No Need To Lock Horns Over This Mysterious Steiff Ram!

Listen up... and check out this interesting question about this big horned sheep! A reader from Germany asks about a mysterious button-in-ear ram from his personal collection. Patrick shares,

"In my Steiff collection I have a ram (bought at an auction 3 or 4 years ago), which looks like the ram Wotan. But it is made of 80% Dralon & 20% cotton and NOT like Wotan of Wool plush. Also the size is 19 cm, (Wotan 12 or 22 cm) and length 24 cm. The number on the eartag is 3452/19 and the name on the chesttag: Original. So it is definitely not Wotan. But I cannot find details in the Pfeiffer-Book, nor in other literature about Steiff. Therefore I would be glad, if you could help me, with further details: When was the animal produced, is it a unique piece, a prototype a promotional animal or what's with this mysterious ram?"

Let's take a look at Steiff's postwar ram design in order to better understand where this example may fit from the product development perspective. Patrick mentions Wotan, Steiff's beloved midcentury ram. Wotan is pictured here on the left. Wotan is standing, unjointed, and made from brown tipped, cream colored wool plush. His face, arms, and legs are made from cream colored wool plush. His face is detailed with black and green slit pupil eyes, light brown airbrushing highlights, and a simple hand embroidered nose. Clearly his most impressive features are his huge, oversized antlers, which are curled and made from double thick felt. They are brought to life with brown paint to give them texture. Wotan appeared in the line from 1966 through 1973 in 12 and 22 cm. It is possible that he was produced as part of Steiff's little known Zodiac series of the mid-1960s, as the ram represents the sign "Aries." 

Dating is key here, and Patrick's ram has distinctive IDs that help make this possible. His lentil button was used on items from c. 1969-1977. His split style chest tag was introduced in c. 1972. And his yellow tag appeared from c. 1969/70 through 1980. Given all these dates, the EARLIEST this item could have been produced was 1972.  

Now let's check out this ram's other details. Patrick's ram is made from dralon and cotton. These materials were very popular in the mid-1970s at Steiff for a few reasons. Dralon was a tough, durable fabric that cleaned up nicely and was great for soft toy production. It was also MUCH less expensive than mohair and felt, Steiff's traditional woolen fabrics. In the 1970s, Steiff was under a lot of pressure to reduce costs and become more competitive as toymakers from all over the world were creating innovative, inexpensive, and appealing products that competed with Steiff's core lines.

So what does all of this mean? Given its timing, materials, and manufacturing details, Steiffgal suspects that Patrick's dralon ram was designed and produced to take the place of the wool plush Wootan ram. This design is somewhat simplified, is made from cheaper fabric, and is more of a toy than a collectible. As Wootan ceased production in 1973, it would make sense that this model replaced him in the mid-1970s. Maybe a few were made, or maybe only samples were produced. In the big picture, rams are not all that popular as playthings, which may explain why this particular design was not produced on a commercial scale for the general line.  Click here for an analogous product development situation with the company's beloved Xorry fox.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of Patrick's mysterious ram has unlocked many horns with you!

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