
Ah, designer vinyl. Companies like Kidrobot have popularized it, but these days, you can find cool, pricey, not-for-play-or-action figures even in places like Urban Outfitters. You can collect Kidrobot's Dunnys (stylized bunnies, all with the same shape but each with a surface by a different designer, usually retailing for under $10), or focus on pieces by a particular artist.
Or you can go to ReadyMech, a project of the FWIS design collective, and print some free paper models to cut and assemble, with minimal equipment. (However, for best results, you need to use more equipment than the website suggests -- more on that later). The styles are as cool as anything available in the world of limited edition art figures, but as with most DIY projects, you save money by building them yourself.
Aside from the double-sided tape and thick matte paper recommended by the designers, you might consider a craft knife (X-Acto, etc), a metal straight edge, and a bone folder, for clean cuts and crisp folds. Printing onto light card stock might be helpful: if you can only print on thin paper, you might consider gluing it to light card stock with spray adhesive after you've finished printing, because the result would be more durable. A glue stick or glue pen might not be amiss. They say that each project should take you around fifteen minutes to complete.
Click on through for tips, tricks, and what I learned from building a ReadyMech of my own!