Rare Early And GORGEOUS Little Sister Steiff Reclining Rough Collie Puppy Dog ID

This beautiful collie has some company! Her little sister arrived today, and now I have a representative of each version of the circa-1960 collies—one reclining and one sitting. Both sisters were made in only two sizes, and the two in my shop are the smaller representatives of each design. According to Pfeiffer, the reclining collies were made only from 1960 to 1975, and he says that the article number for the earlier two of those three series of the smaller sister was 2325,00.

Before I go any further, I have to tell you that Pfeiffer’s lists of series (and/or dates of a given series) are sometimes incomplete, and this is almost certainly one occasion. I have evidence of an additional series of Collie’s big sister, and it is impossible not to assume that there was no correlative series for this girl too.

I am showing you the flag of a large reclining Collie I helped get adopted in 2016; see the right half of my fifth composite image. That collie’s article number was 2343,90, with the “90” suffix indicating she was made exclusively for the U.S. market. And because Pfeiffer doesn’t mention it at all, we don’t know the dates of this special production. My guess would be that it was just before the first “00” series was made, as a test in a more limited market. Because the first 2325,00 collies were made starting in 1960, perhaps the U.S. market-collies were made in 1959.

As I say, the existence of the big U.S. market-collie is indisputable, since you can see her flag! I have never seen a situation where pre-worldwide “tryouts” were for only one size of a given animal. Thus, and now getting back to this gorgeous girl, who is without her button and flag, I have to say that I don’t know her possible earliest production date. However, given her glass eyes and the double string by which her chest tag is attached I think it is very likely that she was among the earliest small reclining collies that were made. I am sure that there is, somewhere in the world, a reclining collie with the number “2325,90” printed on her flag.

Even if I am mistaken about Collie’s earliest possible (pre-1960) date of birth, it is practically a certainty that she was not made after 1964 (her glass eyes tell you that), which gives her plenty of time to have deteriorated. If Collie did have all ID, I would hesitate only slightly to say that she is in near mint condition. My tinge of conservatism comes from the teeny tiny moth hole on her underside, which I am pointing to with an arrow in the right half of my fifth composite image. It is about 2 mm. by 2 mm. Other than that minuscule hole, which is out of view when Collie is on display, her mohair is full and beautifully colored, with very white whites and very black blacks. I tend to prefer black backgrounds for my animals, but such a background would have swallowed up the rear view of Collie’s ears and the right side of her tail.

I really can’t think of anything else to tell you; I believe Collie is really outstanding, and that’s coming from a “cat person!” Of course, if you have any questions, please write.

Whether your interest is collies or dogs, generally, or specifically Steiff dogs, this cute and rare doggie is one you definitely should have in your collection, or, if you can part with her once she arrives, in the collection of the special Steiff person in your life. And now with her tiny sitting sister, you can get a representative of each of the only two collies Steiff made during this era!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT COLLIE 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 DECEMBER, 2022.