Customer Reviews

Teddy Bears and Steiff Animals: First Series

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Firstly are you a Steiff or TeddyBear in general collector. If the answer is Steiff this book will have no use to you. The first seven pages are informative but after that it is packed full of colour pictures obtained from peoples personal collectons. It is more like a photo album of bears, although saying this, the pictures are of excellent quality. If you want to check the value of a bear pictured you have to look up the page number at the back of the book and find the relevant item. I have 15 Steiff Bears and not one of them were listed, I have looked through this book 3-4 times and all in all I am dissapointed in it. I will place it in the book cabinet and probably never look at it again.

This is a nicely organized book chock-full of great pictures. It begins with a brief history of the teddy bear, conservation tips, and guidelines on what to look for when investing in a bear. It moves on to discuss Steiff dolls and animals with guidelines for evaluating Steiff dolls/animals for purchase or sale. The book covers miniature bears, Teddy Bears before 1940, Teddy Bears from 1940-1980, contemporary Teddy Bears (as of 1984), artist bears, Teddy Bear related items, Steiff Dolls, Steiff Animals before 1940, and Steiff Animals from 1940-1984.

Hundreds of items are photographed and described in detail with notations on what adds value and/or is rare. Even though the first edition came out eighteen years ago, it still remains a classic reference/guide and it is updated every few years.

If you are looking for an encyclopedic reference to the Steiff line of animals and bears, this is not for you, so that's why 3 stars. The title is a little misleading. As others have noted, it's more of a photo book of other peoples collection pieces, with a little general info front matter thrown in. It's particularly weak on identification of pre-1940 animals.