Schuco Three Little Pigs, ca. 1935

Appraised on: August 9, 2008

Appraised in: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Appraised by: Andy Ourant

Category: Dolls

Episode Info: Grand Rapids, Hour 2 (#1314)

Originally Aired: April 27, 2009

IMAGE: 1 of 4  

Appraisal Video: (2:23)

GUEST: We inherited them from my Aunt Jerry and Uncle Ralph. And they were a very wealthy couple. They didn't have any children. They did a lot of world travel and when they passed away, I got the Little Pigs.

APPRAISER: How long have you had these Little Pigs?

GUEST: Probably 20 years.

APPRAISER: It was a 1933 film, and it won the 1934 Academy Award for best short cartoon. It's a classic cartoon, a classic Walt Disney film. And these were made to market with the success of the film. Now, do you know anything about the toys themselves?

GUEST: I thought that maybe they might be Steiff because they came from Germany.

APPRAISER: And you saw the "Made in Germany" on the boxes?

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: They're not Steiff, but they're another company from Germany that's just as interesting as Steiff. It's Schuco. You can see here at the base of the foot it says "Schuco." Schuco was a company from Nuremberg. They started making toys in about 1915. They made teddy bears. They also made a lot of windup toys. And by the '30s, they made these great Walt Disney Three Little Pigs. And we have all Three Little Pigs. We have Fifer Pig on the end there next to you; we have Fiddler Pig in the middle; and do you know the name of this guy?

GUEST: Drummer?

APPRAISER: He's Practical Pig. Now, Practical Pig was the pig that had the brick house that the wolf couldn't blow down. And in the movies, Practical Pig plays a piano. But it would be hard for the toy producers to manufacture a piano, so they turned Practical Pig into a drummer. The other great thing is the fact that you have all the original boxes. And each box, the corners are crisp, the labels are perfect. Each one of them works and all the original keys are there, too. They're just in exceptional condition. This set, at auction, would be $2,000 to $2,500. Let's wind one of these guys up.

GUEST: They're cute. They're very cute. I like them a lot.