My local Auction House as some at present my advice would be find a toy specailist auction house and see what they say.
I used to collect TONS of animal figures both land, marine, and prehistoric. Many of my favorites are of marine animals. Here's a great forum website specifically for animal figures - you should definitely check it out! The Animal Toy Forum - Index
I was talking about Planet of the Apes at work and someone sent me this link. The poseable orang utan figure is by far the most realistic orang utan toy I have ever seen. Planet of the Apes Maurice poseable figure Review on YouTube
It would be amazing if they made animal figures in general to that degree of poseability and realism.
I sold all my Britains collection on eBay about 2 years ago. the hing with Britains was they were all in perfect scale even the trees,buildings, fences and keepers.
Miniature.... I had a fairly complete Britains collection, wish I had looked after them better. Eaten by dogs, lost in garden....
CollectA is probably the best. Easily on par with Schliech. And I've been a Schliech devotee since 1992 when I wandered into a Frankfurt toy shop.
I more collect if anything by "species I need for my collection" than scale and sometimes quality. I need re-count but if I recall correctly I had almost 50 different species but I've gone and added a lot more since I last counted... Given I live in the states it's mostly Safari Ltd. and Schleich, but before they closed I also ordered a few "foreign" CollectA and Bullyland models from TGF Toys. Honestly the best source of CollectA though seems to be San Diego Zoo; that's where I obtained my Baird's Tapir, Pygmy Hippopotamus and calf, and Giant Eland.
Are they worth much Dean? I have a crate in the loft with my own Britains collection in it. All late 60's early 70's, wasn't much I didn't have but they were played with. I've left them up there while my own children have grown up, so I can either stash them for ever, or move them on. Tough decision but their value will influence that decision! I also found a bag of Wade Whimsies the other day. I did find a collector site for those. Worth very little!
I suggest you have look on ebay to see how much money such models sell for. Prior to about 1959 / 1960 the Britains zoo animal models were made of lead; these metal models, in good condition, can be very valuable especially if they are complete with the original box. Generally, most of the post 1960 plastic models are not particularly valuable although there are some exceptions. The melanistic leopard is an extremely scarce model, so normally commands a good price (although the spotted version is common and worth little). The zookeeper carrying a baby chimpanzee is also very rare and collectable (although the other zookeepers are quite common). The platypus, too, also tends to be very expensive; I think that it was so small it often got lost so few survived.
I did just that Tim, not having done so previously as I didn't expect any to be on there. There's a great variation in what different sellers are asking for the same thing. Some I recognise! I'll have to dig the crate out and see whats in there. I won't bother selling them if its just for a few quid though.
Collectible Wildlife Gifts (Online Store - Collectible Wildlife Gifts) has an interesting collection of model animals. One of its popular models is the aquatic genet - an animal I've never seen in any zoo.
Sorry for not replying sooner Nigel I haven't had much time for zoochat lately and the new site is taking me a while to get used to. My local auction house has toy sales from time to time and Britains always bring reasonable prices, as Tim May said it can depend on the species. Have a look at reemandansies.com and look through past sales, and you can also do a search on the site last months had a good selection of Britains things, I think the market may be moving up price wise.
They stopped making them in 1999. The last new model was an African elephant in 1981. Painting quality dropped towards the end and the plastic was not the same, which is why some people confuse the later models with copies.
