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British Style Soldiers


Though not as common as Lido or Marx, we occasionally received figures from England.  Every boy on our block had at least one British figure.  Some were lead, others painted plastic.  The major producers of figures were Britains Ltd, Johillco and Timpo.  Illustrated here are a few british figures of the time.

British soldiers in spire helmets. prone rifleman in busby and marching Scot.  The prone firing man's lighter blue pants mark him as the Danish rather than British guard. Toymakers made both by a simple change of color.  These figures look to be original Johillco types, but may be Asian copies that were common in the 1950s.

Diecast 25 pounder gun by Britains has been around for decades.  It was commonly included in many soldier sets, and is a model of the former mainstay of British and Commonwealth artillery. Unfortunately our model's tires have some sort of heat damage.

25 pounder gun with several Herald soldiers, by Briti\ains.  Herald was a cheap line that included 1950s soldiers, knights, ancient Greeks, Coldstream Guard, Scottish guard and the Horse Guard.  The 1950s soldiers,, modern at the time the molds were made, were sold under the name "khaki" infantry. Johillco produced some identical figures.  The Herald infantry have been copied numerous times.

Charging rifleman (rifle broken), charging rifleman with "spike" bayonet, standing and kneeling firing soldiers.

Kneeling rifleman, bazookaman (weapon is broken), grenade-thrower.


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