It is with great sorrow that we acknowledge that Astrid Vega passed away July 5th, 2019. Many of you knew her, either from her YouTube channel, or her social media presence. We counted her as a personal friend, and one of the biggest fans of Jurassic Park that we have ever known. Astrid’s personal Jurassic Park Collection was so big; it was counted for the Guinness Book of World Records. I was able to meet Astrid in person at the Jurassic Park 25th event at Universal Studios, which was one of my best memories of the fandom. From my experience, Astrid was a very kind and genuine individual and that compassion extended to everyone she met. She shared her passion with the world. and she truly was a strong pillar and model for this community. She will be extremely missed in the community, and her loss impacts us all. She was truly one of the best of us, and hopefully we can honor her memory by adhering to how she lived her life in the fandom. Some of the testimonials from us here talk about the integrity and strength of character that Astrid showed us and what we should all aspire to be with each other. –Sickle_Claw
“Astrid was one of the kindest individuals I knew and that alone made her a wonderful individual, a great friend, and an example of the best the fandom has to offer. She put her heart into her fandom for the series and it really showed. What’s more is she offered a lot of insight and was extremely knowledgeable due to her passion for the Jurassic series as well. Astrid had amazing levels of compassion and her non-critical acceptance is a shining example of what the fandom should take away from her loss in honor to her. I know I will.” —TyrannosaurTJ
“Astrid was a generous soul who was a kind, caring, and honest person that could always be counted on for sharing her valued opinion. Astrid was a cornerstone to the fandom she dedicated herself to, and will be dearly missed by her friends and family. There will never be another Jurassic Park fan like her. She was an incredible fan, and a great friend. She not only followed through on a passion, she was successful at it.” —CT-1138
“I remember watching Astrid’s videos back in the day, of her truly awesome collection. She inspired me to start collecting, as well as start my own YouTube channel where I would talk about the items I owned. The clips of her going around the Jurassic Park area at Islands of Adventure, walking back into the abandoned Triceratops Encounter area, as well as all the behind the scenes material she uploaded. Her channel was almost like an archive for the series. I only talked with Astrid a few times over the years, but those sparse occasions were a delight. You could really tell just how passionate she was about the Jurassic Park series. Not only that, but she was a true, kind person. She represented the collectors side of the fandom, and did a great job of doing so. She will truly be missed.” —EverythingJP
“I never met Astrid, but I could always see the positive effect she had on the fan community. Everyone enjoyed her videos and her Jurassic-themed restaurant, Prehistoric Land, which I’d always wanted to visit someday. Even now, I think that Astrid represents the best a fan can be, not just in her love of Jurassic Park but in the way she treated other fans. She was always respectful, even with people she disagreed with, and just wanted everyone to share in her enjoyment. She was never rude to anybody; she stood as a reminder to the whole community to never lose touch with the thing that brought us here in the first place: having fun. Sometimes I think we forget that this is all about fun. Astrid reminds us to enjoy ourselves, to share in the fun, and to be kind to each other. She’s also an inspiration to never let go of our passions; she took her enjoyment of this movie series and turned it into a career! At the end of the day, whether you met Astrid or not, she represents the greatest virtues any fan community can have. Kindness, openness, unrestrained passion, pure enjoyment. She had all of these and willingly shared them with everyone. I think, if we all tried to be a little more like Astrid, the world would be better for it.” —Troodon_formosus
“I met Astrid on Facebook when I had some rare Jurassic Park items for sale. Astrid as many, if not all of you know, had one of if not the largest collection of Jurassic park items in the world. It’s rare when there is an item that she didn’t have. So you can guess how aggressive she was in obtaining them. Over the course of the dealings we talked about, our collections, Jurassic Park in general, and her passion project Prehistoric Land. A beautiful restaurant marrying her love of Jurassic Park and great food. Astrid asked if I could provide some of my art for reference to some local sculptors for the dinosaur models she was featuring in the restaurant. She would send me daily updates and then after being a bit disappointed in their work, she asked if I could make some of the dinosaurs myself. I provided a T-Rex bust model that was printed 1/1 scale (It was never painted, but someday maybe they will put it up) and some Dilophosaur faucet heads. I was an honor to have my work displayed there. It still warms my heart that she thought of my artwork enough to want to include it in her Prehistoric wonderland. Astrid was a shining star in our community, a great person, and a great friend” —Yankeetrex
On the 25th anniversary of the Jurassic Park series, Astrid made a video for a contest she got second place in regarding the film series. In the video she discussed how Jurassic Park impacted her life. This video is a testament to what she brought to the fandom in her charm, her dedication, and amazing levels of compassion.
Astrid’s legacy will be able to live on though and not just within the spirit she brought to the fandom but also by us here at Jurassic-Pedia and everywhere else all echoing to the same ideals she stood for and supported. Another piece of her legacy will remain as well because Astrid owned a restaurant that she spent painstaking time in putting together called Prehistoric Land. It is entirely dinosaur themed and offers a great variety of food as well as an opportunity to pick up dinosaur toys in its gift shop. Her restaurant also houses her collection even and it is worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Guadalajara, Mexico. We greatly mourn her loss to us all and the light she brought to the community.
How did she die?