The Lucky Money Cat is a bong shaped like the maneki-neko — the beckoning cat that sits by the register in shops and restaurants. The clear body carries cat-face decals, a scarf and a bell, and the raised arm is not decoration: it is the bowl intake, feeding a stem diffuser inside the chamber. It sells for $59.99.
The raised arm is the functional trick
On most novelty glass the theme is applied on top of an ordinary bong and the shape fights the function. Here the two are the same thing. The cat's lifted paw is the angle the bowl needs anyway, so the piece gets its silhouette from a part that was always going to be there.
That arm feeds a stem diffuser — a downstem with slits cut into the submerged end. Smoke leaves through several small openings rather than one hole, which breaks it into finer bubbles before it reaches the chamber.
Clear glass, on purpose
The body is left clear rather than fully coloured, which lets you watch the diffuser work and makes the decals read as details on glass instead of paint over it. It also makes the piece far easier to keep honest: you can see exactly when the water needs changing, which is the single thing most affecting how a bong tastes.
Who it's for
Good fortune is the joke, but the reason to own it is that it works as a daily piece and gives a room something to talk about. It is a strong gift for someone who has a bong already, since it does not compete with a plain workhorse — it sits beside it.
For more character glass at the same tier, the Ducky Bong floats a rubber duck in a glass tub and the Ninja Bong runs a pagoda body over a large showerhead perc. The full range is on the HEMPER brand page.
Keeping it clean
Percolated glass holds resin in places a paper towel will never reach. Dump and refill the water after every couple of sessions, and give the chamber a proper soak in isopropyl and coarse salt once a week. Plug the joint and mouthpiece, shake it in short bursts rather than one long rattle, and rinse with warm — not hot — water so the glass never takes a thermal shock.
Specs
- Design: maneki-neko form, clear body
- Bowl intake: the cat's raised arm
- Diffusion: stem diffuser
- Detailing: cat-face decals, scarf, bell
- Price: $59.99
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