Carnegie Collection by Safari Ltd

[Dinoguy2]

Very interesting find! I've never seen one like that before. I guess it could be a custom, but it seems weird that someone would make a custom just to change the purple to blue and not modify any other markings or patterns. The frill markings are identical to the standard version and seem to be painted on top of the blue airbrushing. So I would guess this is a legit variant. Maybe coinciding with the 2007 line refresh? Pteranodon got an upgraded color scheme at that time but was not assigned a new number like the others, was not pictured in any catalogs, and seems to be very rare. This could be a similar situation.

[SidB]

2021, now almost complete, has been a bit of a negative 'milestone' for myself and the venerable Carnegie Collection here in Toronto. Most of my very first acquisitions of dinosaur figures were of the older Carnegies (the not the oldest) , which I started obtaining from the Value Village chain in the GTA around 2008 or so. In the following years, a considerable number of figures came into my hands, including
Battats, Schleichs and Invictas also, among others.

This year has ended this process. VV has had virtually none of its old diversity of quality collectables on it's toy shelves (only three Battats, surprisingly). Not a single Carnegie! Looks like the second-hand market for them here in Toronto has finally dried up, as it has for the classic Invictas. Kind of sad - the ending of an era. A bit like an axe-blow at the roots of a beloved tree.

[Dinoguy2]

2021, now almost complete, has been a bit of a negative 'milestone' for myself and the venerable Carnegie Collection here in Toronto. Most of my very first acquisitions of dinosaur figures were of the older Carnegies (the not the oldest) , which I started obtaining from the Value Village chain in the GTA around 2008 or so. In the following years, a considerable number of figures came into my hands, including
Battats, Schleichs and Invictas also, among others.

This year has ended this process. VV has had virtually none of its old diversity of quality collectables on it's toy shelves (only three Battats, surprisingly). Not a single Carnegie! Looks like the second-hand market for them here in Toronto has finally dried up, as it has for the classic Invictas. Kind of sad - the ending of an era. A bit like an axe-blow at the roots of a beloved tree.

Sorry to hear that. I've mentioned before that this past year I have notices significant drop in the availability of rare Carnegies, both 1988 variants and just more desirable newer models. I wonder if the supply of "these are left over toys we found in the basement" stuff is finally getting exhausted. Eventually every line will transition from that to "I can't believe there are any of these left!". The natural life cycle of a toy line: from Wild Safari to Marx to Chialu.

[SidB]

2021, now almost complete, has been a bit of a negative 'milestone' for myself and the venerable Carnegie Collection here in Toronto. Most of my very first acquisitions of dinosaur figures were of the older Carnegies (the not the oldest) , which I started obtaining from the Value Village chain in the GTA around 2008 or so. In the following years, a considerable number of figures came into my hands, including
Battats, Schleichs and Invictas also, among others.

This year has ended this process. VV has had virtually none of its old diversity of quality collectables on it's toy shelves (only three Battats, surprisingly). Not a single Carnegie! Looks like the second-hand market for them here in Toronto has finally dried up, as it has for the classic Invictas. Kind of sad - the ending of an era. A bit like an axe-blow at the roots of a beloved tree.

Sorry to hear that. I've mentioned before that this past year I have notices significant drop in the availability of rare Carnegies, both 1988 variants and just more desirable newer models. I wonder if the supply of "these are left over toys we found in the basement" stuff is finally getting exhausted. Eventually every line will transition from that to "I can't believe there are any of these left!". The natural life cycle of a toy line: from Wild Safari to Marx to Chialu.

Perhaps the cycle will re-commence several or more years from now when those figures collected in recent times one again re-enter the market. Likely at a lesser pace as the attrition of the years manifests itself.

[stoneage]

It's interesting to me that old figures when they came out were hailed as being great.  Now new figures come out and the old become less popular.

[SidB]

It's interesting to me that old figures when they came out were hailed as being great.  Now new figures come out and the old become less popular.

Yes, they were terrific at that time, often representing the latest knowledge and the top of the line techniques of fabrication. Obviously the overwhelming majority are no longer so, but we can still appreciate them for other reasons: history, sentiment, valued associations, artistic flair and so on. It's why I like to hold onto and even display many of my older figures, including 20 plus Carnegies, amidst  my Wild Safari-based diorama, for example.

