Britains Set Number 131 for Sale – by Bill Anderson
Britains Largest Ever Display box – Types of the British Army
Britains first issued their largest ever Presentation /Display set around 1906. Containing around 275 pieces, only a few of these giant sets have survived.
But in June 2026 Morphy’s Auctions in Denver PA offered not just 1 but 2 examples!
The First version of the set was available from 1906-1908.
Subsequently, the composition was slightly changed, although the exact content is not known for certain.
According to Joe Wallis, the definitive composition of the set was finally decided upon around 1917 (see below for details).
Second version sets were offered up to 1932.
It is probable that Set 131 was not regularly stocked in shops but was available as a special order.
The exact number of sets produced is not known, but with an exorbitant (for the times) price tag it would have been quite small.
It is a rare, almost unique, occasion to find one set, let alone two virtually complete versions, in their original boxes, up for sale at the same time.
This led me to want to record the June 2nd event for posterity.
My personal first encounter with a Set 131 was at the OTS show 2014, where a reproduction boxed set was presented for sale as part of the Jim Taylor Collection.
It was later purchased for an undisclosed amount by collector/dealer Norman Rodriguez.
My second encounter was reading about the lucky auction find by Andy Morant in 2022, as described in Rob Wilson’s article in OTS Volume 46, no 2, Summer 2022, pp 39-45.
My third encounter was when I discovered online the two boxed sets offered by Morphy Auctions on June 2nd, 2026.
The Morphy Sets
The First version set was sold for $41,820 including commision charges.
The Catalog description was based on Joe Wallis’s Soldiers of Greater Britain: Britains Limited Lead Soldiers 1893-1924.
The description is reproduced here in full. Joe suggests that the original set would have comprised around 275 pieces, representing all the main Types of the British Army.
Complete First version of Set 131 offered by Morphy’s, including the huge box
Lot #1389: W. BRITAINS TYPES OF THE BRITISH ARMY NO. 131 FIRST VERSION SET IN BOX
Per Joe Wallis, Soldiers of Greater Britain: Britains Limited Lead Soldiers 1893-1924:
131 Types of the British Army, Containing the Royal Horse Artillery, Mountain Battery, Camel Corps, Scots Greys, 11th Hussars, 5th Dragoon Guards, 17th Lancers, 2nd Life Guards, Horse Guards, Full Band of the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards lying, kneeling, and standing firing, the Gordon Highlanders with Pipers, the Worcestershire Regiment, Bluejackets and Whitejackets with 4.7 Naval Guns, and General Officer, totaling 275 pieces of cavalry and infantry.
Britains now issued their largest “Presentation Case” costing 90 shillings (i.e., four pounds ten shillings, which equates to $544 in 2014 dollars). The size of the wooden box for this colossal set measured three feet nine inches by one foot eleven inches by six inches deep, with no one but two inside trays that could be lifted out. The set title above is from the 1906 Gamages catalog…
From 1906-1908, Set 131 contained the General Officer on a gre sway-backed horse at the halt (as in Set 73); the Royal Horse Artillery galloping with a center-pole limber and outriders carrying short carbines (13 pieces as in Set 39); the Mountain Battery (12 pieces as in set 28); and nine British Camel Corps mounted on camels, which were derived from the Egyptian Camel Corps from Set 48, but wearing the same foreign service helmets as Set 28…
In addition, Set 131 featured 84 cavalry: an officer and 11 Scots Greys on walking horses (as in 32); an officer and 11 cantering troopers with carbines of the 11th Hussars (as in 12); an officer on a galloping horse (not a rearing horse) and 11 troopers on trotting horses from the 5th Dragoon Guards (from Set 3); the wonderful officer at the halt turned in his saddle and a trumpeter (or at times just two trumpeters) and 22 troopers with lances riding cantering horses of the 17th lancers (as in 81); a trotting trumpeter and 11 troopers galloping with carbines of the 2nd Life Guards (as in 43); and an officer and 11 troopers of the Royal Horse Guards (as in 2). After 1903 the 17th Lancers sometimes changed to full dress lancer helmets and adopted the dated trotting head-up horse while others were cantering. The British Camel Corps were not included in any other Britains set, which makes them one of the rarest items in the catalog given the high cost of Set 131 and its very limited production…
This huge box provided the following infantry: a Coldstream Guards band augmented to 24 pieces by adding a second bombardon, fife, and bassoon to the usual component sold in 37; a section of 24 Scots Guards including an officer standing with binoculars, an officer kneeling with binoculars, 7 standing, 7 kneeling and 8 lying firing men from 130; 24 Gordon Highlanders marching, including four pipers (from 77); and 24 Worcestershire Regiment with white spiked helmets, including an officer with a flat Union Jack flag, an officer marching with drawn sword held downward, 11 men running at the trail, and 11 men marching at the slope with rifles that had loose slings but no fixed bayonets (both different poses than the Worcesters of Set 18). The Royal Navy component of 131 had a running officer and 11 running sailors from each of Sets 78 and 80, and two 4.7 inch naval guns. An unusual Landing Party appeared in 131, painted as in 79 but with 12 sailors soldered to wire traces. The sailors pulled the center-pole limber from Set 39 and a 4.7 inch naval gun. Finding a box that has survived through several generations of owners does not completely authenticate the contents of a set, because the current may have been switched out or added to over time. The actual contents of Set 131 are not completely known…
It is probable that Set 131 was not regularly stocked, but was only produced when an order was placed by a wealthy buyer. (Wallis, 199-201)
First version. Contents appear to be correct for this particular set. Anomalies include: 3 Hussar plumes are broken, 1 Sailor is missing from Landing Party, 1 Scots Grey arm loose but present, 1 mismatched Royal Horse Artillery and 1 plume missing, Sailors are very worn, 3 Horse Guards missing tin swords, 1 Highlander missing arm, 8 helmet spikes missing from Worcestershire Regiment, 1 small cannon not working, 1 wagon has mismatched wire twists. The box has all tie cards replaced, box label replaced, slat on the left edge of the top replaced, and re-wrapped individual box cushions.
