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Steiffgal is a third generation Steiff enthusiast. Her collection of button-in-ear treasures numbers north of 4,000 and focuses on examples from 1905 to 1944, uncatalogued rarities, cloth dolls, and display animals.
Steiffgal worked for many years as the U.S. club manager for Margarete Steiff GmbH. Through 2017, she was Steiff’s North American archivist, where she identified and valued items on behalf of the company. Today, she authors the popular "Archive Finds" column which appears in the semiannual Steiff Club Magazine.
In 2014, through James D. Julia Auctions of Fairfield, Maine, she evaluated and oversaw the largest and finest Steiff Teddy bear collection to come to auction in America to date. The 120 rarities on offer realized over $500,000. She has deaccessioned a number of six and seven figure Steiff collections via private sale and dedicated Steiff auctions through Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion GmbH of Ladenburg, Germany. On July 1, 2023, her client's 1912 black mohair Steiff Titanic Mourning Bear realized nearly $250,000 at Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion's Special Steiff Auction - a new world's record for the sale of an antique Teddy bear.
Steiffgal is a regular contributor to Antique Doll Collector, Doll News, The Steiff Club Magazine, Teddy Bear Times & Friends, and Auction Daily, and has written for RubyLane, Kovels, Worthpoint, and numerous other antique, collectible, and auction related publications. In 2022, she won the Doll News Award from the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC); this award was established to recognize outstanding contributions to the organization's quarterly academic publication. In 2023, she won UFDC's Above and Beyond Award for research related philanthropy. She has also judged the TOBY (Teddy Bear of The Year) Awards and been invited to present at the London International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear, and Toy Fair; the Japan Teddy Bear With Friends Convention; numerous UFDC national and regional conventions; the Doll Collectors of America annual meeting; the Virtual Doll Convention; Hugglets; The Ohio National Doll Show; the Käthe Kruse Gathering; The North Carolina Museum of Dolls, Toys, and Miniatures; and Florida Doll Days, among many others.
Steiffgal has consulted for HGTV, CBS (Inside Edition), History.com (Pawn Stars), E! Entertainment, the BBC, and the radio program The Antiques Airshow. Her auction house, industry, and media engagements have included Teddy Dorado, Christies, Morphy Auctions, Potter & Potter Auctions, Nadeau's Auction Gallery, McInnis Auctioneers, Target, F.A.O. Schwarz, The Boston Center for Adult Education, The Japanese Toy Foundation, The Strong National Museum of Play, The Questers, The Reading Society of Craftsmen, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg, Town and Country, and The Huffington Post, among others.
Her award winning blog, My SteiffLife, is updated weekly and focuses on vintage Steiff finds, Steiff antiquing and travel adventures, international Steiff happenings, and the legacy and history of the Steiff company. It can be found on her website, www.mysteifflife.com.
Please click here for an in-depth interview with Steiffgal, published by Worthpoint in May, 2019.
