Britains 1972 new additions Wildlife models with moving parts

After posting Tomy Ania images with animals that have moving parts I got thinking and decided to take photographs of a small range of animal figures that started this movement. No pun intended.

In 1972 Britains introduced in their Wildlife range three animals with moving parts. All were sculpted by George Ford.

The most successful was the Crocodile with a viciously snapping jaw. The other two, the Giraffe and the Ostrich, had necks which were pivoted so the head could move down towards the ground from an upright position.

Although the venture was a success, as all three animals lasted until Britains discontinued their Wildlife range in 1998, no other animal figures introduced from 1972 had moving parts.

Crocodile number: 1325 Length: 170mm
Giraffe number: 1350 Height: 157mm
Ostrich number: 1380 Height: 70mm

Nice models with interesting articulations.

Interesting :)

I have the Giraffe but Anna change it for me in a not moveable figur :)

Very interesting topic, Chris! Moveable jaws are now more common than moveable necks but that solution to the giraffe and ostrich was very clever from Britains. I own both croc and ostrich but my giraffe is the non moveable and almost paintless. Britains Ltd is a classic in many regards.

This is the same giraffe in a different colour with a youngster!

Taos wrote:

This is the same giraffe in a different colour with a youngster!

This colour variantion and the calf is what i have

Variations in giraffes are always interesting! They often are good representatives of different subspecies. I also have a calf like that one.

WOW this is a trip down memory lane. I am pretty sure I had that croc, along with a rhino and a tiger. You could buy them individually at KB Toys and Hobbies in Phoenix. I would say, early 1980s? That mouth fixture for the croc looks too familiar!

The Britains African bull elephant and baby elephant had heads that were separate from the rest of the body. They were probably not really meant as moveable parts (as far as I am aware, Britains never advertised them as such), but it meant that their head could be turned around slightly. As a child, I probably made the bull elephant say "no" a little too often: one day I took it for a walk and the head came off.

landrover wrote:

Nice models with interesting articulations.

Thanks Fernando - the articulations certainly added play value.

Roger wrote:

Very interesting topic, Chris! Moveable jaws are now more common than moveable necks but that solution to the giraffe and ostrich was very clever from Britains. I own both croc and ostrich but my giraffe is the non moveable and almost paintless. Britains Ltd is a classic in many regards.

Agree Roger - companies are adding moving jaws to their models perhaps to stimulate interest and provide variety to their production. But Britains were there first with this and the moving neck features. Trying to get the older Britains non-moving neck Giraffe with paint and tail intact is a hard task.

bmathison1972 wrote:

WOW this is a trip down memory lane. I am pretty sure I had that croc, along with a rhino and a tiger. You could buy them individually at KB Toys and Hobbies in Phoenix. I would say, early 1980s? That mouth fixture for the croc looks too familiar!

Hi bmathison1972 - always wanted this trio since 1972 but it took a long time to collect them. I got the Ostrich in a toy shop about 15 years ago and the other two from toy collectors fairs.

Taos wrote:

This is the same giraffe in a different colour with a youngster!

widukind wrote:

Taos wrote:

This is the same giraffe in a different colour with a youngster!

This colour variantion and the calf is what I have

Roger wrote:

Variations in giraffes are always interesting! They often are good representatives of different subspecies. I also have a calf like that one.

This Giraffe being in Britains range for 26 years went through a few different paint schemes and they are all worth adding to one's collection.

rogerpgvg wrote:

The Britains African bull elephant and baby elephant had heads that were separate from the rest of the body. They were probably not really meant as moveable parts (as far as I am aware, Britains never advertised them as such), but it meant that their head could be turned around slightly. As a child, I probably made the bull elephant say "no" a little too often: one day I took it for a walk and the head came off.

Correct Roger - These two did have limited head movements but Britains never advertised the fact in any of their catalogues they published which featured them. I have a full set of Britains catalogues from 1965 to 1998.

My guess is that they were made with a separate body and head to facilitate manufacture and the slight movement related to ease of assembly during this process.

I wonder what technique Britains used to paint the brown patches on the giraffe. It looks like they used some kind of mould with holes and then spray-painted it, but I can't imagine what the mould would have been like; it must have been reusable and formed to fit the shape of the giraffe.

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Taos wrote:

This is the same giraffe in a different colour with a youngster!

widukind wrote:

Taos wrote:

This is the same giraffe in a different colour with a youngster!

This colour variantion and the calf is what I have

Roger wrote:

Variations in giraffes are always interesting! They often are good representatives of different subspecies. I also have a calf like that one.

This Giraffe being in Britains range for 26 years went through a few different paint schemes and they are all worth adding to one's collection.

Do you know how much different paint schemes?

I think there were two versions, shown in the posts by Chris and Taos.

We forgot one Britains animal with moving parts: The adult chimp, which could move both arms. In fact, this one preceded all the other ones by many years. The plastic version was produced in 1962, but TAW tells me that the metal version was released in 1929. Was this the first ever toy animal with moving limbs?

I get always surprised with how great are Britains figures. I love the long limbs and proportions of this model.
I have no idea if that was the first model with moveable limbs but Britains was quite innovative at its time.

The Britains lead chimpanzee was indeed issued in 1929 but had a different way in which the arms were attached to the body. It is likely to be one of the first if not the first animal figure with movable arms.

Some Britains lead soldier figures also had a movable arm and these date back to 1893.

My original post referred just to the three animal figures Britains released in 1972 but it is nice to look at other animals Britains issued with movable features and we know that these date back to 1929.

What a rarely figure

There it is !!! I have heard several people looking for the chimp-with-moveable-arms

But I never heard of the three others !
Good that this topic was opened again

There was also the lead Gorilla with a moveable arm https://toyanimal.info/wiki/Britains_Lead_Gorilla

That must be one of the most rare ones