The wildly popular TV show MythBusters is having an online auction. From August 20 to September 1, the foundation honoring the late Grant Imahara, the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation, will auction some memorabilia from the show through the Prop Store. Former MythBusters host Adam Savage highlighted several items on the Tested YouTube channel. And one such video highlights a rather peculiar item from the show’s past: the horrendous Robocat.
We discovered the video via The A.V. Club and couldn’t turn our eyes away.
Savage opens the video detailing how the items available for auction just came off of a 10 year national tour called the MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition. Then, with a laugh, he goes a little deeper. Stating that he was once asked if they ever created something man wasn’t meant to build, Savage reveals their horrifying, nightmare-inducing Robocat. The monster was, Savage recalls, “an early masterpiece by Grant Imahara.”
He adds, “I believe it may be a real ex-cat.” So, of course, now this cat has a starring role in my nightmares.
As a cat lady, I appreciate this attempt to capture a feline in, well, some form. But I think Savage says it best: “If you found this in an attic, it’s time to sell that house, burn it to the ground, and move out of that neighborhood, man.”
The late creator, Imahara, built the cat for an episode in 2009. The team was testing ways to get past a guard dog for a segment. Imahara, channeling his best Dr. Frankenstein, created Robocat from a taxidermied feline. This confirms Savage’s comment about the creation possibly being a dead, er, “former” cat.
If you’re interested in seeing how this miniature monster got created, watch the seven-minute video above. However, for the rest of you, get your bids ready and you too can be in your own horror movie. Learn more about the online auction at Prop Store’s site.
