Many, many years ago (circa 2003), a terrible creature roamed the Earth in the parts that are now known as Boston's Fanueil Hall. This horrifying beast, known colloquially as "Lobsta Mickey," was manifested into being as part of a 75th anniversary celebration for the copyright-law-crushing cartoon critter called Mickey Mouse. The Disney corporation had commissioned a variety of strange Mickey Mouse-inspired statues.
I moved to Boston in 2004 as a college freshman. For years, I had a vague recollection of seeing this eldritch horror on the street. I assumed it was a nightmare that had followed me. I was wrong.
Lobsta Mickey was the brainchild of an 8-year-old girl in Lowell, Massachusetts, who won a contest with a sketch of the crustacean-clawed rodent with its spiny armored back. It spent several years standing outside in downtown Boston before being auctioned off for $7,500 as part of a fundraiser for the nearby Boston Arts Academy.
But a local store owner recently re-unearthed the monstrosity, in an epic journey reported by The Boston Globe. And now this terrifying Lovecraftian atrocity will once again greet visitors to a shoe store on Newbury Street.
Once back in Boston, it got a second life. Point hired a local artist to refurbish and repaint its body, and while he wouldn't say exactly how much Concepts invested in the project, it was "significantly more" than the $7,500 it fetched at auction.
The day before Halloween, the spiffed up "Lobsta Mickey" finally made its second public debut in the city, when it was set up on Concepts' Newbury Street showroom floor. And like before, it's once again enthralling visitors.
"People were a little terrified," Point said of the customer response. "People think we created this thing, which, of course, we didn't."
Oh, the horror.
This 6-foot-tall statue of Mickey Mouse with lobster claws for hands finally made it back to Boston [Spencer Buell / The Boston Globe]
Lobster Mickey [Atlas Obscura]
