Assuming you are buying a cat, as opposed to a kitchen, you should be looking for a solid sturdy creature, with a silky coat that could best be described as being 'shaggy'. The tail should be as long as, and sometimes longer than the actual cat itself. They have a beautiful 'ruff' around the neck that usually starts at the bottom of the ears, nearest to the head, similar to the ruff of a lion.
As the name indicates, this breed of cat originates in the United State of America, in the Northeastern state of Maine. Given the enormous size of this cat, people may think they see the hand of humans in breeding the large size into this giant. In point of fact, this breed evolved naturally and humans played no role whatsoever in its development. 