Going Out On A Limb Over This Extraordinary Midcentury Steiff Lion

If this isn't the mane event, Steiffgal is not sure what is! To make a long story short, look who popped over for a visit... a supersized Steiff lion with mile long legs. Just who is this tall drink of water? Check out his story right here!

Steiffgal's not lyin' when she says this guy is wah-hoo good. This supersized lion is 80 cm tall, fully jointed, and made from blonde mohair. He has oversized brown and black glass pupil eyes, a prominent pink hand embroidered nose, a black embroidered mouth and painted freckles, and clear mono-filament whiskers. He has a white mohair chin. His mane is made from very long, brown tipped mohair; the same mohair details the tip of his tail. Steiffgal thinks this particular lion has a delightful, innocent "toddler" look to him. He was made in 1958 only as an exclusive for the United States. Other extra-large (80+ cm) long and leggy exclusives of this period also included a 90 cm tiger and a 80 cm grey poodle.

This lovely lion is a rare example of Steiff's beloved and legacy lulac style design. Steiff's lulacs all have comically long arms, legs, and torsos. They are long and lanky, usually fully jointed, and have a very playful air about them. It is interesting to note that the German verb “to laugh” is lachen, and the word for smile is lächeln, perhaps suggesting that this style was designed to have a comical appearance and to bring a smile to the face of the owner. The original Steiff lulac animal was a rabbit, which debuted in the line in 1952. He was made in 43 cm through 1974, and in 60 cm from 1964-1966. Due to the success of this beautiful bunny, Steiff quickly followed with several additional lulac animal patterns, including dogs, cats, donkeys, zebras, bears, and others. Steiff's rare and goofy 40 cm black mohair lulac tomcat, made from 1964-1966, is pictured below. 

The lulac lion under discussion here today was designed and produced at a most creative period at Steiff - the mid 1950s through the mid 1960s. It was during this time that the company made a number of unique, well designed products for their United States customers, as well as distributors at the time - Reeves International and Loucap. Other noteworthy US editions of that era were the company's dinosaur range, basset hounds, animal head trophies, and school and institutional mascots. These items, made in relatively small numbers for a short period of time, seem to always catch the eye - and pocketbooks - of collectors worldwide.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this fabulous lulac lion has given you a leg up on your day.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

There's No Need To Make A Long Story Short Over This Rare Steiff Rabbit!

Talk about a hare-raising find! A Steiff-loving friend from Europe has just added a super-sized rabbit to their hug, but wants to learn more about it. There's no tall tales when it comes to this distinctive and legacy Steiff design! Bojan from Serbia shares, 

"This time I got this long-legged rabbit, which I got by exchanging for one little Steiff pig. Unfortunately, his left foot is damaged, so if you can give me some advice, what should I do, fix it if possible, or leave him like this? He is filled with some solid material, he is fully jointed and the dimensions (standing) from the top of the head to toe are 50 cm (with raised ears 60 cm). I would say that the button is made of nickel and has a diameter of 8mm. His fur is made of mohair. His eye color is a combination of blue and black and he has an open mouth."

This long and lanky fellow is Steiff's fun and hard to find dangling lulac rabbit in the largest standard size made. This model technically is cataloged at 60 cm tall, is five ways jointed, and is made from caramel and light orange mohair. His hands and feet are made from shaggy mohair. His mouth is open and lined in peach colored felt; his pink nose is hand embroidered. He has blue and black google eyes. These can be twisted and turned about to give the rabbit's face comical expressions. This large sized lulac hare was in the line from 1964-66. Although lulac rabbits are of interest to collectors, this big guy is highly sought after due to his short time in the line. Also charming, but more common, is the smaller version of this fun bun who was made in 43 cm from 1952-74.

Most collectors are familiar with Steiff’s cartoonish “lulac” creatures. These are animals like Bojan's rabbit with exaggeratedly long limbs and torsos. The name "lulac" probably came about through the combination of the German words for laughter, smiling, and lanky - suggesting that this unconventional design was designed to have a goofy appearance and to bring a smile to the face of the owner. You can see one of the rarest midcentury lulac style animals in the form of a zebra here on the left. He is 30 cm tall, made from mohair, and is unjointed. Although the history of this particular black and white beauty is not entirely known, it has been suggested that he was produced as an exclusive for the upscale toy retailer F.A.O. Schwarz in the mid-1950s. The photo is from Steiffgal's personal collection. 

Now let's talk about the big bunny's foot issue; he seems to have lost most of his felt pad over time. Given the rarity of this item, and how much Bojan clearly likes it, it would be Steiffgal's recommendation to have the pad repaired. For the most part, this fix is pretty simple and not terribly expensive in the hands of a skilled restorer. Sometimes it is challenging to find felt that closely matches the original fabric for the patch given how natural and organic materials age and fade over time. It is just really important that all restoration work is documented, and communicated to potential future buyers, as "all original condition" is important to some collectors. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Bojan's big bunny has been a good learning "hop"-portunity for you!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more. 

This Long Brown Tipped Mohair Steiff Chimp Is One Head Turner Indeed!

When it comes to Steiff, it's always fun to monkey around. Primates have been an important part of the Steiff line since the late 1800's and many collectors really go ape over their expressive faces and playful presentations. Some of them even come with secrets - like this one. Check out this chimp-champ and see what makes him so interesting from the historical and product development perspective.

