Rare Sweet Exotic Steiff Baby Okapi Giraffe Cousin All ID
Rosalie's Steiff & More
Rare Sweet Exotic Steiff Baby Okapi Giraffe Cousin All ID
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Fabulous and Rare Vintage Steiff Animals and the Occasional Silver Antique
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This is the smallest size okapi of the three Steiff made in this general design. The most recent same-size member of this exotic giraffe cousin’s family left my shop in 2015. The long interval between that one and this one is not surprising in light of his rarity.
Okapi’s catalogue size is denoted by the “14” on his flag, on which his whole article number, 6414,00, is dark and legible. That number means that despite his status as the “baby” of the family, Okapi is just about 60 years old.
As you may know, the “14” in Okapi’s article number denotes his catalogue size in centimeters. He is actually taller than that, measuring 16 centimeters high to the top of his head; about 6 1/4 inches. Of course, you will want to give him even a little more vertical display space to accommodate his ears. :-)
The first digit, “6,” in his article number denotes a young animal, and, as always, Steiff got that look just right. :-)
Okapi’s beautiful, realistic colors are vibrant—even including the airbrushed details on his felt ears and braided cotton rope tail—and although he shows a few really light signs of handling on some of his white areas, I do not count those as a major detraction. I also do not count against him the more noticeable rust-colored lines on the middle of his rear left leg (which I am showing you enlarged as an inset in my fourth image). That color is so close to the color of the airbrush paint that I initially supposed it was just an errant spritz.
Please note when you look at his pictures that there are only two arrows, pointing to the upper and lower rust-colored marks. The mark in the middle is actual airbrushing, and you should see how it circles around to the front of his leg.
Okapi has one other feature that troubles me, and if I were keeping him for my own collection, I would make a small change. I am talking about the long piece of string that connects his tag to his chest. I believe that Okapi left Giengen that way, or at least with some degree of extra string that may have pulled out more from handling by his owner. The connection still seems tight—I did not want to test it more than with slight pulling pressure. But, in addition to the potential integrity of his full IDs, I think that the long string, because it lets the tag twist and turn instead of laying flat, is an aesthetic consideration.
Of course, you can position the tag in the center, lying flat on Okapi’s chest, and it will stay that way when he is on display. I, however, would do something to make the string shorter and tighter—and neater! I don’t think I would take the rash step of actually removing the tag and sewing it back; I think I could fix it in place.
Well, I apologize for the last two paragraphs; I should not impose my own aesthetic considerations on others. I freely admit that I am not a collecting purist, and I am willing to make small changes where many (most?) others would not.
I can't think of anything else you might want to know, but please write if you have a question. Okapi is fantastic and rare, and he deserves a place in your collection or the collection of the Steiff lover in your life.
WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT OKAPI 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 DECEMBER, 2024.
****!!!!YOU MUST READ THIS!!!!**** If you are buying more than one item from me, you can save on shipping. To complete your purchase, it’s safest to say you will PAY BY CHECK. If you want to use PayPal, I CAN CHANGE TO PAYPAL WHEN I SEND YOU AN INVOICE.
Okapi’s catalogue size is denoted by the “14” on his flag, on which his whole article number, 6414,00, is dark and legible. That number means that despite his status as the “baby” of the family, Okapi is just about 60 years old.
As you may know, the “14” in Okapi’s article number denotes his catalogue size in centimeters. He is actually taller than that, measuring 16 centimeters high to the top of his head; about 6 1/4 inches. Of course, you will want to give him even a little more vertical display space to accommodate his ears. :-)
The first digit, “6,” in his article number denotes a young animal, and, as always, Steiff got that look just right. :-)
Okapi’s beautiful, realistic colors are vibrant—even including the airbrushed details on his felt ears and braided cotton rope tail—and although he shows a few really light signs of handling on some of his white areas, I do not count those as a major detraction. I also do not count against him the more noticeable rust-colored lines on the middle of his rear left leg (which I am showing you enlarged as an inset in my fourth image). That color is so close to the color of the airbrush paint that I initially supposed it was just an errant spritz.
Please note when you look at his pictures that there are only two arrows, pointing to the upper and lower rust-colored marks. The mark in the middle is actual airbrushing, and you should see how it circles around to the front of his leg.
Okapi has one other feature that troubles me, and if I were keeping him for my own collection, I would make a small change. I am talking about the long piece of string that connects his tag to his chest. I believe that Okapi left Giengen that way, or at least with some degree of extra string that may have pulled out more from handling by his owner. The connection still seems tight—I did not want to test it more than with slight pulling pressure. But, in addition to the potential integrity of his full IDs, I think that the long string, because it lets the tag twist and turn instead of laying flat, is an aesthetic consideration.
Of course, you can position the tag in the center, lying flat on Okapi’s chest, and it will stay that way when he is on display. I, however, would do something to make the string shorter and tighter—and neater! I don’t think I would take the rash step of actually removing the tag and sewing it back; I think I could fix it in place.
Well, I apologize for the last two paragraphs; I should not impose my own aesthetic considerations on others. I freely admit that I am not a collecting purist, and I am willing to make small changes where many (most?) others would not.
I can't think of anything else you might want to know, but please write if you have a question. Okapi is fantastic and rare, and he deserves a place in your collection or the collection of the Steiff lover in your life.
WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT OKAPI 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 DECEMBER, 2024.
****!!!!YOU MUST READ THIS!!!!**** If you are buying more than one item from me, you can save on shipping. To complete your purchase, it’s safest to say you will PAY BY CHECK. If you want to use PayPal, I CAN CHANGE TO PAYPAL WHEN I SEND YOU AN INVOICE.
Item id: rl-2988
Color: Black, Brown, Copper, White
Item type: Vintage
Fine plush age: Post 1950
Color: Black, Brown, Copper, White
Item type: Vintage
Fine plush age: Post 1950
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