Who is the star of your Steiff collection? For many enthusiasts, that might change on a weekly, or even daily basis! Here's one very heavenly Steiff rarity that truly has permanent and universal star appeal. Put your feet up and check out this great larger than life celebrity that truly merits a place on the Steiff Walk of Fame!
This leading lady is Steiff's Seestern Snuggy Starly or Snuggy Starly Starfish. This five legged lovely is 50 cm in diameter and 30 cm high and made from mohair. She was actually originally designed as a "sitztier" or sitting animal for children. Her top is gloriously hand airbrushed in pumpkin-orange, brown, green, and cherry-red. Her underside is tan. The tips of her "feet" are made from a faux suede material, which feels quite similar to the faux suede material used on the pads of Steiff's mid to late-1950's pandas and Teddy babies. Starly has a yellow metal frame attached to the underside of her body via heavy tan strings. This "skeleton" gives her strength and stability, and holds her semi "arched" or standing position. She has grey rubber feet on the ends of this metal frame, to keep her in place and prevent floor scratching. Starly was produced in this size only (officially cataloged as "35 cm") from 1959 through 1969.
It is interesting to note that Starly's raised script button is attached to her via a simple white linen strip of material sewn into one of her leg seams. Clearly, she does not have ears or really any other place to put her IDs. However, this is the only time that Steiffgal has seen a button on a plain piece of linen, not on a yellow ear tag or other piece of semi-branded Steiff material or fabric.
Starfish are as rare as a celebrity sighting in the Steiff line. As far as Steiffgal can tell, Starly was the first starfish to appear in the Steiff catalog - ever! And there have been just a handful since her introduction. These include a 10 cm, colorful nicki velour baby rattle starfish (produced from 1978 through 1992); a 20 cm polka-dotted cotton squeaking baby toy (produced from 1999 through 2000); a 12 cm red and yellow mohair starfish named Coloro (produced from 2004 through 2005); and most recently, a red plush starfish named "Piccy" who was introduced in 2012. Piccy was produced as a 15 cm toy as well as a 12 cm keyring; he is pictured here on the left.
Snuggy Starly Starfish was part of a series of "functional playthings" Steiff started producing in the late 1950's. Steiff's universal appeal really took off a few years after the end of WWII, possibly because soldiers returning from assignments in Europe often brought Steiff items back home with them. As a result, Steiff began expanding its offerings to keep up with demand and explore the potential of new product lines. In addition to Starly, other sturdy, metal framed "sitting" mohair animals in the Snuggy series included a 30 cm may beetle (produced from 1968 through 1969), a 40 cm frog (produced from 1959 through 1966), a 43 cm turtle (produced from 1957 through 1974), and a 55 cm elephant (produced from 1957 through 1966). All but Starly were based on existing, beloved Steiff patterns of the time. Snuggy Slo turtle - and a few of his groupies - are pictured here on the left.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Snuggy Starly has put stars in your eyes!
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
Sometimes just a little bit is more than enough! And that is the case when it comes to Steiff's delightful woolen miniatures. These petite and precious treasures, which are amazingly constructed and pack so much detail into so little space, have been collector's favorites since their introduction in 1931. Steiffgal recently welcomed several new, somewhat unusual wonderful woolies into her collection. Take a big look at these tiny treats - perhaps you'll fall in love with them, too!
Let's kick things off with this adorable "pet set." Here we have Steiff's woolen miniature guinea pig and hamster. Both are 6 cm, made from woolen yarn, with peach colored felt ears and double thick white felt front feet. Both the guinea pig and hamster have black button eyes and clear mono filament whiskers. The guinea pig is white, black, and orange while the hamster is golden yellow and white. They are basically the same design in different colors with one finishing difference: the hamster has a tiny white felt tail while the guinea pig is tail-less. Both these items never had chest tags. Guinea pig appeared in the line from 1973 through 1980 and hamster from 1973 through 1979; both were made in this size only.
This next woolie will certainly bug you, but that's ok in this case. Here we have Steiff's woolen cockchafer, also known as a may bug or beetle. He is 4 cm and made of brown, white, and black yarn. His underside and six legs are formed from a thin piece of brown dye-cut plastic. He has a tiny black woolen tail. His head most interestingly is made from a round black plastic bead, which is finished with two black string antennae. Cockchafer was manufactured from 1969 through 1974 in this size only; he is one of the very few Steiff items that never had a Steiff button or tag.
Here we have a very small bundle of joy. This lovely item is Steiff's woolen stork. She is 11 cm, standing, and made from pure white woolen yarn. Her tail feathers are scalloped and made from black felt, and her long legs and toe-d feet are red plastic. Her tiny face is detailed with black button eyes and an orange plastic beak - which would be perfect to hold a tiny new baby! Her neck contains a flexible metal wire so it is somewhat poseable. This item never had a chest tag as there was no place to put it. Stork was manufactured from 1970 through 1977 in this size only.
It's always fun to hang out with Steiff, and this last item really illustrates that point. Here we have Steiff's highly kinetic "Woolen Coral Reef Fish Mobile." The mobile consists of five little woolen miniature fish that are carefully balanced and weighted on tan strings and thin metal wires to create this hanging piece of art. The fish themselves are 7 cm each and made from colorful woolen yarns. Each has black plastic fins, large brown and black pupil eyes, and a large, smiling, felt mouth. The fish are primarily blue, yellow, green, orange, and red, and all have their button and yellow flag on their top fin area. This set appeared from 1969 through 1975 packaged in a square plastic box. This marvelous mobile hangs playfully from Steiffgal's dining room chandelier and is a constant source of food for thought - no pun intended!
Steiffgal hopes this discussion of unusual Steiff post war woolen miniatures has helped to brighten your day in a big way.
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
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