Man Spends Nearly $16K on Lifelike Dog Costume to Fulfill Dream of Becoming an Animal

You might be a dog lover, but have you ever adored a breed so much that you want to be it? A man named Toko does, and his dream became a reality thanks to the magic of costuming. Based in Japan, Toko spent 2 million yen—nearly $16K USD—to have a custom canine costume made of his favorite breed: the border collie. The result looks like money well spent; in a short, now-viral video, Toko wears the suit and moves around his room. The fur and expression look like a real dog, and the man has learned how to act like a collie (including walking on all fours). But, to show he's a human inside the canine body, he waves at the camera like a person does.

Toko commissioned his costume from the Japanese company Zeppet, which specializes in sculptures and models for the entertainment industry and mascots. The outfit took 40 days to make and went through multiple rounds of revisions and fittings in order to make sure it looked just like a border collie. This involved a lot of research. “The point is that the skeleton of a dog can be reproduced on the skeleton of a human. Since the structure of the skeleton is very different, we spent a lot of time studying how to make it look like a ‘dog,'” a Zeppet employee explained. “In addition, we collect photographs taken from various angles so that the beautiful coat of the collie can be reproduced and devised so that the coat will flow naturally.”

Toko chose to cosplay as a border collie, in part, because it’d give him the greatest chance of realistically depicting the dog. “I made it a collie because it looks real when I put it on,” he explains. “My favorite is quadrupedal animals, especially cute ones. Among them, I thought that a big animal close to me would be good, considering that it would be a realistic model, so I decided to make it a dog. I met such a condition and made collie, my favorite breed of dog.”

Since receiving the costume, Toko has created a YouTube channel of him wearing and moving around in the collie suit. Watch videos of his cosplay below.

A man named Toko loves border collie dogs so much that he wanted to become one. And now he has—through the magic of realistic costuming.

Toko commissioned his costume from the Japanese company Zeppet, which specializes in sculptures and models for the entertainment industry and mascots.

It wasn't cheap, though—the suit cost 2 million yen, which is nearly $16K USD.

On his new YouTube channel, the man wears his collie costume while acting like a real dog.

h/t: [Mothership]

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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