Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

That top one...  I'd recognize that goofy look anywhere.  That's him!  :D

Mine is 11 inches tall, and you were correct about the string on his leg - I mentioned it in the previous post.   :crackup:

As for the button in the ear - I'm guessing someone carefully removed it at some point because it is gone.

Is it possible to narrow him down any further?  I'm excited, now!!!

Well, let's see...  what can we rule out knowing the following :

Four claws...  That would mean that it is 1906 or after.
No button...  Lost, perhaps? 
Mouth open...  I thought it would be a Teddy Baby, too, but I can't find one that looks like it.  This one has a really cute bewildered look on its face.  That would be 1929 - 1950
I understand that Bing, Farnell, and Steiff were the only ones who center stitched, too.

Here's something I forgot to mention...  There is a bit of string coming out of his... well... crotch.  It is a long loop of string that, to me, looks like where a tag would have hung.  There is no marking anywhere at all on the bear to suggest who might have made it, though.

I NEED YOUR HELP.

I'm not an AVID collector of teddy bears, but I have seen a fair share of them.  I've never seen one as old as this, though, and I am tearing my hair out to know what it is.

Steiff bears, Bing bears, Farnell bears, oh my...
This bear looks, feels, smells, and in all ways seems to be an original early 1900's Steiff Teddy Bear.  There are a few things to note about it, though, and they are throwing me for a loop.
No Steiff button in the ear (could mean it is pre-1905, or not a Steiff, or it was lost)
Center stitched (pre-1920)
Mouth open? (Post-1950), but possibly done by owner)
4 claws on the feet and hands
Fully jointed...
Shoulder has a hump in it

I can't find any bear that looks like this in ANY of my reference materials, nor on the internet.  I even went to Barnes & Noble last night as well as Books-A-Zillion and none of their books showed it either.

I'm thinking it is either a Steiff that has been repaired, a *very* early Farnell Alpha model, or a Bing.  What thinketh the forums?

The estimated value of the bear could be anywhere from $0.50 - $80,000.00 depending...  I found a report from an auction of a bear that looked almost exactly like this one (that one had a closed mouth, though) and it sold for $12,000.00.  I snatched this one up at a yard sale for FIFTY CENTS.