Tags

1989 Tag Style - Parchment Tags

The earliest Carnegie Collection info tags were made of high quality parchment paper, with a wrinkled or slightly corrugated texture to it, similar to that found in diplomas and other formal certificates (in fact, early advertisements highlighted the fact that the models were so scientifically rigorous that they came with their own "diplomas"). The tags were square in profile and only had one fold, like a tiny book, with information printed inside and company logos and contact information on the back. They were secured to the model using a gold-covered elastic thread. As far as I can tell, this original diploma paper style tag was used only for the first 18 figures. They seem to have been included specifically with the higher gloss "gold wash" style variants. I have yet to confirm what tag style (if any) shipped with the "dull wash" figures. In my experience, these are the rarest Carnegie tags, and were likely in use for at most a year or two before they were switched to plain cardstock.

The following models are confirmed to have shipped with the diploma paper tags:

400 Stegosaurus (gold/brown version)
401 Tyrannosaurus rex (green spotted version)
402 Brachiosaurus (gray version)
403 Apatosaurus (dark green version)
404 Apatosaurus baby (dark green version)
405 Parasaurolophus (white head version)
406 Triceratops (black/gray version)
407 Allosaurus (gray/gold version)
408 Australopithecus male
409 Australopithecus female
416 Smilodon (green version)

Above: Japanese parchment paper tag (Brachiosaurus)

1990 Tag Style - Paper Tags

Starting around 1990, the Carnegie tags were revised to use a plain beige cardstock instead of diploma paper. The tags were otherwise unchanged, and the older models were issued with the simplified tags. This same basic type of tag was used, in larger format, by Schleich when they distributed the line in Germany. Safari also used this tag style for their Vanishing Wild and Monterey Bay lines, and oddly Safari used the style for some of their early wildlife figures which were produced by Schleich but which Safari distributed. So rather than being unique to Carnegie, this should be considered sort of a generic early 1990s Safari Ltd. tag style.

The following models are confirmed to have shipped with the plain brown card paper tag style:

400 Stegosaurus (yellow/brown version)
401 Tyrannosaurus rex (green striped version)
401 Tyrannosaurus rex (revised sculpt)
402 Brachiosaurus (blue spotted version)
403 Apatosaurus (green version)
404 Apatosaurus baby (green version)
405 Parasaurolophus
406 Triceratops (black/gray version)
407 Allosaurus (black/green version)
408 Australopithecus male
409 Australopithecus female
410 Diplodocus
411 Maiasaura
412 Euoplocephalus
413 Dimetrodon
414 Pteranodon
415 Protoceratops
416 Smilodon
417 Deinonychus
418 Pachycephalosaurus (black/gray version)
419 Elasmosaurus
420 Mosasaurus
421 Iguanodon
422 Spinosaurus
423 Corythosaurus

Paper Tag Variants

The plain brown paper tags were in use from 1990 until 1996, when the line was refreshed. Several variations on the basic paper tag style were issued during that period. The most common is the 1994 version, which seems to have corresponded with a re-numbering of the existing models. From 1988 to 1994, Carnegie models were given a 5-digit product number (e.g. 401-01 Tyrannosaurus). From 1994 on, they had 6-digit identifiers (e.g. 4001-01 Tyrannosaurus), the extra digit added to allow for potential expansion of the line as well as to make them more similar to the codes for other Safari Ltd. products. When this change happened, Safari altered the tag printing to include the product number under the animal's name.

The following models have been confirmed to have shipped with the numbered paper tag style:

4000 Stegosaurus (both original and revised sculpts)
4001 Tyrannosaurus rex (revised sculpt only)
4002 Brachiosaurus
4003 Apatosaurus
4004 Apatosaurus baby
4005 Parasaurolophus (both original and revised sculpts)
4006 Triceratops
4007 Allosaurus (both original and revised sculpts)
4010 Diplodocus
4012 Euoplocephalus
4013 Dimetrodon
4014 Pteranodon
4015 Protoceratops
4016 Smilodon
4017 Deinonychus
4018 Pachycephalosaurus (black/gray version only)
4019 Elasmosaurus
4020 Mosasaurus
4021 Iguanodon
4022 Spinosaurus
4023 Corythosaurus
4024 Dilophosaurus pair
4025 Plateosaurus

Other variants of the plain paper tag included the large, rectangular ones shown below. In Germany and some other European markets, the Carnegie Collection was sold by Schleich, and the Schleich logo was included on the top front face of a similar rectangular info card.

In the UK, Carnegie models were sold by Early Learning Center. The tags read "The Carnegie Dinosaur Collection" and included the ELC logo:

In Canada, Carnegie models were sold/distributed by Party Pigs stores. Canadian tags from the early '90s have the contact information for Party Pigs listed on the back, and duel French and English information on the inside.

