Steiff’s “article number 4328,” also known as Snobby Poodle, has become one of Worthologist and Steiff collector Rebekah Kaufman’s greatest treasures.

Every enthusiast has extra-special items in their collections—a certain piece that just take a Gold Medal for its rarity, design or simply the story behind the piece. Here is one of those treasures from my hug of more than 700 vintage Steiff collectibles.

The item:
One thing that all enthusiasts share—regardless of specific passion—is the utter and sheer delight of coming across something incredibly rare and unexpected. Something so out of this world that once it lands with you, it just brings your collection, and your enthusiasm for collecting, to the next level. Such is the case with the most boringly named Steiff “article number 4328,” also known as Snobby Poodle.

What we have here, besides a series of numbers, is Steiff’s 28-centimeter, three-ways jointed (head and arms) black mohair poodle named Snobby. She is in the “begging” position, meaning that she is looking at you in such a way to suggest that you should share whatever you are eating with her. This poodle has longish mohair on her legs, arms, ears and muzzle, and short mohair on her body trunk and head. Her face is detailed with lovely, hand-blown tri-colored (white, brown and black) almond-shaped glass eyes, a black hand-embroidered nose, an open peach felt-lined mouth, and a dark pink felt tongue.

Her history and design legacy:
Very little is known about this particular poodle design, as she does not appear in any standard reference books. Clearly, she is based somewhat on Steiff’s classic “Snobby Poodle” design that was introduced in 1953 and appeared in the line through 1974 in 10, 14, 22, 35 and 43 cm. Classic Snobby was produced in gray, black or white mohair, was five-ways jointed, and had a little, round red felt tongue. Her coat was cut in what Steiff refers to as the “modern trim,” meaning that her limbs, face, tail tip and head crown were long mohair, while her body and neck were short mohair. Classic Snobby proved so popular that she was soon being produced in as a riding toy, a puppet and as a soft, curled up resting animal. However, “Classic” Snobby did not have a distinctive, open mouth or a long, protruding tongue.

Why she’s so special to me:
Back in the summer of 2005, I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the 9th annual Festival of Steiff Auction, an event that is held annually in Giengen, Germany—the hometown for the Steiff Company. This auction—a paradise for vintage Steiff enthusiasts—features rare and sometimes never-before- seen Steiff treasures from around the world; all for sale to the highest bidder. One of the lots, #035, was particularly appealing to me, as I had never seen this Steiff dog before. The catalog read:

“Snobby Poodle (1956-57) Item no. 4328, this begging poodle is 28 cm tall. It was manufactured for only two years as an exclusive item and this is the first and only sample we know of. Head and forelegs are jointed, open mouth with felt tongue. Very good, unplayed with condition, with button, minimal remains of the ear tag, and chest tag “Snobby.”

Of course, it was love at first sight and I thought with her €250 estimate, I might have a shot at bringing her home without having to declare bankruptcy. I guess a few other people felt the same way, as this superb Snobby sold for close to €1,700 that evening! I left the auction a little heartbroken but determined to add this blue-ribbon beauty to my collection at some point, someday.

Fast-forward six years. I was browsing an online sales portal and looking for unusual Steiff treasures when I came across a listing for a black, sitting “Steiff looking” poodle with an open mouth and almond eyes. Could this be the elusive Snobby from the auction? After a few e-mail exchanges with a photo or two—my deepest hopes were realized! Here was another one of Steiff’s Snobby 4328 models, albeit in somewhat less pristine condition. I made an offer, it was accepted, and I was on cloud nine! When she arrived, I noticed that she was missing her original red leather collar, didn’t have any ID, and both ears needed to be restitched to her head. But no worries, dog-gonnit, I had indeed scored this most unusual Steiff rarity from the 1950s!

A close-up of Snobby Poodle’s hand-blown tri-colored (white, brown and black) almond-shaped glass eyes, a black hand-embroidered nose, an open peach felt-lined mouth, and a dark pink felt tongue.

Her value:
It is most challenging to value items that have limited comparisons or are rarely seen on the collector’s marketplace. So many things go into the actual “value” of an item: general global economic conditions; the number of people vying for the item at any given time; the condition of the item relative to others like it; what else is on the market at the same time; where it is being offered for sale, etc. Clearly, a Steiff auction in Germany during robust economic times calls for high prices. On the other side of the coin, one of these standing Steiff Snobby poodles was offered as part of a lot of four Steiff dogs at the 2010 Steiff Christie’s Auction. Including the buyer’s premium, the quartet brought in a relatively modest $1,286.

