Reisler's 'inspirations'

I recently started collecting Reisler figures, by way of swaps with Susanne and Lennart.
It is obvious to me that Reisler copied other manufacturers for some of their figures.
This photo shows older lead farm animals by UK manufacturer John Hill Co. and their hard plastic equivalents by Reisler.

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I will do some photos of the Reisler US WW2 soldiers, and the Timpo originals in lead and plastic.
This set of US GIs, originally designed by Roy Selwyn-Smith, was copied by lots of other companies as well.
I'm guessing several display cabinet shelves could be filled just with various versions of this set.

Also wonderful old figurines Dave     

WOW !!! I must try to get some of those lead ones  

How old are they    

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW !!! I must try to get some of those lead ones  

How old are they    

I'll put any duplicate Hill I have by, and maybe even buy some in if I can get them at the right price at local antique and toy fairs, ready for our next swap. Postage costs are killing eBay for bargains, even if the actual sale price is low.  

Like Britains farm range, they were in production for a long time, from the 1920s to the 1950s, minus the war years. As a result, they are quite easy to find here in England in more or less played with condition, but as you can imagine, perfect condition examples like some of those in the photo are much rarer. I should be able to find some in what you might call 'the not too bad' category.

They are similar enough to see that Reisler developers did know John Hill Co figures.
Too obvious to think in coincidences. Thanks for sharing, Dave.