Charles Biggs Premier Series (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

In 1994, Britains introduced a high-end, high-priced World War I series created by Charles Biggs. They were packaged in special black boxes with the foam insert cutouts so tight that it was easy to break off an artillery piece's trail spike. The series started with set 8910 Mounted Royal Artillery Officer and ended with set 8940 Cyclist, Dorset Yeomanary. There was a Victoria Cross winners sub-series from sets 8928 through 8931 and an Aces sub-series from sets 8932 through 8935. Due to changes in the ownership of Britains and where the figures were produced, the series was reincarinated as 9800 and then as 41000. The 9800 series sets were, in many cases, identical to the 8900 series sets. For example, set 8911 Vickers AA Machine Gun became set 9802 and set 8925 Royal Naval Air Service Rolls Royce Armoured Car became set 9812. The 9800 sets changed the wording on the boxes regarding Charles Biggs while the 41000 sets dropped all references to him.

I had manage to collect 38 of the original 8900 series sets; I did not try and keep up with all the sets in the follow-on series. Due to a lack of display space, I have been in the process of selling all but 12 sets which I have on two curio shelves each with a one tier step. Photos to follow.

 

[ucla1967]

Photo one: Top self, from left, set 8912 MK I, 4.5 Inch Howitzer with Limber, 1914 and set 8924 German 7.7cm Gun with Limber, Feldartillerie Regt. V, No. 6. Second shelf, from left, set 8936 French 75mm Gun and Cassion with USMC Crew and set 8915 MK I, 4.5 Inch Howitzer with Limber, Mesopotamia. Third shelf, from left, set 8925 Royal Naval Air Service Rolls Royce Armoured Car, set 8921 Officer Motorcycle Machine Gun Service, set 8922 Combination Motorcycle Machine Gun Service, set 8940 Cyclist, Dorset Yeomanary, set 8939 Hotchkiss 8mm Machine Gun with French Crew, and set 8902 Vickers AA Machine Gun. Bottom shelf, from left, set 8926 Thornycraft 3 Ton Type "J" Lorry with AA Gun and Crew and set 8920 General Service Wagon.

Photo two: A close-up of set 8926 Thornycroft 3 Ton Type "J" Lorry with AA Gun and Crew.

Photo three: A close-up ofset 8925 Royal Navy Air Service Rolls Royce Armoured Car.

 

[Rob]

Nice pics.I have one of the charles Biggs series,its the one of the chap carrying his wounded mate over his shoulders,very good.

Rob

 

[ucla1967]

Sorry about the ghostly images in the photos. Because of the angle of the curio and the small amount of space between it and a table diorama, I had to take the pictures at less than optimum angles.

Photo one: Close-up of set 8936 U.S. Gun Detachment with French 75mm Gun and Limber.

Photo two: Close-up of set 8915 MK I, 4.5 Inch Howitzer and Limber in Mesopotamia.

Photo three: Close-up of set 8924 German 7.7cm Gun and Limber with Crew from Feldartillerie Regt. V, No. 6.

 

[vandilay]

This is one of my favourite series ,when I first got back into
collecting it was the britains series I focussed on.
I think i,ve managed to get all but a couple of sets from
the originals [I try and get sets from the premier line not britains premier
when i can] .The Hagen is the one piece that has alluded me so far.
I pretty much gave up on this line when the previous owners took over
some of the quality got pretty patchy I thought.
I also felt it was a little hard to build a scene with some of the sets
as they didnt always release sets to compliment each other,

 

[damian]

Once again Mike let me congratulate you on a wonderful collection. Britains Premier series was fantastic. When Charles Biggs left Britains he continued to prodcue new sets for a while on his own. He subsequently rejoined Britains. There were some sets a German tank I believe which was never made by Britains. I agree with Vandillay when ERTL took over the quality became variable. Some of their sest were OK but the Dodge ambulance was poor.
Regards
Damian Clarke

 

[aujj65]

