Let The Games Begin With This Sample Steiff Lake Placid Olympic Games Mascot!

Steiff's century-spanning anthropomorphic animal dolls are the best of all worlds. But is it possible there is one that is truly worthy of an Olympic gold medal? Steiffgal thinks so - and is over the moon thrilled to welcome one into her hug. This winter-themed wonder was purchased decades ago in Europe by his previous family. Check out this remarkable Steiff raccoon doll and see what makes him so COOL - literally - from the product design and historical perspectives.

Here we have a sample Steiff Roni the Raccoon doll, made as a possible licensed souvenir item for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. These were held in Lake Placid, NY from February 13th-24th, 1980. Roni, who was named as a nod to the venue's Adirondack mountain range, was the cartoon mascot for this event and was designed by commercial artist Donald Moss. Roni himself is 25 cm tall, standing, and unjointed. His head is made from short grey plush with an inset velvet facial mask. His pupil eyes are highlighted with black airbrushing to give him his traditional "raccoon bandit" look. He has a black embroidered nose and a pink painted mouth. His ears are lined in velvet and have a little pink airbrushing to them. He has a very long, fluffy, and bushy tail. Roni's winter garb, which is made from velvet and integral to his body, includes green gloves, a blue snowsuit, and red boots with brown soles. He wears a white bib which has the event's official Olympic logo hand rendered in black on either side.

Roni is branded with his Steiff ear tag and button. Steiffgal doubts he was produced with a chest tag for two reasons; first, he was made as a sample so there really was not need for this tag. Also, his custom bib is so interesting and so integral to his chest, a chest tag would be redundant or even interfere with his presentation. His yellow ear tag is generic and without digits, so this pattern was probably never assigned an article number. This style of ear tag appeared on items made in the c. 1969/1970 through 1980 era. And his thick, brass style ear button with the script word Steiff on it debuted in 1979. So given the games were in 1980, and it could take a year or so for a licensed product to go from idea to production - all of these dates point to his production taking place in 1979.

It is not clear why Steiff's Roni doll never went into production. He is on brand, matches the official event logo to a "T", isn't terribly complicated or expensive to manufacture, and is super, super cute! Steiffgal suspects it may have something to do with legal or financial complications often associated with international commercial licensing agreements. However, other companies were able to get production licenses to make Roni dolls, including a version on ice skates. Of course, these simpler patterns were nowhere as fabulous as Steiff's full blown interpretation of Roni! It is interesting to note that Steiff was able to produce Olympic branded and licensed items for other Olympic games, including the 1972 Munich games, the 1998 Nagano games, and the 2010 Vancouver games, among others.

It is nearly impossible to find out any additional details on Roni and this stalled Steiff Olympic project. The only footnote Steiffgal could find was a reference in Dee Hockenberry's, book, Steiff Bears and Other Playthings Past and Present. Concerning the Roni doll, she notes: Prototype Raccoon: 11 inches. In 1978 and 1979, Steiff, through their US representative, made presentations to the American Olympic Committee in order to obtain a license to make 1980 Olympic souvenirs. Three prototype were made incorporating the Lake Placid mascot and Olympic logo. Although the samples were attractive, an official license was never granted. These are the only examples ever made.

Steifgal hopes this discussion on this Roni the Raccoon Olympic prototype doll has been one for the record books for you. 

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Starting 2026 Off In A Steiff Supersized Way!

Sometimes the most unexpected and super-scaled treasures appear almost out of the blue! Such is the case with this fantastic and extremely large prewar Steiff Ted. And just how big is he? Well, Steiffgal could barely pick him up and move him about for his photo session! Take a look at this titan-Ted and see what makes him so fantastic from the design and historical perspectives. 

Here we have a HUMUNGOUS classic and traditional five ways jointed Steiff Teddy bear. He measures approximately 115 cm tall or 45 inches tall standing, is made from dark blonde mohair, and solidly stuffed with excelsior. He has a pronounced back hump, a partially trimmed muzzle, long narrow feet with felt pads, proportional brown and black glass pupil eyes, and a black embroidered mouth, nose, and claws. He retains his long trailing "f" button and traces of his white ear tag; these IDs date his production most likely to the mid 19-teens or early 1920s. 

This gentle giant is the largest sized standard line bear produced by Steiff prewar; this huge size was made from 1905-1933. This is only the second jumbo mohair prewar Ted Steiffgal has handled - these big boys are super rare. Steiffgal suspects not many were made, and those produced most likely were destined to be showpieces or window displays. It really is not possible that a child could interactively play with a bear of this size given the weight and heft of him.

Big Ted was most recently in the collection of Iris Carter, a passionate Teddy bear and Steiff collector from Virginia. Iris was inspired to start collecting Teddy bears when she read Peter Bull's The Teddy Bear Book, which was first published in 1970. It would be so interesting to learn how and where she adopted this bear, given his rarity and timeline.

Like many old friends, this bear had a few condition issues typical to larger prewar bears. Mostly these had to do with his ankles and feet pads. His ankles had some splits and damages, and his felt pads were dried out and flaking off. Both of these issues can be addressed with gentle and sympathetic restoration. 

