Now there is a place in addition to Sesame Street where you can find a “Big Bird.” This is the largest brother of the family of three roosters that Steiff created in the same pattern. Although this size Hahn (the word for “rooster” in German) was made from 1968 to 1978, I can narrow down his hatching date. Because he wears an incised script, “lentil” button, the earliest he could be is 1969. On the other hand, because his chest tag is the old style with a bear’s head, you know he was not made after 1971.
The “28” in Hahn’s article number denotes his size in centimeters, measured, I believe, to the top of his felt comb. If you do include his comb (which you would want to do to ensure that you could give him enough display space), Hahn is just under a foot tall.
I would say that Hahn is in excellent condition, and by now, if you have seen some of my other descriptions, you know I do NOT mean “for his age!” I rate all my Steiff animals on the same absolute scale, which is not dependent on their age. If you want to bring age into it, you can say his condition is excellent DESPITE his age, which, even at his youngest, would be more than half a century.
Except for one mysterious small area, Hahn’s colors are strong and vibrant, both his mohair and his felt parts. I include both the color of the felt in that comment as well as the airbrushed accents ON the felt.
That somewhat faded area is the black “triangle” of mohair on the right side of Hahn’s chest between the seam running down the right side of his chest (left as he faces you) and the end of the black section on his back. If this is because Hahn was displayed with his right side facing a window, you would think that all his mohair and felt would show the same fading. In any case, this is not such a big deal, and I believe that in most display situations, you probably would not notice anything. I am pointing this out to you in my second (composite) image. It looks march starker there because of my lighting and the fact that I want the colors in my pictures to show a lot of contrast.
If you want to be really nitpicking, maybe I should rate Hahn’s condition as “excellent-minus.” 🙂
You will be delighted if Hahn hops into your display case or onto the shelf where you keep your collection. Or, if you can bear to let him escape after you see him, he will make the Steiff or bird collector in your life very happy. If birds are your thing, be sure to check out my other ornithological representatives too—and be sure to check out Hahn’s mohair and pompom brothers.
WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT HAHN 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.





















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