Do you think it is a coincidence that these toys appear on eBay after the video goes live? It's not. You're being manipulated. Because guess who put the toys on eBay? The video is full of subliminal messages, and you're falling for it, not me. They took away my eBay account because I was selling tons of DNA replication tools and miniature humans. eBay tries to say you can't sell bodily fluids, but how are you then supposed to stop witches from hexing you? You gotta "put a bottle" on the witch, by putting a bottle of wizard pee under your bed, and then the witch can't pee herself, so she comes to you to axe you to throw the pee bottle away, and you bargain where she stops hexing, and then you pour out the pee and she can pee again. That's how you run a business.
There's a toy I've not seen for nearly 40 years and had completely forgotten existed! Had loads of these as a kid and vaguely remember loving them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Ashens!
I had these as well, proper blast from the past. And yes it was the early 80's. I had Britain soldiers as well, they produced tanks, field guns, staff cars and much more. Great range.
I’m Swedish and was still fortunate enough to grow up with “Space”. Britains toys were sold at the bigger toy shops here. Some of my friends had the farm toys or knights, but never Space. But Space was always something we played with when we were at my place. The aliens were the most popular ones, and we built all sorts of combined vehicles. I was probably 4 when I got my first ship, and I had no point of reference to '50s Sci Fi. I just thought these toys had the coolest design ever. I was very proud to own the alien saucer, still am. The ingenuity of these is definitely that you could create your own stuff from the different sets. For me they were an even cooler alternative to Lego. Thank you for giving Space the spotlight they deserve!
The moment I saw the first spaceman I almost screamed - there’s a box of these all beaten-up in my grandparents’ house that used to belong to my uncle when he was a kid - I never knew what they were. Really nice to see them again!
What's weird is that I remember seeing the quadruple tail-fins of the toy in the preview image on a spaceship model on Star Trek: The Next Generation, specifically the warship from the episode "Suddenly Human", but I have no idea if they share a mutual source or are at all related. The other half of that model was a spaceship from _Star Wars,_ so maybe it was bashed together from that toy and the one in this video...?
Over here in the US there was a shop called Toys International that kept a range of Britains figures. I remember the Space set vaguely, but I was obsessed with the knights and still have a few of my old ones from back in the day. Wonderfully painted, beautiful sculpts on those.
I was trying to find these exact toys for DECADES! I had tons of them as a kid and they were amazing! Born in the early 80's and these were TOYS!!!!! You could actually play with them and not worry about them too much!
To be totally honest, I loved playing own storys, with toys without special backgrounds. You were free to create own characters and worlds without some hardcore fan kids telling you that this and that couldn't be, and you're doing it wrong etc., and you perfectly have to stick to the story... I loved creating my own worlds with own characters and own stories.
Exactly! I had loads of the Britains Space toys and my best friend had loads of Star Wars. I always found the Star Wars toys kinda boring tbh but the Space ones were great because you could make your own stories and backgrounds.
I had a big base thing, it was very cheap and plasticky but you could take the figures out of their bases and there would be fixed places to put them on the big base, it had cranes and gun emplacements and all sorts. This is bringing back so many memories.
I had the big silver base. Yes it was just thin vac-form plastic + a cardboard bottom, but that’s what made it cool. Cos even though it was huge, even with the other bits added, it was still light enough for a child to pick up/move the whole thing like a spaceship etc... I never had any white ones/vehicles, but had plenty yellow, green + lots of duplicate pieces etc in like a glittery silver. Absolutely brilliant, awesome toys. I loved them + have fond memories of MANY hours having great space adventures. Thank-you for the warm nostalgic glow Dr Ashen... 👌👍🦑
I was like "Oh cool, foreign toys!" but then the wheeled one came out and a memory surfaced... My uncle used to travel all over the world for his job in the 80's. I think his was a sales executive for a major telephone company. But he'd always bring home a toy or game for his young son. During the early 90's my family was going through a rough patch when my father got fired, so for Christmas in 1995 I was given a ton of my cousin's old toys. I got a bunch of G1 transformers, He-man/Wrestling/Conan toys, some Thundercats figures, some of those Hologram face toys that Ashens looked at a few years ago. And that Space Gods buggy!
My Dad was a radiologist and for a year or two he was involved with irradiating people with gamma rays from pellets of cobalt 60. He would bring home small lead containers used to ship the radioactive cobalt. I’d play with them. Metallic lead is way less toxic than lead compounds. Fortunately!
