#1065 BRITAINS LTD. - FORDSON SUPER MAJOR DIESEL TRACTOR (9525) and TIP-UP TRAILER WITH RACKS (9550) (1965 and 1962)

Britains Ltd., also known as W. Britain or Britains Models is a die-cast and toy brand of scale models and figurines, especialized in agricultural machinery, although they also had more ordinary vehicles (cars, motorbikes) as well as more uncommon stuff, like war machines and military vehicles. 

The company actually started as a toy soldiers manufacturer in 1983, and the name does not indicate its nationality (although the brand is from Britain), but the name of its founder William Britain Jr., who invented a process of hollow casting in lead that was a big step in the manufacture of toy soldiers. The factory was in London, as it is often indicated in the boxes of the toys.

To my surprise, the company is still active, although it now belongs to multinationals and has actually splitted in two. In 1997, the company was acquired by the American Ertl, then, in 1999, it went to Racing Champions. In 2010, it went to Learning Curve UK and, finally, in 2011, to the Japanese company Tomy. 

In 2005, the W. Britain brand became independent and was sold to First Gear, an American die-cast manufacturer. So, currently Britains and W. Britain are both competing for the same agricultural miniature market. This rather narrow niche has probably eased its long life and the survival of many major crisis in the toy market and elsewhere. 

Let´s go through the history of the brand a little more in detail. We have just commented the invention of Mr. William Britain Jr., which rocketed this company to become the leader of the toy soilder market at the end of the XIXth Century. Of course this industrial secret would not last much, and other companies copied the process in the years following the invention. Their soldiers became the industry standard, but as the competition grew, they also expanded into other toy types. In 1907, the name Britains Ltd. is used for the first time. By 1931, they employed 450 people in London, producing up to twenty million models a year. Their catalogue had 435 sets listed.

Other landmarks of Britains, according to the Wikipedia, are:

• Early 1950s: Association with W. Horton Toys and Games (Lilliput generic cars and trucks)
• Early 1950s: Blue Bird land speed record car (driven by Malcolm Campbell)
• Early 1950s: Land Rovers and lorries
• 1950s: Manufacture of various vehicles including military
• 1959: Acquisition of Herald Miniatures (Plastic Figure manufacturer)
• 1966: Stop of the production of lead toy soldiers due to safety regulations
• 1966: Herald Miniatures legacy production moved to Hong Kong.
• 1971: Production of plastic figures with metal bases in England. The references were more than 2.200 by the time the production was moved to China.
• 1973: New Metal Models denomination for figures in die-cast alloy, initially for the souvenir and tourist markets. This line expanded over 20 years, including re-releases of classic toy soldier figures. This commercial brand was also known as Metal Models, and it is very similar to others like Britains Deetail
• 1984: Company is sold to Dobson Park Industries from the UK, and renamed Britains Petite, Ltd.
• 1997: Company is sold to Ertl from the US
• 1999: RC2 LLC (Racing Champions from the US) bought Ertl. Production is completely moved to China.
• 2011: Tomy acquired RC2, including the brand Britains.

Talking about tractors, the first model ever in Britains' catalogue was the Fordson Major (from 1945), introduced in 1948. Farm vehicles had been released since as early as 1921, when the Model Home Farm was released with 30 figures and animals and a cart to be drawn by the horse. By 1980, there were more than 120 models available. Also in 2021, celebrating the 100 years of their farming line, they released a limited edition of the Fordson Major tractor.

FORDSON SUPER MAJOR DIESEL TRACTOR (Ref. 9525) 

The model I show here should not be mistaken with the Fordson Major, as it is the Fordson Super Major, a couple of years newer (both the real tractor and the miniature). The toy was launched in 1965, and it is made to scale 1:32. Unlike the “not-Super” model, it came without a driver, so the piece shown in the pictures is complete. The tractorr comes with several very cool features, starting with the steering wheels, rubber tyres, screw coupler to attach a trailer and an additional lever mechanism to attach a farm implement lift, which, I guess, it is required for some accesories that were sold separately.

