References — mascots for the Olympics, MILKA, Sparefroh and the Ski World Championships
Three times in a row the official mascot of the Youth Olympic Games, over ten years of promotional plush toys for MILKA in orders of 70,000 to 120,000 units twice a year, 50,000 marmots for Edelweiss Air, plus Sparefroh for the Austrian savings banks, Hopsi for the 2013 Ski World Championships in Schladming, the CliniClowns, Allianz Global Assistance, Burgenland and Intersport. Every project on this page comes with a photo, a year and the task — verifiable, not asserted.
Free prototype · no-obligation quotation · one dedicated contact
Youth Olympic Games
Official mascots for three consecutive Youth Olympic Games — Innsbruck, Lillehammer and Lausanne.
For the Youth Olympic Games we produced the official mascot as a plush figure three times in a row: Yoggl for Innsbruck 2012 — a chamois, Sjogg for Lillehammer 2016 — a lynx, and Yodli for Lausanne 2020 — a hybrid of cow, goat and St Bernard.
Every figure carries the official Olympic rings, the YOG logo and a licence label — visible in the first photo. Licensed products follow their own approval chain: design template, sample acceptance by the organising committee, and only then series production.
The Sjogg design sheet shows how tight the specifications are: several variants of fur, clothing and expression until the figure matched the official template. Inspection was against measurements — one photo shows a Yodli figure being checked with a tape measure.
- Games: Innsbruck 2012 · Lillehammer 2016 · Lausanne 2020
- Figures: Yoggl · Sjogg · Yodli
- Evidence: Olympic rings, YOG logo and licence label on the product
MILKA — Kraft Foods Austria
Promotional plush toys in series: cows, rabbits, bears, elks — in brand colour and carrying the brand mark.
For MILKA we produced promotional plush toys in series over ten years: the well-known purple cow, plus rabbits at Easter, elks and winter figures for Christmas, and bears as parcel inserts.
The brand colour is the decisive criterion at MILKA. Plush is dyed textile — the same colour comes out differently depending on pile height and batch. We therefore work against an approved reference sample that serves as the benchmark throughout the run.
MILKA ordered twice a year, 70,000 to 120,000 units each time — for ten years. The figures in the photos (8,000 cows, 15,000 elks) are individual batches from those orders, not the whole contract. At such volumes it is not the single figure that decides the outcome but consistency across the entire run — hence the piece-by-piece inspection one of the photos shows.
- Duration: over ten years of collaboration
- Products: Cows, rabbits, bears, elks, winter figures
- Order cycle: twice a year, 70,000 to 120,000 units, for ten years
Edelweiss Air
50,000 marmots in the red Edelweiss shirt, delivered in three batches and made to specifications in millimetres.
For the Swiss airline Edelweiss Air we produced a marmot as a plush figure: red shirt with the edelweiss flower, blue trousers, in several sizes and as a key-ring with clip. In total it came to 50,000 units in three batches.
Production followed a tolerance catalogue with specifications in millimetres. Teeth 7 mm long, at most 1 mm deviation. Mouth width at most 3 mm deviation. The flower exactly centred on the key-ring’s red band.
Figures with legs of unequal length were sorted out without exception. The collage shows the route from the design sketch through sewing and measurement checks to the finished run.
- Quantity: 50,000 units in three batches
- Versions: plush figure in several sizes and key-ring with clip
- Tolerances: teeth 7 mm ± 1 mm · mouth width ± 3 mm · flower centred on the band
Regions, clubs and retail
From the provincial stork to the sports bear: figures that embody a region or a brand.
Alongside the large runs, figures are constantly produced for regions, clubs, tourism and retail. The stork Ottokar for Burgenland carries the provincial logo directly on the product. A sports bear was created for Intersport and a series figure for the savings bank.
The Mozart bears and the pair Sissi & Franzl represent the tourism side: figures guests buy as souvenirs — sold, not given away. That is precisely the difference between a promotional item and a branded product.
These projects are smaller than the runs for MILKA or the Youth Olympic Games, but they follow the same process: template, free prototype, approval, manufacturing, inspection before shipping.
- Clients: Burgenland · Intersport · Sparkasse · tourism
- Use: Souvenirs, promotional items, club figures
- Process: identical to large runs: prototype, approval, inspection
Sport, institutions and tourism
Sparefroh for the savings banks, Hopsi for the 2013 Ski World Championships, plus CliniClowns, Allianz and ski resorts.
Sparefroh, the savings figure with the Austrian savings-bank “S”, was produced in two versions: as a wearable costume figure for branch appearances and as a plush figure to hand out to customers. The photos show both versions: the finished costume figure before delivery and the plush figure as a sample before approval.
Hopsi was the official mascot of the 2013 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Schladming — a hare, presented by the then ÖSV president Peter Schröcksnadel and a revival of the figure from the 1982 championships at the same venue. On this page the design template sits next to two photos of the finished figure in the finish area: the same hare, once as a drawing, once as a product.
Added to that are polar bear figures for the CliniClowns, costume figures for the Shuttleberg ski area and the family of figures for Familie Tirol. How long such collaborations last is shown by the Allianz Global Assistance protection bear: we produced the same figure once with the badge “Mondial Assistance” and once with “Allianz Global Assistance” — the company changed its name in Austria in January 2012, the figure stayed.
- Sport: Hopsi — official mascot of the 2013 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, Schladming
- Institutions: Austrian savings banks (Sparefroh) · Allianz Global Assistance · CliniClowns
- Tourism: Shuttleberg · Familie Tirol · Burgenland
Manufacturing in our partner factory
Why we can guarantee production quality: we work directly with our partner factory and see the manufacturing ourselves.
We accompany production from start to finish. The photos come from our partner factory in Yangzhou, China, where our runs are made — cutting, sewing, filling station, final inspection and packing under one roof.
For clients that is the difference between a commitment and a hope: anyone who knows the production can say whether a detail is feasible before a prototype exists — and can intervene during the run instead of only inspecting the delivery.
On request, clients receive photos from the running production and a control sample before shipping. Both are included in the project and need not be agreed separately.
Safety testing is documented: test report no. 68.5.13.10.2800.2639 from ACT Testing Technology Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou, issued to Lindner-Stofftiere GmbH. Tested were EN 71-1 (mechanical and physical properties), EN 71-2 (flammability), EN 71-3 (migration of certain elements), EN 71-9 (organic chemical compounds) and DIN 53160-1 and -2 (colour fastness to saliva and perspiration). All six tests passed. We send the full report to clients on request.
- Since: 1998, made in our partner factory
- Scope: cutting to packing in one place
- Tested: EN 71-1/-2/-3/-9 and DIN 53160-1/-2, ACT Testing report
- Included: photos from production, control sample before shipping
Video loads only when you click
Images free to use
Are you reporting on a project we were part of — as a club, a region, a client or an editorial team? You may use every image on this page free of charge.
The only condition is the credit “Photo: Stofftiere Lindner”. A link is welcome but not required — you may use the images without one.
Need a particular image in higher resolution, a photo from the production line or details on a specific project? Just write to office@teddynews.at — we will send it over.
Published so far
“The economic crisis prompted us to change our client structure: away from a few large clients, towards many smaller ones.”
Wolfgang Lindner, Lindner Stofftiere GmbH — in: WirtschaftsBlatt EventPaper “Austria's Leading Companies”, Carinthia, 20 November 2013, page 8 (quote translated from German). View the issue as PDF ↗ (German)
Your project on this list?
Send us a sketch, a logo or an idea. You get an honest assessment — including when your project does not make sense in this form.
Wolfgang Lindner — your personal contact since 1998.