Rare Steiff MALE (No Pouch) Kangoo Kangaroo Poseable Head And Arms All ID

In all the years I have been helping Steiff animals get adopted, I have sold only a small number of Kangoos of various sizes, but among them, the overwhelming majority have been the mama Kangoos with pouch and Joey. This guy is the much rarer MALE Kangoo, who has no pouch. And while the number of these I sold is certainly already low, I believe this is the only male Kangoo with all ID I have ever helped relocate.

Kangoo’s article number, 4328, means that he is the earliest model made—from 1953 to 1958. The “28” in his number denotes his catalogued height in centimeters, and he is slightly shorter than that. He measures 24.5 centimeters to the top of his head, or about 9 5/8 inches. You’d want to know his complete height, including his ears, so you can plan an appropriate display place, and that is about 10 3/4 inches.

Kangoo’s flag is darkly legible and crisp, but it is in a precarious location. Kangoo left the factory with the flag attached in a less-than-ideal way; it is attached to Kangoo’s ear at it’s (the flag’s) corner, and only by one prong. The other prong never entered the flag, because the button is attached to the EDGE of Kangoo’s ear, not the flat side.

The last large Kangoo I helped get adopted had a similar problem, and in his case, the flag, itself, was in poor condition, such that even the one prong holding it was attached to mere threads. In that case, I felt compelled to add a few stitches directly to Kangoo’s ear; I thought the flag’s severance from Kangoo’s ear was an imminent danger. Except for a tiny tear near the button in this Kangoo’s ear, his flag seems to be better situated than his predecessor’s, so I have left things as they are, because the flag, itself, is almost like new. If Kangoo’s new adoptive parent would like me to do the same to this one’s ear, I will.

Since I am discussing his IDs, I should mention Kangoo’s chest tag. I would rate it about an 8.5 on a 1-10 scale. The tag is crisp, and the attachment string, though short, has not pulled up into the periphery of the tag. I believe the light horizontal lines on the lower part of the tag happened in the printing of the tag; they do not seem to be damage of any kind. The missing 1.5 from my rating scale is due to the (really only slightly detectable) erased writing on the lower half of the tag. I think I can see some numbers, which, could be a date or a price. In any case, the once-written section can really only be detected from close scrutiny and would be invisible when Kangoo is on display.

OK, on to Kangoo, himself. He is in very good-plus condition. He has a touch of overall wear, most of which is at the seams, with a bit more on his tail. Because of the wear, I decided to stay on the conservative side of “excellent,” although I know that others would have no similar qualms.

Kangoo’s coloring is wonderful. Although his gray parts—the top and sides of his head and neck; his arms, and his tail—are now ever-so-slightly tending toward taupe, their hue is not accurately depicted in my images, which make the gray look tan; and, of course, I don’t know what he looks like on your monitor. Kangoo’s other main color could be characterized as “cognac,” and whatever looks like fading is sheen from the way light hits it, due to what I like to call the “flow” of the mohair. You can see that sheen elsewhere on Kangoo—on his white front side and on his aforementioned gray areas. His front side also does not look quite right; a better view of that color is on the underside of his loooooong feet; see the right half of my ninth composite image.

Here are some last details: Of course Kangoo’s eyes are glass, which you probably would have guessed based on his age. His floss-stitched accents—on the tips of his extremities—are complete, as is the floss depicting his nose. That tiny light area you see among the black stitches is a piece of mohair peaking through the floss. I tried to move the stitches together, but they are tight, and I decided it did not pay to risk tearing them.

Finally, as my pictures show, Kangoo’s head and arms are jointed. The attachment of each is secure and tight, with just enough freedom to move them for posing changes. 🙂

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Kangoo is very rare, and he would make a terrific addition to a serious Steiff collection—either yours or as a gift for that special Steiff person in your life.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT KANGOO 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.