APPRAISER: So tell me about this bear.

Have you had it for long?

GUEST: No, it's only been in my possession probably about six years.

My father passed away and my mother remarried and it was in my stepfather's family.

APPRAISER: In your stepfather's family, I see.

It's absolutely a charming, wonderful bear.

GUEST: Well, thank you, I think she is I call her Buffy.

APPRAISER: You call her Buffy?

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: Now, did you say you had another one at home?

GUEST: I have another one at home and he's darker and he's her companion.

APPRAISER: About the same size?

GUEST: Exactly, just like her.

Except he's darker and he is called Bucky.

APPRAISER: Mm-hm.

He dates from, say, the 1920s, mid-'20s.

GUEST: I figured both of them to be about 65, 70 years old.

So that would be right.

APPRAISER: Well, what's really nice about this is that whoever had this bear, um, took very, very good care of it.

Now you haven't had this appraised anywhere.

This is the first time to really find out what it might be worth.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: But you have a sneaky feeling it might be worth... GUEST: Well, I think it's a little bit valuable because it's a Steiff bear.

APPRAISER: It is a Steiff bear.

GUEST: And that's all I know.

APPRAISER: Well, it's easy to tell it's a Steiff bear... ...because fortunately GUEST: I was... APPRAISER: it has this little button in the ear.

GUEST: That's when someone told me that, and I didn't know, I didn't know what she was talking about.

She said, "Oh, oh God, you have a Steiff!"

And I said, "I have a what?"

APPRAISER: They still put the Steiff button in all their, uh, animals today.

GUEST: Oh... They're Germany bears, right?

APPRAISER: They're Germany.

They're all made in Germany.

GUEST: Is that right?

Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: But the, the style of the button has changed over the years.

This is a very early version of the Steiff button with the "F" coming down underneath it.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: That helps us date the bear.

Really makes this a really extraordinary bear.

Has a lot of the good features.

Number one, the size.

It's 24 inches, which is a very, very good size for a bear.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: It has these elongated arms, which also are one of the more desirable features in a really classic bear.

Has the hump back... GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: ...which is also a very, uh, important feature.

The other thing that helps with this bear is the color.

It's white.

Sometimes they call this champagne.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: Because more bears were brownish or goldish.

The white bears are a good bit more rare.

The plush is basically very good.

A little bit of a worn spot here.

It's naturally short on the snout, on the nose, because they were trimmed that way.

The felt padding on the feet is just perfect a little bit of a moth damage here, very minor, but overall, it appears in exceptional condition.

And my guess that at auction... ...this bear could easily bring $7,000 to $8,000.

GUEST: (laughing): Oh, my God.

You're kidding.

APPRAISER: I'm not kidding.

GUEST: You're not kidding.

APPRAISER: I'm not kidding.

And now£ GUEST: You wouldn't say that, I mean... APPRAISER: £And you say you have one at home almost just like it.

GUEST: My husband's out of town.

He's gonna die!