Britains collector in Australia

John Coadwell wrote:

Thank you for your input.  I think the two images in Animal Wiki are the lead and plastic versions of the Malayan Tapir.  What I have been told is that two versions of the plastic form exist.
Your animal collection looks fantastic.

I never heard of that before

This is something I once wondered about too:
https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t15352-britains-ltd-malayan-tapir-lead-vs-plastic

It's a while ago I asked this question, but I am now completely sure there is only one plastic version. I think it was an error that used to be in TAW (but has been corrected).

Thanks Roger,
Could you explain to me what TAW is and where I might look at it on line?

TAW is the same as the animal wiki (sorry for abbreviating it). I think you have already found it, but it's here: https://toyanimal.info/wiki/Main_Page

John Coadwell wrote:

Thank you for your input.  I think the two images in Animal Wiki are the lead and plastic versions of the Malayan Tapir.  What I have been told is that two versions of the plastic form exist.
Your animal collection looks fantastic.

Hi John Firstly, welcome to STS Animal Forum. Can you tell us the source of information regarding the two versions for the plastic tapir? It would also be useful to know if this source had images to support this.

Britains Elephants


Britains African Elephants 2 by Chris Sweetman, on Flickr

From left to right: 1310 Adult 1:32nd scale, 1313 Baby 1:32nd scale and 1033 Mini-Set 1:42nd scale.

All were illustrated in the Britains 1968 catalogue. The two on the left were sculptured by George Ford and the one on the right was sculptured by Ron Cameron.


Britains elephants 1 by Chris Sweetman, on Flickr

On the left is the Indian elephant, thunk raised number 1311 issued in 1972 and deleted in 1998 and on the right is the African elephant, charging number 1309 issued in 1981 and deleted in 1998. This was the last zoo / wild life animal figure released by Britains. Both were sculptured by Ron Cameron.

Note: all sculpts had no relationship with the hollow-cast zoo range from the 1930's.

The collection so far....



I have a few more in the mail.

Beautiful picture ,congratulations.

Great collection with some rarities like the standing brown bear cub and platypus. The vulture and crouching gorilla are also not so common. And I notice you have managed to repair your early-version giraffe!

rogerpgvg wrote:

Great collection with some rarities like the standing brown bear cub and platypus. The vulture and crouching gorilla are also not so common.

Thanks, I came across a bulk lot that included a number of rarities + other figures I wanted + a lot of the early versions I was otherwise not actually going for. There was amazingly very few doubles from the figures I already had. So whilst I didn't set out aiming to complete the Britains set I figure now perhaps i'll just go for it!

I'll post an update when the next batch arrive!

rogerpgvg wrote:

And I notice you have managed to repair your early-version giraffe!

Yes! The Loctite All-Plastics worked well. Thanks for the tip!

Nice collection,congrats!I'm still waiting to see if I can locate the standing brown bear cub!

A few new additions:

And the collection so far....





What am I missing? By my count there are eighteen more to go....

Here are a dozen more to add:

Charging elephant
Three poses of the new penguins
Early version of the walking tiger
2nd issue polar bear sitting
Two poses of baby chimps
Another version of the walrus
Older version of the red deer
Two poses of young crocs (ex Mini-Set)

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Here are a dozen more to add:

Charging elephant
Three poses of the new penguins
Early version of the walking tiger
2nd issue polar bear sitting
Two poses of baby chimps
Another version of the walrus
Older version of the red deer
Two poses of young crocs (ex Mini-Set)

Hey, nice one Chris! But also:

- black panther
- 1st version camel calf
- 2nd version sable.
- 2nd version of walking polar bear
- 2nd version camel calf
- 2nd version of camel

(the last three I listed, plus the 2nd sitting polar, are in the mai)

You have done well to find so many without many doubles.

Probably best to have a look at Toy Animal Wiki to see what you are missing, I think the wiki is quite complete (let us know if it isn't).

There are also two adult camel versions and polar bear versions (both walking and sitting). They are very similar, but it looks like you have the earlier versions. There is also a standing baby chimp (and a sitting one with crossed legs).

rogerpgvg wrote:

You have done well to find so many without many doubles.

