Britains..What do I have here? (1 Viewer)

[texastiff30]

I came across some of these when I was about 12 years old in a box of trash leftovers from a garage sale that the guy said I can have. What are they? I know some are beat up. One has gone headless! But just any ideas what they are worth, what year they were made ect? There are 22 of them, some of them have movable arms.
Thanks so much
Tiffany

 

[lancer]

I came across some of these when I was about 12 years old in a box of trash leftovers from a garage sale that the guy said I can have. What are they? I know some are beat up. One has gone headless! But just any ideas what they are worth, what year they were made ect? There are 22 of them, some of them have movable arms.
Thanks so much
Tiffany

Tiffany, I'm no expert on these but I can tell you that they are made by William Britain Toy Soldiers. They are American Civil War figures representing Union infantry and cavalry in dark blue jackets, light blue pants and Confederate infantry and cavalry in gray jackets (also brown), light blue pants. Don't know exact years of manufacture as they were made for many years. I had some as a kid (still do) about 45+ years ago. Value is tough because the condition appears pretty poor in some cases. Condition is very important to value. I am sure one of the forum Britains experts can help further. -- Al

 

[thebritfarmer]

Welcome!

What you have there is a collection of Britains lead hollowcast American Civil War figures. These were made pre 1966 as Briaitns ceased lead production after this date.

Replacement parts can be purchased if you feel like fixing the broken figures. Most of them are commonly available, the flagbearers not as much though. Hope that helps.

I would guess the foot figures (complete) would be worth about $10-$15 and the mounted figures $20-$30

 

[Cardigan600]

Yo Tiffany, sorry but by the looks of them they are not worth a carrot. The condition as Al says is very poor, doubt if you could give them away, you got them out of the trash can, cost nothing so nothing lost. Sorry but got to be honest about it.
Bernard.

 

[Scott]

I had a bunch of those and repainted and repainted them. Repainted they only have as much value as YOU attach to them. I think they were meant to be other armies such as Boer War but looked enough like Civil War for Britains to paint them as such. Even broken and un-painted they still have a certain dash to them and could be displayed as is.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Another thing to keep in mind is that there are a lot of guys (or gals) out there that enjoy repairing, repainting, and converting. There was a fellow in Germany who used to buy up Britains hollowcasts and do super repaints. I have a couple of his sets. And he picked up a couple of beaten up sets from me that I didn't think were worth anything. The great thing about Ebay is there is a buyer for just about anything. As the guys said, you don't have anything rare or unique, but you can probably make a few bucks off them with a wide enough market...if you want to sell, I recommend Ebay.