Carnegie Collection Discontinued

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Links to museums are not necessarily all that important..look at the level of research and consultation that goes into each of Doug's sculpts...be it the Sauropelta and Ken Carpenter, or the Nasutoceratops and Eric Lund.....or the Lipleurodon etc and our own doctor Admin. At the end of the day, alot of the knowledge and correctness for the figure can be related to the research the artist does and who consults and helps with input for the figure. If you get quality input, the odds increase greatly for quality output.
  I just wish that same dynamic were brought to bear at Collecta for the accuracy issues. I think they have the ability to be a dynamo in this hobby, but things like the Mohawks on their ceratopsians just serve to make them look rather silly honestly. Even then I myself am excited to see the Guidraco and fully intend to have one.

[tanystropheus]

I'm not surprised, and honestly I'm not especially disappointed, the Carnegie line just hasn't been, "itself" for the past few years.
I am disappointed however that all those molds are getting retired, I'd have preferred to see them re-purposed to another line.

That's overall my opinion of CollectA to be perfectly honest.I keep reading how they are "the new best" but while there has been some improvement,their quality is still not up to par with how warped many of their models are.I keep seeing pictures of animals that should have straight jaws (the new Temnodontosaurus seen in the toy fair photos with the feathered T. rex) or beaks (Quetzalcoatlus with prey) are always warped into the shape of a c clamp...and that's when they don't have overly wide hips as in ALL of their dinosaurs in the last two years.In my opinion,Battat,Papo,and Safari's Wild Safari line are the real quality lines now.

While I also dislike the warping of CollectA figures, I chock that up to a combination of the soft plastics used and of "safety proofing" for the sake of children, and as such I don't hold it against the sculpt quality but rather to executive interference. I also don't find the hips are done overly wide, I do however think that on a few pieces they shrink wrap some of the animal (which would make the areas that aren't seem overly large). I find this more distracting than shrink-wrapping the whole animal, because it just feels like they were only willing to take accuracy so far, but felt they had to screw up at least one thing for aesthetics.

...but texture warping affects aesthetics and accuracy, though....

[Quen]

Just seeing this now. It's sad to see this line go. I was always fond of it. My very first dinosaur toys were Carnegies. And now I have to add more figures to the acquire ASAP list. 

[triceratops83]

Time to reminisce. I had the Allosaurus and Iguanodon when I was a kid, got them from the Museum in Townsville. I often saw the others catalogued in dinosaur magazines and wanted them all. Who else remembers their first Carnegies?

[John]

Time to reminisce. I had the Allosaurus and Iguanodon when I was a kid, got them from the Museum in Townsville. I often saw the others catalogued in dinosaur magazines and wanted them all. Who else remembers their first Carnegies?

In my case,I first came across them in the gift shop at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in 1990 when I was 16.That's when I picked up the Deinonychus trio on a base,Dimetrodon,Diplodocus,Parasaurolophus,Protoceratops and baby on a base and Triceratops.From then on I would pick up most of them in the Smithsonian on subsequent trips through the years and through mail order.
With Safari still producing dinosaurs anyway,there is still a nostalgic factor even now.
In the mid 90's I would also find other dinosaurs in the Smithsonian from Safari,not associated with the Carnegie Museum,like the Greg Wenzel sculpted Velociraptor and small Authentics line Styracosaurus and the Ely Kish sculpted Dinosaurs of China line.For me,getting ahold of the new Wild Safari Prehistoric World line as they come out (like Doug Watson's Dimorphodon,Yutyrannus,ect.for instance),feels just like it did getting new dinosaurs from those lines back then.

[pylraster]

Wild Safari on a bigger scale, maybe same size as the Carnegies, would be very very sweet. Sad to see Carnegie dinos to end, but Safari could just focus their efforts more on the Wild Safari, which has been great lately.

[EmperorDinobot]

Don't forget the Jurassic World line.

That garbage doesn't...doesn't count.

[Arul]

Just recieve carnegie tylosaurus today after almost 1 year of searching...feeling so lucky

[Tyto_Theropod]

Still, it means that we should start buying the Carnegies we want but don't have yet. I guess especially the new Velociraptor will become scarce, since it was the tail end release of the line.

Carnegie Diplodocus is averaging $80 on Amazon. I should have bought it for $18 when I had the chance a few years ago... It would have made for a really good paint custom piece.

I'm not aiming for anything completist as that would just be impractical, but I'm going to buy the models I want most (about £60.00 in total - fortunately I have the funds to do that ATM, otherwise I would have been royally miffed...). The Tyrannosaur custom I'm working on right now will now sadly be my first and last Carnegie custom. After that, I won't be tampering with any Carnegies as they are pretty much bound to become rare collector's items in the future.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Wow! I hadn't posted any comment yet because I really didn't know what to say. This has truly hit me hard. For me (and yes still), Carnegie was the premiere dinosaur toy line that I always compared others to. Yes we complained about figures from the past few years... the continued use of the tripod pose, the similar poses, the paint apps, the more or less conservative representations, and the minimal annual outputs. But, the meticulous care and accuracy devoted to their sculpts was always there. Like others have mentioned, I too started (well, re-started) my collecting back in the '90s with this line. They will always hold a special place in my heart.