Photo one: Top self, from left, set 8912 MK I, 4.5 Inch Howitzer with Limber, 1914 and set 8924 German 7.7cm Gun with Limber, Feldartillerie Regt. V, No. 6. Second shelf, from left, set 8936 French 75mm Gun and Cassion with USMC Crew and set 8915 MK I, 4.5 Inch Howitzer with Limber, Mesopotamia. Third shelf, from left, set 8925 Royal Naval Air Service Rolls Royce Armoured Car, set 8921 Officer Motorcycle Machine Gun Service, set 8922 Combination Motorcycle Machine Gun Service, set 8940 Cyclist, Dorset Yeomanary, set 8939 Hotchkiss 8mm Machine Gun with French Crew, and set 8902 Vickers AA Machine Gun. Bottom shelf, from left, set 8926 Thornycraft 3 Ton Type "J" Lorry with AA Gun and Crew and set 8920 General Service Wagon.

Photo two: A close-up of set 8926 Thornycroft 3 Ton Type "J" Lorry with AA Gun and Crew.

Photo three: A close-up ofset 8925 Royal Navy Air Service Rolls Royce Armoured Car.

Mike, you seem to have a amazing never ending collection of wonderful figures.

I see that the RR Armoured Car and the Thornycroft Lorry are now available from RPWorld Models.

Jeff

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

What sets would you like to see if there were any new additions to the Premier series? I agree that there were some gaps in poses to build scenes, but the range covered so many subjects it would be nice to hear what the collectors would like added to WWI Classic style gloss figures.
Ken Osen

 

[mitch292]

Irish guards or some Canadians

 

[damian]

I would liek to see stuff from the Battle of the Somme 1914 and Verdun.
Thanks
Damian

 

[Canadian Samurai]

I really hope this series continues, especially focusing on Commonwealth forces. I (actually my dad) would most like to see an 8 inch howitzer with opening breech and adjustable elevation, just like the wonderful 6 inch howitzer Britains has already done. A camouflaged 9.2 inch howitzer like in Osprey new Vanguard 105 would be nice too. Other cool possibilities include a caterpillar tractor to tow the guns, or a British/Canadian staff car with seated officers.

 

[ucla1967]

It would be interesting if the Premier series could include some artillery pieces from some other countries. How about Austrian, Italian, Russian, Turkish, to name a few. Also, any armoured cars or Thornycraft type vehicles from some of the other belligerents would really flesh out what is basically a British forces series.

 

[vandilay]

I would like too see some more sets that would fit in with
the howitzer crew in the patterned wollesleys,[gallipoli ,middle east]
british and commonwealth infantry ,turks ,australian light horse etc
from those campaigns.

From the western front some horse drawn artillery and early war
german and allied forces .[charging ladies from hell would be my top pick]
and any sort of horse drawn supply wagons etc

 

[kilted vampire]

How about the Delhi Durbar! Hint Hint! Or ACW Hint!

 

[ucla1967]

How about the Delhi Durbar! Hint Hint! Or ACW Hint!

I think the Premier line should be limited to World War I. It goes back more than a dozen years as such. Britains is producing the Durbar and ACW elsewhere.

 

[kilted vampire]

I think the Premier line should be limited to World War I. It goes back more than a dozen years as such. Britains is producing the Durbar and ACW elsewhere.

I realized that but I was trying to get somw ACW glossy made in the UK

 

[ucla1967]

I realized that but I was trying to get somw ACW glossy made in the UK

Good luck with that.

 

[sam04]

ucla1967,

Thanks for posting the pictures. Your collection is quite impressive. I only have a few loose soldiers from the Premier series, but it is one of my favorites series also.

Regards,
sam04

 

[Steven Chong]

I realized that but I was trying to get somw ACW glossy made in the UK

If you want glossy ACW, I strongly recommend the work of Ted Deddens at www.tedtoy.com/. He sculpts, casts and paints all his figures. A great feature of Ted's work is that each figure in a five figure set has a different sculpted head. He will be at the Chicago Show.

 

[ucla1967]

I second Steven's recommendation regarding Tedtoys---they are outstanding gloss ACW figures.