Steiff Bears Finally out of China!

In 2008 Steiff teddy bears decided to slowly repatriate the production of their teddy bears from china back to Germany.

The homecoming of Steiff bears, famous for their "button in ear" comes 6 years after Steiff decided to join the trend of manufacturing in China.

In talking to the head of Steiff sales in the UK JustTeddies have learned that Steiff will not put a price on reputation or on quality.

Steiff products being made in China had dampened Steiffs seemingly untouchable reputation as the worlds highest quality teddy bear maker.

Interestingly quality is not the only problem that Steiff had over in China, employee loyalty was also questionable. This was noticed because it can take up to 3 years to train someone to manufacture to Steiff quality and efficiency standards. The main problem in China is that the work force moves much more than in the UK or Germany, workers often simply move jobs a couple of times a year depending on which factory is paying the highest wages at the time. This is clearly unacceptable when producing high quality Steiff products.

Another problem is the Steiff products are targeted for counterfeiting, a serious problem for whom the main culprit is China.

We should state that it was only ever the baby and infant range of Steiff that was produced in China for example the "My First Steiff" seen above. Limited edition Steiff bears, classic Steiff bears and Steiff animals have always been made in Germany.

At JustTeddies we have also found that their will be new designs to the Steiff baby range items once manufacturing begins in Germany again.

100 Years of "Button in ear"

Margarete Steiff introduction

The story of Margarete Steiff is filled with fairytale quality. Margarete contracted polio when she was just 18 months old, which meant that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. However, this spirited and courageous young lady took her life into her own hands - not allowing a disability to divert her. She learnt sewing and tailoring and soon became a very skilled seamstress. She started up her own small business, initially making ladies' and children's clothing. Little did she know, when she was working on a little fabric elephant to be used as a pincushion, that she was laying the foundation stone for the international company of the future - Margarete Steiff GmbH. Steiff had been born.

Richard Steiff, nephew of Margarete, joined his aunt's company in 1897. He was to become, after his aunt, the second most influential figure in the Toy Industry and the most important figure in the history of the Teddy bear. In 1902 Richard Steiff designed the very first jointed Teddy bear, a bear gifted with movement and a bear that would take the world by storm. Thus, the company name became synonymous with high-quality soft toy animals the world over. The first teddy bear was made from cuddly soft plush, the same material that many of the "Cosy Range" teddy bears are made from to this day.

Founded in 1880, Margarete Steiff GmbH has pursued excellence with determination, fuelled by their guiding principle "Only the best is good enough for our children".

From humble beginnings the enterprise blossomed into the world's most famous soft toy company. From Japan to America the word Steiff is synonymous with excellence.

Today the company embraces its history, and in doing so embraces innovation, imagination and perfection. Proud of our heritage yet forward-looking and venturesome, Steiff never stops chasing dreams.

The company's extraordinary and unequalled ability in bringing comfort and companionship to millions provides the perfect reason to celebrate a million occasions.

The birth of a trademark

100 years of "Button in Ear"

To protect Steiff products from imitation and plagiarism, Franz Steiff, Margarete's nephew, invented the legendary "Button in Ear" in 1904, one of the first trademarks of the 20th century.

Since 1 November 1904, therefore, every Steiff animal has sported the characteristic button in the left ear, which makes the products unmistakeable and unique.

To prevent imitation, the term "Button in Ear" was also registered as an official trademark on 20 December 1904, and was given legal protection on 13 May 1905.

Thanks to this brilliant idea of Franz Steiff's, the Steiff "Button in Ear" brand has developed to become one of the world's oldest and most well-known brands.

100 years of 'button in ear'

In 1902, Steiff invented the Teddy bear and presented him to the public at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1903. It didn't take long for the Steiff Teddy bear to become most children's favorite toy and many adults fell in love with it, too.

With this tremendous success, many competitors started to copy Steiff products. Consequently, Steiff had to find a way to distinguish their creations from its competitors. There was a general agreement that a company trademark was needed, that had to be permanently attached to the products.

Up until this point in time little cardboard tags were used, fastened to the body or the clothing of animals and dolls showing an elephant with a trunk raised in the shape of an "S" for Steiff. As these labels could be torn off without difficulty, Franz Steiff, one of Margarete Steiff's nephews, wanted a more permanent trademark and invented the "Button in Ear".

The elephant button!

After several alternatives had been tested, a metal button embossed with the elephant having an S-shaped trunk was finally chosen and attached to the left ear of every product. The new trademark was born and the "Button in Ear" has been firmly fixed to all Steiff products since November 1, 1904. An application for registration of the "Button in Ear" trademark was submitted on December 20, 1904 and the registration was confirmed in writing on May 13, 1905.

