Review: 21349 Tuxedo Cat
Posted by Huw,
21349 Tuxedo Cat is the 57th set to be yielded by the LEGO Ideas platform. It's based on a project by Damian Andres that passed review in May 2023. Everyone loves cats, right, so it came as no surprise to me that the project was selected!
Tuxedo is not a term we in the UK use to describe black and white cats, or jackets for that matter, so that will be the last time I use it in this review.
Summary
21349 Tuxedo Cat, 1,710 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 5.3p/5.8c/5.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A purr-fect almost life-sized model of a moggy
- Realistically shaped body and face
- Does not require a litter tray
- Won't bring in little 'presents' from outdoors
- Some may have preferred the two-tone brown colours of the original Ideas submission
- No whiskers
- It's a fingerprint magnet
- Not as nice to stroke as a real cat
- Does not purr
- Won't come and sit on your lap when called
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The Ideas project
Damian based his Ideas project submission on his own cat, a Siamese / Birman cross, hence the unusual markings. He may therefore be disappointed that the final model is black and white, but it's understandable why LEGO changed the colours to something more common and recognisable that will resonate with more cat lovers. The proposed bowl and fish bone accessories have not been carried across to the set.
The completed model
The 32cm-tall cat is positioned in a sitting pose with its tail wrapped around its side, and it looks very natural. The feline's arched back and the shapes of the hips when in this position look spot-on, and it's clear that designer Chris McVeigh took time to study real cats to get the pose just right.
Comparing it to our own real adult cat, 19 year-old Tiggy, a calico (another term we don't use here), I would say it's about 3/4 life-sized, or probably about the size of a 6-month or so old kitten.
The positions of the white patches are typical of many black and white cats, although there is of course a lot of variation as you will see below.
The coat is mostly smooth, on account of the curved slopes and 1/4 circle pieces used, so it has a tendency to show fingerprints when you handle it. The neck rotates, and the ears can be tweaked a bit, but that is the limit of articulation.
Its face is obviously the most important thing to get right, and I think Chris has nailed it. The jaw has a slight downward tilt which helps it look very life-like. It has no whiskers, which is a shame, but they would of course be a challenge to replicate in LEGO at this scale.
The ears are a pair of Nexo Knights Cockpit 4X5X1, W/ 3.2 Shafts, appearing here for the first time in black. It's the perfect piece: the right shape and also hollowed-out underneath.
Pieces are provided to build it with its mouth open or closed, and with yellow-y or blue eyes, which are printed 2x2 boat studs.
It's not common for adult black and white cats to have blue eyes, and I think they look a bit weird here, but it's nice to have the choice.
Construction
The feline is constructed in sections which are connected together with Technic pins and, as you would expect, there is a lot of SNOT involved in forming its organic body shape.
Verdict
I think it looks very realistic from a distance and when catching a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye as I often did while it was on my photography table waiting to be photo'd, it looks just like a real cat sitting there.
The scuplting and curves of the bodywork is very life-like, and I think the most important part -- the face -- looks as good as it can be, given it's made from LEGO. It would have looked even better if it had whiskers, but I appreciate there's nothing in the parts palette that would work. Control levers would be too short and thick.
As an ailurophile, I think it is a lovely set. I'm sure it will be popular with other cat lovers young and old, and will make the perfect gift for one.
Modifying the face
This is Tammy, Tiggy's sister, who sadly passed away in March this year, at the grand old age of 18 years and 10 months. A few weeks later, when I opened the box the set was delivered in and first saw that the model had been changed from a brown cat to a black and white one, I was delighted. It was almost as if she had returned in ABS form!
As you can see, her facial markings were a bit different, so I set about modifying the set to match them. The top of the nose is one of the new 1x2 cheese slopes which I don't have in black other than a stickered one in 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Car, so a 1x2 cheese grater will have to suffice until I do.