That all being said, something is worth what someone will pay for it. Steiff rarities will always generate interest and will without a doubt appreciate over time. It is my best guestimate that this dog today values in the $400 to $600 range.

Rebekah Kaufman is a Worthologist who specializes in vintage Steiff and other European plush collectibles.

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Militaria-Filled WWII Bunker Discovered in Denmark

A German WWII bunker was found on Denmark’s North Sea coast by archeologists. The bunker has been untouched for 63 years, the Danish newspaper, Politiken, reported. According to Jens Andersen, director of the Hansholm Bunker Museum, wind blew away a layer of sand that had been covering the bunker and its booty of collectibles, exposing the military holding for the first time in more than six decades.

Archaeologists who inspected the site found the interior had not been touched since German troops abandoned it. An interior rife with military antiques includes chairs, bunks, cabinets, pieces of uniforms and bottles of ink.

According to Germany’s English-language newspaper The Local, this historic military bunker is one of more than 5,000 Nazi bunkers that line Denmark’s North Sea coast, part of what was known as the Third Reich’s “Atlantic Wall” line of defense.

At Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s, Bacon Brings It Home

In London, Christie’s and Sotheby’s held high-profile contemporary art sales, hoping to capitalize on recent escalating sales by well-known artists. At Christie’s, high estimates coupled with minimum guarantees made for a disappointing combination on July 1, despite exciting results for a Francis Bacon piece.

According to Bloomberg.com, healthy bidding accompanied a set of three self-portraits by Bacon titled, “Three Studies for Self-Portrait,” 1975. The artwork fetched $34.5 million, bought by an anonymous buyer by phone, and was the most expensive lot for the auction. The works of three other artists, considered pre-auction standouts, had mixed results. A Jeff Koons’ sculpture went for $25.6 million after being estimated at almost $24 million. Lucian Freud’s 1980 “Naked Portrait with Reflection” brought in more than $23.4 million after having a top estimate of $30 million. Lucio Fontana’s “La Fine di Dio,” on the other hand, estimated at close to $16million, did not sell.

At Sotheby’s auction the following day The New York Times reported brisk sales of contemporary paintings by Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hirst and Marlene Dumas. Dumas’ 1995 “Visitor” sold for $6.3 million, two times Sotheby’s high estimate. Sotheby’s estimated the Bacon, a portrait of George Dyer, at $15.5 million: it sold for $27.4 million.

Mega Summer Antiques Show in Baltimore

The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show will take place August 28-31 and expects 30,000 in attendance and more than 550 international dealers, according to the official Web site promoting the 28th installment of the summer event. Following on the heels of the American Numismatic Association’s event in the same convention center, the antiques show will include an Antiquarian Book Fair, fine art, furniture, porcelain, silver, American folk art, home accoutrements, jewelry, furniture, glass and textiles. Among the highlights is a lecture series from renowned experts in the fields of silver, jewelry and antiquities.

During the First World War flight was in it’s infancy. Many people had only read about airplanes and the many new inventions relating to flight. New aviation inventions were develped by Germany, France Great Briton, Italy, Austria-Hungary Russia and the U.S. Airplanes at the begining of the war were used mainly for reconnaissance of the enemies supply lines and trench forifications. As the war progressed machine guns were added to airplanes as a defense against attack by other airplanes. These airplanes were made of wood frame with a stretched canvas cover. The pilot had a couple of instrument gauges for gas and altitude and not much else. The pilot’s position in the plane had no armor for his protection and no parachute. His seat was usually on top of the gas tank. The pilot usually worn leather pants, and coat with a scarf and a leather helmet padded with cork or other material to protect against the cold and a crash landing. The helmet shown here is a German World War One helmet made of cork and leather with dust goggles. The large ridge on the helmet’s crown and around the edge gives some added protection in the event of a crash landing. This helmet is valued at $1200 to $1600.00 and is considered rare by collectors. Many pilots were killed when their planes were shot down in flames and crashed having no way to escape from the burning plane. After the war many safety features like armor around the pilot’s seat and parachutes were developed and used due to the high loss of pilots during the First World War. It makes one wonder what made these young men volunteer for flight school and then enter into combat high over the trenches on a wing and a prayer.

