Just Who Is This Cunning Little Vixen?

It's easier to solve a mystery when you have material evidence at hand. And such is the case with today's Steiff conundrum. Check out this sweet, albeit sly, little gal. She's clearly a fox made by Steiff. But she does not appear in any reference books Steiffgal can find, and something about her is quite unusual. Read on to learn more.

This foxy friend is 12 cm, sitting, and unjointed. She is made from dralon and mohair; tan dralon on most of her body and tail, white dralon on her chest, and mohair on her muzzle. Her ears are lined in peach colored trivera velvet. She has lost her button, but has a small hole in her ear where it once resided. The backs of her ears, her feet, and her back are highlighted with black airbrushing. Her pensive face comes to life with brown and black pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and a bit of black airbrushing to highlight her eyes.

So just what makes this fox a cunning little vixen? She certainly has a strong resemblance to Steiff's beloved Xorry Desert fox pattern. This sitting, unjointed fox was made in 12 and 17 cm from 1957 through 1970. Xorry Desert fox is different than the company's standing, unjointed Xorry fox, which was produced in 11, 18, and 28 cm from 1960 through 1969. Both Xorry patterns were made from mohair. However, the Xorry under discussion here is made from mostly dralon, and other 1970-era fabrics.

Let's try and outfox her material-mashup. In the 1960s and 1970s, Steiff produced a great number of toy items in dralon materials. At the time, it was a good solution for toy making as it was relatively easy to work with, very durable, washable, and less expensive than fine woolen fabrics. Starting in the early to mid 1970s, Steiff included a touch of mohair fabrics on items that were predominately made from synthetic fabrics - perhaps to give them a more "upscale" presentation. For example the company's 12 and 18 cm Snuffy rabbit from 1974-1982 has mohair on the back of his ears, top of his tail, and on his two front legs. And their mostly dralon 18 and 25 cm Tapsy Bear Cub from 1972-1978 features a mohair muzzle.

Given all of this, it is Steiffgal's best thinking that this little dralon fox with mohair detailing was made as a sample, or in a very low production run, in the mid-1970s. Its mix of materials and familiar pattern strongly suggest that it was designed as possible lower-cost, next version alternative to the company's 1957-1970 timeframe mohair Xorry Desert Fox - but never released on a commercial scale.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this unusual Desert Fox has given you the warm and fuzzies. 

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