david_scrivener

No, they're not Britains (they never made a beehive), but A. Barrett & Sons, one half of the pre-war Taylor & Barrett partnership, the other post-war half being F.G.Taylor & Sons. The old factory was bombed out during the Blitz, and the partners recovered most of the moulds and shared them out, saying they would start up again after the war, but there had been arguments, so they probably both secretly realised it would be as separate companies. It wasn't a complete falling out though, and they did co-operate a bit after the war, and both of them with another company, A.Barton & Co. It must have been a bit confusing at times at the F.G.T. post-war factory, as not only was the senior Mr Taylor named Fred, but so were both of his 'sons', actually his son Fred Jr. and son-in-law Fred Squires.

I understand what you're saying about the difficulty of using a Britains style swing water barrow, but such things definitely existed, as I once had a real one. I never tried to use it as the handles were broken and holes had been punched in the bottom of the tank as it had been used as a garden plant container.

I've never seen an actual Lineol version, but assume it was all cast in one piece. There was never any kind of load on the Timpo version. Just a case of them simplifying the Lineol figure so much that it didn't make sense any more. But hey, they were only toys! The nearest thing which might exist in UK agriculture I could think of, to give Timpo some kind of justification, were possible long barrows which might have existed in Kent for those very big and long sacks of lightweight hops they had (have?) there.

Here is a Lineol farm & other people (note 170/30 - their zoo keeper) 1937 catalogue page reproduced in a reference book about Lineol. You will notice that all the lead Timpo farm people were 'inspired' by these Lineol farm people.

The sitting rabbits are indeed Britains cat. #603. Nice to have all those colour varieties - the grey one on the left is rare. Your vicar is Country Clergyman #593, not the Curate #592 The girl is pre-war (1922-41) Landgirl #535 And the mysterious barrow thing pushed by the man is the result of Timpo copying, scaling down, and simplifying a previous composition man pushing a barrow by Lineol of Germany. On the original item, there is a moulded load between the shafts. I'll find, scan & post a picture of it in a few minutes.

We'll all be expecting the inside to be decorated in neutral colours, with an open plan kitchen/dining/living area downstairs, and bedrooms with en-suite shower rooms upstairs, in the by now traditional 'Homes Under The Hammer' house restoration style.

Is the thread going to be for all Britains old vehicles except tractors & implements? With that ***le, it could include the rare and interesting, but not farm, police car, army vehicles, motor bikes, etc. To keep it easier to find stuff, I'd suggest a date line of up to about 1961 or '62. Perhaps with another thread(s) for later stuff, datelines for each if more than one. Perhaps the figures section would be the best place for vintage horse drawn vehicles, say one thread for Britains and one for 'the others'.

Another manufacturer themed thread for others here to add their own figures. Timeline: The Pixyland Manufacturing Company started up at Stoke Newington in 1921. F Kew & Company started up at Brockley, south-east London in 1926. F Kew bought out Pixyland in 1931. They continued to use some Pixyland models, but as few items from either company are marked, and few illustrated catalogues or boxed sets have been found by present day collectors, it is difficult to determine a specific origin of many, which is why collectors always lump the two companies together. F. Kew, like all their competitors, ceased toy production in 1940 because of the war, and probably weren't revived, although that is not entirely clear. What is now known, which adds further complications when trying to sort out 'who made what', is that Timpo bought some Pixyland/Kew moulds (bought directly? or via Stoddart? another complication) and produced them circa 1948-54. One can sometimes make a good guess when and who made items by their paint style and apparent age. 4 photos of their farm/garden range, and one of their hunt figures: And lastly, their large scale poultry figures. Note bottom right, a standard Britains lead hen to show size, and the large brown hen balancing on its own feet (i.e. no base) next to it is an 'unknown'. Made in France? Germany? USA? Does anyone know?

This is a thread for members to post their aluminium figures, obviously with me kicking it off with mine. Wend-Al, based at Blandford in Dorset, was the only UK manufacturer of aluminium figures, a toy figure material which was somewhat more popular in some Continental countries. Quiralu in France was one of the biggest, and there was an arrangement with Quiralu to provide Wend-Al with moulds and expertise to get them started. Wend-Al only made aluminium toys for about a decade, 1946 to 1956, although the owner did produce a few figures in his garage as a hobby after the company ceased making aluminum toys, but continued making other stuff. Aluminium figures are not usually marked with a company name, although stickers can be found still attached to a few in very good condition. There is a book about Wend-Al, written by enthusiast Philip Dean (& very good it is too), and I think there are also reference books about Quiralu and other European aluminium figures, but I don't have those. Some aluminium figures can be found in other general toy soldier/figure reference books, such as those by Richard O'Brien. It seems it is impossible to make finely detailed figures from aluminium, so they tend to be a bit crude and cartoony, but if in good paint condition they do have a lot of charm. Because of their style, few of them look 'right' displayed with Britains or figures by many other companies, but they do look good with lead figures by some companies which are also a bit stylised or just plain crude, such as Segal and some by Charbens, JoHillCo, etc. Note that some of the animals (see calf and goat) exist in two versions, with a base (earlier) or without a base (later - base lost to reduce costs).

This is mine: Is your box the same or different? And can you give an approx date within the overall 1978-86 period?

