Little Brother Steiff Llama Lama ID

This is the smallest size of the three llamas that Steiff made in this general design. Often, when I put one up for adoption, I have a very clear sense of what gender to apply; some are definitely girls, and others are boys. This one is less clear to me, but I am calling him a “him.” If you think otherwise, feel free to assign a female gender.

Lama (note the single “L” in the German spelling) is from the second earliest series of the smallest llama, whose article number was 1317,00. I know he is not from the first series because that series had velveteen ears, while this guy’s are felt. There were two series of this llama with the same article number, but I am fairly sure he is from the first series. I say that because his eyes are glass, and his button has the earlier style of raised script writing, with skinny letters. With those assumptions, I can tell you that Lama was made between 1959 and 1964.

You should know that Lama is fairly rare to find in any case; he was not made at all after 1969.

The “17” in Lama’s number denotes his size in centimeters, measured to the top of his head. Lama is a little smaller, measuring 16 centimeters, or 6 1/4 inches.

Lama has some condition issues, but I would say that he is in good condition. In coming to that conclusion, I am rating him absolutely, not “for his age.” If you want to bring age into it, you can say he is in good condition DESPITE his age.

Lama’s issues largely pertain to the velveteen. It has darkened with time, which is something you see on animals with white velveteen parts—little Gussy the cat’s muzzle and Bessy the cow’s dewlap are good examples, often with WORSE darkening than you see on Lama— to tan or even brown! Lama’s velveteen is in reasonably good condition. It is, by no means, still white, but I believe I OVER-represented the degree of darkening of his legs.

Lama’s velveteen has the additional issue of stains. Several of these are on the bottoms of his hooves, and are, therefore, not seen when he is on display. The worst stains are on Lama’s rear right leg, and I believe that I overdid that a bit too (as I did with the darkening mentioned earlier), while trying to get the colors of my images as close as I could to what you will see in person. To be sure, that leg has stains, but I think you will agree that, in person, those stains are not as severe as my images suggest. If you want to avoid the stains altogether, you can display Lama facing front in your vitrine or facing left.

Of course, I have no idea how Lama looks on your monitor.

Lama’s face has the same degree of darkening in the most of the velveteen. The darker areas on his face are supposed to be there; they are airbrushing.

OK, now I am at the nitpicking stage. I also want to mention a teeny-tiny tear in the velveteen, exposing a MINUTE amount of excelsior (smaller than the head of a pin) at the corner of Lama’s right eye. I decided not to try to mend it, for fear that I would only make it worse.

As one more nitpick, I should mention the slight fraying of the velveteen covering Lama’s left eye. The “hoods” on Steiff llamas’ eyes are often somewhat frayed, and for all I know, he left Giengen with his left eye just as it looks now.

I said that Lama’s issues largely pertain to his velveteen, but I do want to note that his felt ears have some (really tiny) stains too. But his ears also have a positive characteristic, which is the rose-colored airbrushed accents on the insides. The rose is now subdued from what it was 60-ish years ago, but it is quite evident.

The last thing I want to mention is Lama’s mohair. I don’t think it was ever much whiter that what you see now. And I don’t think the black and brown airbrushed areas have faded, or if they have, the fading is really minor. Lama’s mohair coverage is very good, with some wear along some of his seams.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Please consider Lama for your own collection, or make him a gift for the Steiff (or llama) person in your life.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT LAMA 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 JANUARY, 2023.