Duna's collection (Ikea cabinet and more) "updated feb"

[ceratopsian]

The images are fine for me. And it's a pleasing addition.

[Halichoeres]

Yes, now I see the photos! Wow, the Kleinwelka is a behemoth!

[Libraraptor]

I love those Iguanodons!

[Duna]

I love those Iguanodons!

I thought you would like them, too! 

Yes, now I see the photos! Wow, the Kleinwelka is a behemoth!

Yes, it's larger than I thought! 

[Duna]

It's never too late to start collecting Carnegies, isn't it?  I've always admired the beauty of the sculpt even if the figures are not accurate, and Carnegies are one of the best, specially the latest ones.
As I haven't got much room, and there are so many vintage Carnegies, I decided to go first for my favourite figures, which most of them are the latest to be released. But as I always arrive late to the party, I was quite surprised to see that there are few on sale and quite shocked to see that their prices have skyrocketed in the last year. Sometimes luck is on your side, so as I say, don't ever lose hope!
I thought that the first Carnegies from the 90s were the most expensive, but they aren't. There are lots of affordable brachiosaurus from the first mold, as the figures lasted for many years, but the more accurate last-to-be-released figures that lasted only a few years are highly desired.


My target were the sauropods because they are incredibly good. And I saw an add in the forum and I ended buying them both with other 4 figures I also liked. Then I slowly adquired the rest.
This is the first lot (two figures are not in the pic). The diplodocus head is looong way out of the picture ...




The 2008 Safari Carnegie diplodocus is one of those figures that is imposing and amazing by itself. One of the last "long" dinosaurs -until Eofauna has given us that magnificent figure of theirs- It has more presence than the Eofauna, because of the size and colour and they both display perfectly by each other's side: one "inaccurate" and one accurate. It's so pleasant to see that the Carnegie depicted perfectly the lenght and appearance of the neck and the tail. Only the arms and legs are quite off. But much thinner than they were used to be represented in that time. If the arms were lighter built and hands resculpted, it would still be a quite accurate representation of Diplodocus.




And now my holy grail, the 2012 Carnegie brachiosaurus. I wanted this figure from the first time I saw it, about 4 years ago when I didn't even know what Safari was. It is a masterpiece. I love the pose (the first brachiosaurus-giraffatitan figure that displays a more horizontal pose of the neck). The detail is amazing, the wrinkles, the muscles ... the arms and hands are correctly sculpted, the head is properly small, nostrils are correctly placed ...  My only criticism is that it should be larger ...
I understand perfectly the love that collectors have for this figure and the high prices it gets lately.




And now, my general opinion about the Carnegie theropods. First, the pose is almost the same in all of them: a tripod, legs a bit sprawled, head looking to a side and roaring. And the "easy" and less expensive way of painting most of the latest Carnegies - I mean just painting the top of the figure while the base is just the coloured plastic) doesn't give them the "shine" they could have had with a more complex paint scheme. They look a bit shrink-wrapped and you just want to feed them a little. 


The 2009 Carnegie spinosaurus, is in my opinion, one of the best accurate "inaccurate" Spinosaurus and LARGE!
My figure needed a hot water treatment to stand on its own. I love the head, what a beautiful sculpt.




The giganotosaurus is my least favourite because of the oversized head, specially that dark line around the lips. Please feed more the poor thing!




The 2011 Carnegie Carnotaurus is one of my favourites. The sculpt is quite accurate (in my opinion it's most accurate than most of the figures that are on sale now). The head is simply amazing and the paint scheme is super cool.
No wonder this beauty is getting high prices as the brachiosaurus. I think it deserves a place in any collection.




I found this little one - the Carnegie cryolophosaurus - not very expensive, and when in hand I was amazed at the detail of the sculpt. The figure is quite small but the detail is superb. The teeth, the eye ... are super well done. I highly recommend this one, too.




