Carnegie collection

The Carnegie Collection is a series of authentic replicas based on dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric creatures, using fossils featured at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as references. The line is produced by Florida-based company Safari Ltd., known for their hand-painted replicas.

Contents

Statistics

The collection was first released in 1989, seventeen models. The line has seen a steady stream of additions since that time, usually two or three each year. As of 2009, 70 models representing 49 species of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have been produced for the line, although several of these have been retired during the course of its run. Each of the models is hand-painted, ensuring that no two copies of the same model are identical. Each animal featured is authenticated by paleontologists employed by the scientific data available (although models are occasionally outdated by newer findings, see below). Most of the animals are designed at a 1:40 scale (where one inch on the model represents 40 inches on the real creature), although some models representing smaller creatures are built at a larger scale. Models in the collection range greatly in size from 24 inches long (original Diplodocus) to only three inches long (original Dimetrodon) with all shapes and sizes represented in-between. On the underside of each model is information detailing its name, year of initial production, and copyright information.

The models feature an informational hang tag providing scientific details about the animal represented by the replica. In some cases, the dinosaurs were packaged in cardboard display boxes, in which case a small booklet featuring information on each dinosaur featured in the collection was included in lieu of the hang tags. In some instances, two or three models would be packaged together in a box. Examples include Dimetrodon and Deinonychus, Protoceratops and Euoplocephalus, Apatosaurus and Apatosaurus Baby, Elasmosaurus and Mosasaurus, and Australopithecus Male/Female pair and Smilodon. The boxes are not often seen today, and most of the time the dinosaurs are found free of packaging. Also produced for the collection was a specially-designed display "mountain". The display featured multiple tiers upon which the pieces in the collection could be placed in a variety of creative ways. This display was touted primarily to retailers in order to encourage sales of the replicas, but the display has also become popular with collectors. A second display set was made in gray plastic that featured a volcano, but this design was short-lived.

Models

Prior to 1996, each model was cast from a grey material and covered in a coat of paint corresponding to the base color of the finished model. The details of the model were then painted onto this layer of paint, resulting in a loss of the finer sculpting detail due to the thickness of the paint on each finished model. Beginning in 1996, each model was cast from a pigmented material corresponding to the base color of the finished model. The details of the model were then painted directly onto this material, resulting in greater detail and a less shiny appearance.

To coincide with this change in production, eight models were retired between 1996 and 1997, and the sculpts of the remaining eighteen models were updated. Despite the modifications, the eighteen remaining models retained the same model numbers as their predecessors. This became the cause of some confusion as a single model number was used to refer to two versions of the same model, which was particularly noticeable with the new color schemes for Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Pachycephalosaurus. Colorful name tags were also designed and attached to each model in place of the original folded paper name tags.

In 2007, twelve more models received new color schemes. These models, however, did not retain the same model numbers as their predecessors. New model numbers were assigned to distinguish them as new versions.

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

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1999

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2003

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2007

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2009

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2011

2012

See also

External links