Rare Steiff BALL Mopsy Pug Puppy Dog Two Years Only ID

This “ball” version of Mopsy (“Mops” is the German for “pug”) is not quite spherical, but she comes pretty close to being a ball in shape. Actually, that is somewhat of a disadvantage, since Mopsy’s most comfortable position is leaning forward. I have seen sisters of hers (not many, since she is very rare) whose lean is decidedly more severe and who were very prone to falling forward. Those Mopsys required an extra effort to position them to stay upright (or nearly so, as is the case for this sweet doggie). These adorable pups’ big (swivel) heads and rounded shape make their center of gravity further forward than the center of gravity of their seated mohair cousins; more often than not (in my limited experience), their anatomy makes posing them a challenge.

I mentioned Mopsy’s mohair cousins as a way of distinguishing the more typical Mopsys from this girl, who is covered with Dralon (although she does have a silky and lustrous mohair bib). Mopsy’s filling also differs from the filling of her cousins, who like most mohair animals, are stuffed with excelsior, which gives them density and weight. Mopsy is stuffed with kapok.

Mopsy has a few minor issues, but because there are more than one or two, I will conservatively say that she is in very good condition, and stop short of “excellent.” You, on the other hand, may think she is, indeed, excellent, and since someone reading this will probably one day own her, please feel free to be more generous. 😉

I will report Mopsy’s issues starting with the most serious, although even that is not terribly serious, and I am referring to her fading. That might actually have surprised you, since she still has really nice coloring! I believe her paw pads were once dark brown, and they are now more what I would call “mauve.” That probably means that the rest of her coloring was also a little darker than what you see now. However, as I say, Mopsy’s coloring is really nice!

Under the same category of fading, I am listing Mopsy’s (silk, I believe) ribbon. It was always a very light green, as you would see if you look inside the knot from her bow and the part that runs under her chin. Now it is pretty much pale yellow. To me, what’s important about her ribbon is that she has it! Not only that, but other than the fading, it is still very nice, with just a tiny amount of fraying. And it is till tacked to her neck.

The next issue downward in my hierarchy is the fact that Mopsy’s Dralon shows a few small areas of thinning. Because the fibers of the Dralon are long, you can pretty well camouflage those areas, by brushing her fur in the direction to cover them. The worst of this thinning is at the back of Mopsy’s neck, where there is one larger thinned area surrounded by other, smaller and less noticeable areas. If you look at my image of Mopsy’s back, most of the thinning is covered by the right side of her bow, and the rest of it—higher up on the back of her head, but still close to her neck—is so inconsequential that I feel silly even mentioning it. In any case, you can see, from my large inset in the sixth image, that the only really noticeable area (when you move her bow out of the way) is the one that shows as darker in my main image. It looks the way it does because I like to use high contrast in my images. That darker area is smaller than a pencil eraser. Be sure to maximize the image so you can get a good view.

I considered whether what I was looking at was moth nibbling, but given the way the area, taken as a whole, looks—which you see in the inset—I have concluded that it is wear, not moths. Even if, when her new owner gets her, he or she reaches a different conclusion, the amount of Dralon involved is trivial, and the effect, if any, on Mopsy’s display is inconsequential.

At the end of my list of minor condition issues is one that is always last; I refer to Mopsy’s squeaker. If you press in on her belly, where you would expect to find her squeaker, you would think she had none. That’s because Mopsy’s “bark” is located in her back, about 3/4 of an inch above her tail. The reason an animal’s silence is never a big deal to me is my assumption that Mopsy will be displayed in an adult collector’s vitrine or cabinet, and whether she barked or not would be impossible to tell when she looked sweetly back at you with those big glass googly eyes!

Speaking of her eyes, the fact that they are glass gives you a hint that Mopsy was not recently made. In fact, that’s correct; not only was she made more than 60 years ago, only in 1960 and 1961, she was made only in this one, 16-centimeter, size.

Mopsy’s size would have been indicated in the article number that was printed on her flag: 4616,00. That flag was anchored by Mopsy’s raised script button, which, as you can see, is still in her velveteen-lined ear. By the way, Mopsy’s left ear is supposed to be open, just as you see it. She left the factory with only her right ear tacked down to her head.

Mopsy is precisely in accord with the catalogue, measuring 16 centimeters to the top of her head, about 6 1/4 inches. Front to back, she is about 5 1/2 inches deep from outstretched “arms” to the tip of her cute stubby tail.

I can’t think of anything else you’d want to know, but please write if you have a question. Mopsy is a rare sweet puppy, and she would do any serious Steiff—or doggie collection—proud. If you can bear to part with her once she arrives, Mopsy will delight the doggie or Steiff collector who is lucky enough to receive her as a gift.

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I searched online to see Mopsy’s competition from other dealers. I saw faded, filthy, and way overpriced versions of Mopsy (not many since she is so rare), and some of the other Mopsys I saw could be described by more than one of the adjectives I just mentioned! 🙁

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WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT MOPSY 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.