Britains Mini-Sets

This Mini Set, 1091 Frogman & Octopus, was released in 1968 and deleted in 1972. It was one of the longer running sets in this series. The set contained two frogman in different poses, one with a knife and one with a speargun; two sets of aqualungs; two items of undersea vegetation both different; one octopus (in a rubbery material) and one base. Each frogman (Scuba diver) attaches to a piece of vegetation which provides a third dimension and the appearance of being underwater. The base can be divided so that each item can be used individually.  


Britains Mini Set 1091 Frogman & Octopus 1 by Chris Sweetman, on Flickr

The image above shows the box picture which acts as a background.


Britains Mini Set 1091 Frogman & Octopus 3 by Chris Sweetman, on Flickr

With a blue background a realistic underwater scene can be produced.


Britains Mini Set 1091 Frogman & Octopus 2 by Chris Sweetman, on Flickr

A change of lighting gives a dramatic feeling of an underwater duel between man and beast!

I remember having the octopus set as a child!

Very interesting to see that Britains quality is top also in these mini sets!
I have also to mention the deeply dedicated way you present it!

Thank you Chris

I like this sets :)

I have the Keeper and crocodiles .

The Footballers Mini Set was numbered 1131 and the scene was assembled by inserting four items into one large base. Three of these items were figures of footballers: one in attack, doing what a striker should do and score goals; one defending, and not making a good job of it by all accounts, and one goal keeper, who is diving to try and save the ball going into the ‘net’. The final piece was the frame of the goal with posts and crossbar together with, ingeniously, the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar. Play value was enhanced by each of these having bases which could be separated giving never ending possibilities of field positions. The biggest base section allowed the goal frame and the goalkeeper to be on the same baseplate. The top surface is textured to give the appearance of grass. The two outfield players have their own bases, unfortunately without the grass texture, and curiously there is a base section that is just there to hold the other bases together before disassembly. On the latter are the only markings providing evidence of the manufacturer and reads: BRITAINS LTD MADE IN ENGLAND. I have two colour variations of this set with the one illustrated the easier to find. However, I would like to point out that this Mini Set is highly sought after and finding one could take time. I waited half a lifetime to find them but just like buses two came along at once!

Great set, very dynamic! I can't imagine children would have played with much with the set: the ball is stuck to the goal and the players don't stand up by themselves. But for collectors, they are great, because they make great scenes.

Edit: I am wrong, the players could actually be detached, so you could move them around. Still, I think these sets are more satisfactory for collectors than children.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Great set, very dynamic! I can't imagine children would have played with much with the set: the ball is stuck to the goal and the players don't stand up by themselves. But for collectors, they are great, because they make great scenes.

Edit: I am wrong, the players could actually be detached, so you could move them around. Still, I think these sets are more satisfactory for collectors than children.

Hi Roger

Thanks for your reply and since then I have added written information on this set to provide the details required.

I originally posted this information in the Show Us Yours section on human figures and not wishing to duplicate the text didn't post it here.

Apologies.

It is very interesting, I had no idea of it. It looks like a match in pause. I feel like a Liverpool supporter waiting 30 years to celebrate the championship and, when it was quite close, something happened and paused it when the goal was eminent.

Roger wrote:

It is very interesting, I had no idea of it. It looks like a match in pause. I feel like a Liverpool supporter waiting 30 years to celebrate the championship and, when it was quite close, something happened and paused it when the goal was eminent.

Hi Roger

Peter Cole's book entitled: "Suspended Animation" is all about Herald and Britains plastic figures. This is a case in evidence of that title.

Also somehow relating to the above in mid-March I got back from a holiday, yes it just about went ahead, and on my return it feels like I stepped into Ray Bradbury's sci-fi story: "A Sound of Thunder". This was published in June 28, 1952 and the story was based on the idea of the butterfly effect, in which a very small event could cause a major change in the outcome of later events. Bradbury's story, set in 2055, concerned the use of a time machine to travel back into the very distant past. In the story the accidental killing of a butterfly during a dinosaur hunt caused the future to change in subtle, but meaningful ways.

So after the event, the holiday, I am trying to figure out if I did indeed accidentally kill a butterfly to cause this change.

BTW For those of us who sometimes wonder what might have happened had this or that event been a little different, the "A Sound of Thunder" story may have special interest.

SO great to see this topic again !!!

Imagine all the treasures hidden in the homes of serious collectors

very fine sets, above all the dramatic ones with frogmen, shark or octopus!

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Roger wrote:

It is very interesting, I had no idea of it. It looks like a match in pause. I feel like a Liverpool supporter waiting 30 years to celebrate the championship and, when it was quite close, something happened and paused it when the goal was eminent.

Hi Roger

Peter Cole's book entitled: "Suspended Animation" is all about Herald and Britains plastic figures. This is a case in evidence of that title.

Also somehow relating to the above in mid-March I got back from a holiday, yes it just about went ahead, and on my return it feels like I stepped into Ray Bradbury's sci-fi story: "A Sound of Thunder". This was published in June 28, 1952 and the story was based on the idea of the butterfly effect, in which a very small event could cause a major change in the outcome of later events. Bradbury's story, set in 2055, concerned the use of a time machine to travel back into the very distant past. In the story the accidental killing of a butterfly during a dinosaur hunt caused the future to change in subtle, but meaningful ways.

So after the event, the holiday, I am trying to figure out if I did indeed accidentally kill a butterfly to cause this change.

BTW For those of us who sometimes wonder what might have happened had this or that event been a little different, the "A Sound of Thunder" story may have special interest.

Yes, it is very interesting, if I am not wrong, Susanne mentioned it in another thread. Something strange is happening with all of us but naturally your experience is more intense once you've found everything suddenly changed since you returned from your on holidays. The only think that is not different is that Boris Johnson is still there. Though, it is the butterfly effect but maybe not because of a butterfly but because of a sneeze, I guess.

SUSANNE wrote:

SO great to see this topic again !!!

Imagine all the treasures hidden in the homes of serious collectors

Thanks Susanne - I didn't see the time period between my post and the last message posted here until you pointed it out - over four years!

STS is just the place for those serious collectors to share their treasures.

My Mini-set with crocs is for sale..

Hi everyone!
My name’s Manuela.
Thanks for accepting me into the forum.
I'm desperately looking for mini set 1092, the one with the shark.
I would like to buy it for a very important person to make a childhood dream come true. If anyone were to sell it I would be happy to buy it.

Welcome to the forum, Manuela! I hope you will find the sharks mini set. It's one that is very hard to find; in over 7 years of collecting Britains and searching the internet, I don't remember I have never seen it for sale.

Do you collect other Britains or other animal model brands?

The person I would like to give it to collects many toys, including several toy soldiers and Britains sets. I would really like to make his dream of finding the shark set come true, because it was his favorite as a child. Finding it here in Italy is almost impossible!

I can't help much but I want to welcome you on forum, Manuela!
These rare sets require a huge patience, the only way to find them is keeping in connection with collectors communities, I guess. I hope you are lucky and it seems to be a very nice gesture from you.

Thank you very much!
I hope I'm lucky too and will be able to find it sooner or later!

Welcome here Manu

Thank you!

You could contact Barney Brown on this website. He is a Britains expert and often gets rare items. He doesn't sell them cheaply though!

Grazie infinite! Proverò a contattarlo!