Middle Sister Steiff Peggy Penguin All ID

If you don’t want to pay (the very reasonable price!) for this Peggy’s same size rare early sister, but you would like to own some version of Peggy, this girl is waiting to waddle into your collection. Whereas the early postwar Peggy is the largest version of that bird, this Peggy is the middle sister of the five Peggys made in this design. Although you might not be able to make out her article number from my picture, you, most certainly, will in person. That number, 4322,07, was used on two series of Peggy, but I am certain she is from the earlier one, made between 1959 and 1964. I know this because of her glass eyes and early version of the raised script button, with skinny letters.

The “22” in Peggy’s number indicates her catalogued size in centimeters, measured to the top of her head. Using that measurement, Peggy is shorter; she measures about 20.5 centimeters, just over 8 inches. I think she should be allowed about 10 inches to be displayed properly. Of course, if your vitrine shelf or other display area allows more room, so much the better. Speaking of her head, notice that it swivels, as I am showing you in my fourth composite image.

I would say that Peggy is in at least very good condition, although I am sure that there are others who would say she was “near mint” or, at least, “excellent.” I tend to be a bit conservative in my ratings, hoping my buyers will be pleasantly surprised when they open the box. 🙂

Peggy’s mohair is full, and her coloring is fantastic. Her white chest is only a bit darker than it must have been when she left the factory, and because her yellow is so intense, there is ample contrast. Yellow is the airbrush color that tends to fade the earliest, and Peggy’s yellow parts are spectacular!

Peggy’s back is a combination of gray and green, with green the predominant color. I don’t think I have successfully rendered the color of her back, which looks faded. Compared to her vitrine-living sister, whose green is almost totally gone, leaving just a hint on what is primarily gray, this Peggy’s green back is wonderful.

The only slight lack in Peggy’s airbrushing is the line extending the length of her beak on the left side. Actually, it is SUPPOSED to extend the length of her beak, but the last 3/4 of an inch is gone. The rest of Peggy’s black airbrushing is wonderful, including the lines tracing the edges of her wings and the curved lines on the back of her tail, suggesting feathers.

Really down to the level of nitpicking, I will note that the bottoms of Peggy’s (rubber, I believe) feet have a few light stains. I did not even bother trying to clean them, since she will be standing on her feet when you display her!

I mentioned Peggy’s partly faded flag, but her chest tag is in excellent condition. It even still contains the “dot” of cardboard that was supposed to be punched out when the hole was created.

I end where I often do on the least important “issue” I can report to you. Although Peggy did have a working squeaker when she arrived, after a few of my successful tries pushing in her belly, she became silent. It is just as well that that happened to me, because if I had described her as having a working squeaker, which then failed, her new owner would be disappointed (and probably a bit annoyed. ;-)) This way, I am not raising expectations, and her silence is no big deal anyway. I say that because I assume Peggy will be going to an adult collector, who will place her on display, where it will not be known (nor matter!) whether Peggy squeaks or not.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Peggy is not often seen in this nice condition. Whether she will be sitting in your vitrine or she will be waddling into the home of a Steiff or penguin collector you want to surprise, Peggy should be part of every Steiff collection.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT PEGGY 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.