RARE Steiff Big Brother WHITE 5xJointed Zotty Teddy Bear ID Only 1960 And 1961!

This is only the third white Zotty I have ever seen in person. I acquired his little brother (there were only two sizes) about 12 years ago for resale, but I decided to keep him! This time, I am sticking to my plan; I am not a “bear person,” so it is a little easier for me to let even this rare and gorgeous guy go. Now, if Zotty were a cat, that would be a totally different story. In fact, that story did happen a few years ago. I acquired a 1930s Fluffy to sell (she was really expensive, so I thought she would be relatively easy to part with (thinking about my pocket book), but I ended up keeping her! Of course, I can enjoy this Zotty until he is adopted, and his brother will be happy to have his company, but he WILL be leaving eventually—and as a business acquisition, I hope that is soon. 😉

OK, you want to know about Zotty, not my collecting or my business, so on with the show.

Although Zotty retains only his button, his article number is certain, since there was only one, and that one was made only in 1960 and 1961! I mentioned that Zotty is the bigger of two sizes, and that size was denoted on his flag, which said 6335,04; his brother’s flag would have had a “28” instead of a “35.” Zotty is almost precisely in accord with the catalogue, shorter by less than a centimeter, about 13 1/2 inches high to the top of his head; add about another 3/4 inch for his ears. Of course, if you would plan to display Zotty standing, you will want to allow him some additional overhead room, and if you want to display him sitting, the room you need will be dictated by the precise posture you give him. I think a foot of vertical space would cover all his seated possibilities nicely.

I am torn between saying that Zotty is in “just” 😉 good or very good condition; I guess “good-plus” is a fair compromise. He has a few minor issues, and because there are more than one, I will stay a bit more conservative.

Zotty’s main condition issue is that he is no longer “snow” white. I wanted to present him as accurately as I could, sometimes going overboard in the yellowing direction and sometimes making him appear too close to his original color. I played with my image software settings, and I arrived at what appeared to be an accurate representation. This was made all the more complicated because Zotty looked different in different poses because the way my lights hit his body changed from pose to pose. As I say, I think I am showing him properly, but, of course, I have no way to know what he looks like on your monitor. I will note that, consistent with his actual coloring, his shorter, shaved muzzle is darker than the rest of him.

Another color issue that was easier to render without much adjustment was the color of his felt parts—his paw and foot pads and the inside of his happy open mouth. In both cases, the once “ripe cantaloupe” color of the felt has faded, although you should be able to see that it is not beige or tan or some other color not in the pinkish-orange palette. Actually, I believe there are two things going on with the felt; one is fading, and the other is wear. There are no actual holes or tears in the felt, nor does any breakdown appear to be imminent. What I mean by “wear” is that the felt seems to be thinner than it was at one time, and because that thinning makes the felt somewhat translucent, you can see a hint of the excelsior stuffing below it. This translucence applies to both Zotty’s pads and the inside of his mouth. You can also see that the rose-colored airbrushing on his palate is reduced from what is once was, although it is not totally gone.

I was going to list the slight wear in Zotty’s mohair as another, albeit really minimal, issue. But actually, the way to tell you about his mohair coverage is that it is mostly thick, luxurious—and lustrous! He has a tiny bit of thinning along some of his seams and on his left (right as you face him) ear, but his full mohair coverage is definitely one of my reasons for adding the “plus.”

OK, I will continue with my previous reporting of issues, but the last one I want to tell you about is almost always at the bottom of my condition hierarchy when I describe my adoptees. I am referring, of course, to Zotty’s silence. I am a bit confused about exactly WHAT is silent. I can feel what seems to be a centrally-placed squeaker in Zotty’s belly depress when I push on it, with no sound coming out. My confusion comes from Pfeiffer’s comment that Zotty has a double squeaker, which suggests that he meant one on each of Zotty’s sides. In one respect, it doesn’t matter; if Zotty is now mute, it does not really matter where the sound that he once had came from! In any case, because I assume Zotty will be joining the collection of an adult who will display him in a vitrine to be admired from a distance, not played with, Zotty’s silence will have no effect on his appeal.

Also not really affecting Zotty’s display appeal, and not even worthy of mention as a true detraction, is the fact that one of the brown floss threads comprising his nose sits slightly above the others. I did not really want to investigate this too much by attempting to move that piece of floss around to see if I could fit it in with the rest (there are no open spaces in which to fit it). It may be a little loose, and I thought it was better to leave it be. It occurred to me (for a second!) to try to stitch it in more tightly with the rest of the strands of floss, but it is possible that Zotty’s nose looked precisely as it does now when he left the factory—I have seen this before on other bears—and any attempt I made to “fix” it would most likely end with Zotty’s nose looking worse. I am only showing it to you in closeup because I think you might not have seen it otherwise, and I want you to know what I am talking about.

I guess you can call this part of my description addressing “loose ends.” Appropriate to that category, in a very literal sense 😉 is Zotty’s ribbon. You could, I suppose, call it a detraction that he arrived without one. Because the one I gave him is so attractive on him, and, as my vendor tells me, was made in Germany, I think whatever may be lost to Zotty’s completeness by the absence of his original ribbon is more than compensated by my own contribution to his “attire.” 😉

Oh, two last things that apply to all Zottys: His name is derived from the German word “zottig,” which means “shaggy,” and he certainly lives up to it! Finally, the “6” as the first digit of Zotty’s article number, 6335,04, is Steiff’s way of denoting a young animal; they sure got that right with this sweet cub.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT ZOTTY 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.