Customer Reviews

California Clock Company Kit Cat Klock Moving Retro Clock

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I love my Kit Kat Clock. When I couldn't get the tail and eyes to swing, I checked the website. They recommended that you open the back and loosen the tiny (and I mean tiny) screw just to the left of the pendulum workings. loosen it a half a turn and VOILA! the tail and eyes now move easily.

The familiar, smiling feline resembling Felix the cat is a pop-culture classic. Created by the California Clock Company (now in Portland, Oregon) in 1932, the Kit Cat Clock sports a unique art-deco style, delightful smile, and big kitty eyes, whose cuteness continues to make sales. The company claims to sell an average of one kitty every three minutes. That works out to about 175,000 kitties per year. That would make for about 13 million kitties total, if the statistic holds for the entire 3/4-century lifetime of the product.

If this is true, it is an utterly astonishing result, because the quality of this clock is abysmal.

To be fair, the clock does keep good time. But wall clocks that keep good time are available on Amazon for $3.99 -- you want the Kit Cat clock because it's so darn charming! Unfortunately, the charming tail and eye mechanism that this clock boasts just doesn't work. The failure isn't due to any particular oversight on the part of the California Clock Co.; it's just a scandalously poor design.

If you manage to get the back cover off the Kit Cat without breaking it (and you'll need to anyway to install two C batteries), watch out for the messy hot-glue job holding the insides together. The kitty's guts consist of a clock casing, a battery casing, and the eye-tail mechanism. The eyes and tail connect (rather precariously) to a thin plastic rod with a magnet on one end. Astoundingly, this magnet is the only design feature that keeps the eyes and tail moving. There is another magnet in the body of the clock, so that if you give the tail a little push, the repulsive force between the magnets makes the mechanism move back and forth for longer than it would otherwise.

However, the tail does not swing once per second, because it is not connected to the clock. As the above description suggests, the eye-tail mechanism is not even connected to the batteries. This means that doesn't swing continuously, but comes to a stop after a little while. Indeed, this design could never have a continuously swinging tail, unless perpetual motion were possible!

As far as anyone knows, perpetual motion is impossible. One can only hope that the perpetual sales of the Kit Cat Clock is impossible too, unless the California Clock Co either improves their design, or lowers the price of the Kit Cat to the earthly realm of the other low-quality clocks on Amazon.

It is cute but MUCH smaller than I was expecting. I feel the dimensions should be posted on the site so people know what to expect. I would send it back but I really want this for my daughter for Christmas. She has always wanted one. But this little kitty ending up costing me almost $50. I expected more.

I have had four of these clocks. None of them work properly. The classic versions had swinging tails powered by an electric motor and plugged into a wall socket for power. These new clocks are of cheap construction, battery powered and some kind of pulsing magnet is supposed to move the tail, but it is woefully inadequate. What I have now is three clocks that keep time, (one died completely) but none of the eyes or tails move. I do not recommend this product at all.

The first clock I order arrived damaged. It's replacement worked as advertised for a total of three weeks. Although the clock keeps time, the tail and eyes won't swing. I have changed the batteries and referred to the website, performing all of the maintenance as directed without success. This was a waste of money.

I bought m first clock years ago I agree the cost is high. But it is a wonderful treasure for cat fans or pop culture lovers. But you have to hang it level on the wall for it to wag and roll his eyes properly but its easy to do....I love mine and have had it for many years andit still works!!!!

My experience with Amazon was great. The clock was a gift and came on time. As it turns out, the item was defective and had to be returned. That went well too, thanks to Amazon. If the California Clock Company had as high of quality as Amazon, I wouldn't have had to return it.

I have owned two Kit-cat clocks over the course of 12 years. The last one has worked for fine 10 years. They require two C alkaline batteries, and must be level for the tail to wag continuously, otherwise, it can be cantankerous.

Mine runs for about 9 months before batteries must be replaced.

After 10 years hung on my kitchen wall, it still brings pleasure and friendly comments. Can't imagine being without my "friend" in the kitchen.

Bought one as a gift a couple years ago. That clock still adorns a child's bedroom wall.

Yes, it is made of plastic and doesn't seem like the most sturdy thing, but mine works just fine and is as cute as can be!

It's now been over 9 months since my initial impression and review made when I first received this clock as a gift. My initial impression of 9 months ago was of a flimsy product not worth the price and that wouldn't last even 3 months. Well, I'm happy to say that I was wrong.

I guess being a cultural icon has it's high price, in this case $60. Anyhow, I don't know if the review editing feature will reflect my ratings changes, but I've changed the star ratings according to my experience with this product. Durability is now a 4, raised from a 1. NOT because it's durable in the traditional sense of being sturdy, it's actually quite fragile and must be handled with care. I raised it because it's still going strong with no signs of quiting, and keeps better time than some other clocks in the house.

Every now and then,it tilts a tiny bit just like any wall hanging and stops. The imbalance messes up the perpetual motion pendulum. I (carefully) make sure the battery connections are stable, straighten it out on the wall, tap the tail, and she's off and ticking.

I added an educational rating this time, choosing a 4 as this clock is fun for kids and more likely to keep their interest in learning to tell time than your standard clock.

I also raised the fun rating to 4, from a 1. While far from my taste, it's surprising how quickly you get used to, and even fond of, this critter. We've had fun telling stories about it and playing games following the eyes. Held the cat's interest for a few days, too, which was very funny. We'll be moving soon and are getting rid of a lot of stuff. This little beasty, however,will be coming with us.

I'm choosing to keep the original edit I posted following the original negative one: "Just after posting the negative review, I found and read the accompanying materials sent with the clock beyond the assembly instructions that I'd already read through. I am, therefore, posting this POSITIVE review addendum.

The company that makes these boasts a surprising guarantee of ONE FULL YEAR. That's amazing for something like this so they must feel very confident that it's looks of being flimsy are deceiving and the quality is better than it appears. The supporting paperwork also had numerous tips on how to make minor repairs oneself as needed. Additionally, they also have in large bold letters both a customer support website, and a customer support phone number guaranteed staffed by a live person if those fixes aren't enough.

Again, amazing for something like this. There's a lot to be said for such customer support and a company guarantee like this. Big expensive appliances don't get that good a guarantee. I feel a lot better about the future of this gadget now than when I posted my original impressions of it and have raised my initial rating accordingly."