DANONE dinosaur collection - 1993 Official Jurassic Park

[Duna]

Just like everywhere, Jurassic Park and dinosaur fever filled everything with lots of figures in 1993. You could get them in cereal packages, sausages, dairy products ... And it was a dream came true for a dinosaur lover like me.

One of the first dinosaurs I ever got were the Official Jurassic Park Danone Collection that were given for free with yoghourts (only in the 16 unit packs). You may wonder how came a Spanish dairy company to distribute an exclusive Jurassic Park collection designed for and released only by them? A surprising mistery ...

So I ate so many yoghourts I almost got fed up, but I finally got this lovely (and incomplete) bunch of figures: tyrannosaurus, brachiosaurus, dimetrodon, oviraptor, velociraptor, stegosaurus and dilophosaurus. I very sadly missed the other five: pteranodon, triceratops, bactrosaurus, parasaurolophus and diplodocus.




I must admit now they are quite ugly figures, made of monochrome hard plastic, almost in two dimensions, very retro design, with only the eyes painted in red, which made most of them look quite scary.
The name of the species was written on the figure, usually on the tail. But they were my first collectible dinosaurs and I've kept them for almost 30 years. They are in perfect shape, no signs of deterioration. As they were not painted, they could tolerate and resisted any rough play.

Lately this year, for some months I've trying to complete both my childhood collections: the UKRD (which truly deserves another post and I will write it) and the Danone. In fact it has been easier to purchase the UKRDs because the Danones, as are an official Jurassic Park product, they are very collectionable and some figures are getting scarce nowadays.
I searched for weeks in Spanish second hand webpages and I finally bought all of them. They are still affordable, specially from mixed lots of people who don't consider them of high value. The price increases when the seller knows a bit about them but still they are not Invictas ...

Finally the whole collection of 12 figures:




Just for the curious, I've added two pictures (they are not mine but from todocoleccion website) so you can have a look at the original plastic package that was placed between the two rows of the 8 yoghourts that completed the 16 pack. It was very common that the cardboard package that wrapped the yoghourts was torn and the figure stolen. You got very lucky if you came across one intact package.

On the top part of the card it says: "1 Dinosaur for your collection". On the margin of the card it said: "TM (c) 1993 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS INC. & AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT INC. Licensed by ELG".






In my search I've also came across some nice surprises like the other color versions some of this figures were also released in. I couldn't pass on them, of course! Some figures were very common in both colors, but some of them just look like a factory issue of putting the plastic for a concrete species in the mold for other ones. Some are so special that the may be unique! A gem for collectors ...
The only figures that came in other colors were:

- Light green velociraptor and a little darker version (maybe made of mixing finished plastic batches).
- Bactrosaurus: sand color and a very dark green version. They were the most common. There was a very rare orangish one.
- Parasauroloplus: light green with some green mixed color and a very dark green version. Those were common, too.
- And a total surprise: I've never ever seen an stegosaurus in other color that a light brown that was exclusive to that figure, but I was shocked when I saw a dark green version (with no painted eyes - that was a common issue in some figures)!


Extremely rare dark green stegosaurus. Never seen in any collectors publication. There was also a unique dark brown version but it had already been sold.


The triceratops in normal color mixed brown-blue, greyish blue and brown.


This is the bactrosaurus in three colors. In fact it is the only figure of this species by now. By the way it's a very nice figure, the best in the collection. I can't believe no one has done another one in almost 30 years!


Dark and light green Parasaurolophus.


Common dark green, light green (very rare) and a mixed green version that is a tone between.


Common orange and a very rare sand-colored Pteranodon.


I understand most members may not have interest in these figures, but I just wanted to tell the story of this so special collection for me and most Spanish children (adults now . By the way, as all Jurassic Park merchandising, they are very collectable so some may also like them.
If a forum member needs help to purchase one or more of this figures, you can count on me, no doubt. And if @DinoToyCollector wants the individual pictures of the figures, I can also pass them, no problem.

Here is a video review (not mine) in found in English of the collection. Some of the two color versions appear in it, too!

https://youtu.be/z89apI0zWHY

Enjoy it!

[Roselaar]

Very interesting! I had heard practically nothing about these, I just knew about teh Bactrosaurus because it was included in the USL. I never imagined it would be an officially licensed JP figure! And only one of two JP figures in the USL for that matter.

Thanks for sharing this information! I like these figurines quite a lot, they're rather adorable.

[Duna]

Thanks for sharing this information! I like these figurines quite a lot, they're rather adorable.

Thank you! 

[PrimevalRaptor]

Some quite interesting little fellows, congrats on getting all of them!
They're pretty neat, quite a few remind me of John Sibbick's artwork, especially the Dilophosaurus, Oviraptor, Velociraptor and T.rex.

[CityRaptor]

I wouldn't be surprised if that was an example of another pre-existing set where they just slapped a JP logo on it.

[Halichoeres]

Amazing that this is still the only Bactrosaurus, 27 years later.

[Duna]

Yesterday I found in my wardrobe my complete collection of "101 Dinosaurios" trading cards, all featuring wonderful famous vintage drawings of dinosaurs in the 80s-90s. Browsing them I came across a nice surprise ...

Amazing that this is still the only Bactrosaurus, 27 years later.

Do you know which was the best accurate Bactrosaurus figure in that time? It's almost a copy of the drawing, same head, body sculpt, mouth and even arms position. It's lovely to have both, cards and figures are from about the same year.

[Duna]

Some quite interesting little fellows, congrats on getting all of them!
They're pretty neat, quite a few remind me of John Sibbick's artwork, especially the Dilophosaurus, Oviraptor, Velociraptor and T.rex.

Thank you! Yes, I also think the manufacturer took John Sibbick's inspiration in those.

[Halichoeres]

Amazing that this is still the only Bactrosaurus, 27 years later.

Do you know which was the best accurate Bactrosaurus figure in that time? It's almost a copy of the drawing, same head, body sculpt, mouth and even arms position. It's lovely to have both, cards and figures are from the same year, 1993.

I have the yellow one in my collection, it's my only Danone figure! Nice to see it side by side with its inspiration.

[Duna]

Look what came with the post today .... 
Some new color variation of the figures ... In fact I never knew a brown Triceratops existed! And I finally got the orange-light brown Bactrosaurus ... it's the only figure with three totally different colors.



I'm so happy with the new purchases. Now my expectation is set on the missing brown Stegosaurus ... 

[Halichoeres]

Congratulations on tracking down all those variants! I love that they all still have those unsettling red eyes.

[Shonisaurus]

My congratulations on all these new acquisitions, vintage dinosaurs are also one of my favorite hobbies.

[Duna]

I've found a nice mixed colored Bactrosaurus, made unintentionally by mixing other colored plastic in that mold, probably Dimetrodons or Pteranodons. It has a lovely red and orange pattern in the normal yellowish base color. It's in perfect condition and I like it a lot.

[Duna]

Look what I found today in a 14 figure cheap lot ....

A totally blue triceratops and a blue greyish one, with no colors mixed.




A brown dilophosaurus (I already got one but I hadn't post it yet here). In comparison with the normal dark green colored one.