Britains Set 2081 - Sovereign Escort/ Coronation Coach help (2 Viewers)

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jkautz55

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Hey there - new to the forum but glad I found it. I am trying to put together Britains set 2081 from a collection that a now deceased relative left for me to find while I was clearing out his attic. The collection was stored in a bunch of moving boxes with the figures each individually wrapped in some fluffy cotton material that the mice really liked to go number 2 in. In one of these boxes we found exactly 55 Britains Horse Guards and then in another we found the same thing only it was Life Guards inside. I found a similar box earlier except it was full of Royal Marines standing at attention. Furthermore, the aforementioned models had matching base colors (brown - not green) and it appears that they are all the same version. Sadly, I haven't located a display box yet and don't expect to (not sure how that will affect value). What I really could use help with is how many of each figure I need complete the set. I've read in a reference book that there are a total of 211 pieces in set 2081, but I can't find any further breakdown for how many Life Guards, Horse Guards...and so on; that I would need. I have found only one very out of focus picture of the set online which didn't do much to help.
britains set 2081 020.JPG
So far by my count I have:
Life Guards: 55
Horse Guards: 55
Irish Guards standing at attention: 22 (there were 32 last night - hope to find the missing 10 soon)
Royal Marines standing at attention: 35
Sovereign Escort (set 2067): 7
Yeomen: 14 (that might be overkill)
Grooms/ Footmen: 15
Horses: 8
Coach: 1
Passengers in Coach: 2

Any input is appreciated - Thanks
 

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Sorry I cannot help other to say what a fantastic collection to find again the light of day. A real treasure find.^&cool, Robin.
 
Wow what an amazing find!

The set was only produced in 1953 for the Queens Coronation! They were not listed in any catalog's and were likely made for big stores like Hamleys to sell. The set was made up of the State Coach (set 1470) with updated blue panels and two seated figures the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. It had a complete set of Attendants (Set 1475)and a Sovereigns Standard and Escort to follow it on parade (set 2067). It had 51 Life Guards (set1) same for Horse Guards (set 2) each with 4 officers. There were 30 Irish Guards (set 2078) Royal Marines (set 2071) each with 3 Officers. There were 212 figures in the set which counted the coach set as 11 pieces. I hope this helps. The box was massive and likely didnt survive but its still a wonderful set!

What a great find!


Dave
 
A beautiful set! I'd love to see more photos of it. The extra yeomen might be from a separate set- they'd be the ones holding their pikes vertically that I can see in your pictures.
 
Congratulations - for having the luck to find such a fabulous set. I have a rather battered State Coach - which I am slowly attempting to restore too - so can imagine how pleased you were to find the whole set!! Do look after it - it's quite rare and valuable - as I'm sure you know.

I don't know whether you have seen the picture, but there is a very small one across pages 52/53 of the James Opie book, "Toy Soldiers (Phillips Collectors Guides), published in 1989. This can often be found in a reference library - or as a used copy for not a lot of money - and the Chapter on Royalty might be of interest for you.

It has a pic. of set 2081 there too, which shows the (rather beaten-up example) box.



One further tip - look for colour photographs of this set from Auction Houses - as they sometimes appear there. Johnnybach
 
That was really amazing! I wonder what happened to the display. Anyone have an idea of where all those amazing figures ended up?

Dave
 
Can't thank you guys enough for the help. I didn't expect to get this much of a response so fast! I took out some of the yeomen and a few footman so that the attendants match up with set 1475 (1 of the yeomen is a mismatch). 4DMNamiot, when you say "51 Life Guards with 4 Officers," do you mean that 51 Life Guards + 4 Life Guard Officers = 55 total Life Guards? Everything else seems to be okay. From what I read the Horse Guard Officers with brown bases could only be purchased as part of the complete set in the 1950's. 3 of the Horse Guards in my set have the brown base - the other is green. Clearly my Grandfather lost one of the originals which is too bad. Admittedly though it's a relief to know that I'm not the only one in my family prone to losing things. Here's some Pics of the updates:britains set 2081 008.JPGbritains set 2081 018.JPGbritains set 2081 019.JPGbritains set 2081 023.JPGbritains set 2081 020.JPG
 
When I looked at the The Great Book of Britains I believe they ment there were 55 figures in total counting the officers but I will take alook again at the book and let you know what I find.

Amazing collection! Also keep an eye open on ebay if you are wanting to replace the one officer with the green base the browns ones come up in as singles every now and again so you may be able to find one there.

Dave
 
Looks wonderful. Just a few points to mention:

The Postillion ( riders of the Coach horses) should be on the left of the pair, when looking forward from the Coach - and the riderless horses should be on the right. Just means simply unhooking and connecting up again in the correct order.

The four Yeomen Guards look to be about right - but should have the six footmen interspersed between them - so each side has:

REAR WHEEL - Footman - Yeoman - Footman (at door) - Yeoman - Footman FRONT WHEEL. Then, each of the eight grooms walk alongside each of the horses , four on each side.

Britains didn't have another Groom walking at the rear of the coach (He's a brake-man) - so you might consider trying to find one - and having him there (for authenticity) - though he would NOT be part of the original set. I'll look out a pic of the real thing and post it later - which will show what I mean, much better.

From your picture, it looks as if some of the horse tails are missing???? There are Companies in both USA and UK who have spares for Britains figures - and these are easy to replace and fix. Considering the value of this wonderful set - it might be worth getting these repaired - which given the value of this quite rare set - you might consider doing. I'm sure some of the North American lads could help you with advice here.

You lucky lad! - and thanks for showing it:D johnnybach
 
Here's the pic. of the real thing - which shows layout usually adopted for this - and other smaller sets of the 1953 Coronation; (Note the Brake-man "extra" walking directly behind the rear wheels).

Hope it helps. jb

 
All I can say is WOW !!!! What a spectacular set.

I have the pamphlet that Britains released showing how the Coronation set should be laid out. I will try and dig it out for you.
 
I have only seen this set come up for sale on only two occasions in the past few years. The most recent occasion was at the Old Toy Soldier Auction (Ray Haradin's sale from last June of 2014). On one other occasion I saw it sold, about a year or so ago. On that occasion it was being sold in a general estate liquidation sale.

It's very difficult to buy this set as you can imagine that its rare that a collector will have the correct and matched number of horse and life guards.

So good luck
 
Can someone help me.

I have acquired the same but don't know anything about it.

I'm thinking of selling it. Can someone please give me an advice as to how much should i ask for the pieces that i have.
 
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