Agostini/Altaya "Le monde des dinosaures/El mundo de los dinos/Dinosaurs&friends

[Duna]

Hi,

I'm surprised there is no thread for this fantastic collection of dinosaur toys (and other species) by the Italian publisher house Planeta de Agostini. The books were edited in 2014 and distributed several times, last one in 2021 in France. For what I know, it was released in four languages (English, Italian, Spanish and French). In France, it was distributed along with Altaya. The Spanish version was distributed in Spain and Southamerican Spanish speaking countries. The English version was distributed in United Kingdom, Malta, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

These are the titles of the collection in the four languages:
Italian: Gli animali della preistoria
Spanish: El mundo de los dinos
French: Le monde des dinosaures
English: Dinosaurs & friends

The collection is aimed for children and the figures and books are wonderful, they have a lot of detail and many interesting species, mammals, even plants, fish and prehistoric men. Figures are made of hollow plastic (the bigger ones) and the smallest are solid. They share a cartoonish style with bright colours, cute faces and round teeth but include a lot of accurate details as feathers, spikes, armour ...
Most species are represented in a traditional family way (mother, father, male baby and female baby), some have only one baby and a few are represented only by an adult member and a baby (parasaurolophus, deinocheirus, majungasaurus, kronosaurus, diplodocus, megalodon).
The information in the books is surprisingly scientific and accurate, more than you would expect in a collection for children. The species choice is a gem, too ... would you imagine a child learning about mei, stomatosuchus, majungasaurus or procoptodon?  There are species I haven't even heard of before! They explain accurate information like reptiles not being dinosaurs, species that lived together, evolution facts, oviraptor not being an egg thief, they use correct sizes in meters and explain to children compared with a person, and also a bus, a bed ...

There are exclusive figures that you could only get with the full suscription, as the megalodons, the sea wave and the ice cave. There are also some exclusive presents that were different depending on the country: an umbrella, a rain coat, a textile box, a set of crayons, a pair of bookends, pyjamas ...
There are 80 books, but I found that some editions were released with 63 and there was even an Argentinian newspaper that distributed 40 fascicles-books.
In each fascicle there was a book and one or two figures. The first fascicle cost 1,99€ to 2,99€, the second 4,99€ and the rest 8,99€. The price of the complete collection of 80 books was about 800€.
(you can open any pic to make it larger)

BOOKS
They are quite slim and with enough information not to bore first readers but including all important and interesting facts. The spines of the books put together make a large drawing, featuring some of the characters in a landscape. Each book has on the top of the cover and the spine a colour that classifies them:
- Green: Herbivorous dinosaur
- Red: Carnivorous dinosaur
- Orange: Prehistoric animals (Non dinosaurs)
- Purple: Trees
- Blue: Prehistoric life
- Dark pink: Prehistoric adventures (tales).

- Species books: Most of the collection, they are dedicated to a single species. All animals have their own name and talk in first person, although names change depending on the language. There is a description of the animal, diet, family (incredibly scientific approach that you wouldn't expect in a childrens' book, most of the species I even hadn't heard of) and they even talk about periods and formations were the fossils were found at. And a quiz of 3 questions to know if you have understood what you have read. Finally, two or three very short tales, one about the species the book is about, and the rest about other different characters.
- Thematic books: for example, the prehistoric way of living, ferns, algae and moss, prehistoric trees, living in the oceans, volcanoes, clothes, prehistoric insects, evolution of life ...
- Tale books: the dark pink ones, with two or three longer tales about the characters. The themes of the tales in the whole collection are highly recommendable for children (and parents, too!), for example: respect older ones, respect children opinions and paying attention to them, not laughing at other's defects, no bullying, despising envy and hate, promoting patience, perseverance, listening, learning from experiences, liking as one is, helping each other, working together ... I think they are really good.
The first half. The second half





These are some of the thematic books and the species books that don't have a figure:








UPDATE: There is another version by Editions Atlas, in French, in a slightly smaller size:
Here is the comparison in size of the two collections. Doesn't seem to be very common, I've found a few only. The edition date is just the same as the Altaya or Agostini first. There are some small diferences: the logo of the collection is place on the lower right of the front page. The inside of the cover has a different theme/drawing. The written information is the same but some backgrounds are missing in the larger collection being substituted by a white background and the texts are reorganized to fit.






FIGURES
All figures have a dedicated book that describes the species, but there are some species books with no figure represented (psittacosaurus, basilosaurus, archelon, stomatosuchus, cave bear, procoptodon, glyptodon, mei, torvosaurus and dromornis).
And there is a figure that doesn't have a book, the megalodon.
The largest figure is the diplodocus (28 cm) and the smallest is the baby Yi (4 cm). My favourite are the desmatosuchuses and the mastodonsauruses. Cute little creatures ... 
It includes also a prehistoric human family of four members and a camp fire.
There is a cave made of 4 pieces (3 make the walls, 1 the green top) and a volcano made of 4 pieces, too. The insert pegs are very fragile and it's very difficult not to break one while desmantling the structures.
The ice cave is very similar to the mossy one but it is an exclusive piece only for suscriptors. Same as the sea wave (I don't really have any idea why this piece, because there is no sea in the play mat).
There are 3 vegetables in the collection: 2 palm trees (one larger) and 1 fern. The palm trees are made of 3 pieces and the fern is a single piece.
All these items that are made in several pieces were not given at once, but part by part along several fascicles.

