Collector's Guides

From the very beginning of the Carnegie Collection, Safari Ltd. produced a series of collector's guide booklets and leaflets in various formats, which provided background information on all the available models. Sort of like an expanded version of the information tags, but consolidated into one place, with photos or drawings of each model. Some collector guides also included ancillary materials, like posters. Collector guides were often provided for free near store displays, and the Carnegie Dinosaur Mountain display stand included a space at the bottom to accommodate a brochure holder.

During the early 1990s, Carnegie began producing collectors guides as full-color, stapled booklets. These came in full 4x9 brochure size as well as smaller 3x3 versions. There were several variations on these, mainly in regard to what models and other items were included, in the title, and the interior text. Notably, almost all of these feature the same image of a boy playing with a set of Carnegie models including the early "gold wash" T. rex. There were seven editions of the Collector's Guide in all, though I'm unclear exactly what counts as a unique edition, especially since all but the last two were not numbered. The final, 7th edition of the Collector's Guide was available through 2006. It is pictured in the 2006 Safari catalog alongside Dinosaur Mountain, though oddly, the product entry for the Collector's Guide continued to show the 6th edition. In the 2007 Safari catalog, no Collector's Guides are available, and the brochure holder pictured with Dinosaur Mountain contains only the mini version of the complete 2007 Safari product catalog.

Presented below are various collector guide covers organized by date. Note that much of the photography used in these overlaps with the larger product catalogs.

c. 1989 Brochure (Germany)
photos courtesy Jacob Cook

The earliest versions of the Carnegie Collector's Guides I can find are these black and white fold-out brochures or leaflets. There are two versions of this. The earlier one, likely produced in 1989, features all of the Carnegie models up through Pachycephalosaurus and Deinonychus. The later one (below) is dated 1990 and adds Iguanodon and Spinosaurus. The silhouette of the latter two species matches their appearance on one of the early Carnegie posters. Note that I have only ever seen the earlier one printed in German, but it bears the Safari Ltd. logo rather than Schleich, unlike most other early promotional materials in Germany, which typically only mentioned Schleich, no reference to Safari.

1990 Brochure

photos by dinosaurmountain.net

Early Collector's Guide Booklet c. 1990

Above: This early booklet contained the same text and images as the initial brochures, but much larger thanks to the stapled booklet format.

1990 Schleich Brochure (Germany)

photos by dinosaurmountain.net

This small brochure features photography which was used to advertise the Carnegie Collection in Europe by Schleich. It does not include a copyright date; it probably dates to 1989/1990 based on the lack of Deinonychus and the inclusion of the Schleich prehistoric figures in their updated 1990 colors. Note that this is the earliest source to picture the actual release models, and that they are the "gloss wash" variants. These differ appreciably from the prototypes shown in earlier catalogs in their somewhat simplified paint applications, though they are much closer to the prototypes than the "dull wash" variants. The gloss wash versions seem to have been unique to Schleich and were probably made in Schleich's factory in either China or Germany (the Chinese factory was shared with Safari for a number of years). Note that Schleich seems to have included some old Schleich dinosaur figures among the Carnegie Collection assortment without differentiating them as a different line! It seems that before they started their own line of in-house dinosaurs, "Replicasaurus", Schleich lumped all the dinosaurs they distributed under the Carnegie brand.

Above: The first photography featuring "gloss wash" style production samples.


Above: Prototype / paint masters for the Carnegie Collection prehistoric mammals.


Above: Prototype / paint masters for the Carnegie Collection prehistoric reptiles. Note the unusual "rainbow" Dimetrodon!

Above: The Schleich Classics dinosaur figures, in their new-for-1990 colors.

1991 Schleich Brochure (Germany)

(photos by STS Forum user stecal)

This seems to be the first collector guide to feature the "Twilight Sands" photography, which would be re-used in all subsequent guides through 1995. Note that this does not include Iguanodon or Spinosaurus, so likely dates to 1991. This is also the earliest appearance in a brochure of the Carnegie's Dinosaurs poster.

1993 Brochure

photos by dinosaurmountain.net

This brochure is in the same format as the 1991 edition, but the models have been re-arranged and it includes Iguanodon, Spinosaurus, and Corythosaurus. The Corythosaurus image includes a call-out that it is new for 1993.

1994 Booklet

(all photos by dinosaurmountain.net)

1995 Booklet

photos by dinosaurmountain.net

The 1995 booklet continues to re-use the same photos from the early '90s Twilight Sands photo set, with the exception of the newly introduced Plateosaurus. Note that the old Allosaurus and T. rex sculpts are still shown despite having received updates by this point.

1996 Mini-Booklet

photos by dinosaurmountain.net

The 1996 edition of the collector guide seems to be the first one to have been produced in the mini-booklet format. It has updated photos for Allosaurus and Maiasaura, but oddly, not T. rex. It also continues to showcase Australopithecus, which as far as I can tell had been quietly retired before 1995. This was their last appearance; the "retirement program" section would be introduced in the 1998 booklet, but Australopithecus were nowhere to be seen.

1998 Sixth Edition Mini-Booklet

2003 Seventh Edition Mini-Booklet

(Photos by Dino Scream Reviews on Instagram)