Need some toys to spruce up your desk? What better way to kill a little time on the weekend, show off your nerddom, and fancy things up a bit than papercraft?

These DIY print-and-assemble toys from graphic designer Alexander Marshall all derive their themes from his childhood memories and are quite simple to make. My personal favorite is “Nolan” the pong machine.

Here is his site. Make sure to check out his Flickr page for fan-made designs.

[veoVerdé via NOTCOT]

True Braid fanboys are going to have a little Tim papercraft on their cubicle by the end of the day.

David Hellman via Kotaku

I remember playing my SNES for hours and hours when I was in middle school. I should have been doing homework. And look at me now, slaving away at home to bring you pictures of cool papercraft SNESes when I could have a real job.

via Boing Boing

When I was first learning about encryption and encoding, I was fascinated by the Nazi’s Enigma Machine. This device confounded Allied forces in the early days of World War II and is considered by some to be an ancestor of the modern computer.

It was a complex device with many dials and knobs, as well as a keyboards. A soldier had to be trained to use the device, and when used correctly it would encrypt a message in a manner that could only be decrypted by another machine.

Today, the concept can fit in your pocket. Mike Koss, local to me here in Seattle, makes these neat papercraft Enigma Machines. Using paper columns and slots to replicate the rotors of the original machine, users can encrypt and decrypt messages on the fly.

Not for everyone, sure, but our geekier readers are already downloading the PDFs.

If you’re in a repressive Communist country and have a little time to kill, what are you going to do? I mean, the Internet’s all censored, TV as well. You need a hobby, and this young man’s is papercraft, the art of sculpting complex and/or beautiful items out of paper and glue.

But this guy’s gone to the next level, and we love it. Using nothing but cardboard from Chinese KFC buckets (they have KFC in China?), he’s built a fully-posable replica of Bumblebee from last year’s Transformers movie. And it’s badassery at its finest. Hit the jump to see the final product. Then make sure to hit the guys blog at the link provided for tons more photos and a rough how to. Warning: wonderful Engrish abounds.

MY BUMBLE BEE With PAPER [SoHu blogs]