BRITAINS 1979 CATALOGUE and SHOP PRICES

Out of blue came this 1979 Britains catalogue, a gift from George S. Mills. He rightly thought it would have some nostalgic value for me, being a child of the 70s. And it included a shop price list, which I also found rather interesting. Thought I would upload some photos for the interest of others, one of my Britains West Point cadets gave a helping hand in securing the pages. (Thanks George, now that really was a surprise gift!)

MGB

Some farming ideas for MJT....

Didn't expect to still see the WW1 Siege Gun!

Froude and Hext Toyshop closed in 2021, after trading for ninety years. Here is a link to an article about the family business, and their first shop. https://swindonlink.com/news/model-shop-closes/ 

Shop Prices in 1979

ANY COMMENTS

Please note, as with the previous post, I will seek to reply to any comments here, by updating with my replies , I can still do that! Cheers for now. 

Thanks MJT, it was a trip down memory lane to view the figures just as W. Britains had sought to originally promote them!

Thanks Donnie, for me it is very much a time capsule. Toy shops in the seventies were dark dungeons full of proper toy soldiers, Airfix kits, and the like........ magical. And the catalogue brought it back.

Yes George, that gift hit the mark, I actually keep it with my DVD collection, a fair number of which, as you know, are also linked to earlier decades, lol. Just finished watching King Richard and the Crusaders, 1954. with George Sanders, Rex Harrison, Robert Douglas. 

Hi Tony, to be honest, the quality of toys has so declined, I wouldn't want their catalogues, it's the same with what I view, got rid of my TV license and receiver eight years ago.... but my viewing has vastly improved!

 

Hello Brad, it's the same in the UK. Supermarkets were built out of town leading to the decline of the high street, others just picked off the Christmas trade, followed by demographic changes reducing the toy market. There were other reasons too but I won't describe any of them as progress. Something that added so much to the better toy shops were the glass cabinets, showing Airfix models made up and painted. When I lived in London I used to visit the Harrow model shop......... it was a very special place, and still well remembered by many in the UK. Apparently, Stuart Asquith used to work there on weekends, and painted many of the models on show, some of which are still surviving and I can remember seeing.