William Britain began making toy soldiers more than a hundred years ago in 1893. Their first soldiers debuted in England just in time for the Christmas rush! The first soldiers were hollowcast lead figurines. Meaning they were hollow in the middle which saved materials in production.
In the 1960’s, Britains lead toy soldiers took a big hit to production. William Britain had produced thousands of sets of lead toy soldiers up to this point but the cost of lead rose and UK increased safety regulations on lead. These factors stopped production of Britains’ famous lead toy soldiers. William Britain shifted their manufacturing focus.
For more than 10 years, Britains focused their production on plastic soldiers and other toys. In 1973, Britains began producing a new kind of metal toy soldiers. They were originally intended to be toys but were eventually dubbed collectors items. These figurines were die cast in metal alloy and these are the toy soldiers that W. Britain produces today. Die casting is a way of forming metal figures. A molten metal is poured into a cavity to form each figurine. These die cast alloy toy soldiers are the ones we know today!