[Delisaurus Steven]

I also just enjoy having my old Carnegie figures around to see how far Safari has come in the last 20-30 years. I just recently picked up the 2019 Spinosaurus which has a somewhat similar paint scheme (at least in terms of colors used) as the original Carnegie Spinosaurus. Fun to see how far both dinosaur models and paleontology have come since those figures were made.

Also side note, did anyone else get their Carnegie figures from Key Bank here in the US? As I recall they had some kind of program back in the late 90s-early 00s where you got a Carnegie dinosaur each month for doing something with them. I've always wondered what the program was since I'm pretty sure my family didn't actually bank with them, but of course at the time I was just a kid excited to get a new dinosaur.

[Dinoguy2]

I also just enjoy having my old Carnegie figures around to see how far Safari has come in the last 20-30 years. I just recently picked up the 2019 Spinosaurus which has a somewhat similar paint scheme (at least in terms of colors used) as the original Carnegie Spinosaurus. Fun to see how far both dinosaur models and paleontology have come since those figures were made.

It's certainly nice to see how hypotheses about life appearance have changed. When I first started digging out my old figures and setting my mountain back up after 2 decades + away from the dino figure scene, I considered putting my Battats and newer Safaris on my main display, but honestly what I realized is that despite being out of date, I much prefer the sculpting style of Forest Rogers. There's just something really unique about it that makes the figures both really lifelike in some ways and almost abstract or impressionistic in others. I always think back to the PT interview where she said the original 1988 figures make her think of the creatures you'd see in a medieval bestiary. I think her fine art training and the fact that she started out doing mainly religious art definitely gives them that vibe, where it's almost like "what if sculptors had known about dinosaurs during the ACTUAL Renaissance?" I look a things like the way the Apatosaurus' neck bends or the asymmetrical shoulder bulges of the Corythosaurus, and they reveal a realistic understanding of how something that size and bulk would move and seem in real life, definitely qualities associated with classical art. Despite being a lot more technically accurate, a lot of modern figures just feel very schematic by comparison.

This is also why I focus collect specifically 1988 variants. I think whether due to criticism or just suddenly looking at what other artists were doing, Rogers became a little too influenced by contemporary paleoart by the mid 90s and the sculpting lost some of those unique qualities of subtlety and movement (though a few of the late 2000s models definitely started to recapture the magic). Without a realistic amount of bulk, that kind of sculpting is not possible because you're dealing with a skeleton frame draped in tight skin. And the idea of "Accurate" dinosaurs in the 90s and early 2000s was definitely toward minimal bulk. Rogers is much better when dealing with Burainesque dinosaurs than Paulian dinosaurs (which are both equally inaccurate IMO).

Also side note, did anyone else get their Carnegie figures from Key Bank here in the US? As I recall they had some kind of program back in the late 90s-early 00s where you got a Carnegie dinosaur each month for doing something with them. I've always wondered what the program was since I'm pretty sure my family didn't actually bank with them, but of course at the time I was just a kid excited to get a new dinosaur.

I remember hearing about that bank promotion recently, but I don't think we had it in my area. I always got my figures from local independent toy stores, then later World of Science and Noodle Kidoodle (which is where I got my mountain and white plate Stegosaurus when they went out of business in 1999).

[Shane]

Another Carnegie mystery for D @Dinoguy2 to crack. Is this a variant or a weird well made custom?

Got this weird Styracosaurus from Demarco on eBay recently. Unlike the usual Styraco out there, it is way more blue and has almost no purple/pink on it. Also, you can see the black outline in the mouth is different, as well as the horns black paint. The first picture shows it under natural sunlight in a cloudy day.

From here on the pics are under artificial light from LED lamps.

The right side of the figure seems to be less blue than the other side, but still blue. Weirdly it appears to have white or silver speckles of paint on the dorsal part and head. The blue color reminds me of powder pigments, but I tried cleaning it off with no luck. It doesn't seem to be something easy to remove. The model itself doesn't appear to have been fully painted, as the color of the plastic is showing. So I think if this was a "repaint", it was done only with powder pigment and maybe some sort of really fine glitter. Kind cool looking Styraco, would love to hear what you guys think. Variant or custom?


The belly stamp seems to be the same on both versions

This is an interesting find!

I don't have any concrete info here, but there's always a chance it could be an early sample that was rejected in favor of the final version. Sometimes PVC samples will be tweaked slightly to get a better final result before production.