The tractor is made in blue with grey fenders. The red lights, I think, were an “improvement” of its original owner. The tractor has all its decals: two at the front in a simulated radiator and two at the sides with the Fordson brand logo.

As I have seen in many other models, the rubber of the tyres, combined with the plastic compound of the wheels has melted slightly, resulting in a noticeable imperfection. If it does not go worse, I'm happy with that... the toy is 60 years old by the time I write these lines...

And finally, I love the cardboard box. It has an external part, with nice pictures of the tractor as seen from the front, and lists the name and the features of the toy. One of the larger sides show the trailers that share the same scale, or, at least, a selection of them, as the reference numbers do not build a row. Inside that box, there is a sliding base which is, at the same time, the closing lid of the outer box and that has some holes and cuts to firmly fit the tractor in it. Note the “shadow” that the tractor casts on the red base. The lid has some “volume” as it conceals that farm implement that can be attached or detached to the vehicle. But that is not all, in order to prevent the toy from moving inside the box, there is a third piece of cardboard that clamps the tractor. I guess this last cardboard part is hard to find, as it is not decorated and can be easily mistaken for something else.

TIP-UP TRAILER WITH RACKS (Ref. 9550)

The Tip-up trailer with racks was part of the series "Farm Implements", which fitted all tractors in the same scale and is a couple of years older than the Fordson  I just presented (they could be attached to previous tractor models). My toy came in it´s early box model from 1962. It is in very good condition, as it has been played, but it was probably kept in the box most of the time.

 As in the previous toy, the box has two parts. The outer rectagular box, plus an cardboard inlay so the trailer is not loose inside the box. It fits perfectly and stays in its position no matter what. Thanks to the box, the trailer comes with its original racks that can be attached to either ends of the trailer to increase its capacity. The rear end can be clapped, to unload whatever it carries, and the bed can be lifted (I guess the technical word is "tip up") to help in the process of unloading. A nice detail is the third small wheel (it is not actually a wheel, but a piece of plastic) that keeps the trailer horizontal when not attached to another vehicle. 

One curiosity, to those who may appreciate it: the box of the trailer has a price tag of 29, but I am not sure which currency it could be. I bought this toy in Austria, so it may be 29 Schilling (that would be around 2,10 euro from 1965.

I have the impression that it is becoming easier to find and buy die-cast jewels from the 60s, some of them in excellent condition and even boxed ones. I guess it is a biological fact, that people today are not interested in this kind of toys, and whatever comes in the market, it is difficult to sell at normal collector’s prices. The choices are now different, and tractors are not so popular anymore, as other machinery either agricultural or for construction and public works.

I was very happy to put my hands on this beautifully made Tractor by Britains Ltd., a company which is rare to find outside of the UK, and even more, as it came together with a equally beautiful hay trailer in the same series (that fit perfectly in scale and thematically). A real treasure that I got here! 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FORDSON SUPER MAJOR DIESEL TRACTOR (9525) and TIP-UP TRAILER WITH RACKS (9550)
• Scale: 1:32
• Year: 1965 and 1962
• Company: Britains Ltd. (United Kingdom)
• Size: approx. 10 cm long

#1064 TOOTSIETOY - JET FIGHTERS / EAGLE SQUAD (1988)

Among the Micro Machines competitors, we may also count the classic American company Tootsietoys, who, in 1988, released several sets of jet planes in that scale. I have seen packs of 4 and 6, either in blistercard, or box with window. There were also helicopter, classic warplane and warship collections. Sometimes it is referred as Eagle Squad (with reference number 1701). These are slightly bigger than the average Micro Machine jet or plane from that same year, but still compatible.

Tootsie had similar products in the past, but none made in this scale and style. I have seen the same models in at least two decorations, so very probably, each model had variants to be reused in several collections.

