This handsome guy was produced in 2004 as a special run for the USET. He was a portrait of the real Royal Kaliber, who sadly died not long after competing in the 2004 Olympics. He was item #701604 and 750 models were produced on the Show Jumping Warmblood mold sculpted by Sue Sifton.
I still remember when I found this model - it was Sunday night at Breyerfest 2016, around 11pm. That was the first year we stayed at the Clarion for Breyerfest, and I'd decided to take a last walk around the hotel to see if any rooms were still open. Most of the rooms were closed by that point, but in the last open room I found, somewhere in the 600s, I found this poor Royal Kaliber, missing his stand. He had some dings, but was for sale for a very reasonable price. So I took him home and got him a new stand! Now he's a proud member of my collection.
As for the Show Jumping Warmblood, he pops up every once in a while, usually being used as a portrait model for various real horses. He did show up in a very unconventional way last year, when Sugarmaple was released. Definitely a departure from his usual releases - he'd only been a decorator twice before (aside from auction models), and one of those releases was very limited!
The original chestnut Show Jumping Warmblood was one of the last models I bought in 2003 or 2004 before I stepped back from collecting to attend college. In those days he came with a fancy stand sculpted to look like green grass and flowers. His first few releases came with that stand, including Royal Kaliber, and I'd like to find one for him someday. For better or worse, at some point Breyer must have realized most show jumping competitions take place in dirt arenas - well, that and the clear stands are probably much cheaper to produce. So for the most part, subsequent releases have used the clear stand we're all familiar with. But if you know where I could get an old grass stand, hit me up! Royal Kaliber needs his original stand back.
Where will the Show Jumper pop up next? Hard to say. He hasn't been a web special since the highly-sought-after Apollo in 2013 (curse my terrible luck), so he could show up again there anytime. He's been out of the regular run line since 2015, so he's probably due for another one of those releases soon, unless Breyer wants to give the mold a rest. We've seen most of this year's Breyerfest releases, and he's already been the volunteer model, so he probably won't show up there unless he turns out to be the surprise (which I'd be happy with!). So we'll have to wait and see! I'm sure we won't have to wait very long.
Chris Kappler's cousin was in my classroom the year he and Royal Kaliber went to the Olympics. I will never forget our spring parent/teacher conference where mom and I talked more about Royal Kaliber, Chris, and the Olympics than we did school things! It was fascinating to hear about the team prep for the Olympics and behind the scenes stuff. One of my favorite teaching memories.
ReplyDeleteI have owned a half brother of Royal Kaliber (from the same mother!!!) for over 10 years and have been looking for this Breyer horse ever since....without any luck.😔😢
ReplyDelete