She did not have a white patch at the end of her tail, but I don't have the requisite parts to change it at the moment. So not quite purr-fect, I will probably have another go at tweaking the face at some point, but it's close enough for now. RIP Tammy, 2005-2024.
Naughty Tiggy would not sit still nor look at the camera, she just wanted to jump off the table...
204 likes
77 comments on this article
I think instead of sloths, that all reviews should have real life cats in them.
You're a kitty!
Appreciate the review, and the bit at the end is quite sweet
@johleth said:
"I think instead of sloths, that all reviews should have real life cats in them."
Agreed! I love a good cat for scale.
@johleth said:
"I think instead of sloths, that all reviews should have real life cats in them."
There is usually plenty of her fur in the photos in my reviews!
I can see me having to get this as a gift for my partner as it matches one of our (her) cats almost exactly, Sooty is a small short hair who actually refuses to sit on your lap and has a habit of trying to destroy the carpet - despite being from the UK we have always referred to him as a Tuxedo Cat as he always looks very smart - I will just need to sort out a red collar which does not look to be too much of an issue where the neck joins on, just changing the 2 wide curved slopes to 1 wide, 1 strip in white and one in dark red I think...
I think the head looks like it has a hat on, the line where the eyebrows would be is just too flat for me and doesn’t sell it :(
You list "Won't come and sit on your lap when called" as a negative, but let's be fair, real cats usually don't come when they're called either...they sit on your lap (or anywhere else) when and as they please!
"Ailurophile"! Thanks, Huw, I learned a new word today.
Not a cat lover but this is a beautifully sculpted model.
I think it looks great. It is a shame they didn't include some ideas for customisation of the colours or the option of doing a brick built collar when building the neck. This is probably a set that many owners would like to amend slightly to look like a specific cat.
@CCC said:
"I think it looks great. It is a shame they didn't include some ideas for customisation of the colours or the option of doing a brick built collar when building the neck. This is probably a set that many owners would like to amend slightly to look like a specific cat.
"
I've already been thinking how I will do exactly that! My tuxedo cat has asymmetrical white markings on her face that will be tricky to replicate. She also has a solid black tail, so I'll have to replace the white tip. But the whiskers! There's gotta be a solution to that. The model's head looks so strange and off-scale because of the lack of whiskers. Somebody in the announcement thread for this set suggested white rapiers. That might have worked, but I don't think that piece exists in that color.
Not exactly related… but can Lego makes sets with Hello Kitty? I think it will sell very well.
Wonderful review! I love that you customized it to look like your own late cat. <3
We had a black and white cat and our kids named her Oreo. Never heard the term "tuxedo cat" but I suppose it's fitting. This set looks weird to me, but I'll check it out in person.
Looks great from the front. The shaping on the back doesn’t work for me though - I see a water slide going down the cat’s back.
I think it's the lack of whiskers and also the studs on the sides of the head that make it a miss for me. Those studs male it look like Robocat or something. I will check it out in person though. Pictures don't usually do justice with Lego.
Pro: won't make me sneeze or eyes itch.
Pro: won't poop in my garden
Pro: won't kill the sweet little birds
Pro: won't spray urine all over the carpet randomly
Pro: won't scratch at your child who just wants to pet the soft fur.
This is the only cat I would ever consider having in my house
Pros: it's a fake cat. Cons: it's a fake cat
This Cat is clearly an advanced spy mech for Blacktron 3, with the vibrant yellow, white and black color scheme.
It has enough suitable parts to build an escape flying saucer if destroyed to individual pieces as well.
I like this as a set, but it's also a very cool selection of parts.
Woah another set of "Would be nice to see on MOC display but sucks as a product!" kind!
I'm sorry, I respect the designers and their effort, but this just looks so robotic to me.
I wish they had yellow-green eyes as an option, given they're quite common too in cats - at least, I've seen far more yellow-green eyed cats than blue-eyed ones - and it would make it look a lot like one of the three cats in my life. I could possibly mod it to look like another cat if I can make the face all black and the tail-tip black using my own parts. (Sadly, they need to bring out dark grey pieces for me to make my third).
