Meet Our Sires: The Cornerstone of Our Program

Every breeding program has a beginning. Ours began with Oscar.

RW SGC OscarWinner of MaineStCoons was the first cat we ever acquired for our breeding program, and in so many ways, everything that has followed can be traced back to him. He became the foundation for the extraordinary temperament for which Maine Street Coons is known—and set a standard we have spent every generation since working to preserve.

Oscar is wise beyond his years, possessing a quiet confidence and innate goodness that are difficult to describe and impossible to teach. In the middle of a busy show hall, I can place him on a table and trust that he will simply remain there. He loves greeting the public. He is gentle with children, tender with kittens, and unfailingly kind to everyone he meets. He embodies the very best of the Maine Coon temperament—and, in many ways, exceeds even what one could hope for.

That remarkable character has become one of Oscar’s greatest legacies. The intelligence, gentleness, confidence, and deep affection we treasure in our cats began with him and continue to reveal themselves through the generations that followed.

Yet Oscar’s contribution is written in more than temperament. His incredible boning has proven equally enduring, passed from one generation to the next and helping to shape the substance and strength we value so deeply in our lines.

Oscar may have been our first, but he could never be merely the beginning. He is the heart and soul of what we built, the standard by which so much is still measured, and one of the most extraordinary cats we have ever known.

We love him beyond measure.

IW BW SGC MaineStCoons Toe Be or Not Toe Be—our beloved Toby—was born here at Maine Street Coons, the son of our foundation king, Oscar. With 24 toes, extraordinary presence, and a personality far too large to be contained by any show ring, he would go on to become one of the most accomplished cats in the history of our program.

Toby is an International Winner, a two-time Breed Winner, a Supreme Grand Champion, and the world’s highest-ranking Maine Coon Polydactyl of his show season. In earning his place among the Top 25 cats internationally, across all breeds, he accomplished something that once felt nearly impossible: he proved that a polydactyl Maine Coon could stand among the finest cats in the world.

But titles alone could never explain Toby.

He is a born showman who seems to understand that the crowd has come to see him. He loves people with his whole heart, greeting strangers as friends and giving himself completely to every moment. His extraordinary temperament is the unmistakable legacy of his father, Oscar, carried forward with a charisma that is entirely his own.

Toby asked us to believe bigger. He took us farther than we had ever dreamed of going and, along the way, helped challenge perceptions of polydactyl Maine Coons in the show hall. Every award represents a judge who looked beyond the extra toes and recognized the exceptional Maine Coon standing before them.

We are immensely proud of what Toby has accomplished. We are even more proud of who he is.

He is our homebred International Winner. Our once-in-a-lifetime showman. Our beautiful 24-toed boy.

And the cat who changed everything.

MaineStCoons Midnight Rider is a breathtaking black silver classic tabby and white male, bred here at Maine Street Coons and possessing the kind of beauty that makes people wonder why they have never seen him in the show hall.

The answer is simple: Rider came of age while Toby was making history.

Traveling with two intact males is extraordinarily difficult, and as Toby’s remarkable show career gained momentum, we made the decision to let him have his moment. Rider stayed home. He never earned a title, never collected ribbons, and never had the opportunity to show the world what we already knew.

But a show record has never defined a cat’s value to our program.

Rider is a magnificent Maine Coon with substantial boning, beautiful silver pattern, and the powerful, unmistakably masculine presence we treasure in our males. He represents the next generation of a program built carefully from within—carrying forward the qualities we have worked so intentionally to preserve while contributing something distinctly his own.

His legacy has already begun.

As the father of our beloved Copper, Rider has given us an exciting glimpse of what he can contribute to the generations ahead. In Copper, we see the substance, beauty, and promise that made us believe in Rider from the beginning.

Toby may have commanded the spotlight, but Rider was never standing in his shadow. His role was simply different.

He is the quiet strength behind the next generation—and we believe some of his greatest contributions to Maine Street Coons are still ahead.