As a requirement for the completion of our course “Creating Digital Collections”, from the Master Media Studies: Digital Culture, we had to create a 3D Model of a toy of our choice, as well as a 3D Digital Scholarly Edition. The Theme of the digital collection is “Toys with Voice”, and we were instructed to give the toys a larger social and cultural context, to emphasize their significance and distinguish them as valuable items. The toy we chose is a Plush of Baby Yoda, from Mattel, with a hard head and hands, and a soft body. The plush is weighted down by his body, and is able to stand on its own. It is 28,5cm tall, and is a very realistic depiction of the character Grogu, or Baby Yoda, from the Mandalorian series.
Prior to beginning the 3D modeling process, we prepared ourselves through creative brainstorming sessions, in which we planned our possible annotations, articles, and tours. We first noted five different areas of the toy that could be annotated, and therefore could hold an important role in the creation of the Edition: His Eyes, Ears, Clothing, Size, and lack of Bottom. Even though we eventually opted for another way, these annotations served as a helpful foundation for our tours.
Our main ideas while developing the editions, and tours, were aligning with the concept of marketing behind the creation of the character, through both cuteness and a lineage to a well-known character from the same franchise, Yoda. As time progressed, we refined our plans to investigate deeper topics, and improved our vision regarding the nature of the tours.