So, I want a complete set of dragon claws to show off, yes? However, for some reason, if the game wants you to give it to someone (like the Gold one), it refuses to let you use it to decorate your place, forcing it in your inventory to appease some... ha ha, I'm not going there, I might get in trouble. But I'm sure you get the gist.

The thing is, I don't wanna give them back... so I wanna know - which ones am I gonna have to steal back? The ones the game refuses to let me keep? If I can just buy it back from them, I'd prefer that, but to go through the hassle of successful theft for some of these guys is... ugggh.

So, is it just the Gold Claw that's gonna be a pain, or are there others I'll have to deal with as well?

The only claw I know of so far that you will have to steal is the Golden Claw. I've collected the Sapphire Claw, Ivory Claw, Coral Claw, Ebony Claw, Emerald Claw, and Ruby Claw. I got to keep all those claws. The only 3 I haven't collected so far are the Iron Claw, Glass Claw and the Diamond Claw so I'm not sure about those three.

I have the iron, glass, and diamond, so I think you are correct in that the Golden One is the only one you have to steal back. There are only 10 claws: Coral, Diamond, Ebony, Emerald, Glass, Golden, Iron, Ivory, Ruby, and Sapphire.

Edit: You don't have to steal it back if you never start that quest - I've avoided that quest on a couple of characters of mine, for just that reason.

So wait, if you find the Claw without ever talking to the quest giver about it, does it not still show up as a quest item with the journal entry about returning it to the owner? Because I find a lot of quest items without ever being given the side quests for them, and it just advances the quest to the stage where I'm directed to take it to the person who normally would've sent me out looking for it in the first place. I've got 2-3 of them in my character's inventory right now, and I can't drop/store/sell any of them even though I found them completely by accident.

Last play thru I got to keep the glass and iron but i didnt get to the diamond. So far the golden claw is the only one.

Super-Glued quest items are annoying in general.

I really, really wish Bethesda would stop that.