Rare Steiff Spotted Chick Kueken Bird Gorgeous Coloring 2 IDs

This little chick (“Kueken” in German) was not made for many years—only 1969 to 1974. Those are the dates that Pfeiffer gives, but I am not quite sure of how to treat the rest of what Pfeiffer says.

Chick is wearing a raised script button, the more recent style, with chubby letters. Even if he is from the very first year of production—as per Pfeiffer’s dates—it is odd, but not impossible, that he is wearing this button, rather than a “lentil” button with incised script, which went into use in 1969. I guess it is possible that Chick is from the first year of production, and there were older buttons left at the factory that Steiff wanted to use. OK, so that would almost certainly be an indication that Chick was early in the production, maybe even as late as 1970.

Pfeiffer is confusing on another issue, which seems to be in direct contradiction of the reasoning I just used as far as Chick’s hatching date. Pfeiffer says that the earliest version of Chick was covered in mohair, which changed to Dralon in 1971. Since Chick is, indeed, covered with Dralon, that seems inconsistent with his being among the first produced of this item. I must also say that I have never sold, nor even seen, this bird in anything BUT Dralon. That doesn’t mean that there was not a mohair version, but it does raise some questions in my mind about what Pfeiffer says.

Finally, Pfeiffer says that Chick has a squeaker. He does not, and I am not saying that he has a non-functioning squeaker. He has NO squeaker. He is hard stuffed with not the slightest “give” in either his chest or back.

I have no idea how to reconcile the things that Pfeiffer says with what I have, but I don’t think it really matters as far as the desirability of Chick for your collection.

The one piece of ID that Chick lacks is his flag, which had article number 3385/12 printed on it. The “12” denotes his height in centimeters, and he is precisely in accord with the catalogue, about 4 3/4 inches tall. He was made in just this size and only with this article number.

Chick is in excellent condition, with full and vibrantly-colored Dralon. His white areas have just a tiny hint of pink. By the way, the apparent soil on his tail in the right half of my second (composite) image is not dirt; that is just the way the light hit him in that pose. You should be able to see from his other images that his tail is fine.

Chick’s beak and legs are plastic, and his legs come out of his body at an angle. Not only that, but his feet are not exactly in line with each other, and his toes are raised off the ground (differently on each foot!). The angle and the asymmetry of his legs and feet make his stance a bit unstable, but I believe he left the factory just as you see him. I have checked pictures I have of a few of his relatives, and they all had the same leg and feet “issues.” He has been standing on my desk watching me type.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have any questions. Whether you interest is in Steiff birds or baby animals in general, you will be very happy if you add this fuzzy baby to your collection.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT CHICK OR ANY OF MY OTHER STEIFF ITEMS, PLEASE BE SURE TO SEE THE ARTICLE I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT STEIFF 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 POSTED AN EXPANDED AND UPDATED EDITION IN MARCH, 2023.