I think you're right about the shoes kinddoggofwar, though I don't think they look too bad. It's definitely a creative character. Because of the creativity I've gotta feeling that texturing is going to play a big role in the overal look of this character. Seems like it'll be tough to find just the right color scheme.

The two bars connecting the top half of the claw to the bottom half seem like they would prevent the claw from opening and closing, or am I just looking at it wrong?