Anybody know anything about old stuffed animals?

Factual Questions
1

I got an old stuffed tiger with a radio in it at a swap meet. My guess is it’s from the 50s or 60s. It’s stuffed with wood shavings and says Made in Japan. The radio takes a 9-volt battery. It’s NOT a Steiff, but it looks a lot like one.

I paid $25 for it. I’d like to know what it’s worth, approximately. I was talking with another vendor and showed him, and he thought I could get like $300 on a GTO forum (because the mascot is a tiger, and apparently GTO fans like to buy old tiger stuff for their cars? :confused:) I’m skeptical.

It looks like this one, except the radio controls are on the bottom. I saw one that was exactly like mine that had been on Etsy, but you can’t see prices for things that sold.

Anybody got an informed guess as to what it’s worth? I’d consider selling it if I could triple my money.

2

Hello, I am an appraiser of collectibles with over 14 years experience. Does the radio work? What condition is the tiger in?

The one you show on RubyLane appears to be in very good condition, and the radio works, and they’re asking $65 on the national marketplace. That means they may sell it for $40-$50 if it doesn’t move. Which means that they’d buy another one for $20-$30, providing the radio works and it’s in as good as condition as this one. This is typical from my experience, and in checking the various antique & collectible price guides to which I have access (Kovels, Schroeder’s, etc.)

Stuffed dolls with radios from post-war Japan are not uncommon at all. I suspect strongly that the guy telling you that you could get $300 for it was pulling your leg.

In short, if you sell it to a dealer you could get what you paid for it. If you sell it on eBay, maybe you’ll get as much as $40-$50, if it’s a good week for Japanese stuffed tiger radios.

If the radio doesn’t work, or the tiger’s in rough shape, you’ll be lucky to get $10-$15. Hope this helps.

3

I don’t think he was pulling my leg, so much as clueless (he sounded like he was basing it off the GTO connection.)

Mine’s in about the same shape as the pictured one, a little more faded. I don’t know if the radio works as I don’t have a battery to test it (I don’t see any reason to buy a 9-volt just for that. I’ll borrow one this weekend, because I’m curious).

So I did okay getting it at least. I bought it because I like tigers, so I’ll keep it.

Thanks!