However, Steiffgal came up with an idea to help stabilize those vulnerable areas until this work happens. Given his feet and legs were so oversized, standard commercial socks were not an option here. However, there is such a thing as bariatric socks, which are soft socks which are designed to cover the feet and ankles of people with extreme Lymphedema - or very, very swollen feet and calves. You can see what these look like here. This protective footwear stretches to 30" at the calf, up to 21" in the foot, and up to 14 E shoe width. These socks fit this big bear really well and provided a somewhat attractive way to cover and protect his pads, feet, and ankles up to almost his knees!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Iris Carter's terrific Ted has launched your 2026 in the most supersized way possible!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

This Oversized Steiff Cat Is Kind Of A Big Deal!

Talk about a wow-wow-wow meow find! Steiffgal was handling a small collection for a new friend and came across this most unexpected item amongst a number of other button-in-ear treasures. According to the consigner, all of these precious childhood Steiff companions were purchased at F.A.O. Schwarz in the late 1950s and early 1960s. That information was good to know... but proved really invaluable in this particular case. Come learn more about this purr-fect Steiff rarity. 

What we have here is a supersized Steiff Fiffy cat. She is lying, head jointed, and made from white mohair that has been carefully hand-airbrushed with black stripes. Her tail wraps around her rear in a most realistic way. She has green and black slit pupil eyes, and a pink embroidered nose, mouth, and claws. Her pink ribbon appears to be original to her. Steiff's standard line Fiffy cat was produced from 1955-1962 in 12, 17, and 25 cm. This Fiffy retains her button, ear tag, chest tag, and red wooden bell shaped F.A.O. Schwarz tag as her Steiff IDs. 

Soooo... what's the big deal here? Well, this gal is UNUSUALLY large, and in fact is 30 cm. The largest one noted in the standard Steiff reference books is 25 cm. This example has a yellow ear tag which is numbered #2330.90. These digits translate to: 2=lying, 3=mohair, 30=size in cm, 9=special edition, and 0=normal or natural coloring. Given her dimensions, numbering, and presentation, it is Steiffgal's best thinking that this monumental Fiffy was produced as a special edition item for F.A.O. Schwarz in the mid 1950s to the early 1960s. 

It was not uncommon for Steiff to make tweaks to popular standard line patterns and present them as exclusives to F.A.O. Schwarz in the 1950s and 1960s. So there is precedence for this unusual find. These modifications included things like size, coloration, body position, materials, or other design details. For example, Steiff produced standing or lying Dally Dalmatians (the standard line versions were sitting), a sitting black and white Cockie (the standard line version was standing), and an open mouthed Biggie Beagle (the standard line version had a closed mouth) as dog specials for F.A.O. Schwarz. And for the felines, the list is shorter, but equally intriguing. It is suspected that a pair of 8 cm, legless, curled up baby cats that appeared in F.A.O. Schwarz's "Kittens in a Basket" offering were based on Steiff's beloved standing Tapsy kitten design. These happy handfuls are pictured here on the left. Like the fabulous Fiffy under discussion here, the one with the open eyes also has a faintly legible ".90" at the end of her article number.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this supersized Fiffy has really tickled your whiskers!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Can't Help But Crow Over This Latest Prewar Steiff Find!

Welcome to our next Steiff egg-cellent adventure! Steiffgal spotted this fine feathered friend on an online sales channel and just couldn't resist his impish personality and adorable presentation. Turns out, he's pretty rare, too! Check out this prewar, bitty barnyard buddy and see what makes him so interesting from the design and product development perspectives.

Size defies with this tiny feathered friend! Here we have Steiff's smallest sized prewar rooster. He is about 8 cm, standing, unjointed, and made from blonde mohair. His feet are made from metal which has been painted orange. His tail feathers are made from elegantly cut and shaped brown felt. His face and waddle are made from red felt, and he sports black button eyes. Rooster was produced in 8, 17, 22, and 28 cm in this specific color combination from 1930 through 1937 overall. This smallest size was made for one year only, in 1933. Although this example has lost his IDs to time, these baby birds would have left the factory with their button and tag placed on their felt back feathers or worn like a bracelet around one of their metal legs.  

This little guy has two (well, two and a half) subtle, but interesting features of note. 

First is his coloring. Most people think of Steiff's prewar roosters as being very colorful, often with green feather detailing. And, Steiff did make a very similar rooster design in this more vivid color palate in 8, 17, 22, and 28 cm from 1930 through 1943 overall. The little guy under review here today is from a lesser known series of 1930s-era tan and brown roosters. Given that the ones with the green details were produced for a much longer period suggests that they also sold better and were more popular with customers. 

Second is his legs and feet. They are made from orange painted metal. Steiff has a long history of making their early prewar birds with metal feet and legs, but they were either "slipcovered" in felt or wrapped with string. As far as Steiffgal can tell, these 8 cm mohair roosters introduced in 1933 might have been the first full bodied birds with painted metal legs, complete with their requisite poultry "spurs" just above the ankles.

And the half? Well, coincidence or not, Steiff debuted its line of woolen miniature birds in 1931. These first mini guys, and all the company's prewar standing pom-pom style birds moving forward, had painted metal legs and feet almost identical to the ones seen on the smallest prewar mohair rooster. It is possible that by 1933 - when the smallest mohair roosters debuted - that the company had perfected their metal legs and feet production technology to the point that this design element could be implemented on other more sophisticated patterns. For example, here on the left, you can see tiny rooster's metal legs and somewhat twisted toes (guess he might be having a little foot arthritis after a century!) and the metal legs and toes of his woolen miniature owl friend from 1934.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this little bird with interesting leg features has you standing tall. 

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here!