This sweet jungle-jem is unquestionably a mover and a shaker. His name is Chimpanzee, and he is 22 cm tall, sitting, and fully jointed. His long, narrow body, shapely arms, and bent legs are made from extra long brown tipped mohair. His face and hands and feet are made from tan felt. His charming face comes to life with black and brown glass pupil eyes set close together in eye pockets, a dimensional muzzle, a closed mouth, and a white mohair chin. And he has a delightful surprise - he has a tail moves head mechanism, which allows his head to rotate 360 degrees! Like many tail moves head items from this period, the mohair covering on this Chimp's metal tush-twister has been lost to time. He retains his large trailing f button and a trace of his red ear tag as his IDs. This great pattern was produced in nine sizes ranging from 13 to 66 cm from 1931-1934. Steiff also produced a closed mouth, long brown tipped mohair "Chimpanzee" without the tail moves head feature in five sizes ranging from 25 to 100 cm from 1928-1934 overall. 

Do you suspect any monkeyshines between Chimpanzee's design and that of his better known cousin, Jocko? Steiff's Chimpanzees did in part resemble the company's Jockos, but did have a few distinctively different features and treatments. For a comparison, please check out the photo on the left which features this 22 cm tail moves head Chimpanzee and his new best friend, a 23 cm wool plush Jocko; both were made in the early 1930's.

Steiff was really on the move in the 1920's and early 1930's, at least with its line of top-tier toy categories. Richard Steiff, although living in the United States at the time, was very involved with the company's product design and development pipeline. He constantly encouraged his family in Germany to create new and exciting novelties, to capture the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of the growing global marketplace. He did this by writing passionate and persuasive handwritten letters, in beautiful penmanship, on his personal letterhead. These letters often stressed the importance of quality, innovation, presentation, and advertising as keys to business growth and success. The Steiff design team came up with the idea of "tail moves head" animals as one of many responses to Richard's directives. The company applied for, and received patents for this technology in the early 1930's.

Overall, about 25 different tail turns head models were produced through the late 1930's and very early 1940's. These were advertised as, "The ingenious head-movement makes Steiff animals appear alive." For the most part, these were based on the best selling standard line patterns of the time and included cats, dogs, rabbits, penguins, goats, and lambs, and even Mickey Mouse, among others. However, there were exceptions to this rule, like a most unusual tabby tail moves head bulldog. Even more interesting to note is the fact that there was not a Teddy bear - perhaps the company's most popular product - on the pre-war production roster of tail moves head items. Steiff would go on to make a fully jointed, tail moves head bear in 18 and 25 cm in 1955 only. Today, this rare bear is one of the most sought after postwar bear examples among collectors.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this tail moves head Chimpanzee has been more fun than a barrel full of monkeys!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Seeing Stripes Over This Zany Steiff Zebra

"Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay 

My, oh my, what a wonderful day 

Plenty of sunshine headin' my way 

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay"

Steiffgal couldn't help but break into song - that wonderful Academy Award winning Disney tune from "Song of the South" - when she was introduced to this week's blog feature item.  After all, it is possible that this happy fellow just might be the zenith of early post war Steiff items.  No other rarity from this era can match the zip and zeal of this black and white beauty.   Take a look and zee - I mean see -  for yourself!

This tall drink of water is Steiff''s Lulac zebra.  Lulac style animals have comically long arms, legs, and torsos, and are usually very playful and goofy looking.  This zany Lulac zebra is 30 cm tall and unjointed.  He is made from tan mohair which has been stenciled with black stripes all over his body.  His paw pads are made from black felt, and his tail is made from white felt which has also been airbrushed with stripes.  The tip of his tail is finished with a tuft of long black mohair.  Zebra has a tan and black bristle-style mane.  The insides of his ears are airbrushed in pink and grey.  His face is detailed with black and brown pupil eyes, longer fur around his sideburn areas and forehead, and a smiling, peach felt lined open mouth.  He is complete with his raised script Steiff button, yellow ear tag, and large, colorful bear faced chest tag.

This jungle jem is really rare; so rare that little is known about him.  It is not really even clear what his name is, or might be (Zelac, maybe?) or when he was made.  Steiffgal was not able to find out any more information on him in any of the standard Steiff reference books.  However, he comes with two small clues about his identity.  The first is his yellow ear tag, which has the numbers 7330 on it.  This corresponds to... 7 = in caricature, 3 = mohair, and 30 = 30 cm tall.  The second is his complete set of IDs, its configuration dates him in the early 1950's through late 1960's.  What is striking about him, however, are his physical and structural similarities to another rare and beloved Steiff Lulac character, the Lulac Esel or Lulac donkey, which was a USA exclusive in 1954 only.  Lulac donkey and Lulac zebra are pictured here on the left.  This beloved barnyard buddy is documented at 35 cm and looks almost identical to his zebra cousin, except for a few design details:

• Lulac zebra is black and white striped while Lulac donkey is shades of grey
• Lulac zebra has black and brown pupil eyes while Lulac donkey has shiny black button eyes
• Lulac zebra's ears face outward while Lulac donkey's ears face inward  

It is also interesting to note that even though Lulac donkey is cataloged at 35 cm, he is in reality 30 cm tall, identical to Lulac zebra.

So what's the story behind Lulac zebra?  Well, Steiffgal can't find anything definitive in writing about him, so here are her best thoughts, based on the little that can deduced and some circumstantial evidence.  First of all, Steiffgal has seen one or two other Lulac zebras over the decade, so a few were made; this is not a "one of a kind" rarity.  And, given how close he is in design, look, and feel to Lulac donkey, Lulac zebra was most likely produced at the same time (1954, plus or minus a year or two) as Lulac donkey.  Steiffgal does know with certainty that Lulac zebra was purchased in the mid to late 1950's at FAO Schwarz in New York.  So net net, it is Steiffgal's best guesstimate that Lulac zebra is either a poorly documented United States or FAO Schwarz exclusive edition that was produced in exceedingly small numbers in the mid 1950's.  

Steiffgal hopes this introduction to Steiff's Lulac zebra has been quite "zee" exclusive experience for you!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.