We first spotted this little guy on Pinterest, and we thought it would make a great gift.
And we also figured we would do a review in the process.
We paid about $8.95 for it on Amazon.
Here’s the product description from Amazon:
In Japan, gold maneki neko are talismans for attracting good fortune. Although there are several folktales about the origin of maneki neko, the most popular involves a stray cat and an impoverished shop owner. The story goes that despite being down on his luck and barely able to feed himself, the impoverished shop owner takes in a stray, hungry cat. Grateful for the shop owner’s charity, the cat then takes post outside, beckoning visitors into the shop. The cute cat, sitting on hind legs with one paw beckoning, eventually turns around the shop owner’s misfortunes. The tale of maneki neko and the widespread belief across Japan of its power as a lucky charm, led ceramist and paper Mache artisans over the years to create different colored figurines to bring good luck and fortune for different occasions.
The box it came in was really cute, so we saved it even though we can’t read the lettering.
We didn’t pay much attention to the actual size when we ordered, so we were a little surprised that the cat was smaller than expected. We thought it would be maybe three or four inches tall, but, as you can see, it fits in the palm of one’s hand. The actual size is 2 x 2.5 x 2.2 inches, according to the Amazon description.
We were happy overall with the purchase, although, we feel the price is a bit high. $5.50 to 6.50 might be more reasonable, especially because a lower price might make people want to buy more than one — the same product is available in a multitude of colors, including red, pink and black, so more than one would be cute to have.
Still, it’s a nice, little figurine and, for us, it might just be the first in a lucky waving cat collection.