North Las Vegas boy honored for creativity

Saturday, Dec. 25, 1999 | 11:30 a.m.

The story goes like this: The evil leader Boar Constrictor from the planet Plantia sent his group of cactus humans to Earth to destroy the planet.

Upon their arrival, however, the Earthlings intercepted the plan and reformed the cactus humans so they would join in the fight against Boar Constrictor and his henchmen, the Evil Fatbacks.

Today the fearless leader, Jack Cactus, and his gang travel the universe in their plant seedpods and fight evil.

Jack Cactus and gang members Dan Destruction, Sarah Clara, Cash Slash and Sean Blade also form the rock group Cacti Crusaders, whose instruments transform into weapons in the event of an emergency.

Sound like the latest issue of a DC or Marvel comic book? Actually, the characters and storyline come from 11-year-old Tyler Leatherman of North Las Vegas.

Leatherman created the story as his entry into the Amazon.com Toy Quest contest.

As one of 40 finalists in the contest, Leatherman was flown to New York earlier this month to present his idea to a panel of judges, which included Richard Levy, the inventor of the Furby doll, and Katarina Witt, the world champion figure skater and two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Launched in October, the contest sponsored by the online retailer drew thousands of entries nationwide from children 12 and under, with categories for children 8 and under and children 9-12.

Children were required to enter a 200-word description and a drawing of their invention.

The 20 finalists from each age group were selected and asked to create a model of their invention to present to the judges.

The contest's two first-place winners each received a $10,000 college savings bond and will have their inventions manufactured and sold at Amazon.com next year.

The 40 finalists and their inventions will be featured on the company's website.

Other judges on the panel included Lonnie Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Research & Development and inventor of Super Soaker, and Thomas Edison Sloane Jr., great-grandson of Thomas Edison.

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, said the company was overwhelmed by the creativity and inventions of the finalists and of the thousands of entries.

Leatherman and his mother cut the character of Jack Cactus out of Syrofoam in the shape of a saguaro and covered it in plaster. He then painted it green and dressed it in a pair of jeans that he made with the help of his mother.

As lead singer of Cacti Crusaders, Jack Cactus carries a microphone made from aluminum foil that is also a weapon.

"The characters have the attributes of a cactus, but with hands," Leatherman explained, adding that creating the model was not difficult -- except for cutting the foam.

Leatherman said he developed his idea from two of his classes.

His second-period teacher at Swainston Middle School had told the class about the contest. When Leatherman got to his third-period class he had noticed that his teacher had brought in a cactus and set it on her desk. That began the brainstorm.

"He's very imaginative," Frank Smith, Tyler's father, said. "He loves to draw."

Leatherman says he draws mainly monsters. In his spare time he also likes in-line skating.

He has also been working with his brother, Jesse, to create a video game that they plan to promote, Candy Smith, Tyler's mother said.

This was the first year of the Amazon.com contest. Leatherman says he plans to continue designing and plans to present his invention, Cacti Crusaders, to another toy company.