This year’s festival set a record for antique teddy bears: The Steiff Titanic Bear Othello from 1912 sold for more than $196,000. Only a few hundred were made to honor those who died on the Titanic.

It was almost 9 p.m. in Munich, and I was on a bear hunt. I was determined to buy a Steiff, the makers of the original stuffed bear, in the country where it was born. Scrolling through my phone, I ...

Then came the moment of valuation: "We are talking about a Steiff teddy bear, circa 1904, incredibly rare colour, a rare size because most of them were smaller than this." She paused before ...