Matt Hawkins whose innovative toys paved the way for others and have stood the tests of time.


Original Cardboy figure

Paper Toys and Vinyl Toys do share some overlap, both being collectible designer works. Some prominent Paper Toy designers, such as Dolly Oblong are also know for customising popular vinyl platforms or releasing art toys of their own. Collector toy 'Cardboy' was a blend of both: a vinyl toy with packaging that transformed into cardboard head. This toy also had a fully card downloadable version. Recently, vinyl toys have turned to re-creating culture icons. The hugely popular CubeeCraft was making cute versions of your favourite characters years before pop vinyl did the same, and has almost as many to collect!

Paper Toys were at their most prominent in the years around 2010: many toys and publications you can find are from this time and there was a thriving community. One of the driving forces of the hobby was the great sense of collaboration and community that occurred within. Much of the paper toy community centred around the paper toy social network 'Nice Paper Toys', which today lives on as a Facebook page. Over the years, many online hubs have come and gone surrounding paper toys. Forums and blogs are now mostly a thing of the past, and unfortunately, many sites hosting once popular toys have since been taken down. However pockets of designers can still be found on Facebook, Discord and other social media.

Paper Toys aren't just limited to homes and offices, there have been numerous gallery events showing off designs. Notably, the Urban Paper Collective (UPC), a group of influential paper engineers, ran yearly exhibitions into the late 2010s. The group included pioneering designers such as Nick Knite and 3 Eyed Bear. This think tank of masters helped to legitimise Paper Toys as an art form and push the boundaries of what could be done with paper. Along with other exhibitors from around the world such as MOMOT, they brought Paper Toys into the minds of the public.

Phidias Gold Paper Toy Exhibition


Fold Up Toys toys

Though the hey-day of collaborative paper toy platforms is past, there are still many designers working today into the 2020s. Fold Up Toys, a member of the aforementioned UPC, is a prominent modern paper engineer whose design philosophies have changed the way we look at and create toys. They focussed on a user centred approach and an attention to the build process not seen before. Clever new ways of folding have transformed these paper toys to be feats of engineering as well as art. Their influence can be felt in Glood toys.


Howl's Moving Castle Paper Craft

When most think of card models today, they think of the kits usually in gift stores ranging from Darth Vader to dinosaurs or perhaps even complex paper craft replicas of movie props with hundreds of parts to glue. Though many amazing toys can be found here too, some can be difficult and time consuming to make. Generally, Urban Paper Toys are much smaller and simpler and require one or two pages of card rather than tens, many even made from just one piece.



That is not to say that 'Paper Toys' and 'Paper Craft' exist as a binary option, paper toys are a kind of paper craft after all! May toys don't fit neatly into any box as they have such a wide range of uses. For example, paper models are becoming commonly used in Tabletop RPGs such as DnD as a cheaper alternative to terrain and figures. Some educators, toy brands and even video games have also incorporated paper toys as a way to engage or teach children. Just look at the success of Nintendo LABO! There's also a rising popularity of papercraft in home deco with geometric animal model kits widely available. There are plenty of ways to get involved with card that are neither art toy or replica.

An example of paper table-top terrain

As we become ever more conscious about the impact of plastic on the environment, there is room for card toys to shine. Think of the millions of toys thrown away from fast food meals, or contained inside candy. It seems likely that soon these kinds of disposable toys will be frowned upon, enter the recyclable toy! Looking at the toy isle, already some manufacturers are creating products with slot together card pieces. Perhaps the future is Paper Toys, but maybe not in the way we view them now.

To learn more about paper toys, and discover other artists, you can check out the wiki: https://papertoys.fandom.com/wiki/Paper_Toys_Wiki



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