@@kentuckylady2990 Me and my brother did that in the '60s. We'd break thermometers and play with the mercury, or melt lead over a bunsen burner and throw it in cold water to make "sculptures". Molten lead being a great kids' toy.
My dad worked for a ceramics company and for some reason they used mercury, he brought home a pint-sized bottle of it. We kids used to play with it and no doubt it got into our furniture and carpets. My childhood home may have become a Superfund site by now.
Brilliant toy line. I had most of the figures, and the flying saucer type vehicle. Loved the 'Stargards' figures in the yellow suits. Very pulp sci-fi indeed. Thanks for sharing. You can swap the heads over, too. I had one Stargard in a black suit, as a 'Baltar'- like traitor.
Late eighties, there was a space toy called Starcom. The feet of characters had magnets and the levels of their home base were metal. They had mechanical ships. Ships would have hidden guns that activated by button push.
I had a lot of StarCom thanks to saving mowing lawns money, and when they went on clearance at Toys R Us, I think I ended up with everything but the big shuttle and base. There were soooo many figures you got through vehicles and packs, it's like I had two armies. Since the villains used a lot of robots, it was like the Storm Trooper army I never amassed 😂
Yes! Someone else who has heard of this. I still have a bunch of mine. I occasionally look on ebay and consider either selling it or buying more. I should probably stay away from Ebay.
I remember these little magnets in their feet I must have been about five. I remember one time my dad stuck it to the bonnet of the car and we drove around only stopping when it fell over and I yelled so I wouldn't lose it
What a nostalgia hit! I only had one vehicle which was the gryroscope/X-wing ship and I loved it. I remember looking through toy catalogues and seeing pictures of the rest of the series but I never got any more. I have a distinct memory of getting the yellow ship on Christmas morning and having the dilemma of deciding wether to play with it or watch The Black Hole on the telly.
I remember a kid at school had the good-guy spaceship because I was really impressed with the rotating cockpit thing. I recall there being two variants, but I could be wrong.
I'm in the US but have been collecting Britain's toys for 40 years and thanks to this video I'll make a killing on EBay just in time for Christmas. Your content is truly the gift that keeps on giving thank you Sir Ashens.
I had a load of these in the early 80s and had completely forgotten about them - thanks for the massive nostalgia trip. I think they must have been sold off cheap as I had bloody loads of 'em, and that wasn't, usually, my folks style.
I love seeing you acting sounding and reliving your childhood. I recently found a box of my old toys, I was doing the same, my children thought I had gone insane and I think I bored them half to death with childhood stories. This was great, thanks mate. Cheers.
with each reveal - oh my word, brought it all back, my dad got a job lot from a toy shop and I had loads of these, but like you say, no back story, but the addition of strange robots and mutants really took my imagination. thank you for this
I had these when I was a kid. I think the bits that aren't broken are probably still in my mum and dad's attic. I loved them. The lack of story didn't matter too much, because I just made up my own ones, but the construction options were always a bit disappointing- it seems like you should be able to recombine them into elaborate space stations and battleships, but there really aren't that many combinations you can make, especially with the goodies. I think you can open up the goodies' ground vehicle and take the little man out as well, but it's a very old memory, obviously.
Here in the US, Britains Ltd figures were likewise only to be found in shops that also carried things like model railroads and Mamod miniature steam engines, but the figures were always of historic military subjects. I never saw the "Space" figures anywhere. Good video! Edit: I remember the tanks and armored cars were always from Dinky Toys, and were very well done.
This is brilliant. I remember it all in detail. I was amazed that you got muteron and master at the end. Nobody else i knew owned that. I got it for Christmas when I was a child 🤟
I spent the whole video imagining how all the bits could go together to make one big robot. Never has an ending to a youtube video made me feel more validated.
I had this back in the early 80's, I could never remember what they were called, I remember Zoids and other contemporary toys, definitely a blast from the past.
I remember Brittain's Space, though I mainly think I knew of it through their adverts and catalogues and seeing it in stores than actually playing with it. I liked the idea of the modularity of it, but as you said Brittain's stuff wasn't cheap and I already had Star Wars toys. I think I discovered a few years later that a friend had a pile of it but by that point that was a point of curiosity rather than something I really wanted to play with. Thank you for prodding my memory about this!
Crikey! I completely forgot about Britains toys. I remember seeing the displays in Langley's and Kerrison's as I did the full sweep of the shop, soaking in the designs, the colours, the different toy lines... before I doubled back and bought action Force, as I always tended to do. Thanks for bringing back a happy memory.
