Japanese toy giant Bandai is set to release a series of nifty kanji figures that transform into the shapes of the animals they represent. The shape-shifting critters, called Mojibakeru (moji means “character” and bakeru means “to change”), come in six varieties — 犬 (dog), 虎 (tiger), é­š (fish), 馬 (horse), é³¥ (bird) and ç«œ (dragon) — and are available in black, white, yellow and blue.

I posted this mainly because the excitement around the Makerbot/Bre transformer. Could more cool printable transformers be on the horizon? I sure hope so. [via Pink Tentacle]