Hey Steiff fans, are you ready to circle the track a few times with a great Steiff find? If so, fasten your seat belts as we go into fifth gear over this monkey on the go. A reader from Brussels, Belgium has a question about his unusual vintage Steiff primate on wheels. Julius writes:

“Hi there Steiff Gal:

Attached please find some pictures of my odd Steiff monkey. It’s a Coco but with a fez hat; he is mounted on wheels. The tag and button are there and the reference is 1325ex.

Coco is 9’’ tall on his own and 13″ if you count the wheels; he is 7.5 ” long nose to backside. He is obviously made from mohair, the hat is moth eaten felt, and the wheels are wooden.

I have tried to find comparable Steiff items online or in reference guides but have been singularly unsuccessful. Are you familiar with this item and could you tell me more about it? Is it more common than I think?

Kind regards, Julius”

Well, Steiffgal is certainly “loco” over this Coco! This is a great item, a little more unusual than most, but still noted in the Steiff references. What you have here is what Steiff calls Pavian Coco or Baboon Coco. Overall, your Coco is 25 cm, made from grey and white mohair, is standing, and is wearing a red felt fez. Your version has eccentric, or asymmetric rolling wheels. (The “ex” in a product’s article number is Steiff’s way of saying the item is positioned on these playful rollers.) Coco on wheels was made overall from 1951 – 1961. He was produced in two versions: on regular wheels (1959 through 1961) and on eccentric wheels (1951 through 1957).

As for the fez, that is kind of interesting that Steiff would put it on this Coco. Steiffgal can think of two reasons why that might be the case:

First is the historical one. Steiff has a long-standing tradition of putting hats on monkeys. At the beginning of last century, Steiff introduced its now beloved “Record Peter”, the sweet pull toy of a little seated monkey on four wheels. As early as 1913, Steiff made a felt version of the Record Peter monkey wearing a red felt suit and fez. Then in 1929, Steiff introduced another pull toy monkey on wheels except that he was standing, wearing a red fez, and on eccentric wheels. A picture of this 1929 monkey is here on the left for comparison; the photo is from Gunther Pfeiffer’s 1892 -1943 Steiff Sortiment reference book.

Second is the “themed” one. Steiff also made a Coco baboon as a little bellhop, in a red outfit with a fez. This item was 28 cm and was a standing Coco dressed doll; he was called Pupp-Coco or Cocoli. This item is considered a real prize for collectors. Cocoli was made from 1952 through 1957, the same basic time frame as Julius’ Coco on wheels. Steiffgal thinks that at the time, these baboons all got this little red fez as an accessory to keep their “look and feel” consistent. The hat is actually quite darling, don’t you think? And really highlights his beautiful green and black pupil eyes. Cocoli is pictured here on the left.

As for value and collectivity, Coco on wheels is certainly a top banana. As always, Steiffgal is not a formal appraiser and strongly believes that something is worth what someone else would actually pay for it. Steiffgal has seen this Coco on wheels in a book but never actually in person, for sale, or at auction. That all being said, Steiffgal would guestimate that he would be valued in the $250-400 range, given how little he comes on the market and that the collector’s world seems finally to be coming back to life after a very slow 18 months.

Steiffgal hopes this little outing with this “Coco on the go” has been a pure joy ride for you!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures, mobile or otherwise? Let’s talk! Click here

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Civitan will be holding our 6th Annual Antiques & Collectibles Show at The Master’s School, 36 Westledge Rd., West Simsbury, CT (Route 309 West), on Sunday, April 11, 2010 from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Admission is $6.00 ($5.00 with coupon or this article).  Children under 12 years: Free Admission.   Refreshments will be available at the Civitan Food Court at the Show.

There are 60 Exhibitors who travel from as far away as Maine, Cape Cod, New York, Long Island, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  Among the many items for sale will be glass, pottery, furniture, prints, paintings, jewelry, textiles, country antiques, native American, sterling, metalwork, early Inuit, nautical, fishing collection, equestrian items and much, much more.

The net proceeds of the event are dedicated to scholarships for a graduating Boy Scout, a Junior Civitan student and a Master’s School student.  In addition to the scholarships funds will be used for Valley community projects and the Civitan Research Center.  For further information contact Mary Turner, Show Manager, at (860) 658-7794 or email tolturner@comcast.net.

La Porte County Fair Grounds

La Porte, In

April 18, 2010   8am – 4pm

Prairie Farm Antique Promotion, LLC

The troubles in the antiques trade have not spared the OK state. The Oklahoman recently reported that shop dealers throughout the state are failing. “Antique stores are struggling”, says one. “You just can’t make a living off them anymore.

While some of the state”s dealers think the problems are no worse than those faced by all retailers, many believe the problems run deeper. The Oklahoman sums up the situation aptly. “Something significant is happening to the industry. Several experts claim we have moved into a new era–one that now includes the purchasing of antiques online at Web sites such as eBay. They argue that fewer people have the need to walk into an antiques store when they can find what they want while sitting in their pajamas at a home computer.”