I know, just a case of very good luck.

rogerpgvg wrote:

There are also two adult camel versions and polar bear versions (both walking and sitting). They are very similar, but it looks like you have the earlier versions. There is also a standing baby chimp (and a sitting one with crossed legs).

Yes, I have doubles of both earlier versions of the polar bears - this was actually due to an ebay seller sending two of the wrong ones by mistake. So I have later version replacements en route in the mail. I also have the later camel and calf coming.

So by my count, all I'm missing is:

- 2 tea party chimps
- 3 penguins
- V1 walking tiger
- panther (black variant)
- V1 walrus
- V2 african elephant
- V2 sable antelope
- V1 baby camel
- V1 red deer
- small croc (mouth open)
- small croc mouth closed

Of these I can't say I'm super excited by any of them. Probably the only one I'll chase is the later sable, maybe the charging elephant even though I'm not an enormous fan of the sculpt.

DrJu@551c wrote:

rogerpgvg wrote:

You have done well to find so many without many doubles.

I know, just a case of very good luck.

rogerpgvg wrote:

There are also two adult camel versions and polar bear versions (both walking and sitting). They are very similar, but it looks like you have the earlier versions. There is also a standing baby chimp (and a sitting one with crossed legs).

Yes, I have doubles of both earlier versions of the polar bears - this was actually due to an ebay seller sending two of the wrong ones by mistake. So I have later version replacements en route in the mail. I also have the later camel and calf coming.

So by my count, all I'm missing is:

- 2 tea party chimps
- 3 penguins
- V1 walking tiger
- panther (black variant)
- V1 walrus
- V2 african elephant
- V2 sable antelope
- V1 baby camel  
- V1 red deer
- small croc (mouth open)
- small croc mouth closed

Of these I can't say I'm super excited by any of them. Probably the only one I'll chase is the later sable, maybe the charging elephant even though I'm not an enormous fan of the sculpt.

Hi DrJu@551c

Guess it depends how far you wish to go. All the V1's that made it to 1968 and beyond will highly likely be available in both 'Alkathene' and PVC.

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Guess it depends how far you wish to go. All the V1's that made it to 1968 and beyond will highly likely be available in both 'Alkathene' and PVC.

Knowing me, I'll still try and get the other models and the black variant of the panther but perhaps in a slower more as-i-see-them way.

Are there any other older lines that are similar in style to Britains? What I like about them most is the small scale, the relative scale between the models and the accuracy of the sculpts. I'm not at all a fan of the modern lines like schleich that have cartoonish proportions.

Hi DrJu@551c

Nice to hear from a fellow completist

Regarding other British made vintage lines. Not all follow Britains constant scale ethic so care is required. For example some of Timpo's zoo range are 1:32nd scale but others are not. I am preparing a tread comparing Britains with Timpo.

Elastolin from Germany did a range of 1:32nd scale animals in the 1960's/70's and these are first class miniatures although different in terms of sculpting.

Then there is Starlux from France but I not not sure these adopted a constant scale. Again these have a style of their own.

I am sure there are other ranges out there from different countries and I am sure the STS regulars will add to this information.

Have fun.

Between the 1950s and 80s, many companies made what we could call 54 mm animals (54 mm being the size of a human). They include Hausser Elastolin, Starlux, Clairet, VEB Plaho/Marolin and Reisler. They are roughly the size of Britains animals, but none of these companies was very good at making them to scale. I mean, Britains didn't always get the scale right, but I think the other companies didn't seriously try.

Having said that, these companies did produce many very good real 1:32 scale animals. Usually, the "medium-sized" animals (e.g., bears, lions, tigers, red deer) are OK, but the larger animals are too small and the smaller animals too large. Hausser Elastolin is probably closest in style to Britains.

If you start collecting non-Britains 1:32 scale animals, it is also worth looking into Japanese figures. Again, they are not to scale, but companies like Kaiyodo, Eikoh, Colorata and previously Bandai have produced quite a few animals that are "accidentally" in this scale. They are not toys, but real collector's items of a very high quality. As an Australian, you may be interested to know that Bandai made two Tasmanian devils in 1:32 scale as well as grey kangaroos that are better to scale than those by Britains. And Colorata, Starlux and Yowies made a Cassowary.

There is a 1:32 scale topic here: https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t19036-1-32-scale-animals