@@TheMasterNo6 Yes & no. Those were the two main toyshops near where I lived, when I was growing up (in days-gone-by, before franchises like toys'r'us). I went to whichever one my parents took me to... and whichever one they were more likely to win the game of 'con the naive child into picking the cheaper option'. "See this bright orange truck? He's called Stax. He's a Go-bot. Go-bots are a group of super-secret soldiers who work for Optimus Prime. Stax is also a ninja. You want Stax, don't you? Stax is better than Optimus. Lets buy Stax!"
OMG These take me back. Had so many as a kid. Including the big base, the green mutant dinosaur thing you showed and the one on the other side of the box. One of my all time favorite toys growing up. Thanks for the memories.....
I saw the title “Britains Forgotten Space Toys” or whatever and suddenly remembered I had these figures. I saved up for them with my pocket money. Of course I particularly remembered the twisty gun people, and the slightly saucy ladies who made a bit of an impression on the very young me. What I had totally forgotten about were the vehicles. Each one you pulled out brought a sudden jolt of recognition, nostalgia. I had this one. OMG I HAD THAT TOO. It turns out I had rather a lot of that stuff. Thank you so much for bringing back long lost memories. Particularly the tight suited ladies
Wow, these are really great looking. Yes, I remember the farm stuff but have never seen those cool looking toys. Thanks for showing them. Very enjoyable.
I was very sad that you wouldn't show the muteron (who was in heavy rotation as a generic bad guy at our house!) or the cyborg thingy which I coveted greatly, but you snuck the amazing green chap in! Great stuff!
OMG!!!! I had these and totally forgot about them!!! This was a major blast from the past!!! I had some Stargards and Aliens and the Stargard gyroscopic vehicle. I remember there was a thing about the stands, you could have 2 figures share a stand and link all the figures together like a space walkway or something. Thanks for the vid man!!!
Never heard of these toys but the interchangability of them is pretty nice, so much that you can even do your own configurations with them in theory. Also nice robot at the end.
@4:35 A fishbowl filled up with _mustard_ you say? My favorite! lol These SPACE figs are cool! Besides the helmets, I'm surprised more of the detachable bases aren't missing. That ultimate robot was saucy.
That's reminded me of something I had completely forgotten about - I had all the Starguards stuff!! Well, I had the yellow, and my twin brother had the green. Thanks Stuart, that's proper nostalgia right there.
I can envision little Stuart playing with these back in the early 80s, running around the house with his toy spaceship going 'whoosh'. Probably in a patterned or stripey jumper.
When this video started, a filing cabinet in my brain opened. There was a hint of recognition. When I was about five I was taken to a department store called “Wildings” it was Christmas. I remember seeing the coolest Green UFO with gyroscope cockpit. It was too expensive and I wasn’t allowed to have it. That toy has been a vivid memory for over 40 years. And at 10:17 there it is. I had no idea what the toy line was called. I do now. Thank you 😊👍👍👍👍
Damn, I had a friend whose brother was mad into farming (we lived in the country) and had all the old Britain models. As you say, one day the model shop he went to dumped this whole range and sold them really cheap so he arrived home one day with a bag full of the white and red ones. Yeah, the figures weren’t much to write home about but if you had enough vehicles you could spend hours welding them together. I had completely forgotten about these.
I had these toys. I was bought one by a great aunt. Like you I was mad for all things space and got several other bits of the range as presents later. I had almost forgotten all about them. Great bit of nostalgia mongering, Cheers
I'm in New Zealand and these are a core memory for me. No idea how they got here or if they were widely available but I loved the hell out of them. The later figures always made me think of the plastic monster finger puppets.
I just realized that Ashens is like me when, in early elementary school, I would bring one of my toys to school for "show and tell". Realistically though, Ashens is more entertaining when showing his toys.
Brilliant, I had (and still have) the Stargard, aliens and cyborgs, plus the first two ships in this video. And yes I'm pretty sure they were usually found in model shops like Beatties rather than mainstream toy stores, because those model shops also sold the other Britains figures, like the knights and Turks
I was chatting about this range of toys with my brother the other day and for the life of us we couldn't remember the name of them! THANK YOU!!! Now I need them all again...
My father's English, but travelled the world and settled down in Canada - we visit my Aunt or she'd come visit us periodically. Easter vacation of 1982, we were actually in the UK for my birthday, and I got a bunch of these as b'day gifts! They're probably in a box somewhere in my folks' attic now. Thanks for the serotonin hit of nostalgia!