The playmat is made of plastic and measures 1 x 1 m. It has a river (but not sea or lake), some green and drier areas and a snowy-icy area.


This is the complete collection of figures on the playmat:




I'll show individual pictures of the figures with each book so you can also have a look at these cuties: 

NON DINOSAURS:



















DINOSAURS:



























I really like they have depicted correctly beaks and even the inclusion of feathers, quills in psittacosaurus's tail ... Evidently, there are some mistakes and also the spinosaurus is not updated with it's swimming paddle tail (it was not discovered by that time), but it's described as a river fish hunter.
I love that some of the figures are sleeping, resting, sitting, running and eating.
You can buy most fascicles in Deagostini official webpage and some collector pages like this in English: Dinosaurs and friends


Hope you like them!

[sauroid]

those are cute lil figures.

[Mattyonyx]

It's a great line, Andrea Cau himself worked on it as a consultant and the illustrations are incredibly cute, with many info. I have Dad Saltasaurus, baby Megaraptor, Dad Archaeopteryx, baby Kentrosaurus, Mom Yi qi, and baby Deinocheirus.

[Duna]

I got the oportunity to purchase this wonderful collection for me, of course! my kids. As the complete ones on sale (even second hand) were quite expensive, I ended buying only the books in Spanish, and then the figures in a French web. That was less expensive than buying the complete collection in my country. Some sellers have only the books on sale, while others have the figures, I don't know why, probably they have kept the books longer and first disposed of the figures, that take a lot of space.
But I was happy about that. I ended with hundreds of figures, almost all of them duplicated, that I plan to sell as I have no room for two sets.

My girls are only 5 so they still can't read, but are on the moon with the books and the figures. They have learned all the names in less than a week. One's favourite dinosaur is the kentrosaurus and the other's is saltasaurus. It's really funny to hear them prononuncing correctly "desmatosuchus" ... 

Which is your favourite figure?  Mine is the "desmatosuchus" by the way ...

[SBell]

I'm amused (is that the word?) that Dimetrodon is part of the 'dinosaurs' and Archaeopteryx is in the non-dinosaurs series...so close!

I would wonder why these never made it outside of Spain and France (and related territories)? Although de Agostini continues to make materials that are not easily available anywhere else, so it might be their own model.

[Duna]

I'm amused (is that the word?) that Dimetrodon is part of the 'dinosaurs' and Archaeopteryx is in the non-dinosaurs series...so close!

Sorry, my mistake while putting both last pics.  But they indeed clasified the archaeopteryx as non-dinosaur (orange).

I would wonder why these never made it outside of Spain and France (and related territories)? Although de Agostini continues to make materials that are not easily available anywhere else, so it might be their own model.

They have been doing that (about the dinosaurs books, and collections) at least from the 90s and they haven't changed that, so I don't know really why ... Probably they have their own market and don't aspire for more. That's a pity. That collection written in English would be a worldwide success.

[ceratopsian]

I love the way the book spines combine to form a long picture - very effective.  I'm glad your girls are quick learners!  You should have a lot of fun seeing them learn about prehistory and sharing your hobby with them.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I saw a few of those figures when looking for Triassic animals on eBay and wondered what they were. Thanks for this very helpful post.

[Duna]

Updated some new information and pics. I've also added the English version, called De Agostini Dinosaurs & Friends. There are some cheaps lots on eBay or complete collections, don't miss them!

Like this nearly complete: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304222950349?hash=item46d519d3cd:g:BqUAAOSweMlhjo5V

[terrorchicken]

I love these! So cute! Even the PLANTS are cute! 

[Duna]

Added more information: there is another version by Editions Atlas, in French, in a slightly smaller size:
Here is the comparison in size of the two collections. Doesn't seem to be very common, I've found a few only. The edition date is just the same as the Altaya or Agostini first. There are some small diferences: the logo of the collection is place on the lower right of the front page. The inside of the cover has a different theme/drawing. The written information is the same but some backgrounds are missing in the larger collection being substituted by a white background and the texts are reorganized to fit.

[Halichoeres]

Fun fact: this series produced the first toy of Yi qi, beating Kaiyodo by just a few months.

I was always frustrated that they had a book on Stomatosuchus but no toy of the genus.

[Duna]

Fun fact: this series produced the first toy of Yi qi, beating Kaiyodo by just a few months.

I was always frustrated that they had a book on Stomatosuchus but no toy of the genus.

And a procoptodon?!! I would have loved a procoptodon, mei and basilosaurus figures, too. But there's only a book. Basilosaurus would have looked amazingly cute.

[Faelrin]

Thanks for the work on this thread. I've come across these a few times while doing various searches on ebay for taxa a while back. A neat little concept with some cute figures to boot. I like the Diplocaulus, Yi, and Deinocheirus quite a bit out of these. It's nice seeing those represented in such a line.

[Thialfi]

Wow, I had never seen this before. These figures are pretty fantastic. They have such a unique, personal style to them and are instantly recognizable for the animals they mean to represent and are ridiculously cute! Thank you for making me aware of them and for your extensive post on them, @Duna!