Originally posted by wolfsoul
Teacup is just a term to describe a small version of a breed; it is not a standardized term, however. You'll often hear of teacup poodles, or teacup yorkies etc. Just like they have names for large versions of breeds. A large sheltie, for instance, would be called a "throwback" sheltie.

I have to disagree with their not being teacup shelties -- maybe the word "teacup" isn't necessarily the word to call them, but there are small or undersized shelties regardless.
And that term is wrong. There are no such things as teacup toy poodles, there are toy poodles. There are no such thing as tea cup chihuahuas. There are just chihuahuas.

I explained above that there is no such thing as a teacup sheltie, but that it is common for shelties to be over or under the breed standard. For them to be oversized does not make them throwbacks as you stated (not sure what you meant by that term) nor does it make them rare "king" shelties.
For a sheltie to be undersized does not make them "tea cup" shelties. It just makes them pet quality shelties.