Britains Ltd

The W. Britain brand name of toy and model maker is derived from a company founded by William Britain Jr., a British toy manufacturer, who in 1893 invented the process of hollow casting in lead, and revolutionised the production of toy soldiers. In 1907 the family proprietorship, William Britain & Sons became W. Britains, Ltd.

The company is famous for its vast and formidable range of model soldiers and other military models, with the majority of them in 1/32 scale. However, it also produced a comprehensive range of civilian items in the similar scale, it is these that are listed in this guide along side the numerous military vehicles.

The company continued to grow and evolve as its models gained in popularity; by 1931 the firm employed 450 at its London factory. The catalogue had expanded to 435 sets and twenty million models a year were being produced, with production only slowing/ stopping during the First and Second World Wars. Little changed with the style of the figures.

By 1966 safety regulations in the United Kingdom combined with rising costs halted the production of lead models. At that time, the range of catalogued lead sets exceeded 2,200.

In 1973 Britains introduced New Metal models, which are diecast in a durable alloy. Initially these sets were aimed at the British souvenir market. In 1983 Britains responded to a growing collectors' market by introducing additional models and limited edition sets. This range was greatly expanded over the next 20 years and included diecast versions of its old toy soldiers, some made from original moulds.

The Britain family controlled the firm until 1984 when it was sold to a British conglomerate, Dobson Park Industries. It combined the operations with an existing line of toys and renamed the company Britains Petite, Ltd.

Ertl Company of Iowa, a maker of diecast toys, bought Britains Petite, Ltd. in 1997, then Ertl was subsequently bought by Racing Champions, another American diecast model maker. At this time production of the models was moved to China. In 2005, the W. Britains brand was acquired by First Gear, an American maker of diecast collectables. This firm produces and sells mostly contemporary matte-style figures to the collectors' market under the W. Britain brand.