Life never ceases to amaze me with its curve-balls it so willing throws at us. Just when we got all excited about the Battat series coming back into manufacturing again, the Carnegie line is taken away.

I am lucky to have most all of their prehistoric animals, past and present. The only group I haven't got yet is the 2007 repaints. I still don't know if I'll get them all. But I'll definitely want to pick up the Allosaurus, Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus, and Elasmosaurus. But who knows, maybe I'll end up with all of them for nostalgia's sake. The Para I should really get for sure because it's actually a slightly updated sculpt too!

If there's a light at the end of this tunnel, it might be that this will open up the WS line to doing some full 1:40 scale figures, including the larger dinos. -- Yes, I'm talking HUGE sauropods! Possibly?? That would be awesome!

Anyway, thank you Carnegie for all the years you've given us fantastic dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marine reptiles, and other prehistoric beasts. You will be missed! R.I.P.

[Tyto_Theropod]

Awww that picture! So sad and yet so cute! 

[darth daniel]

Wow this news really hit me. I´m still missing 28 figures which would cost me more than 250 Euros to get... I´m not so much disappointed that there won´t be any new figures (except for a new Apatosaurus) as the Wild Safari line is a great compensation but I wish I had no pressure for getting the complete set. Guess I should go for the figures I REALLY want...

It will be interesting to see if this news creates a sudden high demand for the figures left available.

[Concavenator]

Even though now CollectA is clearly the best,I will miss Carnegie a lot.They've been  my favorite company for years.I still need to buy the Carnotaurus (which I think it's the best Carnegie model ever,and the best Carnotaurus ever done as well;imo it blows the Papo one away).

[DinoLord]

Honestly, I would not be too worried about prices becoming substantially higher in the future. Heck the Carnegie figures that have been retired for over a decade or two are still available for pretty reasonable prices. Carnegie has historically had an extremely wide distribution unlike Battat's limited spread back in the 90s.

[laticauda]

I actually feel that this really frees up Safari to have more variation, and diversity in their toy lines.  The wild Safari line is all grown up and ready to continue the Carnegie legacy, not in name perhaps, but in quality and accuracy. That is really the most important thing for collectors.  Now Safari can move foreward with new sculpts ideas and sizes. 

As for CollectA being the greatest now, well, I am not saying they are or not, but I think there are many great toys coming from multipule companies.  Safari, Papo, and CollectA are neck and neck, with the new comer Rebor doing some high end work.  The competition should be feirce and fun for collectors, as each company seems to have realized they need to step it up. 

(Side Note on companies stepping it up:  Schleich.  Most people may not want to here this, but if you look at their toys, their quality and fun factor are really, really good right now.   Schleich CEO's  just don't really seem to care if they are accurate.)

[Gwangi]

Honestly, I would not be too worried about prices becoming substantially higher in the future. Heck the Carnegie figures that have been retired for over a decade or two are still available for pretty reasonable prices. Carnegie has historically had an extremely wide distribution unlike Battat's limited spread back in the 90s.

This is exactly what I was about to say. I think we still have a good long time before any of the current Carnegie models become rare and expensive. Although I feel the urge to pick up the Carnegies I still want but don't have, I know I don't have to do it RIGHT NOW.

[Patrx]

I give CollectA lots of credit for keeping up with the science and speculation of palaeoart so effectively. Short-legged Spinosaurus, feathery coelosaurs, even quilled ceratopsians - huzzah. Go CollectA, go. But they've still got some weird overall issues, like the warping that's been mentioned. I think they have a ways to go before they really catch up to today's Safari products, or Battat's newest and upcoming stuff.

[Gwangi]

I think Safari really is the best around, but I've been saying that for a few year. They have it all. Detail, accuracy and decent paint jobs and patterns too! But I don't want this to become one of those debates. Lets just say that even with Carnegie gone, we still have a lot of great stuff to look forward to.

[suspsy]

Me, I find CollectA's most recent products far more visually exciting and imaginative than anything Battat or Safari have to offer.

[Manatee]

I thought I'd pitch in with my opinion on the matter.

Anyway, I totally saw it coming. Carnegie's been in a gradual state of decline for years now, even though I still do like most of their newer figures. In every one, you could definitely see that Forrest Rogers was doing a great job with the figures' sculpts themselves, although the line certainly lacked inspiration with the three thero-tripods in a row. It will be sad to see the older Carnegies go, though... their new sculpts from 2006 to 2012 were all great, as were many of the older models.

Now, time to go stock up on Carnegies before they all sell out of online stores! Excited to see new prospects in terms of dinosaur lines, and even more so to probably see even more Wild Safaris in years to come.