For 35 years, since he was in grade school, the sculptor Tomohiro Yasui has been making paper robots. He’s traveled around Japan conducting workshops and exhibitions and the number of robots he’s built exceeds 600. But he’s also branched out to other categories, creating figurines, costumes and even wrestler masks.

But recently he’s been targeting his creative energy at the cheap toys and snacks sold at 100-yen shops around Japan. Working with these materials, Yasui fashions superhero-like figurines with movable parts that are animated and lifelike enough that they transport us back to childhood.