It does seem slightly surprising that they don't give you a few extra pieces to allow for a little more customization - seems a bit of a missed opportunity because those few extra pieces could have attracted far more buyers.
I have a Tuxedo Cat
He keeps chewing on my legos, so I have to keep replacing the pieces.
For his crimes against my legos, I place a curse upon him to turn him into lego
@Yrraabb said:
"Not exactly related… but can Lego makes sets with Hello Kitty? I think it will sell very well."
Believe that license has been circulating amongst other brick-building companies. My fiance loves Hello Kitty so makes her own "sculptures/mosaics" with LEGO bricks.
@HAL_9001 said:
"You list "Won't come and sit on your lap when called" as a negative, but let's be fair, real cats usually don't come when they're called either...they sit on your lap (or anywhere else) when and as they please!"
Totally what I wanted to say.
No. A cat will absolutely sit on your lap when you wish. You just have to catch her and force her to sit. Afterwards she will scratch and scream. But you can force her to sit on your lap (free injuries included for you).
Also, "does not purr" is a positive. Our Mata Hari tends to purr. At 3am. 2cm from our faces in bed.
Wonder if they’ll continue with other pet releases? We already had the Birds ideas set a decade back, would love to see some canine builds! Maybe a Yorkie
In a shocking turn of events, I do not love cats.
"It would have looked even better if it had whiskers, but I appreciate there's nothing in the parts palette that would work. Control levers would be too short and thick."
How about some wolverine/black panther claws?
@Adamskibrick said:
"In a shocking turn of events, I do not love cats. "
But what’s cool is that this is LEGO. And also we have the Dennis Nedry minifigure AND the barbasol can piece so you can take those and make your own “see, nobody cares” MOC.
They should add a sound brick so it can make some purring noises.
I feel like you need to swap in one black cheese slope on the left side of her nose, or one in white on her right.
That's very touching at the end, Huw. I appreciate this personal touch, modification, and comparison to the real thing. I think I'm with many in not ever noticing cat hairs in your photos. Thank you for including pictures of both your cats! It's tough when you loose a cherished member, especially one that was with you for so long. I'm sorry for your loss.
I have two grey tabbies that are very dear to me. Our orange tabby unfortunately died some years ago.
This is one of those classics Lego Can't win. It looks exactly like 1 cat on earth. But like 1000's of them that look similar. The joy and curse of Lego is to make a simple change, to add more black or white to the model does mean you need very specific parts, some dont exist in that colour or you dont have any. I am trying to match a Black and white cat but i just know it will take weeks to get it right if at all.
So is this a neon-yellow parts pack in disguise?
Hm. I think, for the sake of aesthetics, that using completely non-brick building associated materials for whiskers would be fairly kosher here. I'm not inherently against the practice itself, but I do think it's cooler to see how much can be accomplished without using outside modifications. Even if it means a build looks far from "perfect."
Here however, I really can't help but want to see how it would look with translucent filament or something as whiskers. As long as the muzzle could be tweaked to accommodate them. I'm still fundamentally anti-Kragle.
@rslotb said:
"So is this a neon-yellow parts pack in disguise? "
No -- it's normal yellow. The under construction pictures are over-exposed and of course I can't take them again easily!
@dimc said:
"I feel like you need to swap in one black cheese slope on the left side of her nose, or one in white on her right. "
Yes, I plan to experiment with asymmetry in due course.
This is the set I've waited my entire life for.
Lego and cats. A marvellous combo. Thanks for the photos of your gorgeous kitties :D
Another pro: Unlike any real cat, this one isn't secretly plotting to kill you!
(but it might still hurt you by litteriing its bricks on the floor...)