And finally, another figure that I decided I wanted to get YES or YES, a Concavenator. I didn't have any figure of this iconic dinosaur from my country and that couldn't be! While I search for the Favorite figure (which is my "favourite" because it has a very similar paint scheme to the model of "Pepito" in the Museo de Paleontología de Cuenca.
And I don't like the new Safari concavenator. It's a pity because I was very happy to get a more accurate figure but it was a letdown for me. With the help of a friend that bought the figure for me as the seller didn't ship to Spain, I got this in its original plastic bag. I am amazed at the detail of the tiny teeth, the tongue, the fingers, nails ... it's incredible. And the paint scheme is one of the best, and much much better in hand.

[ceratopsian]

The Carnegies are where I started collecting - I'm still very fond of them, especially the sauropods.  The 2011 Carnotaurus is so beautiful - it always takes me by surprise when I see it!

[Duna]

The Carnegies are where I started collecting - I'm still very fond of them, especially the sauropods.  The 2011 Carnotaurus is so beautiful - it always takes me by surprise when I see it!

It's amazing! 

[Dusty Wren]

These later Carnegies are so beautiful. The details, the sculpting, the color schemes--everything about them is wonderful. I'm not even a Carnotaurus fan, and I think the Carnegie Carnotaurus is one of the nicest figures out there.

Thanks for sharing these photos! The prices on many of them are getting too high for me, so I'm glad I can enjoy them vicariously

[Concavenator]

So lucky for not only getting all those Carnegies, but in such good condition. I miss Carnegie even today, back then they were my favorite line. Forests Rogers' style was so elegant. Here you can take a look at her original sculpts. Just so beautiful.

[SidB]

I had just started collecting when Forest Rogers entered the last phase of her creating the Carnegie Collection. These figures were up-to-date accurate for that time,  but above all were elegant and beautiful. These latter two qualities certainly remain, and will keep the latter Carnegie sculpts both expensive and sought after. @Duna , congratulations on these acquisitions - you couldn't have done better than getting these gems.

[Duna]

So lucky for not only getting all those Carnegies, but in such good condition. I miss Carnegie even today, back then they were my favorite line. Forests Rogers' style was so elegant. Here you can take a look at her original sculpts. Just so beautiful.

Thank you and thanks for the link, I didn't know she had a gallery with the original sculpts. They are amazing. The carno WOW!

I had just started collecting when Forest Rogers entered the last phase of her creating the Carnegie Collection. These figures were up-to-date accurate for that time,  but above all were elegant and beautiful. These latter two qualities certainly remain, and will keep the latter Carnegie sculpts both expensive and sought after. @Duna , congratulations on these acquisitions - you couldn't have done better than getting these gems.

Thank you SidB, I share your opinion! The sculpt is super elegant and detailed.

[Bokisaurus]

Awww those classic Carnegie models! I love that era of Carnegie. Wonderful new additions to your collection!😃

[Halichoeres]

Congrats on getting these beautiful figures! I feel lucky to have started collecting when I did, right as the Carnegie line ended. I got the Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus for $40 each.

[Duna]

Thanks B @Bokisaurus and @Halichoeres Wow that's luck ... because those figures were very good in that time and people started collecting before it was too late. Now my sensation is that if there's a figure I like and it's going to be discontinued, go on and get it before it's too late. For example I think Safari Nigersaurus and Scutosaurus are very good figures. Same as some from Bullyland. No wonder other collectors have thought the same.

And now the last Carnegies (I also got a tyrannosaurus but I forgot to take the pic):




The mammooth is not from the latest Carnegies (that I decided to collect) but it was included in the sauropods lot and it's a magnificent figure. Large and very well sculpted. And I didn't have any woolly mammooth because I was waiting for one from Eofauna. But this will make my wait happier (and I don't plan to get rid of it).




The Carnegie Miragaia is another figure that is getting exorbitant prices too (I was so lucky to have it included in the lot) and no wonder why: it's an amazing figure. I think it still stands very well next to the PNSO figure which I also have. And the spikes look more plausible.






