Tiny Sister Rare Adorable Raccy Begging Raccoon ID

Cute little Raccy is the smaller of the two siblings made in this design. She retains only her chest tag, so I must give you a range of years for her date of birth. I guess it doesn’t matter all that much because Raccy was not produced for many years, the LATEST of which was way back in 1964. Since she first appeared on the scene in 1957, Raccy could already have passed her 60th birthday, but, in any case, she is well-past the half-century mark.

Raccy would have had one of two article numbers on her flag: 4310 or 4310,00. The “10” in either number denotes Raccy’s height in centimeters. She is precisely in accord with the catalogue, about 4 inches high to the top of her swivel head.

Raccy is in good condition. You should know that I rate all my Steiff critters on an absolute scale, whether they are half a century old or were born a few years ago. I have seen nearly pristine antique Steiff critters as well as modern ones that are ready for the trash. Therefore, it is fair to say that Raccy is in good condition DESPITE her age (and play), not “FOR her age.”

Raccy’s mohair has some overall thinning, with nothing egregious, as you should be able to see. She has a slightly more noticeable mohair issue, which is two moth kisses on her back, located on either side of the seam running down the center of her back. I am pointing these out with arrows in my third image. The lower moth nibble is small, and because of the way Raccy’s mohair flows—in a downward direction— it is barely detectable. You see it as a slight depression in her mohair. The other moth nibble is more noticeable, both because it is a little bigger (about the diameter of a pencil eraser), and also because of the way the mohair flows on that side of Raccy’s back, which is in the opposite direction from her right-side mohair. I believe it is likely that you will want to display Raccy facing front in your vitrine, in which case her moth issues should not have much impact on her sweet visual appeal.

I am conservatively staying away from a “very” before the “good” in describing Raccy, because she has one other issue, which is some fading. She still has darker airbrushing on her lower back, her tail, her arms, and the backs of her ears, but most of her back is a solid light brown—which despite the lack of airbrushed accents, does have a nice sheen.

Again, the situation with Raccy’s back should not interfere with her display appeal. Although the darker accents on her face and ears are also a touch more subdued than they once were, they are still very nice; you can just make out her glass eyes in her signature raccoon mask. :-). And Raccy’s long and lustrous white front side could not have been any whiter when she left Giengen.

Raccy’s hands and feet are felt, and they have airbrushed upper sides. The airbrushing on her hands is probably somewhat lighter than it once was, but it is still very evident. The airbrushing on her feet is still lighter, and it is partly covered by her long white hair, in any case.

Speaking of Raccy’s feet, a problem many small Raccys have is their instability and difficulty retaining an upright pose. That is because those Raccys are standing on tiptoe, with not enough surface of their feet touching the ground. I am happy to report that THIS Raccy stands just fine! She does have a slight forward lean, which goes very well with her outstretched begging arms, but her feet are almost flat.

I think that about covers it, but please write to me if you have a question. Raccy is a rare and unusual (and CUTE!) critter, and you will be delighted if she joins your collection.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT RACCY 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.