I would normally recommend seeing if there's a date stamp on it (4 digit number tampographed on the bottom, usually underside of the figure or under the foot) but on older items this tends to get worn away so may not be visible anymore.

But if it had a date stamp it would be more likely to be a production figure. Samples typically don't have production date stamps.

[Dinoguy2]

Another Carnegie mystery for D @Dinoguy2 to crack. Is this a variant or a weird well made custom?

Got this weird Styracosaurus from Demarco on eBay recently. Unlike the usual Styraco out there, it is way more blue and has almost no purple/pink on it. Also, you can see the black outline in the mouth is different, as well as the horns black paint. The first picture shows it under natural sunlight in a cloudy day.

From here on the pics are under artificial light from LED lamps.

The right side of the figure seems to be less blue than the other side, but still blue. Weirdly it appears to have white or silver speckles of paint on the dorsal part and head. The blue color reminds me of powder pigments, but I tried cleaning it off with no luck. It doesn't seem to be something easy to remove. The model itself doesn't appear to have been fully painted, as the color of the plastic is showing. So I think if this was a "repaint", it was done only with powder pigment and maybe some sort of really fine glitter. Kind cool looking Styraco, would love to hear what you guys think. Variant or custom?


The belly stamp seems to be the same on both versions

This is an interesting find!

I don't have any concrete info here, but there's always a chance it could be an early sample that was rejected in favor of the final version. Sometimes PVC samples will be tweaked slightly to get a better final result before production.

I would normally recommend seeing if there's a date stamp on it (4 digit number tampographed on the bottom, usually underside of the figure or under the foot) but on older items this tends to get worn away so may not be visible anymore.

But if it had a date stamp it would be more likely to be a production figure. Samples typically don't have production date stamps.

It seems like Carnegie did not begin using date stamps until the early 2010s, long after the Styracosaurus was retired. So it's unlikely to have a DOP stamp. Though if it does, that would be a major clue!

[Dinoguy2]

Another Carnegie mystery for D @Dinoguy2 to crack. Is this a variant or a weird well made custom?

Got this weird Styracosaurus from Demarco on eBay recently. Unlike the usual Styraco out there, it is way more blue and has almost no purple/pink on it. Also, you can see the black outline in the mouth is different, as well as the horns black paint. The first picture shows it under natural sunlight in a cloudy day.

By the way, I forgot to ask, would it be ok if I used these pics on my site with credit? And can you confirm if the eyes are green or gold? It's a little hard to tell from the pics.

[Ikessauro]

Another Carnegie mystery for D @Dinoguy2 to crack. Is this a variant or a weird well made custom?

Got this weird Styracosaurus from Demarco on eBay recently. Unlike the usual Styraco out there, it is way more blue and has almost no purple/pink on it. Also, you can see the black outline in the mouth is different, as well as the horns black paint. The first picture shows it under natural sunlight in a cloudy day.

By the way, I forgot to ask, would it be ok if I used these pics on my site with credit? And can you confirm if the eyes are green or gold? It's a little hard to tell from the pics.

Sure, It's always a pleasure to contribute to the site. Go ahead and use how many of my pics you need. The eyes are gold for sure.
Also, to answer S @Shane , there are no number stamps on it.

I guess I got lucky and found a weird variant I didn't know existed. 

[Dinoguy2]

Another Carnegie mystery for D @Dinoguy2 to crack. Is this a variant or a weird well made custom?

Got this weird Styracosaurus from Demarco on eBay recently. Unlike the usual Styraco out there, it is way more blue and has almost no purple/pink on it. Also, you can see the black outline in the mouth is different, as well as the horns black paint. The first picture shows it under natural sunlight in a cloudy day.

By the way, I forgot to ask, would it be ok if I used these pics on my site with credit? And can you confirm if the eyes are green or gold? It's a little hard to tell from the pics.

Sure, It's always a pleasure to contribute to the site. Go ahead and use how many of my pics you need. The eyes are gold for sure.
Also, to answer S @Shane , there are no number stamps on it.

I guess I got lucky and found a weird variant I didn't know existed. 

Thanks! I realized my theory about it being a stealth 2007 repaint doesn't make sense since Styracosaurus was retired in 2005. Curiously, based on the pics at least, that blue color looks very similar to the original Oviraptor which came out in 2005. I have to wonder if the factory ran out of purple paint and rather than mixing more, knowing it would be the last production run, they finished painting some of the models with the Oviraptors blue...