I only own 4 jets so far. These are:

• F-4 Phantom (camo green)
• F-14 (blue)
• F-15 (beige)
• F-16 (white)

The other two (the missing ones) are:

• F-106
• F-19 

The models are marked "Tootsietoy", plus the name of the plane and "China". These were not manufactured in the U.S. anymore, as the toys I presented a while ago in entry #903. The US and Navy Emblems are plastic stickers. The other details seem to have been painted with airbrush and there is paint loss in places that are most exposed (such as the cockpit).

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: JET FIGHTERS / EAGLE SQUAD (Ref. 1701)
• Scale: Approx. 1:200
• Year: 1988
• Company: Tootsietoy (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 6 cm to 10 cm

#1063 SCHMIDT SPIELE - MOTORWELT (8329) and SPEEDWAY (8338) (Around 1989)

These two sets were made by Schmid around 1989, although the interesting part is that one of them includes a title card with the Berliner Spielkarten logo. I don't know what was the relation between the two brands, I think the company Berliner Blatz Group is the owner of both brands, but I'd like to know more about the relation between both companies. 

The first deck is Motorwelt, and includes 32 cards with cars available at the end of the eighties. There are cars in all price categories, from a Renault 5 to a Lamborghini Countach.  The Spitzen-Trumpf (the most powerful card in the deck) is the Porsche 959, which wins all other cards in several categories.

The cover card indicates that there is a Battleships game on the back of the cards, which is something I do not quite understand. I have other sets with this game as well, but If you play this game, you´ll have to write on the back of the cards and, this way, spoil the deck. Or maybe this was intended, so children buy the next quartet game?

The second deck deals with motocross motorbikes. The most remarkable feature of this other deck, is that each card has a piece of information about the machines in the photographs or about the sports in which they are used. Honestly, I am impressed by some of these racing events, like the speed race in snow or the others with sidecar. It must be very impressive to have seen that live. I am not sure if these competitions are still hold or not. Unfortunately, there technical information on each card refers to the motorbike, not to the pilots/drivers, which would have been very interesting too.

Again, the Spitzen Trumpf is a BMW motorbike with Sidecar. Germans are, of course, favouring their own brands against foreign ones. 

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: MOTORWELT (8329) and SPEEDWAY (8338)
• Year: Around 1989
• Company: Berliner or Schmidt Spiele (Germany)

#1062 HOOK - SWASHBUCKLING PAN and LOST BOY RUFIO (1991)

Slowly and with great difficulty, I managed to get and complete further figures of the Hook toyline. It is a minor toyline that includes many accessories and small pieces that are very hard to find. Maybe not very expensive but scarce. And with the current shipping costs it “hurts” to pay to get them. I have to wait for certain opportunities and/or combined shipping which only happen rarely.

I'll start with Rufio. This character is one of the lost boys and also one of the coolest figures on the first wave, because it came with a windsurf-skateboard minivehicle, whose sail part can also be used as a delta-wing or something similar. This accesory looks great and is a lot of fun to play with it.

That sail part has a sticker on it which is sometimes damaged. The figurecan be attached to the board by means of pegs that fit in its feet and stays firmly on it, so you can play jumps and other stunts. The figure itself is mostly black, but has nice paintwork details in red.

 

I bought this figure in its blister, but the packaging was in very bad shape. Later I got another figure, complete, in good shape and with its original cardboard, so I decided to resell the blister and keep only the loose figure. This was the blister.

The second figure today and the second figure of Peter Pan that I show in this blog is also quite cool. It carries a green and black outfit, which is not it´s most iconic one, but still looks nice, and includes a sword that the figure handles and sweeps in the air as you twist the body of the figure. That is its action feature. It also includes a scabbard for it (not practicable, it is just a piece of plastic) and a small knife. The accesories were attached to a plastic frame or sprue, although, this one is nicely done and resembles wood. I guess some imaginative children found an use for it after removing the accesories.

  

Both figures belong to the first wave from 1991, which is the only one still affordable and broadly available in second hand markets. Have presented other figures in the past, but I still have more to show. See you next time!

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: SWASHBUCKLING PAN and RUFIO (LOST BOY) (Ref. 2849 & 2818)
• Toy Line: Hook (Wave 1)
• Year: 1991
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 12 cm