The Lineol IV Greater kudu a walkaround by Kikimalou

In 1940, Lineol brought out a new series of zoo animals, the famous Series IV, as Europe and soon the world sank into war.

Most of these toys survived until 1960 when their production stopped in favour of plastic copies made by VEB Plaho.

This series marked the world of toys with models whose realism combined with great elegance is still a reference today.

Those who have held the Sable antelope, the Eland, the Zebra, the Bison, the Wisent, the Elephants and many others in their hands have not left unscathed. It is always a great encounter.

Some of the members of this series IV did not have the same fate. Born in 1940, their production stopped very quickly and they were never reissued after the war.
They are therefore much rarer and less known.

Why such a quick disappearance? Were they less good than the others? I leave it to you to judge.

Some brands produced Greater kudus in the XXth century as well as in the XXIst. This is the case of Lineol.

This Greater kudu has two particularities, it was only produced in 1940, and it is a "First ever", never before the toy industry had produced a Greater kudu.

I leave you in his company

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With a yellow Mole rat
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With the Schleich that lasted only two years from 2011 to 2013
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With other Lineol IV antelopes
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I honestly didn't know this figure existed until I saw it on TAW yesterday. If the sable antelope is rare and I know a handful of collectors who have the figure, including myself, I can only imagine how rare this one must be since I think I'm seeing it for the first time. The figure is magnificent, as is typical of Lineol's series IV, and even if it may not be as true to life as other antelopes, it surely has the same level of artistic beauty and maybe even as beautiful as the sable. It's incredible how delicate Lineol makes the legs, in this case maybe even more delicate than expected, but again, the beauty of this model is out of this world. Seeing a piece of this quality and in such good condition reach the hands of a collector friend so many years after being made is a joy as great as if it had arrived in my own hands, and it's a certainty that it couldn't be in better hands.

When I came across a compo figure for the first time, what surprised me the most -apart from the sculptural quality of the Lineol figures in particular- was the fact that there was a brand that marketed little known or unpopular species (even more knowing that they were toys for children).
Then I realized that the brands that manufactured animal figures in the 80's and 90's had involuted... If I remember correctly, the only relatively contemporary brand of Lineol that manufactured a kudu was Strola (there is also a compo kudu manufactured in Italy but I have not yet managed to know the exact brand)... And more than 40 years later, Schleich produces a kudu and I, who at the time was unaware of the history of the toy in this field, was amazed. Now what I hallucinate about is how advanced the old brands were, offering an unimaginable variety of species and poses in their catalogs...
I also remember that when I bought my Kudu Lineol it was quite expensive... In the last few years I have seen quite a few of these at very affordable prices, that's what the internet has, it reaches everyone...

It is simply gorgeous. That last photo with his friends is stunning!

A very interesting Kudu :)

With the help of Castellos "Bovids" book it looks like a another Zambesi Greater Kudu. The old Schleich figure could be the only figure of a Cape Greater Kudu at this moment.

It's a great greater kudu, perhaps even the greatest. I think it has a very beautiful simple design compared to the Schleich, which is just a little more frivolous. Fantastic that you managed to find such a rare model.

Wonderful vintage model!

Beautiful model, wonderful that you have it in your collection. That sable antelope is also really stunning, and the eland! All three together are fantastic.

Thank you very much Rogério for all these compliments about the new owner. This model has been in my plans for a long time but until now my banker used his veto right. I don't regret having waited for it for a long time, I think I like it even better this way.

Yes Ricardo, we all have a background in colelction and the "starting point" has an influence on our perception of the landscape. I was brought up in the Starlux culture of the 70's and when I looked at the Schleich displays in the stores at the beginning of the century I was amazed at the smallness of the range offered.
When I first came across a compo figure, what surprised me the most was the size (the material too), I imagined that the famous "1/32 approximate" was the standard throughout Europe, especially since the Elastolin sold in France in those years were "1/32".
If you have a picture of the Strola and the Italian, post them, I'm interested.

