Description
About the model
My original, award-winning custom LEGO tuxedo cat! (Designed back in 2013 with realistic shaping and whiskers. 😺 Compare to the name-brand set that was released in 2024.) Using advanced building techniques, this custom brick-built pet is a replica of my real black and white cat, Cooper, when he was about one year old. (‘Coopie’ is a beloved rescue pet that my family adopted from the local humane society. I did my best to evoke his personality and expression in this build.)
My Cat Cooper has been featured in The Brothers Brick, Gizmodo, Rebrick, The Brick Collectors magazine, the No Starch Press book Beautiful LEGO: Wild! by Mike Doyle, and on physical display at the LEGO Brand Retail store in Tigard, Oregon by local club PortLUG. My Cat Cooper also won the ‘Committee Favorite’ award at Bricks Cascade 2019. The brick-built pet featured prominently across AFOL Flickr and appeared at the top of Google search results for ‘lego cat’ for many years.
This custom LEGO replica of my pet cat is designed as a premium display piece. It features:
- advanced building techniques
- light-up eyes with adjustable brightness
(optional Power Functions lighting system) - rotating front paws
- moving ears
Each of my realistic Brick Replicas takes about 20–30hrs to design by hand (and then at least another 10–20hrs to produce the professional-grade instructions): there’s no shortcut to this level of realism and quality. I have limited time available outside of my full-time job and taking care of family, and I want to provide you with the most realistic replicas and the best building experience… so if you like my work and want to see more new stuff come out, please purchase a set of instructions. Your support makes it possible for me to continue creating these!
—Cole Edmonson
The parts you need (not included):
The parts you need (not included):- Cat (Standard): 1,326pcs
~$87 - Cat with Light-up Eyes (Optional):
~$125–173*
Estimated parts costs are in $ USD when buying at BrickLink.com, pricing and shipping will vary with the market.
Click here to download parts lists and see the needed pieces ahead of time.
How to Upload XML Code to BrickLink
- Open the .rtf file containing XML code.
- Copy the entire contents of the text starting with “<INVENTORY>”.
- Go to https://bricklink.com.
- Create an account on BrickLink if you don’t have one yet. Make sure you’re signed in.
- In the drop-down menu options under your profile, select “My Wanted Lists”.
- There will be several tab options in your ‘Wanted Lists’ section; select “Upload”.
- Select the sub-tab “Upload BrickLink XML format”. Then, under the ‘Add to:’ drop-down menu, choose “Create New Wanted List” and give it a name.
- Paste the entire text you copied in Step 2.
- Click “Proceed to verify Items”; at this point you should see the list of parts you need to purchase.
- You can now buy all the parts you need by selecting this newly created wanted list from your My Wanted Lists section and either choosing the ‘Easy Buy’ button or clicking into the wanted list and choosing ‘Buy All’ for more cart-creation options (e.g. limiting sellers/stores to only those from your country, etc.).Pro tip: If you have multiple models you’re shopping for (e.g. gun and display stand and display plaque), it’s highly recommended you upload all their parts to the same Wanted List so that you can more easily combine them into the smallest possible number of shopping carts / stores / orders placed at the same time for less expensive shipping.
If you encounter any parts errors (for example, parts 3062b, 3068b, 3069b and/or 3070b) when trying to upload your parts list code to BrickLink, open the text file with XML code in a text editor app, search for those codes (Command+F or Ctrl+F) and delete the ‘b’ or other add-on letter in each code. If you encounter any further issues, please contact me.
Note: I’ve separated out the optional ‘Power Functions’ parts for the light-up eyes into another file for easy shopping. You can also find and use your own custom and/or third-party lighting solutions.
Please note that the pet tuxedo cat replica is designed as a display model and should be handled gently.
Note that this is a digital purchase that gives you the access and individual right to download and use the instruction files, parts lists, and XML code for this custom model. You will not receive any physical items or pieces as part of this transaction.
To see original feature page for my tuxedo cat design (rather than instructions), click here.
