Strange Schleich Kudu Antelope Discovery in 1997 Catalogue!

I thought I knew it all about Schleich wildlife models.  The history, dates and information about almost all of them.  I thought I had nearly all in my collection until today an ebay purchase of some old Schleich catalogues provided me with the biggest shock I have ever known related to the world of Schleich.  An unknown antelope!!!

On page 16 in the 1997 catalogue there is a photo of the Schleich Kudu introduced as a new model for 1997. However it is a photo of a completely different looking model!  You might think it is a prototype but close inspection shows it is a photos of a plastic produced model, not a prototype.  

How is this possible that I never saw this before? Perhaps someone on the forum has already mentioned it but is it the original Kudu which was then replaced with another model?  I have most catalogues but this anomaly is in the 1997 catalogue.  I do not have the 1998 catalogue but in my 1999 catalogue there is a photo of the normal kudu.  They must have produced some copies of this. If so then it will probably be the rarest of all Schleich figures ever.....and probably the most desired just like the Safari Ltd Vanishing Wild Gemsbok....

Has anyone got the 1998 catalogue?  I am intrigued to know more about this strange Kudu so if anyone knows anything else then please share.....

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I have the '98 catalogue and it is the "normal" kudu we have all seen... strange. Anyone know more about the 1997 figure?

Incredible find

I never heard about this before either
Even if I have gone through the oold catalogues many times I never noticed, - you must have eagle-eyes

It also has the same item number as the one we know .
Very, very interesting

I also never saw it before :)

Maybe you should wright Schleich an e-mail?
I searched a bit on Google, nothing found. The usual old Kudu appears every time.

Yes we could write to Schleich but with the company having changed hands I doubt anyone will bother investigating on our behalf. I wonder whether they have a special 'archive' somewhere.

When I visit the London Toy Fair in January I am going to ask a representative and ask them to investigate. Let's see what they say ha!

It is incredible no one has spotted this before but then not everyone may have the old catalogue. I do love the pose of that model although the face could be sculpted better. Still imagine that somewhere in Germany this model(s) must be floating around. It must surely be the most rarest of all Schleich if not commercially massed produced in huge numbers.....wow

Numaan wrote:

Yes we could write to Schleich but with the company having changed hands I doubt anyone will bother investigating on our behalf.  I wonder whether they have a special 'archive' somewhere.

When I visit the London Toy Fair in January I am going to ask a representative and ask them to investigate. Let's see what they say ha !

Schleich is not famous for reacting to questions from collectors, are they ?

Wow, what a find! Interesting, hope you can find more info

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

I have the '98 catalogue and it is the "normal" kudu we have all seen... strange. Anyone know more about the 1997 figure?

I was going to say, I think you have my old one Odd that yours is different!

I kinda like the 1997 one!

Very suspicious! Hmm, maybe it was just a one year item, probably the rarest of all!

Wow, that's a strange find indeed Numaan! And no one heard about this model before.  And the head and modelling style (especially texture, legs shape, even the photo style) doesn't look like typical Schleich from 90-ies

To be honest the style remind me a hybrid of Papo Kudu (especially horns and head, but not ears) and new schleich Kudu from 2011 (rest of the body)

Maybe, just maybe, it could be fake page of catalog and a model made up in Photoshop? Especially because other collectors who have this catalog have a normal schleich kudu photo. I don't know why would anyone come to idea of making the other kudu in photoshop, print it and put it in a booklet and then sell it on eBay but well, I don't know, it just looks a bit fake to me. Is it printed on the same kind of paper as all other catalogs? Is the quality of print the same? Maybe ask the Ebay seller, maybe he will know something more?

I think the kudu shown is a prototype that was photographed before the range was finalized. Toy manufacturers sometimes photograph their catalogue images prior to finalizing resulting in instances such as this. They might have already printed the catalogues when the decision was made to change the kudu and didn't want to reprint them all again.

A notable example is the 1993 Kenner Jurassic Park line which had a completely different model T rex than what was advertised on the cardboard back packaging of the figures which show the available models. The packaging photo was taken before the final T rex was finished (they used a stand in sculpted by the movie studio which looked amazing) and in the end it was completely different.....a disappointment compared to what was shown previously.

I also thought it might have been a prototype. Safari Ltd did the same with the Okapi model. In very old catalogues and online the Safari Ltd Okapi had a different pose but the version sold was different. This would be the same as the Kudu BUT both the Safari Okapi and Schleich Kudu are photos of a plastic version not a prototype. A prototype photo is much clearer and more detailed whereas in these instances you can see the paintwork and the plastic finishing of the model.

You need to have the catalogue in the hand to see it. I think the catalogue was printed and then reprinted so the catalogue must be the rare item ha.

However, I dont see anyone confirming whether they have a 1997 catalogue. I would like to know whether anyone here has a 1997 catalogue and can confirm whether the images are the same?

I have seen the figure on the valinor website. It seems to have been a legit figure, at least for a while.

Indeed, it is also on Valinor website, but only the catalog photo not the photo from collection    http://www.valinor.nl/schleich/runderen-4.html  
Maybe it's indeed, as Andrew said, a photo of prototype and the model was never available to buy

pokeyanyway wrote:

I have seen the figure on the valinor website. It seems to have been a legit figure, at least for a while.

Ana wrote:

Indeed, it is also on Valinor website, but only the catalog photo not the photo from collection    http://www.valinor.nl/schleich/runderen-4.html  
Maybe it's indeed, as Andrew said, a photo of prototype and the model was never available to buy

The image on our website is a scan of the original catalogue of 1997 that is in our possession, so we can confirm that this image has indeed been printed by Schleich.
We have noticed this specific kudu variation quite a long time ago and have been looking for this model ever since - but never found it anywhere. We think this prototype has only been used for the catalogue but has never been in production, most likely that the kudu as we know it has been produced in 1997 also.

pokeyanyway wrote:

I have seen the figure on the valinor website. It seems to have been a legit figure, at least for a while.

Hi there

What website are you referring to? Do you have a link? When did you last see this on the website?

I wonder if someone is able to find the image somewhere through google images?

thanks for sharing

Numaan, this is the page on the our website that Pokeyanyway and Ana are referring to:

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Hope this helps.

On the left of the page, the catalogue images are featured. On the right, photos of the models in our collection.
Click on the image to enlarge and/or see more photos of the model.

A grey image stating "eigen foto volgt binnenkort" means that we have the model in our collection but still have to photograph it. If only there were enough hours in a day to allow us to all the things that need to be done...

Valinor wrote:

Numaan, this is the page on the our website that Pokeyanyway and Ana are referring to:

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Great thanks for the link......imagine, somewhere in Europe someone(s) has this model sitting in an attic perhaps...

I wonder whether Schleich hold some sort of archive of their collection?  

It would be interesting to know whether this image was printed in all 1997 catalogues OR in just a first print run and then later amended. If anyone has any 1997 catalogues then please check and let us know.

thanks for the info

I am 99,99999999% sure it is a picture of an early prototype

It is a nice model, but does not at all look the style of the others from that time

I do have the 1997-catalogue, the 6th edition. It has indeed the aforementioned strange picture of the kudu.

Have you noticed that the Morgan stallion (13235) looks different, too?

Hello, I've been doing the collection since 1994, and when I came out this catalog with the antelope, which was released was another, which is what I have.

Thanks for the information :)