I'm glad you like the model and also my pics Paige

Yes Andreas, the Lineol could be a Zambesi Greater Kudu and I would say the old Schleich could be a Cape Greater Kudu

Thank you Roger, Taylor and Jill

what a stunningly beautiful model Christophe!
thank you for explaining in such detail about the history, every time I come here I learn something new.
I didn't realise it was actually so small, now that I see it and the eland next to the Schleich kudu. I have that same style kudu.
The eland is gorgeous, I can imagine that the oryx is the same scale too?
The more I see these composition models the more I love them, they are just so full of character and elegance, as you said.

You're wecome Annette

My addiction to composition animals is worse year after year, no chance to recover mental sanity I guess

So what about the Beisa oryx ? here is a pic of the whole Lineol series IV antelopes for you
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Kikimalou wrote:

You're wecome Annette

My addiction to composition animals is worse year after year, no chance to recover mental sanity I guess

So what about the Beisa oryx ? here is a pic of the whole Lineol series IV antelopes for you
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aah goodness! thank you very much Christophe!

I had no idea that they were so small. When I first saw the eland and oryx I always thought they were huge
but infact they are probably a big larger than the size of my Toy Concept flocks.

Just magnificent! Love them all!

They aren’t exactly small… These antelopes are Schleich size

What a gorgeous set! They really have an artistry to them.

This picture is priceless. I think the oryx is my second favorite after the sable. Mine is quite cracked  but I love it.

the dream team picture!

Indeed

Christophe, that is an wonderful presentation of the two antelopes from Lineol. The photos are a dream of course, but I also like your description very much.

The Greater kudu and the sable antelope are belongs to the rarest Lineol animals, not only from the IV. generation. Which is rarer ? That is not easy to say. Both are equally so difficult to find here in Germany. I had just a look on Ebay. There is only a single kudu antelope offered at an extremely high price, but no kudus have been sold in recent months. Same with the sable antelope. Only one also at a high price, that's all for the moment. U. Raue also currently offers only one specimen of each antelope on his homepage. I love both models, but a little bit more the sable antelope because of its great elegance.

Kikimalou wrote:

Why such a quick disappearance? Were they less good than the others?

That´s a very good question! Probably the planning for series 4 started already around 1935. The animals of series I.- III. often had not a uniform size in one series. So figures did not fit together in size sometimes. Lineol planed to change this with the figures in series IV. These figures get a more uniform scale and also become somewhat smaller overall. The Greater kudu and the sable antelope were not yet in the wartime catalogue, but you find only the sable antelope in the 1958 catalogue and not the kudu and the oryx. The moulds for the antelopes were probably lost during the war. Both, kudu and sable antelopes are really unique models and belong to the most beautiful figures of the IV. generation. They were also modelled by Albert Caasmann, who is also very well known as a sculptor and porcelain artist.

Lineol catalogue 1958

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Big thanks Yvette for these useful explanations!

Thank you to be here Yvette and thank you very much for all your explanations

What a wonderful catalogue photo!
Thank you so much for your amazing knowledge of these figures.

I haven't got any yet in my collection but hopefully one day I can find some of them. Albert Caasmann was very talented, I really like his style.

There are some superb porcelain artists who make animal sculptures and lots of the most exquisite porcelain animal figures came from Europe. And many are still being produced there.

Hello Christophe! I really enjoyed seeing your photos, especially the photo of them all together. I didn't realise I was missing this Kudu until now. I relatively recently bought the Sable and I think he is my favourite, such elegance! I don't collect animal figurines like I used to but Lineol are an exception and I'm more in love with them now than any other brand. I will now start my hunt for this Kudu!

HKHollinstone wrote:

Hello Christophe!  I really enjoyed seeing your photos, especially the photo of them all together.  I didn't realise I was missing this Kudu until now.  I relatively recently bought the Sable and I think he is my favourite, such elegance!  I don't collect animal figurines like I used to but Lineol are an exception and I'm more in love with them now than any other brand.  I will now start my hunt for this Kudu!

Welcome back Harriet

widukind wrote:

Welcome back Harriet

ah thanks Andreas

Oh, it is wonderful to see Harriet posting back!