Tiny Brother Steiff Nosy Rhinoceros Amazing Coloring ID

This fantastic guy is the smallest of the three sizes in which Nosy the rhinoceros (“Nashhorn” in German) was made. You don’t see him all that often, especially in this nice condition—with such fantastic coloring! I can count on two hands, with fingers left over, the number of times I have helped this size Nosy find a new home in the two decades I have been doing this.

One reason for Nosy’s relative scarcity is the fact that he was not made after 1974. The entire range of that last series was from 1968 to 1974. This is the series that this Nosy is part of, but I can narrow down his date of birth from both directions.

In 1968, Nosy would have had a raised script button in his ear, and the button’s prongs would have left tiny slits in the felt. You can see that there is a circular hole in Nosy’s ear, so you know that the button he wore was not attached by prongs, but some other method. That other method was a rivet, which attached Nosy’s incised script, so-called “lentil” button. This button means that Nosy is not from the first year of the series, but I can tell you he is not from the last year either. You can know that because Nosy wears a bear-head chest tag. That tag was used only until 1971. These two features, therefore, make it possible to assign a very narrow age range to Nosy He was born sometime between 1969 and 1971, and his article number was 1100/10.

Even at his youngest, Nosy is nearing the half-century mark, but you would never know it! His mohair is full, and his coloring is spectacular! His cotton rope tail is tightly braided and pristine. You know he is not store new since he retains only his chest tag (in excellent, crisp condition by the way). But other than his lack of full IDs, Nosy looks like he could have left the store shelf yesterday.

I mentioned his article number, 1100/10. The “10” denotes his catalogued size in centimeters, to be measured from his standing surface to the top of his head. But I have to tell you about his bonus feature now. Nosy’s head is sweetly tilted to one side. He acquired this stance during his construction at the factory. I guess the seamstress who put him together wanted to give him an extra little perk. It looks like Nosy’s head swivels, but you don’t have to do anything to make him adopt that sweet pose. 🙂

OK, back to his size. Because Nosy’s head is tilted, I have measured his height to the center of his head, and that yields a measurement of 8.5 centimeters. Even if you used the highest point of his tilted head to obtain his height, he would still measure less than what the catalogue says. That measurement yields only 9 centimeters, which is just a bit over 3 1/2 inches. He is a tiny package, but his presentation packs quite a punch.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Nosy is a relatively rare critter in wonderful condition. You (or the Steiff person in your life) would be delighted to have him join your collection.

While you are thinking about this baby, you should check out his big brother, also looking for a new home. It would be great if you kept them together.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT NOSY 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 MY STORE HOME PAGE UNDER “FAVORITE LINKS.” IF YOU HAVE NOT LOOKED AT IT RECENTLY, I UPDATED AND EXPANDED IT IN DECEMBER, 2022.