Another variant is this one, which reads "The Carnegie Museum of Natural History Collection Authentic Scale Model" and includes Safari's info on the front instead of the back. The presence of a CE mark on the tag indicates this is probably from 1992 or 1993 and may be a European release. Both the inside and back of the tag has the fact tables written in Spanish, French, and Italian. This must have been the non-German (therefore non-Schleich) European tags.

1996 Tag Style - "Color Bar Tags"

With the line refresh in 1996, the old paper tags were replaced with glossy, full-color tags including a photo of the model on the front. These had a mottled tan background, similar to a "stone" texture, with the Safari Ltd. alligator logo and three color bars across the bottom, the same color scheme which was already in use for the boxed Carnegie models and had been since around 1994. Instead of gold elastic thread, the tags were now secured around each model using a white beaded plastic zip tie. 1995's Plateosaurus was the last new model shipped with the brown paper tag, though the resculpted and repainted Stegosaurus, released in 1996, also initially came with the original tag style.

The first new models to have the triple bar color tag style included Deinosuchus and the resculpted Maiasaura in 1996. Because the triple color bar tags debuted in 1996, the models which retired in 1997 only had them for a very short period of time. Smilodons, Euoplocephaluses, Deinonychuses, and Dimetrodons with the triple color bar tags are probably fairly rare for this reason (Smilodon with color tag pictured below). Carnotaurus, Kronosaurus, and Saltasaurus were the last models to ship with the triple color bar tag style.

As you can see above in the images, this tag style also came in two versions: a small tag and a large tag, often with variant photos of the model. The large tag was a single fold and the small tag was a double fold.

The following models are confirmed to have shipped with the triple-bar color tag style:

4000 Stegosaurus (orange/black version)
4001 Tyrannosaurus rex (revised sculpt)
4002 Brachiosaurus
4003 Apatosaurus
4004 Apatosaurus baby (revised sculpt)
4005 Parasaurolophus
4005 Parasaurolophus (revised sculpt)
4006 Triceratops (black/gray version)
4006 Triceratops (blue/spotted version)
4007 Allosaurus (revised sculpt)
4010 Diplodocus
4012 Euoplocephalus
4013 Dimetrodon
4014 Pteranodon
4016 Smilodon
4017 Deinonychus
4018 Pachycephalosaurus (pink/blue version)
4019 Elasmosaurus
4020 Mosasaurus
4021 Iguanodon
4022 Spinosaurus
4023 Corythosaurus
4024 Dilophosaurus pair
4025 Plateosaurus
4026 Deinosuchus
4027 Maiasaura with nest (remake)
4028 Carnotaurus
4029 Kronosaurus
4030 Saltasaurus

1998 Tag Style - "Stone Tags"

In the late 1990s (about 1998 or so), the tag style changed again. This one still had a mottled tan background, but with no color bars on the bottom. The Safari logo changed and was moved to the back again. The species name was written at the bottom in green print, and there was an "Ages 3+" logo in red print within a yellow circle.

Several small changes were made to this tag over the years. Some early versions have the Safari alligator logo and web address on the back; others, possibly slightly later, drop the alligator and move the web address to the front. In 1999, the "stone" tag style was tweaked to have the species name in black lettering and the ages 3+ mark was changed to one with a blue triangle rather than the original red and yellow circle. Scale information was also added to the front of the tag about this time. There is also an intermediate version, with a blue 3+ mark but green species name.

Note that the 1999 version of Tyrannosaurus rex had a special "10th Anniversary Commemorative" logo added to the tag.

The following models are confirmed to have shipped with this tag style:

4031 Quetzalcoatlus (gray version)
4032 Deltadromeus agilis
4033 Baryonyx
4034 Psittacosaurus
4035 Tyrannosaurus rex (remake)
4036 Triceratops (remake)
4037 Tanystropheus (green version)
4038 Dimetrodon (remake)
4039 Acrocanthosaurus
4040 Styracosaurus
4041 Camarasaurus
4042 Woolly Mammoth
4043 Velociraptor (red version)
4044 Albertosaurus
4045 Sinraptor
4046 Oviraptor
4047 Ankylosaurus
4049 Beipiaosaurus
4050 Microraptor
4212 Caudipteryx
4213 Dilong

2006 Special Tag Style - "AMNH Tags"

Some of the oddest tags I have seen, an apparently among the rarest, are these American Museum of Natural History branded tags. For sure, I can recall Carnegie models being carried in the AMNH gift shop as early as the early 2000s, despite their brand affiliation with a different museum. Apparently, for at least some of this time, the AMNH had Safari change the tag style to de-emphasize a "competing" East Coast museum and place the American Museum logo front and center. Though clearly the same exact models available elsewhere and presumably with the same imprint stamps, these tags do not say "The Carnegie Collection" anywhere on them, and there is only a small Carnegie Museum logo on the back next to the Safari Ltd. logo. I do not know how many different models were shipped by Safari with this unique tag style, but I would assume it encompasses the early 2000s run of figures. Note that at least some of these AMNH tags carry a copyright of 1998, but the presence of the Carnegie exclamation point logo implies they actually date to the early 2000s.

