Rare BIIIIIIG 35 CM Steiff Koala (NOT Bear) 1955 To 1961 Only

I am so delighted to present this rare “bear” to you. He is one of very few largest-size Koalas who have asked me to help him relocate, a number that can be counted on one hand—with fingers left over!

You may know that calling him a “bear” is a misnomer, since he is a marsupial. I say “he” because Koala has no pouch. Koala is certainly as cute as a teddy bear, but he is a lot more special since he was made for such a short time. He is very rare in all of his sizes, but the larger ones are particularly hard to come by. Although all three of the Koala brothers were made the same number of years (1955-1961), the bigger they are, the more seldom they are seen. I am showing you all three together in my last image, and they can be adopted together!

Since Koala has no ID, I cannot tell you his article number, but whichever of the two numbers it was, you know there was a “35” in it. It doesn’t matter all that much, since Koala was made for such a short time. If his birth date was between 1955 and 1958, his number was 5335,2, and if he was made during the final three years of production, 1959 to 1961, his flag said 5335,00.

The “35” in Koala’s article number denoted his size in centimeters—which is a little misleading. He is fully jointed, but his legs don’t swivel down very much. My third image shows Koala with his legs extended as far as they will go. Unlike jointed teddy bears, for instance, whose legs are straight, so they can stand (either on their own or helped by a stand), Koala’s legs remain bent at his knees—in the same way that the Jocko chimpanzees’ legs do. And since he is displayed sitting, those extra centimeters don’t amount to much in the real world. However, Koala’s fully-(as fully as you can make him) extended length is about 14 inches (to his ankles), which makes his length almost right on with his catalogue designation. Since you will want to know how you can comfortably display him, his seated height, with good posture, to the top of his head, is just over 10 inches.

Koala is in excellent condition, and I don’t mean “for his age!” As always, I remind my readers that I rate all of my critters on the same absolute scale, whether they are 60 years old or 5 years old. You can find a pristine antique Steiff critter as well as one made recently who is ready for the trash.

Koala’s colors are strong, including not just his main mohair areas but his airbrushed accents as well; notice the nice accents on his hands and feet. Most of Koala’s accents are dark brown, but his open (ripe cantaloupe-colored) felt mouth has strong rose accents.

I have to apologize about the slight inconsistency of the light brown hue from image to image. Because of differences in lighting, those areas did not come out looking uniform among the images; some of them look too orange.

As I am doing now, I usually leave discussion of an animal’s voice to the end of my comments, since his ability to “speak” or not will not be known just from admiring him from a distance on display in your vitrine, and its contribution to my overall assessment of the animal’s condition is really minimal. However, Koala does retain a very weak voice, which sounds more like the croak of a frog than a squeaker. You have to squeeze his belly really hard even to get that.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Owning a koala is a must for any serious Steiff collection, and one of this rare largest size would be a spectacular addition to yours. If Koala is a gift, meant to join the collection belonging to that (lucky) special person in your life, they, too, will be delighted. And they (or you!) will be even more delighted if you buy the whole family!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT KOALA 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.