During the NAZI era of 1930-1940 Germany, the World War II era, the government created a state policy where ‘undesirable’ groups within Germany and any of its occupied territories were isolated from the general population. These groups were identified as Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, criminals, political prisoners, and emigrants.

Once identified, they were forced to wear a distinctively designed cloth badge on their clothing to help identify them to the general population as to which persecuted group they belonged. Eventually and systematically, those wearing the cloth badges were moved as groups and imprisoned in outdoor concentration camps.

The Jewish population was one of the largest groups forced into concentration camps. While there, they were routinely decimated through forced labor, starvation, disease, and outright extermination.

The particular symbol chosen to identify the Jewish population as a whole was the Magen David, or Shield of David. This six pointed star-shaped design is actually made by the intertwining of two triangles. It is said that the triangles represent the intertwining of the Jewish people or that one triangle points upward to G-d and the other points down to earth. However, early Jewish text does not specifically identify this symbol as that of the Jewish people. There was some references to its use on synagogues as early as the 17th century, but not how it was chosen to represent the Jewish religion. Still, this symbol was adopted by the late 19th century Zionist movement and eventually incorporated into the national flag of Israel.

This Magen David, the Star of David, was the symbol most used by the Nazi regime to identify its Jewish population. There are many versions of the Magen David used in different regions of Nazi influence. The red star armband above is only one design possibly used in the Eastern Europe concentration camps. However, the newness of the armband suggests that it is a more recent fabrication and not authentic to the period.

Once incarcerated in concentration camps, the triangle seems to have prevailed as a unique symbol for all prisoners, only the color identifying the group the prisoner belonged. The other symbols for the other persecuted groups while in the concentration camps are identified as:

- yellow triangles for Jewish prisoners
- red triangles for political (Communist) prisoners
- purple triangles for Jehovah’s Witness
- pink triangles for homosexuals
- green triangles for criminals
- black triangles for Gypsies
- blue triangles for emigrants

Fake and Forgeries

It is evident and unfortunate that too many of the concentration camp memorabilia offered on online auction sites are not authentic. Many of them are being made from original cloth of the period which can make it hard to know for sure whether it is authentic or not. However, there is one rule of thumb to consider – if it looks too new, it is.

The Black Light Test

The other more sure way to know is to move a black light over the piece and if the thread glows, it is synthetic, a material not available during this period. That’s true of any painted object, too. If it glows under black light, it is of recent origin.

Collecting original concentration camp memorabilia is important as its very existence informs future generations that this shall not happen again.

Curiously enough, this SA dagger came into the shop recently and only after careful examination after the fact revealed that in fact this official looking SA dagger was an imposter.

Here’s how I can now tell:

- the color of the handle and the scabbard should be brown, not black,

- the handle itself could be a reproduction and the scabbard changed to reflect the reproduction,

- the eagle is not flush to the handle and gauge marks are evident on one side, not consistent with German insistence on quality,

- the SA symbol is upside down and shows evidence of having been gouged out as well,

- the blade engraving should be in line with the SA symbol and eagle, but it is on the reverse instead,

- corrosion on the scabbard is not usually evident,

- and the ring is glued.

All in all, a rather poor reproduction job. Still, this is an excellent teaching tool that will be used to judge other daggers as they appear from time to time.

I’ve had this German Wehrpass for awhile. The soldier’s name was Heinrif Esser and his last unit entry is “7./Pz. Gren. Rgt. 361″ or 7th Company of the Panzer Grenadier Regiment 361. This unit was under the famous 90th Light Africa Division (March 1942-May 1943) that was captured at the battle of Tunis.

The date of the last unit entry is December 29, 1942, so Heinrif was probably killed or captured in Tunis. I like to think that he was captured and sent to a POW camp in Nebraska, considering I bought this wehrpass from a man who lives around Hastings, NE. After the Afrika Korps collapsed in Tunis, many of the DAK soldiers were sent to Nebraska POW camps to work on farms, orchards, etc.

If anyone knows of a German casualty index, or has information as to how I can research this soldier, please contact me.

Chris Hughes is a WorthPoint Worthologist specializing in 20th century militaria and the owner of Rally Point Militaria and Vietnam Uniform – Military Collectibles sites.