Britains Deetail

Manufactured in England by W. Britain, the 1/32 (54mm) scale plastic figures were finished with hand painted details and came with sturdy Zamak metal bases.

New Deetail figures were produced moulded in PVC plastic rather than polythene and using plug-in type arms, which were glued to bodies resulting in poses previously unavailable.

In addition, Britains also produced sets which incorporated Deetail style figures that were marketed as Combat Weapons (mortar, recoilless rifle, gatling gun, etc.

Figures depicting French Foreign Legion (FFL) legionnaires and Arab tribesmen were produced in foot and mounted types from 1975-78.

Figures were issued in the standard series of six pose types, except American and German figures which came in two separate series of six poses (12 in total) and included helmet decals in the form of red shield with black star (American) and shields with Imperial colours of red, white and black (German).

Super Deetail figures initially featured as a prototype set of six modern British paratroopers at a 1978 London toy fair.

The new moulds allowed finer details compared to Deetail range, however four of the six figures never made it into widescale production due to manufacturing difficulties with the new over-moulding process.

The Space range was launched in 1981 and ran until 1985 including Stargard Commandos, Cyborg, Assault Squad, Aliens and Mutants along with various spacecraft and accessories.

Vintage detail figures with metal bases remain highly popular with collectors and on secondary markets/internet auction sites often sell for - foot/infantry (£1-£5); mounted (£5-£20); full sets of 6 (£15-100); combat weapons (£5-40); and military vehicles (£15-100) all dependent upon condition.

Retail counter boxes are particularly rare (£150-£250) and demand is very strong for any items with original packaging (£50-£250), particularly the larger play sets.