Thanks to a friend I got the two marine reptiles and I'm very thankful because they are very good figures. The tylosaurus has a very nice and glossy paint. I think it's one of the best old representations with the eely tail.




The Carnegie ichthyosaurus is another beauty. It looks just like what you could expect from a modern figure from a top company, not a children toy. The complex paint scheme, the superdetailed head, the ammonite itself (its detail is amazing!). I'm not an expert in marine reptiles but probably the new Safari version is more accurate talking about the colors, but this has more presence.




And now the Fantastic Four, what a lovely group. It's amazing that the Invicta ichthyosaurus sculpt is from 1986 and was a very good figure in that time. The painted version is a bit later, but used the same sculpt. The WWD Toyway Ophthalmosaurus is another figure that displays incredible in any collection and my favourite from the WWD set.

[Halichoeres]

Another excellent batch. Although officially I don't collect Cenozoic animals, even I have that mammoth--it's that good!

[Concavenator]

Nice catches. Again, it's surprising how you were able to track down in a relatively short amount of time figures that some people have been searching for years!

[Duna]

Nice catches. Again, it's surprising how you were able to track down in a relatively short amount of time figures that some people have been searching for years!

I'd say a lot of search, a much of luck and bit of help.

[Bokisaurus]

Yes, more of those Carnegie beauties! Glad you are able to acquire most of them. Seen as a group all together they really make a stunning display!

[Duna]

I wasn't interested in buying figures from REBOR because of the price and while being nice models, they are mostly inspired in Jurassic Park style and I tend to buy only accurate.
Until now, because I got in love with this model from the first time I saw it.
I bought my REBOR Tyrannosaurus Kiss (lipped version) in AliExpress (it's a time limited figure). I had received it last week but I was on holiday so I didn't collect the parcel until today.

And WOW! What a beauty It's my most expensive dino figure but it's totally worthy.
And that's THE SIZE a rex figure should have! Super bulky, absolutely impressive.

The box is small because it comes with the tail unattached. It's very well protected.






The tail is bendable too, so you can pose it as you want and help balance the figure.
I posed mine like this. It comes with a card and a clear rod for extra security.




For those worried about the dark colours of Kiss, it has a (quite) generous brown wash so it looks very natural, just as a real large animal covered in dust. I highly recommend it, it looks very lifelike.



Mine closes the mouth perfectly and it's incredible how an animal can look so nice and powerful just without showing a single tooth. It has a perfect front view, too.




I applied generously olive oil in the tail insert and it went super soft and adjusted better than I thought. Less seam than some I've seen in a few reviews/pictures. In the right side is almost unnoticeable, more in the left definitely but unappreciable from a distance. I think that if the colours of the tail matched better with the body, it would be almost imposible to appreciate, if the edge of the inner part was painted just like the stripe it contacts with. If I would be bothered by the left side seam I could correct it by the matching colours or the seam but doesn't bother me.



Here with the rod:




I would have preferred that the insert of the arms was a bit less visible (in my figure the left arm rotates perfectly and I can position it in several different ways), they could have been disguised as a wrinkle).


Of course it reminds me of "Hank" the father rex in Prehistoric Planet. It's pleasantly incredible that both REBOR and Prehistoric Planet made a Tyrannosaurus just in the same accurate look without knowing each other design, but that's for me very good news as that shows how a Tyrannosaurus should look like.
I'm sure Eofauna's T. imperator model will look very much the same so that's another sure buy. But this model will be much larger so will always be more impressive. It's a model with a forever stay ticket at my home.






Teeth are very sharp and don't look too large (as I think they probably should be in real).
But I love the closed mouth look, we have a lot of roaring dinos and even the ones that aren't, still show the teeth. The front view is menacing and gives out a sense of pure power but also calmness at the same time.

Feet are well padded and legs look powerful.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for all the photos, it's a good-looking figure. I'm curious about the olive oil: is it used to soften the plastic and then washed off, or as a lubricant when attaching the tail? I would have assumed that it would eventually go rancid in the latter case.