Vintage Musical Teddy Bear Revealed As Rare Jopi Bear Worth Thousands | Antiques Roadshow UK

0:00 Now, who is this handsome young man sitting on your knee?

0:02 Well, he's called Musing Teddy.

0:05 And is he amusing?

0:06 He is!

0:08 Let's see what he can do to amuse us.

0:10 Well, he's certainly… he's got a very sort

0:12 of startled look in his eye, hasn't he?

0:15 He's got this incredibly alive expression, with these big eyes.

0:19 And he's got a very completely bald muzzle.

0:23 That's nothing to do with you.

0:25 But this is how the bears were made, with what's known as a shaved muzzle.

0:29 So all this lovely long mohair plush was shaved

0:33 off to give him this sticky-out and bald nose.

0:38 Now, you mentioned that he was yours.

0:40 Yes.

0:41 Are you going to date yourself and tell me when you…?

0:44 Isn't it rotten?

0:45 Nobody asks you to date something if you've brought a plate in, but as a bear,

0:49 you've got to date yourself.

0:50 I think he originated in 1928.

0:53 Oh, well, that fits in.

0:55 Because there are lots of indications here which tell me who he may be made by.

1:00 Well, good.

1:01 Coming down to his arm, at the bottom here,

1:04 the way that these claws are stitched is very, erm, idiosyncratic.

1:11 Something rings bells then, for one particular maker.

1:17 And then coming down to his feet… If you look at the bottom of his feet,

1:23 you can see that they're narrower at the top and they bulge out.

1:26 So they're sort of shaped like a fruit, like a pear.

1:30 Pear-shaped feet.

1:33 But what really makes me certain of who he may be made by is

1:38 the fact that when I squeeze his tummy… ..you can hear a little musical melody.

1:45 Is that something you used to do as a child?

1:47 Yes, that's why he was called Musing, which I couldn't say "music".

1:50 Musical Teddy, you see.

1:52 I see!

1:53 That's great.

1:54 Yes, it's wonderful.

1:55 That seems as if it's… It has a complete tune.

1:58 Great.

1:59 And it's in good working order too.

2:00 So I can tell you who he's made by- Good.

2:05 There was a man called Joseph Pittman, based in Nuremberg.

2:08 And he registered a particular company name called Jopi.

2:12 Joseph Pittman, Jopi, J-O-P-I, in 1922.

2:17 And this is a Jopi bear.

2:20 So, everything about him screams that.

2:24 And more particularly, his tummy tells you that by that very

2:28 particular hand-squeezed musical movement in his body.

2:33 And value– what do you think?

2:36 I don't know.

2:38 Oh, go on.

2:38 Have a guess.

2:40 A few hundred, as a guess.

2:42 Certainly a few hundred.

2:43 In fact, this particular type of bear

2:45 has become incredibly popular with collectors,

2:48 particularly when these bears are in really good condition,

2:51 which, I have to say, yours is.

2:53 And a few months ago, a bear just like this fetched £2,100.

2:58 Really?

2:59 So that's where the market is.

3:01 That's where the value is.

3:03 And actually, I think that's where the heart is.

3:05 Absolutely.

3:06 (MELODY PLAYS) Now, this is a most wonderful example of a, what,

3:18 late-20s touring caravan?

3:19 Mid-20s touring caravan, yeah.

3:20 Probably bought for a fortune teller.

3:22 So it had a fairground background?

3:24 Yeah, fairground use, yeah.

3:25 Right.

3:25 I love the flares on the wheel arches.

3:27 It's almost sort of art deco, isn't it?

3:29 Yeah, it's almost the period…- Can we look inside?

3:32 Yes, certainly.

3:34 You go first.

3:38 What I like about it is it's so traditional.

3:42 The engraved glass and all that sort of thing.

3:44 It's, to me, the sort of transition.

3:46 Because here we've got something which

3:47 carries the tradition of the Romany caravan, the canal boat, you know,

3:51 all those old ways of moving homes around for working people.

3:56 The showman's caravan is obviously here.

3:58 And yet we're getting that sense of moving on into the ordinary touring van.

4:02 Yeah, it's very similar.

4:03 I love the range, which is a fantastic thing.

4:06 But again, it reminds me of a canal boat.

4:09 You know, it's that sort of practical thing.

4:11 Because it's about living, not just touring, isn't it?

4:14 Yeah, yeah.

4:15 This was a home and that was it.

4:17 It was your mobile home, in the old proper meaning of the word.

4:20 The cross bed at the end, which, again, is very traditional, isn't it?

4:24 Yeah.

4:24 And in a funny way, for the date– 1928

4:27 or whatever it is– it's actually quite old-fashioned, isn't it?

4:29 Yeah.

4:30 And this is Eccles?

4:31 This is built by Eccles in Birmingham.

4:32 And they built showman's…- Built showman's and touring vans.

4:35 And then they went on to more,

4:37 what you might call more conventional domestic vans.

4:39 Yeah, just the touring van rather than the living van.

4:42 What would this have been towed by?

4:44 Probably a big American car,

4:45 something about 28 horsepower…- A shooting brake or something like that?

4:47 Something of that nature.

4:48 Now I'm going to turn something round.

4:49 Normally, it's my job to give you the valuation,

4:52 but I haven't a clue how to value a caravan, so what's it worth?

4:55 Well, so, I've had it 25 years, not interested in selling.

4:58 But I have been offered £12,000,

4:59 which I turned down…- I hoped you turned it down.

5:01 ..in the past.

5:02 Well, that's fine.

5:02 It's a job to put a price on it.

5:04 Yeah, I mean, it's priceless, in the strictest terms.

5:06 But that gives us an idea, you know.

5:08 Old vehicles are increasing desirable.

5:11 And something like this, which is in a sense the history of the mobile home,

5:14 is a very important thing.

5:17 I think it's a very exciting vehicle.

5:18 Thank you very much.

5:19 Thank you very much.