The metal button with the elephant design was only used in 1904 and 1905 and was thereafter replaced by blank buttons and buttons with the word "Steiff". As the elephant button was in use for such a short time only, items bearing this trademark are considered a great rarity today.

PLEASE NOTE, THE BEAR AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN HAS THIS ELEPHANT BUTTON IN EAR, THERE IS ONLY 1 LEFT.

Steiff Limited Edition Bears

At JustTeddies we pride ourselves on our limited edition teddy bear collection. whether they are classic teddy bears, replica teddy bears or masterpiece animals as long as they are limited JustTeddies will endeavour to stock them.

Limited edition teddy bears have either a white and black or a white and red tag in the ear. On the back of their tag you can see their EAN (European article number) and their limited edition number e.g. 0001 of 1500.

Limited edition Steiff teddy bears are by their very nature a rare product. Several are as low as 1500 pieces for the entire world, in this case there maybe only 200 in the UK. Owning one of these Steiff limited editions is therefore very impressive.

As well as having limited edition bears and animals Steiff also produces "Replica" bears which are limited in the same way that other limited editions are but are made to the exact specifications as a previous model. For example the black Steiff bear at the top of this post is a replica teddy bear of 1961. Therefore it is identical down the tools used in its manufacture as the bear was in 1961. There are also 1961 models available worldwide making replicas some of the rarest bears.

Yesterdays Great Steiff bear News!!

Yesterdays great sales news!

These 2 lovely Steiff Teddy Bears were really good sellers yesterday. Our customers noticed that we had these bears in stock and decided that they were the perfect Steiff additions for their homes.

Lizzy teddy bear seen at the top of this entry is a cosy bear that is great for kids. Customers yesterday noted that their little girls would would love the fact that Lizzy is 40cm and part of the JustTeddies cosy range. She is just £39.95 on JustTeddies which is a great price for a Steiff teddy bear of this size. She of course features the Steiff "Button in ear" to prove her authenticity.

The bear towards the bottom of this entry is simply called Classic teddy bear russet. He is fully jointed and one of the most popular colour of bear available. The real advantage of this Steiff bear is that despite being fully jointed, he is not hard or solid. By this we mean that he is cuddly despite being a classic teddy bear made from the quality components expected from the worlds premium teddy bear brand.

Classic teddy bear russet is only 89.95 on www.JustTeddies.co.uk at the moment so make sure to get him quick before he sells out.

At JustTeddies we are really looking forward to the new Steiff range due to hit shelves from the 3rd of February. Though we have seen all the new bears, and there are some real stunners, we are glad that we ordered enough limited edition Steiff bears last year so that we can make 2010 limited edition bears available for our customers aswell. 2010 was a great year for Steiff teddy bears, limited editions were made using new techniques and new mohair colours. Edward teddy bear for example has golden green mohair, a truly amazing colour that gives the impression and feel of an antique bear without any of the downsides.

For all your Steiff teddy bear needs, visit www.justteddies.co.uk.

Steiffs most popular animal!

The Mungo Meerkat is the most popular Steiff animal teddy bear. The EAN number is 071249, this number will go down in Steiff history due to the tremendous popularity of this bear.

At Justteddies we check the stock of Mungo teddy bears every day to make sure we keep him in stock.

We have plenty of stock at the moment of this best selling Steiff teddy bear animal so all orders can be fulfilled.

Remember there are no Steiff bears being launched on the 3rd of February so don't forget to check out the website regularly for new exciting Steiff teddy bears.

At JustTeddies we would like to say goodbye to the Steiff Little Gem. The First ever UK exclusive Steiff teddy bear with the Swarovski crystal "button in ear", she will be sorely missed.

Fear not if you haven't managed to get your Little gem because a new Steiff teddy bear range is going on sale at JustTeddies on the 3rd of February and there maybe a 2011 Swarovski teddy bear limited edition.

Great weekend sales

At JustTeddies we realise that our collectors are looking for something different, Something special, something rare.

One lucky customer found our site at the weekend and purchased our last Little Gem and Flurrie Swarovski bears.

These two bears go great together and will be an integral part of any Steiff/Swarovski collaboration collection.

Because Flurrie in particular was such a popular Steiff teddy bear we will do our best to obtain more of her.

Also there maybe a new Steiff Swarovski teddy bear for 2011 that we may have ordered so if you interested in Steiff teddy bears with crystal "button in ears" look no further than JustTeddies.

JustTeddies, for the UK's best sellection of limited edition teddy bears.