There are some old lead figures about which are slightly larger, which would probably look better if this cottage was displayed as a set piece on its own. I think some of the Hornby & Dinky railway passengers & similar would be about right. Not sure what scale they're supposed to be 1:64? or nearer 1:50? Indeed, I'm not sure what scale the cottage is supposed to be, but I thought definitely bigger than 1:76

Can I ask, how much did it cost? Do you consider the price you paid cheap/about right/top end? And also, were there different versions of the item and/or the packaging? I ask because I have one, also mint/boxed/bollards on sprue, although no winch rope. I didn't know it was supposed to have a winch rope. No mention of one in the relevant catalogues 1978-85. As almost all of my collection is pre about 1966 (a lot of it pre 1940), I don't keep up to date on current values of Britains items made much after 1970.

Yep, nice tree & flower bed, also like the dog, but perhaps the people are a litttle under-scale. (difficult to tell for sure in the photo, would be clearer if one was right by the door)

Excellent job Sue. Now all it needs are some people, perhaps with a dog, and a tree, garden shed or something. I think Crescent made a smallish scale lead flower bed with their garage forecourt set which would probably look OK in it. Not being a railway enthusiast, i don't know if there are any other suitable small scale flower beds in existence which would fit in, but am guessing there are.

How about starting a thread in the 'other makes' figures section called 'Small Scale Figures' with some photos of your Liliput Vale collection? Then I'll add a few photos of my small scale figures, a mix of Britains Liliput and small scale lead Crescent farm. I think I've only got one 'Penny Toy', an artillery horses/limber/gun team, which isn't exactly farm related. Perhaps someone else here has some to add as well.

Interesting item the tiny horse & cart at the front, an example of a 'Penny Toy' (once mostly sold in street markets), I'd guess made in France.

It seemed like the usual mixt of stands, although a bit fewer than normal, which was especially noticable up on the balcony. As with any toy fair, antiques fair, car boot sale or whatever, it is largely a matter of luck as to whether it is peceived as good or bad, depending on whether you've found something good/cheap, or one those items you've been looking for for ages. I didn't find anything in the last category, but got a nice little wooden farmyard for £20 (with the last plastic items listed below thrown in the deal), which was a bit basic, so clearly a bargain basement version when made, possibly circa 1960. I wouldn't normally have bought one so 'toy-like', but it had a few design details which suggested it might have been made by the same unknown people who made the farm buildings for Britains 1959-62. Another buy, also £20, was a boxed set of Britains 2nd grade lead cowboys & indians. circa 1946-50? Plus a selection of odd figures from various stands: Britains lead boar & sow #596 in pink, girl with bucket #747, tan overalls, all 3 items excellent condition & cheap! Wendal aluminium Jersey cow, brown bear & zebra. F.G.Taylor flock covered lead Shire horse and smaller horse. Cherilea plastic rhinoceros Hilco plastic Indian chief 2x Timpo plastic Waterloo soldiers, 1 British, 1 French.

SM Toy fair is all inside - unlike the antique fairs and 'fleamarkets' held there which are part outside.

As all the original run fencing had gone, I think what you've done is fine. If one or two sides had remained, I would have preferred a restoration as it was, if I could find reasonably matching materials of course. I look forward to meeting you at last on Sunday, when you can have another matching (apart from the side door) pig sty to restore, plus a few more projects to keep you busy.

Well done with the Wend-Al horse on the base, those early animals on bases a relatively rare. Britains didn't make a beehive so it must be JoHillCo or Pixyland/Kew (both square type, white or cream with green or red roof, P/K one is smaller) or Barrett & Sons (formerly half of T&B, a rounded yellow one, later made in plastic), unless a French or other foreign make of course.

There is only one truly classic driving song, the 1974 'Autobahn' by the German electro group Kraftwerk

Today, it might possibly get to be

I suppose they might sell them at a souvenir shop at the games?

I see 20 of them are on ebay already, some for amazing prices. Worth putting some on your watch lists folks, just to see how much they sell for at the end. methinks some of the people who pay top prices will be feeling mighty sick as more come on the market, and prices drop.

I think the accuracy and detail of models, be they of tractors and machinery as you collect, or people, animals and buildings as I collect, is only one of several reasons why collectors choose to buy whatever it is they collect. We all need to be clear in our minds what our main interest really is. New models/toys (some are clearly one or the other, some are sort of in a class between both) may be more accurate than old ones, but for some of us the item itself isn't really the point of the exercise, it is more to do with who made it, when they made it, and who they made it for. I collect OLD TOYS in the Britains and their (mostly UK) competitors tradition, not just farm but zoo, soldiers, etc as well, in both the very old lead ranges and the older plastic, up to about 1970. I had to draw a metaphorical line somewhere. Even millionaires can't afford to buy, or have the space to store, everything. It doesn't matter to me that a lot of old figures are frankly a bit rubbish compared to recently made models of the same or similar item, I want the old ones because to me they (almost) 'antiques', have value because the good condition examples available now are the 'survivors', most having been played with to destruction decades ago, and are a representaion of how (some) people (kids, their parents & toy manufacturers) saw the world back then. They also have a lot of charm, even if sometimes a complete absence of accuracy. May I refer you to the Phillip Segal thread in the figures section.