Yamaha Motor's Paper Craft and The Toaster Museum

If you spend enough time (or too much time) on the Web, occasionally you can't help but come across surprising little oddities. Not oddities in the sense of 'Over-40 Star Trek fans for the abolition of non-recyclable, left-handed screwdrivers: Cindy Crawford chapter' - there's plenty of that on the Web. Rather, 'odd,' as in three-dimensional, do-it-yourself, paper gorillas...and the history of burning bread.

Think, for instance, of "Yamaha," and you probably think of things with engines (snowmobiles, outboards, motorcycles) or things related to music (pianos, guitars, and CD Burners). But if you're online poking around the home page of Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd., you'll also find penguins, rhinos and elephants - all made from paper.

Before jumping to any obvious cultural conclusions, these creatures are not origami. Instead, they are models in the style of the plastic, glue-together airplanes of some of our childhoods, and in some cases have more three-dimensional detail that you might think possible - after you've finished the required cutting, bending, folding and gluing, of course.

Visitors download the models in the form of PDF printouts (templates of necessary parts) with the files available in both pre-colored versions, or as black-on-white, for those who wish to make their own color choices. Photo-illustrated PDF assembly instructions are also supplied for each model.

To date, the more than 30 models are divided into four series - Rare Animals of Japan, Rare Animals of the World, The Seasons, and Realistic Paper Craft. The Seasons probably includes the simplest pieces, with some projects as basic as a Halloween-style mask. Animal models get more complex (and include everything from the coelacanth to tigers, gorillas and the California Condor) but if you're really looking for a challenge, have a look at the Realistic Paper Craft.

These are models of Yamaha motorcycles, and the detail is absolutely terrifying, with the myriad individual body parts themselves frequently made from several smaller parts. (The rear wheel shock absorbers on one bike are each made from five separate paper components.) Then, if you're really a sucker for punishment, the kit for the YZF-R1 racing bike also includes everything for the fully equipped paper mechanic - from spare tires and motorcycle stand, to a fully stocked toolbox, complete with paper pliers and wrenches.

Recommended ages for these models aren't provided, but the range seems fairly wide. Certainly, even an adult would be challenged by the motorcycle models, while the animal models seemed geared to providing an educational element (through links to further information about each rare species) for younger visitors. All the templates require a deft hand with an X-acto knife, however, so at the least, models will require 'pre-cutting' for hands normally restricted to blunt-nose scissors.

Perhaps not as surprising as a motor company playing with paper are some of the more specialized museums on the Web. Still, they frequently reveal a commendable respect for objects that we tend to take for granted, and remind us that intrinsic value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder - beauty like the sleek, sensual, often aerodynamic lines of...a toaster...for example.

You might think of toast as carefully charred bread, but the people behind The Toaster Museum Foundation probably think of bread as nothing more than raw toast - and while the museum is currently in flux in the physical world, the Foundation still has a surprisingly extensive collection online.

The first stop on the site's index wisely addresses what must be the first question on most visitors' lips, "...why do we need a foundation devoted to toasters?" Next is the museum proper, featuring inspirational quotations and exhibits spanning the 20th century history of the electric toaster - from the "D-12" of 1909 to the year 2000 "Sunbeam ToastLogic."

Granted, neither of those names means a thing to you, but as you browse through the exhibits, you're almost certain to find the familiar shape of a fondly remembered family appliance - a shape that will bring back misty-eyed memories of smoke in the kitchen, and in later years, the ensuing mating call from your smoke alarm.

Naturally, the toaster is also examined as a part of our culture, with an art gallery, a collection of toys and accessories, and a few vintage ads ("When the call is for Toasters - not Torpedoes"). A related links collection includes other fan sites, ("Dr. Toast's Amazing World of Toast") manufacturers' home pages, and the URL of a well known brand of CD Burning software.

While you may have never grumbled about the lack of a fine Toaster Museum in your city, the online version can still provide some entertainment. The Foundation treats its subject with full respect and genuine affection, and the choice of subject matter --an item so familiar to most of us-- has the potential to hook the casual visitor like a line from a favorite but long forgotten song. (Pretty poetic for a toaster, no?)

Yamaha Motor's Paper Craft can be found at http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/eng/papercraft/index.html . The Toaster Museum Foundation is at http://www.toaster.org/ .