Stuffed Animals

Teddy bears, giant bears and lifelike animals:

the three go to different people. The ordinary teddy, soft-bodied with a stitched face, gets carried everywhere until the fur goes thin. The giant bear is a gesture for a partner or a mother, and spends its life on a bed or in a corner. Lifelike dogs, horses and big cats with airbrushed fur and true proportions win over the child who wants a pet, and plenty of adults. Then come the collector’s animals: jointed mohair bears from makers such as Steiff, and the small bean-filled Ty Beanie Babies that were bought by the boxful a generation ago and still turn up in bags. Cartoon-shaped plush and licensed characters are listed under plush toys.

Mohair, polyester fur and the fill inside:

for a child, pick a machine-washable bear with a short, dense pile that survives the floor and a polyester fill that dries quickly. Bean-filled bodies give that pleasing slump on a shelf but do not like a hot wash. For the very first soft toys, look under baby and toddler toys. Mohair and alpaca bears are another thing altogether: jointed at the head, arms and legs so they can be posed, with a hand-stitched nose and sometimes a growler that groans when the bear tips forward. They are kept, not washed, and only ever cleaned on the surface. A giant bear too big for a home machine can only be spot-cleaned, so pale fur shows every month of dust.

The giant bear after the Día del Amor y la Amistad:

most giant bears in Costa Rica are bought in the days before Valentine’s or Mother’s Day, and plenty come back out months later, when the room needs the space or the relationship behind the gift has ended. A used one brings in a small part of what it cost, because the first buyer paid for the moment and the next one is paying for a large soft thing that needs a corner. Clean, unfaded fur and the original bow lift the price; listing in the weeks before either date is what moves it.

Steiff buttons, Beanie Baby tags and a tired bear:

a genuine Steiff has a metal button punched through the ear with a cloth flag, and the flag’s colour tells you the line: yellow with red lettering for the softer play range, cream for the classic designs, and another tag again for the numbered limited editions, the only ones that come with a certificate. A hole in the ear with no button means it was lost, and it cannot be refitted: that bear is worth far less. Beanie Babies are the opposite case. The heart-shaped swing tag and the tush tag sewn into the seam tell you which generation a toy belongs to, but a misprint on a tag does not make it rare, and the famous asking prices are asking prices, not sales. The purple Princess bear with the white rose is the one copied most. On any bear, look at the face and paws, where the fur wears through first, squeeze for flat or lumpy fill, check the seams at the neck and arms, and smell it close up: years in a shut closet leave a musty smell that one wash rarely shifts.

Listing a bear by its height and its history:

give the height and say whether you measured it standing or sitting, since a giant bear takes up a lot less of a sofa once it sits down. Photograph it beside a door or a chair so the size is obvious. For a collector’s bear, show the button, the ear tag and the seams, and say what you know of where it came from: a Steiff that belonged to a grandmother is a different listing from one found in a box of toys. Say whether it has been washed, and how. Anyone coming from Moravia or Cañas to collect a bear that size should bring a cleared back seat and a clean sheet to wrap it in: the fur picks up dust and rain between the door and the car.