Britains Elephants-History

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Andrew an interesting find and thanks for sharing the information. Images show the size relationships perfectly.

Now a question - is it hollow?

I second that   

The baby elephants I have, lead is hollow, plastic is solid.

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Andrew an interesting find and thanks for sharing the information. Images show the size relationships perfectly.

Now a question - is it hollow?

My elephant is the same as Dave's, it is solid plastic.  

Whichever company made this copy tried to copy the original in all aspects, the colour of the plastic is quite similar to the lead original along with the painting of the eyes.  I have a feeling that they stripped off the paint from the Britains lead figure before making the moulds from it for their plastic version.  The reason being is the original lead Britains were actually more detailed than they appear, a thick coat of enamel paint was used on these figures which obliterated a lot of the finer details of the sculpting.  If you ever see Britains lead figures with heavy paint loss the more fine details of the "raw" lead models can bee seen.  This copy seems to have very slightly more clear details than my lead version.

At the moment, I'm still thinking late Hilco/early Cherilea.

Perhaps one day an example will turn up in some kind of packaging, a boxed set, trade box, or if not either of these, one of those little cellophane or translucent paper used for most premiums in food products, in which case it will be real problem discovering who actually made them.

From Britains short lived 1:42nd scale Mini-Set series. Here is set 1033 with all that it contained and included the young African elephant, a boy figure feeding the elephant buns, low fences and bushes. As can be seen the box also could be used as a diorama backdrop.

Boy figure gives scale and shows the relative size of the elephant figure. Also it provides an historical context as in the present zoo visitors are no longer allowed to feed elephants!

Thats a great set Chris, they rarely show up on eBay fully boxed.

Yes feeding of zoo elephants used to be very common many years ago, this was fun for the visitors but not so great for the animals. Commonly elephants would push and shove each other to get to the handouts often resulting in falls into the moat surrounding the exhibit. A lot of obese elephants resulted from standing in the same spot all day eating sugary buns and other human treats.

The elephant I mentioned, London Zoo's Dixie, that the 1310 African elephant was modeled after died as a result of such a fall. It is very likely that she was hovering on the edge of the moat stretching for a treat when she was nudged over.

Great photo Chris, thanks! Reminds me of how they transport elephants in Asia (even though this Britains is African), they just walk them onto flatbed trucks.

Chris, wonderful photo and model set! wow.

elephas_maximus wrote:

Great photo Chris, thanks!  Reminds me of how they transport elephants in Asia (even though this Britains is African), they just walk them onto flatbed trucks.

scot(t) wrote:

Chris, wonderful photo and model set! wow.

Thank you Andrew and Scott - perhaps we need a new thread: livestock transporters and horse/pony trailers!

May I also take this opportunity to wish you both a Happy New Year.

Chris Sweetman wrote:

May I also take this opportunity to wish you both a Happy New Year.

Happy new year Chris

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Thank you Andrew and Scott - perhaps we need a new thread: livestock transporters and horse/pony trailers!

Perhaps ? Let's go for a new thread Chris

And, by the way , I had that truck when I was young with the Daktari jeep too, these were the only "small car toys" I either loved

Please help me with the 1:42 elephant figure: I got similar one in Hong Kong lot and I am not sure if I got original or copy. Are there any signs on the original Britains figure (text, logo, year,...) to be easily recognized? What are this figure exact dimensions?

Kikimalou wrote:

Chris Sweetman wrote:

May I also take this opportunity to wish you both a Happy New Year.

Happy new year Chris  

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Thank you Andrew and Scott - perhaps we need a new thread: livestock transporters and horse/pony trailers!

Perhaps ? Let's go for a new thread Chris  

And, by the way   , I had that truck when I was young with the Daktari jeep too, these were the only "small car toys" I either loved  

Christophe - sorry I missed your reply - hope 2015 has been a good one so far. I too had the Daktari Land-Rover - it was a Christmas present when I was about 11 years old and I still have it.  

jarda wrote:

Please help me with the 1:42 elephant figure: I got similar one in Hong Kong lot and I am not sure if I got original or copy. Are there any signs on the original Britains figure (text, logo, year,...) to be easily recognized? What are this figure exact dimensions?

Jarda - I will look at my model tomorrow and report back if there are any identification details.

Chris, please can you check your elephant? Your infos can be very helpful for the identification.

jarda wrote:

Chris, please can you check your elephant? Your infos can be very helpful for the identification.

Hi Jarda

Sorry for the delay but I have been away.

I have just looked at my example of the Britains Mini-Set Elephant. There are no markings or numbers on the model. This is not a surprise as the elephant was sold only as part of a set.

The model is:

Height: 48mm
Length: 80mm - from tip of extended trunk to end of tail
Width: 30mm - far edge of left ear to far edge of right ear

The plastic is PVC and has a slightly sticky feel. The only paint is white added to the tusks and not very well applied.

Hope this helps.

jarda wrote:

Chris, please can you check your elephant? Your infos can be very helpful for the identification.

Did you buy this model Jarda?

Yes, Chris, I hope I have this model, thank you very much for your help!