Beautiful Coloring Middle Sister Steiff Perri Squirrel ID Licensed By Walt Disney Productions

Perri joins several relatives in my shop, a couple of which are both early and rare, although none of her cousins can boast a Walt Disney pedigree. Perri is Steiff’s licensed rendition of a 1950s Disney favorite, Perri the squirrel. Although Perri retains only her raised script button, her chest tag bore the “Walt Disney Productions” copyright notice, showing she was Steiff’s licensed version of the character in the 1957 Disney film.

I noted that Perri has her button, but I managed to get only a picture of its edge. I can tell you that it is the earlier version of raised script, with skinny letters. Perri was made in three sizes, and this is the middle one, so the flag that was anchored by that button had article number 4317,03, denoting her catalogued size of 17 centimeters.

Perri is a real runt; she measures 4 7/8 inches high to the top of her head, which is not too much more than 12 centimeters—the size of the smallest Perri! Her ears add about half an inch to her overall height. Although her ears don’t count towards Perri’s “official” measurement, you still want to know her total height, so you can be sure to provide her with an adequate display space. Her ears bring her total height up to about 5 3/8 inches. Of course, you should allow a bit more than that so that Perri will not feel cramped in your vitrine.

Perri was made in this size and with this article number in two series. The first series was produced from 1959 to 1964, and the second series was produced from 1965 to 1967. I can’t provide a more precise date of birth for her because she has a characteristic from each series: As I noted, her button is the earlier kind, but her eyes are plastic, which would suggest that she came along a little later. It doesn’t really matter, since her total production was only nine years, and both series of Perri have the same ”book value.”

Perri is in very good condition—maybe followed by a “plus.” I am holding back from saying she is excellent, since her tail has a touch of wear along the seam, which culminates in the very tip. Her ears also have somewhat sparser coverage than her body, but that is the way they are supposed to be. All of Steiff’s squirrels have this attribute, which is as it should be, since real squirrels’ ears are the same. The rest of Perri’s mohair is full, and its coloring is gorgeous—blond at the base and deep auburn for most of the length of each strand on her body. Her tail has the same blond beginnings, but the rest of the strands of mohair are lighter than those on her body. I believe this is the way it is supposed to look, with a distinctly copper finish.

Perri’s eyes are backed by oval—I want to say “disks,” but I think, technically, a “disk” is circular. In any case, there is some curved felt fabric behind each of her eyes, and this is accented with dark lines of airbrushing extending from opposite sides of each eye. Perri holds her velveteen acorn, which has strong green and brown airbrushed accents. Finally, the tops of her hands and feet also have dark airbrushing. It is a little harder to see this on her feet, since the mohair covering her ankles gets in the way. You can easily see the airbrushing on her hands, however.

Perri retains all six of the original long whiskers on each side of her nose. They are a bit wild, but I believe this adds to her charm.

By the way, as you know if you follow my Steiff offerings, I am rating Perri’s condition using an absolute scale, applicable to all animals, whether they are antique or modern. To rate an animal “for its age” is meaningless, but if you want to bring age into it, you can say that Perri is in very good-plus condition DESPITE her age, which, even at the youngest she could be, is more than half a century!

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have any questions. Whether you collect Disneyana or Steiff, or squirrels in general, you or the intended recipient, if Perri is meant as a gift, will go nuts over her. 😉

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT MOPSY OR ANY OF MY OTHER STEIFF ITEMS, PLEASE BE SURE TO SEE THE ARTICLE I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT STEIFF ID FRAUD—INCLUDING COUNTERFEIT CHEST TAGS—(AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR COLLECTORS). YOU WILL FIND THE LINK ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF MY SHOP HOME PAGE UNDER “FAVORITE LINKS.” IF YOU HAVE NOT LOOKED AT IT RECENTLY, I UPDATED AND EXPANDED IT IN MARCH, 2023.