Teeny Tiny Brother Steiff Standing Leo Lion ID

It’s been quite some time since the last tiniest standing King of the Jungle came to me for help relocating to a new den. I am delighted to do that for this guy.

You can tell from Leo’s ”lentil,” incised-script button that he is from the last series to be made of the tiny standing Leo (he has two bigger brothers). Leo no longer has his flag, but his article number is certain; it is 0080/10. That series of Leo was made from 1968 to 1975, but his button dates this adorable guy to 1969 or later. But that means that Leo could well have passed his half-century birthday!

There is only one thing that makes me want to conservatively say Leo is “only” in very good condition; and that is his mane. The beautiful auburn-tipped long mohair of his mane is thinning in several places, but this may look worse than it really is because of the “flow” of his mohair. I am also not absolutely certain that when Leo left the factory, he had the same amount of hair on each side of his head and chest, so some of what you see could be a “birth defect.” In any case, Leo has a lot of positive attributes, not the least of which is that adorable face.

Leo’s short-cropped rich golden face and body mohair is absolutely full, and there are strong brown airbrushed highlights on both those areas. Not only is there a brown line of airbrushing following the seam along Leo’s back, that airbrushing continues along the top of his tightly braided tail (which is cotton, I believe).

Just to be complete, I should mention that Leo has one whisker gone from each side of his nose (note his strong airbrushed nostrils and lustrous coral floss nose). Because the remaining three whiskers on each side are long and straight, I don’t think this tiny lack is any reason to change my assessment of his condition. By the way, when I say that Leo is in very good condition, I am making an absolute assessment, not “for his age.” If you want to bring age into it, you can say that he is in very good condition DESPITE his age!

The only remaining thing to tell you Leo’s size. The “10” in his article number denotes Leo’s catalogued height in centimeters measured to the top of his head. If you don’t moosh down his mane, Leo is only 8.8 centimeters tall, about 3 3/8 inches. There is a lot of cuteness packed into that little bundle!

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but if you think I left something out, please write. You will be delighted if Leo comes to live with you, as will his lucky recipient if Leo is meant as a gift.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT LEO 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 POSTED AN EXPANDED AND UPDATED EDITION IN MARCH, 2023.