But perhaps for a handful of dealers, who’s surprised e-retailing, unprecedented in its ability to provide shoppers convenience and selection–has spelled the end of the antiques shop? E-retailing has that power. Remember when, not long ago, there was a mom-and-pop video store at every corner?

I think 2010 will be the year the antiques trade sees a sales turnaround for dealers who take advantage of the “dynamic duo,” e-retailing and antiques shows. Like Batman and Robin, these two sales channels, if properly paired, can be a team of superheroes.

So how should they be paired? Here are three suggestions:

Every dealer should promote her presence at antiques shows on her Website. She should write about the events she’s participating in, because useful and interesting content will entice customers to attend. Content like this also includes keywords that will help prospects find the dealer’s Website.

Every dealer should also consider an online advertising campaign to promote each appearance at a show. An online campaign will help in the same way that pre-show mailers boost visits to a booth.

Every dealer should use social media to connect with customers before, during and after shows. Sales can be increased by sending tweets on Twitter, posting on Facebook, adding show photos to Flickr and publishing blog posts.

In this initial blog, I will first introduce myself, and then discuss a little about the state of the collectibles industry. In addition, I do encourage anyone to keep in contact with me at: colllectingwithjeff@sbcglobal.net.

Whenever I am asked about how and when I got started collecting sports memorabilia, I quickly respond by saying that I have been doing so all my life. True story. The fact is that my Mother never threw away my baseball cards. My Mother, who is ninety years old and still going strong, is quick to say that she knew that they would be valuable one day. I don’t mind giving her the credit. Many, many people wish that their mothers had the same “insight”. My collection, and subsequently my museum, started with those cards, as well as from two other sets of circumstances.

First, having been born and raised in St. Louis, my Father was friends with Bob Pettit, the St. Louis Hawks basketball player, and one of the all-time NBA greats. Pettit gave me some items which are now part of my collection. Second, my museum, which consists of not only sports memorabilia, but presidential/historical, and pop culture memorabilia, was helped by the fact that my cousin Marshall Leib was a founding member of the music group The Teddy Bears (“To Know Him Is To Love Him”), and I have some items from that group. And oh, by the way, another of the founding members was Phil Spector.

My column on sports collecting is carried by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In addition, I write for several publications on sports collecting. I am also a syndicated talk host on the Sports Byline Radio Network, and can be heard every weekday on nearly 700 stations worldwide. In addition, I have the pleasure of giving presentations aboard cruise ships and groups on sports collecting.

Whew! So what is the state of the sports collectibles industry? Strong. Just to give one example, the baseball that Yankee Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500^th homerun was recently auctioned for $103,000. Sure, Tiger Woods’ memorabilia has declined in value, but overall the state of the industry is strong.

I welcome any readers to stay in contact with me. I will also be glad to give you my opinion as to the value of an item you may have.

Tammy answers a viewer question on how to go about finding a piece of Disney artwork to complete his collection. Reyne Haines and Jonathan Novack have an entertaining segment on comic book collecting. Lastly, Tammy has a great interview with Joanne Victorie Wiertella of JewelBoxBook.com. Joanne collects jewel boxes from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s and has researched and written a book on these lovely metal pieces. She is a wealth of information on this beautiful collectible.

Tammy Kahn Fennell is the host of CollectiblesCornerTV.com and runs VintageRareStuff.com. When she isn’t dealing in antiques and collectibles she’s busy developing applications that help people increase their brand awareness on social networks (marketmetweet.com)

Tammy is all about selling in this episode and begins with some great tips on selling your collections as a whole. She then moves on to AuctionHotLister.com with another helpful hint to sell your wares. In our Seller Spotlight, Tammy interviews Sierra from Tennessee Antique Shack, who sells on Tias.com. She talks about how she got into collectible selling and what items have a soft spot in her heart.

Tammy Kahn Fennell is the host of CollectiblesCornerTV.com and runs VintageRareStuff.com. When she isn’t dealing in antiques and collectibles she’s busy developing applications that help people increase their brand awareness on social networks (marketmetweet.com)

To start off this episode, Tammy fields a viewer question about a Victorian dress and where to find more information on this antique piece of clothing. Our Treasure Hunter Tip is Avcosa.com, another great resource in your search for that precious treasure. Plus, Reyne Haines and Jonathan Novack talk to a pinball machine collector. Then, Tammy talks to Mike O’Reilly from, Scott Antique Radio, who plays antique radio shows. These are the old time shows in the pre TV era that grandma used to listen to, now you can too.

Tammy Kahn Fennell is the host of CollectiblesCornerTV.com and runs VintageRareStuff.com. When she isn’t dealing in antiques and collectibles she’s busy developing applications that help people increase their brand awareness on social networks (marketmetweet.com)