Steiff Bear for Noah Bear

John and I recently took a trip to NYC where we visited FAO Schwartz to pick up a little present for Noah. As we were walking through the store, we decided to get him some kind of stuffed animal. At first, we picked up a koala bear, but after we passed this huge display of teddy bears, we got inspired.

While walking around, we were trying to figure out which bear would be the PERFECT bear for Noah. That's when we came across the Steiff section and we knew we'd found the one.

You see, John and I are obsessed with the TV show Storage Wars (if you've never seen it, it's a show on A&E that "follows teams of bidders looking to score big in the high stakes world of storage auctions.") During one episode, a bidder found a Steiff teddy bear in one of the units and had it appraised. Apparently, these Steiff bears are worth quite a bit. Why? I'm not sure. All I know is that they're handmade in Germany from premium mohair. At least some of them are. I really wasn't sure what to expect as far as pricing was concerned. So John and I were positively SHOCKED when we flipped over the price tag of this cute bear that comes with it's own suitcase.

$200! Seriously. We promptly put that one back and started looking some more. We found some "affordable" options (if you can call $50 affordable for a teddy bear). 

If a tiny teddy bear can cost over $200, I can't even imagine what these giraffes cost.

Mama found a little Steiff for herself!

We finally settled on a classic Flynn teddy bear. But here's the thing. I'm picky. Like, really picky. No matter what I buy, I inspect every single detail until I find the one that I think is perfect, even if all of them look identical. While doing my inspections, I noticed that some of them were made in China. China! A teddy bear that's famous for being handmade with the finest materials in Germany (hence the higher price tag) made in China. And of course, the one I originally picked out was made in China.

The one that got away.

So John and I brought it up to the cashier and asked her if there were any more in back that were made in Germany. She looked at us oddly, so I explained that the bear I was holding was made in China. She said, "Oh, that's odd." Apparently, she thought all of them were made in Germany (honestly, if you work for Steiff, wouldn't you know tiny details like this? But I digress). Anyway, we had to pick out another bear, and we finally settled on the Steiff Flynn Teddy Bear.

I told you some were "reasonably" priced.

Made in Germany!

So remember how I said I was picky? Well, John and I inspected each one until I found a bear with the Steiff button right side up. The buttoned-ear is really one of its most distinguishing features, so of course I wanted one that looked perfect. 

When boy meets bear.

He seemed to like it.

But eventually, he got bored.

Literally, seconds after I took this picture, he spit up on his new bear. Ah, $50 well spent.

But if it makes him smile like this, then it's totally worth it.