Britains a year of celebration ..............

Britains were founded in 1893 by William Britain Jnr. The first products were hollow-cast lead soliders.

Military items were the main theme until 1921 when Britains introduced their Home Farm range.

Then in 1930 came the Zoo range.

Little changed until the mid 1950's when Britains were concerned about plastic being the future of modelling figures and animals. In 1954 Zang exhibited at the Brighton toy Fair in England and merger talks with Britains follow shortly as a result. In 1955 Herald Miniatures Ltd, the new name for Zang's firm, is registered to facilitate the merger. 1959 sees the merger of Herald and Britains completed although the two companies remain autonomous.

During the 1960's the farm and zoo ranges rapidly expand with figures and animals made in plastic. The Floral Garden range is introduced in 1960 and follows on from a similar range Britains developed in the 1930's in lead. Britains were right the future really was with plastic.

The Britains family sells their firm to Dobson Park in 1984.

So I wonder how Britains current owners will celebrate 120 years?

That's very interesting! I hope they will do some new animal figures for that occasion, that would be nice. Or, at least one new animal, preferably wild and exotic

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

That's very interesting! I hope they will do some new animal figures for that occasion, that would be nice. Or, at least one new animal, preferably wild and exotic

I cant that better say

To start my personal celebration here is a selection of Britains plastic Zoo/Wild Life animal range dating from 1960 to the late 1970's:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Britains Out of Africa selection by Chris*4, on Flickr

This selection represents animals "Out of Africa"!

I dedicate this image to Anna because she gave me the idea for this display. :)

Wonderful photo Chris, I like very much everything on it, colors, figures selection, composition. Thank You very much for dedication! And what a nice way to start celebration here

Also, again we see how nice animals figures can look together when they are all in the same scale They are beautiful figures :)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Wonderful photo Chris, I like very much everything on it, colors, figures selection, composition. Thank You very much for dedication! And what a nice way to start celebration here

Also, again we see how nice animals figures can look together when they are all in the same scale They are beautiful figures :)

It is a pleasure to dedicate this image to you Anna. My wife, Jane, assisted with the composition. :)

I love Britains too for keeping to a scale for their models and I agree the figures are really nice.

My second celebration image features Britains "Big Cats". So with a foot in Africa we step "Into Asia":

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Britains Big Cats by Chris*4, on Flickr

Which is your favourite?

Here is a different take on the classic museum specimen tray:


Enjoy!

Wonderful photos again My favorites form big cats photo are lion male and the tiger which is just next to him
I like the species selection on the other picture too, it looks like perfect first set of animals for any kid, it would make very good miniature zoo . Were these animals together in a set like this? :)

Animals were sold seperately and also in many different kinds of sets.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Wonderful photos again My favorites form big cats photo are lion male and the tiger which is just next to him
I like the species selection on the other picture too, it looks like perfect first set of animals for any kid, it would make very good miniature zoo . Were these animals together in a set like this? :)

Thank you Anna.

The two big cats you like are what I call 2nd series models with both replacing previous poses in 1972.

I agree the tray holds a perfect first set of animals for children of all ages! However, this is how I store the animal figures I don't have room to display they weren't from a specific set.

Now for a celebration of birds from the Britains Zoo collection:

lovely photos chris! really wonderful. thank you for sharing.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

lovely photos chris! really wonderful. thank you for sharing.

Many thanks Scott - it is always fun to share!

Wonderful introduction and fantastic commemorative pictures!!!
Again, I have to say that I love Britains figures, your African group shows that scale is also very important in terms of realism. Your figures are in fantastic condition but paintwork is usually very simple, howeve everything looks so clever, so nice. Even if we make a selection of the best painted and sculpted African animals from modern brands it would never look so nice as in your first picture.
And the birds, they couldn't be unpainted and we would easily recognize them. Everything is so delicate, so beautiful. If 120th year is commemorated with a figure, even if it is with a 1:32 replica of an ant, I'll want it and also a Jeol microscope!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Wonderful introduction and fantastic commemorative pictures!!!
Again, I have to say that I love Britains figures, your African group shows that scale is also very important in terms of realism. Your figures are in fantastic condition but paintwork is usually very simple, howeve everything looks so clever, so nice. Even if we make a selection of the best painted and sculpted African animals from modern brands it would never look so nice as in your first picture.
And the birds, they couldn't be unpainted and we would easily recognize them. Everything is so delicate, so beautiful. If 120th year is commemorated with a figure, even if it is with a 1:32 replica of an ant, I'll want it and also a Jeol microscope!

