Steiff Japan/MS1880 Co., Ltd. (Location: Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Representative: Manabu Nishimoto, hereinafter referred to as “MS1880”), a top-of-the-line plush toy brand founded in Germany in 1880 and the world’s first to make teddy bears, has launched the “Steiff Kumamon 15th Anniversary Model” as the fourth collaboration with Kumamon, a well-known PR character in Kumamoto Prefecture. will be available for pre-order from February 2025.
It will be sold at Steiff’s official Japan website and some other stores.
https://www.steiff.co.jp
ⓒ2010kumamoto pref.kumamon
ⓒ Margarete Steiff GmbH 2025
This product is an interior decoration product for adults. It is not a toy for children, so it is food inspected.
Not. If you have children, please handle them under the supervision of a guardian.
“Steiff × Kumamon” collaboration Japan limited edition “Steiff Kumamon 15th Anniversary Model” serial No.1 charity auction held
To commemorate the release of this work, we will hold a charity auction. Steiff’s limited edition works will have a serial number, and the “1” will be kept in the Steiff archive room and will not be available on the market. Steiff agrees with the charity and the serial number 1 of the “Steiff Kumamon 15th Anniversary Model” will be specially exhibited. All the winning bids will be donated to the Kumamoto Prefectural Library Children’s Book Forest Kumamoto and will be used to purchase books for the healthy growth of children.
[Auction Summary Bidding Period]
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 11 a.m. ~ Monday, March 17, 2025 at 11 a.m.
Special page on the event site
https:// www.steiff.co.jp kumamon auction/
Bidding method
Submission from the form on the above URL
Bid starting price
44,000 JPY
Presentation Method:
Steiff Japan will make an announcement on official SNS (Instagram, Facebook)
Instagram：@steiff_official_japan https://www.instagram.com/steiff_official_japan/
Facebook: ＠Steiff Japan https://www.facebook.com/SteiffJapan
Successful bidders will be notified by email.
Donation destination: Kumamoto Prefectural Library, Children’s Book Forest, Kumamoto
Organizer: Steiff Japan / MS1880
What is Kumamoto Prefectural Library Children’s Book Forest Kumamoto?
“Children’s Book Forest Kumamoto” is a collection of architect Tadao Ando’s rich sensibilities and creativity for children who will lead the future.
In order to nurture the ability to build and to support the recovery from the Kumamoto earthquake, it was given to children.
It is a library. “The inspiration from a book gives you the strength to live. The ability to think about things from a broad perspective that is not bound by common sense and act with courage. I want as many children as possible to experience that excitement, and I want them to fly out of Kumamoto to the world of tomorrow in good spirits. This is the wish that is put into it.
History of Steiff
European Teddy Bears
In Europe, it is customary to send teddy bears as a baby gift when a baby is born. Receiving a “real” teddy bear as a gift, which is not easily damaged, is considered a status in itself so that it can be cherished not only as a child, but also as a friend for life. Among them, Steiff is so popular that it is said in Europe and the United States that “Steiff is a baby gift”. Born in Germany in 1880 and the world’s first teddy bear, Steiff has grown into a historic top brand that is now an indispensable part of the teddy bear story.
Steiff and founder Margarethe Steiff.
“Speaking of teddy bears, Steiff” – This world-famous plush toy brand was founded by a woman named Margarethe Steiff (1847~1909), who was born in 1847 in a small town called Kingen in southern Germany. At the age of one, she contracted infantile paralysis, which left her with a crippled right hand and both legs, and she spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
Margarete’s parents sent her to school and mastered sewing so that she could be independent despite her disability. In his twenties, he founded the Felt Mail Order Company, the predecessor of Steiff, and began selling women’s and children’s clothing. In December 1880, Margarete came up with the idea of giving her nephews and nieces a toy with an elephant motif as a Christmas present. A total of 8 soft elephant toys filled with felt and the finest wool inside. The elephant toy, which was given as a toy to children and as a needle stick to adult women, was well received. This was the birth of the world’s first plush toy toy. The year 1880, which was the impetus for the creation of stuffed animals, is considered to be the year of Steiff’s founding.
Margarete’s nephew Richard, who had been helping with the business since 1897, proposed to Margarete that she make a “lifelike stuffed bear.” This is the world’s first teddy bear, the “55PB”, and the highest quality and elegant stuffed animal with a moving neck and limbs and the highest quality materials was born. This “55PB” caught the eye of American buyers at a trade fair, and eventually it was improved and put into mass production. At the same time, in the United States, along with President Theodore Roosevelt’s nickname “Teddy”, the popularity of stuffed bears was also increasing, while counterfeit and inferior products began to circulate. That’s where the idea of “attaching a button to the left ear” to authenticate that it is a Steiff product came into play. This was the beginning of the world’s oldest trademark, the “button in ear”, which continues to this day as a sign of the finest quality.
The world’s first teddy bear called “55PB”
The world’s oldest trademark “Button in Ear”
Friends
Among the standard products, it can be attached to products with a simple design for children
Collectors
Collector’s items for adults
Blue letters on a white background → can be attached to standard mohair type products
Red letters on a white background → Attached to limited edition works
Originals
Unlike Friends, it is attached to products that use realistic and elaborate animal designs and joints
Replica
It is attached to a replica of a Steiff product from the early 1900s.
In addition to the product number, the year of production and the serial number (serial navar) are displayed on the tag.
* Tags that reproduce those days are attached to the ears, and tags of the image are attached to the torso.
About Steiff Japan / MS1880 Co., Ltd.
Since 2014, MS1880 Co., Ltd. has been the sole distributor of Steiff in Japan, importing, wholesaling, retailing, and consulting for store planning and operation of Steiff products. The company name “MS1880” is derived from the initials “M.S.” of the company’s founder, Margarethe Steiff, and the year of Steiff’s founding, “1880”.
【Company Profile】
Company Name: MS1880 Inc.
Representative: President Manabu Nishimoto
Location: South Aoyama Tech Building, 3-13-24 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
U R L ：https://www.steiff.co.jp/
Instagram：@steiff_official_japan https://www.instagram.com/steiff_official_japan/
Facebook: ＠Steiff Japan https://www.facebook.com/SteiffJapan
LINE: Steiff https://lin.ee/5Aj8rHc
