Toy-Review: Fire-Catzilla by Joe Ledbetter
QUICK PRODUCT RECAP: Produced and designed by artist Joe Ledbetter. The Fire-Catzilla stands at almost 11-inches tall and is in a limited edition of 300 units. Priced at US$110 (+ shipping), you can only purchase it online exclusively via store.joeledbetter.com.
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And while I've blogged about and "seen" images online for the item, nothing beats holding it in-arms and in person, and it is HUGE. I am glad I did not have to worry about shipping costs here though … :p
The window box display is quite welcoming, with optimal view of the figure while on display (*window on two sides), and at the same time the box and plastic display are pretty sturdy. And what I like about this box (and as well for Joe Ledbetter's "Business Monkey" with Munky King / to be reviewed separately), is that the different colorways are shown on the box itself. In this instance, 4 x editions are shown, with Fire-Cat (400pcs) and Ice-Cat (200pcs), and as well the as-yet-released "Lava-Cat" (limited to 100pcs).
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Held in via plastic tray, the collectible is in one single piece, with no assembly required. Articulation is limited to both arms, legs and the tail. Given the shape and heft of the piece, posing this behemoth might pose a challenge, but I liked it as-is, so I never tried otherwise :p
The printing and paint application looked flawless on my piece. The iconic "black outline" style by Ledbetter is in full effect here, and the result is pretty glorious (Small wonder this piece was picked as #20 in the TOYSREVIL Top 20 Toys for 2015).
That aesthetic/style will ensure this piece belong alongside your other Ledbetter-designed toys, IMHO.
Amongst Ledbetters' designs for various brands and platform figures, this particular design stood out by itself, and is replicated in it's three other vinyl brethren, as produced by Ledbetter himself. I cannot claim this as being the "cutest" of his catalog, but is unique in that regard. And how often do you have a toy / collectible that seems to "scream back at you"? LOL
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The "explosive" word "balloon" and text, is an interesting design style for me, and not something we see as often - or at all - in other Ledbetter toys, and if indeed this is the first time a JLed toy "speaks", than I am good here, especially since I do not own a whole lot of JLed toys :p
But my favouritest part of this piece, had to be the "fins" on the figure's back. New sculpted specifically for this piece, and nicely structured and finished, I felt they added that lil'extra design-value to the rampaging kaiju-like piece, which unfortunately you might not see if it is displayed full frontal only.
A Nice Long Tail would be nice, but might loose the figure's "cute" appeal haha
What I hoped for, might be a cityscape diorama design, printed on cardboard and die-cut to shape, so we could use to pose behind / in-front / around the figure, to see it's "rampaging" in full dioramic quality! LOL … And of course the cityscape is drawn in the style of JLed, so I can't just whip up my own here hahaha … Oh well, I can dream anyways, right? :p
Material-wise, this is pretty dense vinyl, and hardly squishy/squishiable, and one might feel that marks it as "value for money", which I can deny the allure of :)
Quality-control seemed top notch, although I did find a bit of vinyl-"sweat" on the text-balloon when I first opened it. Overall a decent piece for the price, and recommended for JLed collectors who want to own a piece off his work on different forms!
Thanks loads for the awesomeness, Joe! Truly appreciate your generosity :)
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