Britains plastic crocodile colour variants

Thank you for the pics Dave.

I saw several unpainted Starlux which was "escaped from the factory before painting" models in France. Couldn't it be the same thing here? Of course the white bear is really white

I do not want to break into this tread, but i wanted to show my variation on the Britains brown bear that i have, model 1336.

The difference is, varying shades of brown are well known in #1336 (I have 5 distinctive variations in my collection, more in my swaps boxes), as are various shades of cream in Britains polar bears, but a white polar bear is very unusual indeed.

There are several other farm and zoo animals which are regularly found in common shades, the farm Suffolk mare to give an example, but some shades are extreme and unusual.

Did you ment the 2108 model?

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

Did you ment the 2108 model?

Yes.

I’ve got a few versions of the Britains young crocodile too. It was made from 1961 until the end of 1971, first in polythene and then in PVC. The most common version is probably the polythene version in green plastic and painted yellow underneath:



The PVC version in green plastic and painted yellow underneath is also common:



I also have a polythene version that is painted in a cream colour underneath:



Then there is the “reversed” polythene version where the plastic is cream coloured and the dorsal side is painted green. The underside is unpainted. This one may be the same as one of Dave’s rare versions, though the green paint on mine seems to be glossier.



And finally, I’ve got a version in brown polythene with the underside painted yellow (mostly worn off):

Very different colours versions!

Interesting, defintely a young since that head shape doesn't work for a baby and a baby would be minuscule at this scale.
I remember finding variations such a weird things when I started collecting. It was hard for me to understand why people wanted so similar figures when there are many different to buy. Well, I was a baby collector then, not even a juvenile, now I obviously enjoy seeing people casting all variations and trying to locate them historically.

Roger wrote:

Well, I was a baby collector then, not even a juvenile,

so funny Roger!!

I've always loved variations. Maybe why I love herds and know that everyone is an individual in it

I have some of these crocs. I will add mine when I have time. I've not seen the reverse green one before - great to know about it!

DaveScriv wrote:

I received an email reply from Barney Brown this morning, who says he "was not aware" of the Britains/Herald polar bear in white plastic, and guesses that it was either for a promo for another company or they simply ran out of the normal cream plastic one day, so did some in white plastic. So once again, we can assume that if Barney hadn't known about white bears, it must be a very rare item indeed.  

I'm a bit sceptical about this 2nd suggestion because (1) it is unpainted - and if a simple substitution for cream plastic shortage reasons I would expect it to be painted on eyes, nose and mouth as usual, and (2) in 1960, when this would have been made, I'm told Britains usually had big stocks of everything, and the zoo range was a big seller, so I doubt they would have had plastic shortage problems at that time, and (3) because this bear came with the unpainted camels and baby rhino, this suggests to me the promo theory is more likely. Other unpainted Britains/Herald items are known in farm, soldiers, wild west, etc.

Perhaps a staff member decided to put a few models in their pocket, before they went out for painting? maybe even more so, because the polar bear was now in White plastic? Maybe they had a child at home who collected these?

Interesting to know that all of these peculiarities are knew to Barney Brown.

Thanks, Alain and Andreas!

Roger wrote:

It was hard for me to understand why people wanted so similar figures when there are many different to buy.

I didn't set out to collect Britains versions, but because Britains animals are normally sold in lots rather than individually, I ended up with many duplicates of the more common figures. Then I started realising that they are often not quite the same and I got interested in collecting different versions. I think it was a great thing, because it evoked my interest in the history of the figures, in the history of Britains and the history of animal figures in general.

sunny wrote:

DaveScriv wrote:

I received an email reply from Barney Brown this morning, who says he "was not aware" of the Britains/Herald polar bear in white plastic, and guesses that it was either for a promo for another company or they simply ran out of the normal cream plastic one day, so did some in white plastic. So once again, we can assume that if Barney hadn't known about white bears, it must be a very rare item indeed.  

I'm a bit sceptical about this 2nd suggestion because (1) it is unpainted - and if a simple substitution for cream plastic shortage reasons I would expect it to be painted on eyes, nose and mouth as usual, and (2) in 1960, when this would have been made, I'm told Britains usually had big stocks of everything, and the zoo range was a big seller, so I doubt they would have had plastic shortage problems at that time, and (3) because this bear came with the unpainted camels and baby rhino, this suggests to me the promo theory is more likely. Other unpainted Britains/Herald items are known in farm, soldiers, wild west, etc.

Perhaps a staff member decided to put a few models in their pocket, before they went out for painting? maybe even more so, because the polar bear was now in White plastic? Maybe they had a child at home who collected these?

Your suggestion is quite plausible, Annette. I have quite a few unpainted Britains. For a long time, I wondered why they remained unpainted, until I bought some from a seller who said his grandmother had worked at Britains. Then I found another seller who also said they came from someone who worked in the factory. And I found a bunch that also had some partially painted figures. Peter Cole says that workers didn't paint the figures in the factory, but took them home to paint them, so it isn't so surprising that they sometimes lost or kept them.

Very very interresting

rogerpgvg wrote:

Your suggestion is quite plausible, Annette. I have quite a few unpainted Britains. For a long time, I wondered why they remained unpainted, until I bought some from a seller who said his grandmother had worked at Britains. Then I found another seller who also said they came from someone who worked in the factory. And I found a bunch that also had some partially painted figures. Peter Cole says that workers didn't paint the figures in the factory, but took them home to paint them, so it isn't so surprising that they sometimes lost or kept them.

ah yes, I'd read that here - so maybe they just 'kept a few'. I'm sure it was like working (for)/in a sweetie shop - where all the products are tempting and the staff have sticky fingers

They are very attractive after all

well actually what I mean to say instead of sticky fingers, as it sounds a little rude, is that they have squirrel tendencies