@Huw said:
" @dimc said:
"I feel like you need to swap in one black cheese slope on the left side of her nose, or one in white on her right. "
Yes, I plan to experiment with asymmetry in due course."
I'd love to get a cat set to make mine, but I think the Tiger is perhaps a better representation. Or if they made a leopard, but rosettes would be tough unless they were printed tiles.
I think it's worth mentioning, there was another Ideas product idea which was not approved. That set contained two cats, a tuxedo and a ginger one.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/3b7ef813-5a42-418d-bf96-07e58b61d132
I don't know what was the winning factor in this subject, why they chose this in favor of that one. Because they are equally good projects. I think it's not fair for submitter legotruman.
Otherwise I'm happy that they went with the classic black and white color scheme instead of the original siamese one.
Regarding of the missing whiskers, they could manage it with the big lion king model, why could't they do here with the same parts?
Apparently, the term “tuxedo cat” is not regularly used anywhere in the world, lol.
Postman Pat and his Tuxedo Cat never would have had the same ring to it!
"Tuxedo is not a term we in the UK use to describe black and white cats"
I'm in the U.K. and I hear it a lot to describe black cats with a white chest like this one (and Tammy)
I think is a very accurate model, but I don't think it has that "spark" that makes me want to buy it
It's interesting to see how different designers approached similar subject matter. That large Simba uses virtually no 45° roof slopes and leans heavily into using all the newer curved slopes.
This cat heavily relies on those 45° roof slopes, and it definitely looks more rigid because of it. But that's not a bad thing, necessarily. It's just a different approach.
If my cats weren't tabbies with green eyes, I'd be more compelled to buy this.
@Anak said:
"I think it's worth mentioning, there was another Ideas product idea which was not approved. That set contained two cats, a tuxedo and a ginger one.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/3b7ef813-5a42-418d-bf96-07e58b61d132
I don't know what was the winning factor in this subject, why they chose this in favor of that one. Because they are equally good projects. I think it's not fair for submitter legotruman.
Otherwise I'm happy that they went with the classic black and white color scheme instead of the original siamese one.
Regarding of the missing whiskers, they could manage it with the big lion king model, why could't they do here with the same parts?"
I'm not going into any conspiracies why one was chosen over the other, but I do actually like these a lot more!
"Not a tuxedo cat?"
"No, we call it a black-and-white cat."
"Not a Calico cat?"
"No, we call it a tortoiseshell-and-white cat."
Can't imagine why UKers have a rep for being stuffy. ;) (affectionate, please don't fight me)
I really love this set because I simply love all cats! I wish it came in an orange tabby coloration (or as I assume they say in the UK, lighter-orange-with-darker-orange-stripes cat) because my two previous cats were both orange babies. Maybe this will do well and they'll release some different colorways.
@WemWem, spot on. Orange tabby works, though.
Will definitely be picking this up for the cat lover in our family. Would have preferred the original colors, but this is nice, too.
Meow!
I'm going to go and stroke my velvet tuxedo jacket, and thank sweet lil' baby Jesus that I'm from 'Merica!
RIP Tammy.
@Graupensuppe said:
"You're a kitty!"
https://xkcd.com/231/
@rgeiger said:"Also, "does not purr" is a positive. Our Mata Hari tends to purr. At 3am. 2cm from our faces in bed."
I'm reminded of a birthday card I saw once. "A birthday is like a cat. You wake up one morning and it's right there in your face!"
@Spritetoggle said:
"Hm. I think, for the sake of aesthetics, that using completely non-brick building associated materials for whiskers would be fairly kosher here. I'm not inherently against the practice itself, but I do think it's cooler to see how much can be accomplished without using outside modifications. Even if it means a build looks far from "perfect."
Here however, I really can't help but want to see how it would look with translucent filament or something as whiskers. As long as the muzzle could be tweaked to accommodate them. I'm still fundamentally anti-Kragle."