In 2006, Safari produced a feathered dinosaur "Toob" of mini figures (some of which were also sold as keychains) to coincide with the museum's temporary "Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries" exhibit. This was also the year Safari and the Carnegie released a set of larger scale feathered dinosaur models, which seems like too much of a coincidence to not have been at least partially influenced by the AMNH partnership. While I personally recall the Carnegie feathered dinosaur figures being featured prominently in the gift shop of that 2006 exhibit, I unfortunately do not recall if they used the AMHH branded tags, but it's a safe bet these were produced as part of that collaboration.

2007 Tag Style - "Map Tags"

In 2007, the second line refresh introduced another major change to the tags. The background was pale green with a map pattern. The color bar along the bottom was back, but now in solid light yellow. The bar included a square 3+ logo in red, and the name of the species in black lettering. The 2000s-era Safari alligator logo occupied the top, under which was the new Carnegie Museum logo (blue exclamation point), replacing the old 'four rectangular prisms' logo that had appeared on the back of every tag since 1988.

The following models are confirmed to have shipped with the map tag style:

4014 Pteranodon (brown version)
4036 Triceratops (remake)
4042 Woolly Mammoth*
4044 Albertasaurus
4045 Sinraptor
4051 Amargasaurus
4054 Dilodocus (remake)
4101 Tanystropheus (brown version)
4106 Velociraptor (brown version)
4108 Iguanodon (brown version)
4109 Allosaurus (gray version)
4110 Spinosaurus (gray version)
4111 Parasaurolophus (brown version)
4115 Triceratops (brown version)
4116 Quetzalcoatlus (brown version)
4117 Elasmosaurus (blue version)
4118 Carnotaurus (green version)
4119 Stegosaurus (green version)
4120 Brachiosaurus (green version)
4122 Giganotosaurus
4215 Tylosaurus
4216 Spinosaurus (remake)
4217 Ichthyosaurus
4218 Cryolophosaurus

*Interestingly, the Woolly Mammoth's map tag showed a picture of the Wild Safari mammoth instead of the Carnegie one! Check it out:

2011 Tag Style - "Diagonal Tags"

This tag style is still a bit of a mystery (thanks very much to Instagram user dinglemcspringlefairy for providing the clearer Caudipteryx pics below). I think based on the fact that it shipped with Miragaia, this tag style must have been the final Carnegie "exclusive" tag style and was quickly superseded by Safari's decision to use Wild Safari style tags across all their lines. Along with the original parchment paper tags, it is probably the rarest tag style.

2012 Tag Style - "Wild Safari Tags"

During the last years of its production in the early 2010s, Safari switched the Carnegie models over to the standard Wild Safari tag style. It was oriented horizontally rather than vertically, included the model number on a gray bar at the bottom. The first set of these included the Carnegie exclamation point logo and a green tree motif on the left side of the tag, later versions dropped these extra graphics.

The revised Wild Safari tag style debuted in 2012, and quickly replaced the older version. It is very similar but with an updated Safari Ltd. logo and more muted colors. The green tree is gone, as is the blue Carnegie exclamation point logo. The bottom gray bar with the product number is lighter in tone and multiple languages have been added to the card front.

The following models are confirmed to have shipped with the Wild Safari tag style. Note that finding samples of these last, relatively short-lived tags is tricky, but it's probably a safe bet that most, if not all, models still in production in 2015 were released with this tag style, including all of the 2007 repaints.

4029 Kronosaurus
4047 Ankylosaurus
4049 Beipiaosaurus
4050 Microraptor
4212 Caudipteryx
4213 Dilong
4051 Amargasaurus
4108 Iguanodon (brown version)
4111 Parasaurolophus (brown version)
4115 Triceratops (brown version)
4116 Quetzalcoatlus (brown version)
4118 Carnotaurus (green version)
4122 Giganotosaurus
4216 Spinosaurus (remake)
4126 Miragaia
4127 Carnotaurus (remake)
4107 Brachiosaurus (remake)
4112 Concavenator
4113 Tyrannosaurus rex (remake)
4102 Velociraptor (remake)

2014 Tag Style - "Safari World"

During or after 2014, at least some Carnegie models shipped with a generic Safari Ltd. tag featuring an image with a jumping humpback whale against a space background with the globe in the center. This is the same image found on 2014 Safari Ltd. catalogs and collector guides. This may have only been used for overseas releases, possibly specifically in Asia, as the tag contains information written in both Korean and Japanese.

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