W. Britain

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William Britain was a British toy manufacturer who in 1893 invented the process of hollow casting in lead, and revolutionized the production of toy soldiers. The W. Britain company quickly became the industry leader, and was imitated by many other companies, such as Hanks Bros. and John Hill and Co.^[1] The style and scale of W. Britain's figures became the industry standard for toy soldiers for many years.

In 1966 safety regulations in the United Kingdom halted the production of lead toy soldiers. After a seven year hiatus, however, Britain's returned in 1973 with their "new metal" models, which are cast in a durable alloy. These new sets, as well as their lines of Deetail plastic figures and accessories, and their older sets, now number well over 900 and have become highly collectable. Britain's produces figures in the traditional gloss finish, but also uses the contemorary matte-style paint for many of their new sets.

Ownership of W. Britain Co. has changed hands several times over the years. In 2005, the W. Britain line was acquired by First Gear, an American company based in Peosta, Iowa.