Reference: Wallis, Joe. Soldiers of Greater Britain: Britains Limited Lead Soldiers 1893-1924. United Book Press, 2017.
Morphy’s Catalog Description of Lot 1389
Bottom layer – First version
Details from the set’s bottom layer
More details from the set’s bottom layer
The main differences between the 1st. and 2nd versions lie in the composition of the two lower segments of the bottom layer, with the inclusion of the Royal Navy Landing Party, towing a huge gun.
The team was not included in the Second version.
An example of the Second version was sold at the same auction for $18,450, including commission.
Again, the auctioneer’s full description is reproduced here.
Complete Second version of Set 131 offered by Morphy’s, again with box
Lot #1391: W. BRITAINS TYPES OF THE BRITISH ARMY NO. 131 SECOND VERSION SET IN BOX
Per Joe Wallis, Soldiers of Greater Britain: Britains Limited Lead Soldiers 1893-1924:
…1909-1910 Britains catalogs have a little different description in the set title of the contents for 131…: Army Medical Corps, Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Field Artillery, Army Medical Service, Mountain Battery, Camel Corps, Scots Greys, 11th Hussars, 5th Dragoon Guards, 17th Lancers, 2nd Life Guards, Horse Guards, Full Band of the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards lying, kneeling, and standing firing, the Gordon Highlanders with Pipers, the Worcestershire Regiment, 4.7 Naval Gun, and General Officer, totaling 275 pieces of cavalry and infantry. In these years, the horse-drawn ambulance from 145, the Royal Field Artillery from 144 and the Army Medical Service with Doctors and Nurses from 137 took the place of the Royal Navy Bluejackets from 78, the Whitejackets from 80, as well as the center-pole limber and the 4.7 inch gun pulled by 12 sailors from 79. Because 145, 144 and 137 contained 40 pieces, while there were only 38 Royal Navy pieces subtracted, two other pieces must have been withdrawn, but establishing what those might have been is a puzzle. Subsequently, the 1913 Gamages and the 1915 Britains catalog reinstated the initial set title with the Royal Navy components. The contents of Set 131 finally became settled in the 1917-1932 Britains catalogs by sticking with the Royal Field Artillery, the Medical Corps ambulance, and the Army Medical Service with Doctors and Nurses in place of the Royal Navy…
It is probable that Set 131 was not regularly stocked, but was only produced when an order was placed by a wealthy buyer. (Wallis, pp 200-201)
Second version. Contents appear to be correct for this particular set. Anomalies include: missing helm spike on GSW rider, Officer of the RHA plume is missing, 2 helmet spikes of the horsemen of the RMC are missing (both wagons),medical figures are very play-worn, the Worcestershire Regiment has 8 helmet spikes missing, 1 stretcher-bearer helmet spike missing, 7 Camel Corps Riders have broken rifles, 2 Marching Bandsmen have no feet or base, 1 Hussar plume missing, and Hussar head re-pinned. Box lid present, but detached, and box bottom has severe wear. Replaced tie cards. Replaced cavalry tissue.
Reference
Wallis, Joe. Soldiers of Greater Britain: Britains Limited Lead Soldiers 1893-1924. United Book Press, 2017.
Morphy’s Catalog Description of Lot 1389
Bottom layer—second version
Details from the Second Version set’s bottom layer
More details from the set’s bottom layer
Andy’s Lucky Find – “Discoved in North Yorkshire”
Purchased from Ryedale’s Collectors Sale in 2022 by dealer/collector Andy Morant, this example of Set 131 was broken down and sold in separate lots.
Apparently the auctioneer was unaware that these lots made up the almost complete, full set; the empty box was also on sale as a separate lot!
The set was described in detail in OTS magazine, Summer 2022 referred to above.
That article presented detailed images taken from the catalogue.
These show the contents distinctly, which makes for useful reference.
The set was sold for the equivalent of $20,000.
Its composition is almost idential to the 2nd version set sold by Morphys.
Images taken from OTS Summer 2022, Vol 46, 2, pp 41-47
Commentating on the set after he had collected it Andy concludes:
Taken from personal correspondence with the author
Who’s a lucky boy then?!
Norman’s Reproduction Set
This offering of Set 131 was presented for sale at the OTS Show in Chicago on September 25th, 2014.
It caused a mild sensation; part of a unique collection of replica Britains figures in custom made boxes, all in pristine condition.
The fact that they were replicas didn’t seem to deter the customers as it provided an opportunity for collectors to fill gaps in their collections with hard to find sets.
Undoubtedly the “star” of the show was the massive boxed Set 131, which provided an opportunity to purchase an almost unattainable set.
The lucky new owner of the set was collector / dealer Norman Rodriguez, who patiently waited in line from 6am for the noon sale (the price paid was not disclosed)!
The reproduction box and the three layer contents.
The new proud owner, taken from OTS Vol 38, No 2 Summer 2014, & Vol 38, No 3