I was thinking some kind of fishing line could work as a translucent filament. It could possibly be secured just by pinching it between bricks. My kids do that to make ornaments sometimes. It may be tough to get the right angles though.
One of our cats comes when called, the other runs away. Neither look like this model, though - one is a clingy Calico, the other fraidy-cat is a cross between Abyssinian Blue and next-door neighbor cat. I guess a live black cat is in our future in order to justify this set.
This is definitely one set that LEGO ought to consider giving the re-colouring treatment a la 31136 -> 31144 and 10271 -> 77942.
@Graysmith said:
"This is definitely one set that LEGO ought to consider giving the re-colouring treatment a la 31136 -> 31144 and 10271 -> 77942."
Wholeheartedly agree with Redsmith on this.
I'm very much a cat person, having had five over the years, but this isn't for me now it's been released. The winning design wasn't too bad, although I thought it had no chance when the far superior "LEGO Cats" by Legotruman was rejected in only the previous review period.
I agree Tuxedo is not a word the British use. A different colouring would have avoided that name and quite a few of the negative comments I've seen online. It's no coincidence that of the three cats in the two submissions mentioned, none of the cats were black and white.
I like cats but cats hate me. This one would be puuuurrrfect!
"Won't come and sit on your lap when called"
its fine neither does my real cat
Huw
So in UK what does Tuxedo mean? (off topic I think but am so curious)
Or no meaning...?
sorry if asked already... but think more might ask..
No whiskers...
Seems odd
Think they made a lot cats without whiskers?
@shedjed said:
"Pro: won't make me sneeze or eyes itch.
Pro: won't poop in my garden
Pro: won't kill the sweet little birds
Pro: won't spray urine all over the carpet randomly
Pro: won't scratch at your child who just wants to pet the soft fur.
This is the only cat I would ever consider having in my house"
Pro: won't bring rats in to you, Look what I found...
Huw your cats are gorgeous. About 10 years ago my housemate owned a Birman named Arlo and he had the most stunning blue eyes. I'm glad Lego included the blue eye pieces, as it allows people to make their own cats if they too wanted to replicate a Birman.
@missedoutagain said:
"Huw
So in UK what does Tuxedo mean? (off topic I think but am so curious)
Or no meaning...?
sorry if asked already... but think more might ask.."
It means the same but not a word we normally use to describe jackets. They are just called dinner jackets.
Amazing review Brickset! Fantastic to include the modification and real cat
What do you call a black/white cat or a a Calico in the UK if not Tuxedo and Calico? My curiosity is up.
@amosnp said:
"What do you call a black/white cat"
Jess?
@Huw said:
" @WemWem, spot on. Orange tabby works, though."
Orange? Surely you meant ginger...
Despite being an ailurophile and feeder of three puddytats, I'm not in a rush to buy this set. For now Sniffles remains the only black and white in our house.
Love the way this set looks and all the building techniques to make the shape of the cat.
Most definitely going to get this awesome set.
The head should flip open and show a control room manned by cats
I think all reviews going forward should have a 'compared to Lego cat' image. This set is great as my cat is a Tux cat, he has a little moustache under his nose that I'll be able to replicated by replacing one of the quarter circle 1x1 tiles in white for a black one. The set may even have one spare, but if not I've surely got one somewhere. If this was another colour cat I probably wouldn't be as interested but they had to go and make this cat, my cat haha
My own LEGO tuxedo cat (MOC), Cooper, actually features whiskers, backlit yellowish-green eyes, and a personality based on the real-life pet. You can get pictures, details, and building instructions with parts lists at my Brick Replicas site: https://brickreplicas.com/product/instructions-for-custom-lego-cooper-the-cat/
@Huw said:
"There is usually plenty of her fur in the photos in my reviews!"
As someone with long hair this is enough of a problem with my own while building.
Esp when you dont notice until half of it is under like five pieces now...
@Jackthenipper said:
"The head should flip open and show a control room manned by cats"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ua6dSOYM2w