Looking for a little something to pinch your interest? Then check out these wacky, and wonderfully silly sea creatures. Steiff has made just about every land and water animal you can think of. Some are incredibly realistic, while others - like these - look like they are straight from the imagination of a toddler with a big box of Crayola crayons.
It's hard to be in a bad mood when it comes to this cute collection of Steiff's Cosy Clippy crabs. These beach buddies are each 10 cm and unjointed. They are made of woven fur, with the tops being one color and the bottoms being another complementary hue. Their front arms are made from tan felt, are dimensional, and have a little "pincher" on the tips. The rear legs are made from matching tan single thick felt, are flat, and are detailed with a spot of brown airbrushing on each "claw." The faces on these crabs come to life with tiny black button eyes and a very simple black "v" shaped painted mouth.
Clippy was produced from 1995 through 1996 in six - yes six - colors: violet, yellow, red, olive green, eggplant, and raspberry. Steiffgal has four of the six, with the remaining two topping her bucket list. In hand, she has the violet and tan version, the olive green and light green version, the aubergine and light purple version, and the raspberry and pink version. For some reason, these are extremely rare on the secondary market, and very hard to find. This design is a good example of an item being "relatively" new, still yet quite desirable and collectible from the enthusiast's prospective.
As far as Steiffgal can tell, this is the only crab that Steiff has designed or produced. Given their size and structure, these cranky cuties would have made great woolen miniatures! However, Steiff did make a number of smaller, happily hued animals - mostly as playthings for children - in the 1990s. This series of crabs seems to fit into this product development initiative, given their size and materials. These other species included a series of 16 cm cozy snails in colors like purple, pink, and blue from 1994-1996, a series of 20 cm cozy caterpillars in colors like red, blue, and purple from 1995-1997, a series of 18 cm cozy mice in colors like raspberry, violet and blue from 1995-1997, and a series of 20 cozy crabby beetles in colors like red, purple, rose, and blue from 1992-1994, among others.
Steiffgal hopes today's blog on these funny little ocean creatures has added a spot of unexpected color to your day.