Many thanks Roger. I appreciate your comments here. For me anything from the Britains 1960's range is a reminder of happy childhood days. It was a special treat to add a zoo animal or a soldier to my "collection". I too have a thing about scale perhaps being bought up on Britains has something to do with this! It is truly wonderful to see a collection of toy animals all to the same scale.

A 1:32nd scale replica of an ant would be fabulous - but remember don't sneeze anywhere near it if they do decide to make one!

Great collection and photos. My mom has a love for antiques, and I inherited that trait somewhat for an interest in old toys, I am enjoying this thread. Keep it coming!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Great collection and photos. My mom has a love for antiques, and I inherited that trait somewhat for an interest in old toys, I am enjoying this thread. Keep it coming!

What and who is antique here ...


Thank you for the god pics Chris, I hope I will find enough time tomorrow to add a celebration pic too

Oh, the group of birds is very nice! Thank You for sharing Chris I'm lucky owner of one version of pelican and two penguins too One day I will look for eagle and ostrich (but with not movable neck) too :) Is it a condor sitting on the branch? on the right side of the pic?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Great collection and photos. My mom has a love for antiques, and I inherited that trait somewhat for an interest in old toys, I am enjoying this thread. Keep it coming!

Glad to hear you enjoying this thread Paige. :) Nice to know your mum is behind your collecting.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Great collection and photos. My mom has a love for antiques, and I inherited that trait somewhat for an interest in old toys, I am enjoying this thread. Keep it coming!

What and who is antique here ...


Thank you for the god pics Chris, I hope I will find enough time tomorrow to add a celebration pic too

Christophe, many thanks for your comments and I did find time to post another celebration picture today.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Oh, the group of birds is very nice! Thank You for sharing Chris I'm lucky owner of one version of pelican and two penguins too One day I will look for eagle and ostrich (but with not movable neck) too :) Is it a condor sitting on the branch? on the right side of the pic?

Hi Anna - always happy to share. The ostrich, without movable neck, was available in two types of plastic. It will be quite hard to find in mint condition in the older type of plastic but not has hard as the PVC version! I like the ostrich with the movable neck because it allows variation in the "flock"! :) The earlier pelican with open break has the "Herald" symbol on it's base. Good luck in finding the older ostrich and eagle. The bird on a branch is called a vulture by Britians. I tried to identify the species but to no avail. But I agree it does have the shape of a condor.

Now for the "Out of Asia" Britains line:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Britains Out of Asia selection by Chris*4, on Flickr

Enjoy!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

Now for the "Out of Asia" Britains line:
Enjoy!

Great pic ... ... But no tigers and Orang-utan?

Here is a small contribution: The sable antelopes, from the lead to the last

Hahah, I prevent to sneeze anytime I see the Britains "Giant" anteater, so I'll be carefull with the ant as long as they decide to make it. I've never seen in real a Britains platypus but I know it is really small.
This new fantastic picture, has surely some fantastic figures. When we are only used with modern brands, we only feel confortable comparing the larger Britains with other brands. When I received this Indian rhino and compared with the retired from Schleich, I've got shocked with the difference in quality in terms of sculpting. The Britains sculptor really knew what animal he was sculpting while the Schleich looks like someone tried to guess the shape from a poor source of pictures.
Looking forward to see next picture.
Thanks Christophe also for your sable train.

Boy, I can never get over how fantastic that Britains Indian Rhino is. Like Roger pointed out, comparing it to the Schleich leaves the Schleich (or both of the Schleichs) in the dust. The Britains is just fantastic. This is a great thread Chris! Thank you.

I love those Sables Christophe! Thank you for the picture.

Thanks Roger and Scott.

Hopefully, I will find time at the weekend for taking more pics which will include apes and monkeys.

And to Christophe your Sable antelope collection is superb! Thanks for including this image.