Appraisal: Gebruder Heubach Cats, ca. 1910

GUEST: I inherited them.

They were either my mother's or my grandmother's.

My mother told me they were her mother's, but... My m, I lost my mother when I was 12, so you don't really remember the stories clearly, and at 12, you don't pay much attention to things that are in the house-- they're not important.

But they've been in a box and I just absolutely adore them.

APPRAISER: Okay, and where do you have them now?

How do you store them?

GUEST: Well, I have to admit, they're stored in, just in a shoebox, mostly because I wanted to decorate my daughter's bedroom with them.

But she found the grin a little intimidating.

And I have to admit that I found it that same way when I was a child.

(laughs) So I understood it.

APPRAISER (laughs): And what exactly was her words that she s...?

GUEST: "A little freakish."

(both chuckle) APPRAISER: "A little freakish."

Your little kittens were made by a German firm called Gebrüüder Heubach, and they were made around 1910.

GUEST: Ah, grandmother's.

APPRAISER: So that would fit with your grandmother's time?

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: They each are around six-and-a-half-inches tall.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And you do have all three.

Their heads are made of bisque and their bodies are made of papier-mâché.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: They even have on their original little ensembles.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: A little cotton playsuit.

A lot of detail in it.

A lot of detail.

They're just in really great, vibrant condition.

The shoes don't have little nicks on 'em.

When you started unrolling them out of your towel, I al, I almost let out a scream, because I never, hardly ever s...

GUEST (laughs): I'm so surprised.

APPRAISER: ...never see them.

And then to see three all together was just such a perfect joy.

Um- GUEST: Are they called the three little kittens that lost their mittens?

They're not?

APPRAISER: No, uh the- GUEST: My mother always said that's what they were.

APPRAISER: No, they're just little cats that Heubach made.

They also made a little bear.

Everything about Heubach, just all the little extra detailing to the facial features just gives them so much personality.

In a retail doll shop, the one gray cat would be worth $2,300.

And I, I have seen him before.

GUEST: Oh, no.

Really?

APPRAISER: Yes.

The little white cat is also valued at $2,300.

And sometimes, I think, I have seen him go a little bit higher.

I have seen him.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: And then, oh, my goodness, this heartbreaker here.

This is the little black one.

I've never seen the black one.

He does have a little bit of damage to his ear, so I'd have to keep his value around $2,300, also, even with the damage.

So as a set, they're worth about $7,000.

GUEST: I don't know what to say to that.

That's amazing.

APPRAISER: Are they still freakish to you?

GUEST: Uh... Well, yes, actually, they... (laughs) Maybe they're even a little more freakish... (both laugh) APPRAISER: Um...

GUEST: ...since I wasn't expecting that at all.

APPRAISER: And if this little guy didn't have...

GUEST: The damage?

APPRAISER: ...the little bit of damage, I would probably put him a little bit higher for the set, for around $8,000.

Or even more.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: I, you never see 'em.