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The Samurai
A duck in red lacquer-style armor holding a tiny sheathed katana. Novelty duck for history and martial arts fans.
Specifications
| Material | Vinyl (PVC), red lacquer-tone armor finish, sculpted katana accessory |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 3.7 x 3.5 x 4.0 in (helmet included) |
| Weight | 2.6 oz |
| Color | Yellow body, red and gold lacquer armor |
| Age Grade | 3+ years. Katana is sculpted, sheathed, and fully fixed in place, non-removable. |
| Origin | Designed on Vashon Island, WA · Assembled overseas |
| Care Instructions | Wipe clean. Gold trim is painted detail, handle gently to avoid wear over time. |
The Full Story
The Samurai went through the single most rigorous cultural consultation process of any design in the catalog, following an early draft that, in hindsight, several members of the design team are quite candid about having gotten wrong in ways that were well-intentioned but clumsy. The company brought in an outside cultural consultant for a full review midway through development, resulting in a genuinely significant redesign of the armor proportions, coloring, and helmet detailing to move away from a more generic "fantasy warrior" look toward something closer to authentic Sengoku-period armor styling, so far as that's achievable on a three-inch rubber duck.
The katana is permanently sheathed by design, a decision made early and never seriously revisited, on the reasoning that a functional tiny removable sword and small children were, once again, not a combination anyone on the safety team was willing to sign off on, regardless of how satisfying a drawn blade might have looked.
This redesign process is one the company now points to, somewhat proudly, as an example of getting it right the second time, and design leads working on newer culturally-referential concepts are required to go through a similar consultation step before anything reaches prototype stage.
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Customer Reviews
Genuinely impressed by the armor proportions on this one, doesn't feel like a generic 'ninja toy' style design, clearly some real research went into it.
The lacquer finish has a lovely subtle sheen to it. One of the nicer pieces in my collection.
Well received as a gift, good quality overall.
Good on them for being upfront about getting an earlier version wrong and actually bringing in a consultant to fix it properly rather than just quietly changing it and pretending otherwise. Made me trust the brand a bit more, honestly, for a rubber duck company.
Ordered two for a gift set and the gold trim detailing is very slightly different in thickness between the two units. Not a big deal, just noticeable side by side.
Understand the safety reasoning but was a little disappointed the katana is fully fixed rather than even a tiny bit removable. Still a nice looking duck otherwise.