Steiff 5xJointed Limited Edition Only One Year “Little Maestro” Teddy Bear 2 IDs

This is a bit complicated, but I will try to fill in the history of this sweet little bear, whose booklet identifies him as EAN 996184, a 16 cm Teddybӓr, indicated by the “16” after the EAN.

Teddy conforms almost exactly with the catalogue, measuring a little more than 6 inches tall. That is his length for the bottoms of his feet to the top of his head, but perhaps the word “tall” is not really appropriate, since the soles of Teddy’s feet are rounded and firmly stuffed, so he has to be displayed seated; I have leaned him against a hidden “wall” in my second and third images. His seated height will be variable, depending on what posture you give him.

Although Teddy now wears the generic chest tag saying only “Original Steiff,” when he left the factory, he wore a little ceramic medallion. He also had a white flag in his ear, with red printing, identifying him as some specific number of the 20,000 bears produced in his limited edition, only in one year, 1999. At least, that was SUPPOSED to be what happened. However, sometime after production, instead of being released into the worldwide market, Teddy took a detour back to the factory store, where he was transformed into the bear you see today.

Just as his medallion was replaced by the cardboard chest tag, Teddy’s white flag was gone, and his original button was replaced with a blank one. That blank button is a sure indication that Teddy remained in Giengen when he left the factory, and was redirected to the factory store. As far as I know, there are two reasons for an item’s diversion to the store; one is that there was an overproduction, and the other reason for an animal (or other item) being redirected to the store was that it was a “second,” which might not have conformed, sometimes in an extremely non-obvious way, with what Steiff considered to be a perfect item.

Teddy does have one obvious defect, which I will describe below, but I am not sure whether it happened before he entered or after he left the factory store, as someone’s purchase.

OK, back to a little bit of history of bear number 996184. That bear was sold in two different formats, one by himself and one as part of a set with a Hummel figurine of a young child holding a baton, standing at a lectern with sheet music, presumably conducting an orchestra. At his feet was a porcelain version of the same bear. That figurine was called “Der Kleine Maestro,” “The Little Maestro,” in English. That figurine was pictured on Teddy’s chest medallion, thus each member of the set referenced the other.

Now for the defect: There are actually two aspects to it. There is what appears to be dried glue on and around Teddy’s right eye, left as he faces you. And there is some mohair loss around the eye. It is possible to brush Teddy’s hair in a way that minimizes the loss, as you can see in my last image, so the only serious aspect is the glue.

Although I suggested it as a possible explanation, I don’t think that Teddy got his ocular problems in production and then went to the factory store as a second. What seems more likely is that Teddy had been purchased, either from Steiff directly or on the secondary market, and perhaps his owner tried to repair a loose eye. In any case, while there is no way to disguise the glue, I believe Teddy will still look sweet on display. Everything else about him is wonderful. His mohair is otherwise complete and beautifully colored—with wonderful luster too.

I can’t think of anything else you might want to know, but please write if you have a question. Teddy is not perfect, but his price reflects that.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT TEDDY 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.