Originally published in Zephyrus 2026
Winner of the Wanda Gatlin Essay Award
If you want to start a campus phenomenon, make it small enough to miss and ubiquitous enough to matter. Give it a name. Hide it in plain sight and walk away, several thousand times.
This was not my intention. 3D-printing twenty-four little resin figures in October 2023 changed how I interact with the campus community forever. There was no goal, no grand plan. Just a plastic "little guy" for others to find. People love collectibles, and something about a particular 3D model I found online immediately struck a chord. Initial reactions were love it or hate it with nothing in between. These 3D printed figures, now dubbed "TopperFellas," made their way onto the Western Kentucky University campus – nearly 50,000 to date.
Physically, TopperFella is a spherical 3D-printed figure, 24mm tall, with what some describe as a "devious" human face. He has sharp features, a pronounced brow, and his eyes look to the left. He has nubs for arms and rounded feet. An Instagram tag appears on his foot. They used to be printed in gray only and placed within three buildings on campus. Nowadays, TopperFellas appear on armrests, windowsills, bulletin boards, room number placards, water fountains, thermostats, staircases, study areas, empty tables, railing, doorknobs, wall trim, doorframes, benches, vending machines, and various other nooks, crannies, and ledges across eleven to fourteen different buildings on campus every weekday during Spring and Fall semesters.
By August 2024 I was considering shuttering the whole project. I simply didn't enjoy it as much anymore. There was little engagement on the social media account, and I was frequently forgetting to pocket any Fellas to hide on my walks. I was even too embarrassed to tell some of my friends about the project at all, even ten months in. The spark started to languish, and it hadn't reached a critical mass to assure me that the whole thing wasn't "just weird." The trajectory of TopperFella completely changed when a student journalist with the College Heights Herald reached out for an interview. Someone cared enough to ask, "What's this all about? Why do this?" More importantly, they told me that they knew other students who also cared. I capitalized on the upcoming Halloween season and began releasing "limited" variations of TopperFella in new colors and designs month by month. Sometimes themed around holidays, events, or seasons with names like JollyFella, PinkFella, or FrozenFella.
But what makes it appealing? Why do people follow TopperFella? (Literally and figuratively.) I never expected Fellas to be a "collectible," but they very much are. They're akin to little plastic novelty toys from quarter machines in grocery store vestibules. Rubber bracelets, fidgets, multicolor sticky hands, temporary tattoos. You never know exactly which you'll get, and it feels like you've won when you get the purple spider ring you so badly wanted. Find the secret rare. Collect all 12. Complete the rarity checklist. TopperFella's longevity is fueled by a community of fans, hunters, collectors, artists, completionists, and more. It's diverse and inclusive. These weird 3D-printed little guys legitimately transcend all interests and differences.
But there's a peculiar kind of anxiety associated with leaving something in public and pretending you didn't. It feels like shoplifting in reverse. Littering joy. Meanwhile, all eyes on you. It feels that way. They aren't of course, not all of them – but it's an oddly intimate and disarming feelingp to manage for an hour a day. I'm anonymous, or as anonymous as you can be while walking through fourteen multi-floor buildings and surreptitiously placing little plastic 3D-printed figurines, largely in plain sight, everywhere. I never expected roving bands of students sweeping buildings in groups like Seal Team Six. The hunters' heads swivel in search of Fellas. They look back and forth and up and down. No iPhone in hand, actively engaging with the breathing campus around them. Sometimes we make eye contact, and I wonder if they know that I'm TopperFella. Some of them do. I watch them rise from their seats in Helm and search in my wake as I make a lap. But their footsteps are my enemy. I must be nonchalant. Act like I belong here. Place the Fella without even looking as I pass, casually, with a light plink sound. Find the closest exit, and don't ever look back.
What does TopperFella mean to me? A lot more than I can put into words. It's grown to take up quite literally 100% of my free time, but it's been as rewarding as it's been time consuming. There was no great motive behind it in the beginning, but I can affirm that seeing the community grow to support and appreciate TopperFella has been a beautiful and uplifting experience. We live in a world in turmoil. A world where wedges are being driven between us. A world that is largely too dark to comprehend. It is so critically important to build connections with those around you over common bonds and interests. It humanizes us all in each other's hearts and truly brings us together.
Eventually, you'll stop building it, and it will start building you.