Rare Tiny Steiff Bendable And Poseable Miniature Micki Hedgehog Doll As A Girl All ID ’61-’64 Only

This is Micki, the girl (“Maedel” in German) version of the adult matriarch of the Steiff hedgehog doll family, whose husband, when she is an adult, is Mecki and whose children are the girl, Mucki and the boy, Macki.

This family has a long and interesting history in which their earliest ancestors are traceable to characters in the Grimm brothers’ 19th century fairy tale based on Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Starting in the 20th century, these hedgehogs are most associated with two media, the Diehl brothers’ films with stop animation puppets and as graphic print cartoon characters in the German TV magazine, “”HörZu !” Although the printing on the back of Micki’s chest tag is quite faded, now that you know about “HörZu !,” you might be able to see that word printed on the back bottom of her chest tag. As Steiff did successfully on other occasions—probably the most known instances in the USA are with Walt Disney animated characters like Bambi and Perri the squirrel—it acquired licensing rights from Diehl to produce dolls and figures based on the original Diehl puppets.

I can’t put a URL in this description, but if you look at my last image, you can see a picture of the YouTube link to the 1952 Diehl film “Mecki Introduces Himself.” You should easily be able to find it using Google. Even if you don’t understand any German, you will get a kick out of the film and the amazing Diehl artistry.

This is Steiff’s miniature version of the Micki figure. Her article number, clearly legible on her flag, is 8709,80, in which the “09” part indicates her catalogued height in centimeters. Micki is a bit taller than that—around 10 centimeters, or 4 inches, but that includes her spiky hedgehog hair. Don’t let my tiny hand in the last image mislead you; Micki is small! This mini Micki was made ONLY from 1961 to 1964.

Micki is in excellent condition; that is, if you remember that this hedgehog family always looks disheveled, dirty, and apparently falling apart. 😉 I worked hard to overcome my temptation to cut off all her loose strings, but they, like the stains on her apron (and the fact that the left end—right as Micki faces you—of her apron is sloppily caught in the apron’s waist band—and sewed there intentionally—are all part of her charm. I will note, just for clarity, that her chest tag is bit soiled and has very minor and shallow surface creases. I believe that unlike the rest of her, Micki’s IDs are supposed to look like the IDs on all other Steiff animals and dolls. Thus, to the extent that her chest tag is not as pristine as her flag (but still very nice), that could be considered a minor flaw. It is so minor that it does not persuade me to say that she is any less than the “excellent” I assigned her at the beginning of this paragraph.

As you can see from the various poses I have had Micki assume, she is bendable. I have played around with many different poses to illustrate that in my pictures. Both her arms and legs move, and the fact that the latter can be posed is a good thing in terms of helping Micki retain a standing pose. Her feet/shoes are very small, and they don’t give Micki much surface area for stability. Once you find her sweet spot, she stands very well.

I do want to mention one more thing about Micki’s attire, which is very “fashion forward.” You can see from her indiscreet pose in my next to last image that her bloomers have the same polka dot pattern as her scarf (very nice if she is in an accident and has to be taken to the emergency room). 😉

I can’t think of anything else to tell you. All serious Steiff collections should have dolls and/or figures, especially containing members of this beloved hedgehog family, and this one is one of the rarest you will find. Micki is joining her future mate in my shop, and it would be great if they could stay together!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT MICKI 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. IF YOU HAVE NOT LOOKED AT IT RECENTLY, I UPDATED AND EXPANDED IT IN MARCH, 2023.