Rare Gorgeous LARGE! Brother Steiff Piccy Pelican Bird All ID 3 Years Only!

I am sure you have heard the expression, used metaphorically about a person, that he is a “rare bird.” Piccy the pelican is LITERALLY a rare bird—among Steiff birds—because he was only made for three years, 1959 to 1961. If that sentence looks familiar to you (and much of what you read below will too), it is because I started my description of Piccy’s little brother the same way, and these dates apply to both of them. While they are both rare, this Piccy is far rarer; the last one I helped find a new home flew away from my shop in 2012!

I have lots of cool birds in my shop, but Piccy is most definitely the coolest and certainly the most unusual. And, I would venture to say—because of his rarity—he is one of the most sought-after birds among Steiff ornithophiles. And in the well-over two decades I have been doing this, I have not on many occasions been able to satisfy those ornithophiles with many Piccys in either size, and far fewer (if any) as wonderful as this guy.

Piccy’s detractions are slight and few, but let me mention them. I believe his wings were originally raised higher and looked more as if he was ready to take off in flight, so there seems to be some stuffing settlement between the junction of his wings and his body. Since he looks just fine this way (and my own two Piccys look the same), I imagine this is a common occurrence, and it did not warrant surgical intervention.

I want to note the OPPOSITE condition of his tail (with an internal wire around its periphery for structure). Piccy’s tail is firmly bent up and touching his back, with no willingness to be bent away toward his legs. In this respect, he is far better than his vitrine-living brother.

Piccy’s second minor failing is even less consequential than his wings; his squeaker is now mute. He weakly responded to one press on his belly and then fell silent. However, you would not know this just by looking at him on display, so this minor subtraction from perfection has no impact on Piccy’s fabulous presentation.

Piccy’s desirability is enhanced by the fact that he has all three of his IDS. While his flag is crisp, with dark printing, his chest tag is another matter. I have reinforced the back of the tag, so that it feels crisper to the touch, but you can still see the multiple deep creases when you look closely. Again, when seen from a display viewing distance, his chest tag looks fine and does not lessen his visual appeal.

Everything else about Piccy is fantastic! His airbrushing—on both his mohair and felt—is gorgeous, and his black and white hand-blown glass googly eyes are both looking in the same direction, many times not the case for animals with these eyes.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. I hope you’ll consider adopting both Piccys; in doing so, you would have the whole, extremely rare, family!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT PICCY 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.