I have a very vague memory of seeing some of these toys when i was a kid, but for life of me, i'm not sure where it was. It was either on holiday in Yarmouth or in Skegness.
I have some on these that have been sat on a shelf at my parent's house, I've never seen them anywhere else. I fell like I just got a lovely warm slap of nostalgia, thank you :)
Wow, I used to have the starguards ship and various accessories but I never knew what it was called. Great fun to play with 🙂 I think I had more of the Mantaforce toys growing up though but this brings back great memories. Thanks 👍
I absolutely loved this video. It felt like being invited around a friend's house as he excitedly takes you through every toy he got for his birthday. I did have some of these and I loved them. I got mine through some sort of offer by Space Raiders crisps (if I remember correctly). Sadly all have gone now
When I clicked on this I was expecting something like "UK's toy companies came out with a lot of space-themed toys decades ago and here's representatives of several of these lines that nobody remembers anymore", but this was better than that.
So here is a little bit more information - sort of. KP Outer Spacer (crisps) had a promotion just before these hit the shelf (singular). Collect so many empty packets, postal order, send off and receive 1 or 2 good guys - 1 or 2 bad guys and......... stuff. There was a double sided poster one side dramatic - the other side a spaceship spotters chart that had nothing to do with what they actually released. Also, a certificate to show you were a member of - something spacey that I can't remember. Here was, possibly, the only bit of story unfortunately I can remember very little but I'm convinced there were a couple double sided posters - the whole thing felt like more than they had to give away, and won my instant loyalty - unfortunately I couldn't afford the ships but did have all of those figures.
I remember this promotion, and it took SO long to be fulfilled. You received a leaflet that Addressed you as "Commander" and told you about the Star Guards - giving them a name like "Space Defenders"? , while the Aliens I know were called "Imperial Stryke Force". The ships featured in the leaflet had no resemblance to the actual models. When app.ying for the offer, you were supposed to choose which side you were on. Having a brother, we went for opposite sides! Your choice determined which figures (Star Guard or Aliens) you received - but the leaflet was exactly the same and assumed you were an heroic Defender. (Unless of course someone putting together the promotional material mucked up....) Then came the Falklands War, and I moved onto a new line of toys featuring a Royal Marine from a new line called "Action Force". Finally, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer helped me put "childish things" aside !! 😂
These kinds of toy lines don’t need back stories. Honestly, any backstory a child would come up is probably far more interesting to the child than something written ahead of time.
That green saucer thing got reissued later as a good guy vehicle in white, with the extra metal X-Wing section. I got it when I was 6 and had to have surgery, my parents bought it for me as a reward for my outstanding bravery.
We had lots of Britains here in Sweden. The WW2 soldiers and the western toys was very popular in my family. And we also had some Space toys to. A few figures. But I always was very fascinated by the booklets with the Space things and I did want all of them. As an adult toy collector I'm always on the lookout for Britains Space. I think the modular vehicles and the freedom to build crazy stuff is awesome! Thanks for the video!
There was a joke like that on one of Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who episodes. A character mentions that something is like a facehugger from 'Alien', and The Doctor stares at him, and says, disgustedly: "There's a movie called 'Alien'? That's really offensive."
Ever since you got that one figure from the line way back when during your Toy Box subscription box romp, and said that you might be doing a review of them, I've been waiting for this day. Well done in making such a video happen.
I had some of this stuff back in the early 80's and much like yourself, just cannot for the life of me remember where or when I got it. It just sort of appeared as other stuff to use in my cross-genre play. A most excellent video!
My query, however, is this: If Otto appears only in the Minions: Rise of Gru, where is he then in Despicable Me One, Two or Three? Will we get a Minions spin-off solely delving into the backstory of this lovable, plump henchman? Or will his appearance and eventual disappearance forever remain a mystery? Oh how I shall toss and turn this night.
Had so many of these toys as a kid. Only ever found in a local post office. Have very fond memories of playing with them. I believe the same company did a range of knights as well. Thank you for the reminder
You're not the only one who cares about it, I care about it too. I have a small collection of these toys, some from my childhood, some bought later. I still have a couple of items left to get until I have the full set. My favorite item is the Stargards car/buggy type thing shown at 11:12 . Very detailed and well thought out. You could take out the inner seat and attach the wheels to it to make an even smaller buggy. It had an "exhaust pipe" at the rear, so it could be attached to one of the larger ships, and there were two holes on the top surface into which one of the figures could be clipped. It came with a little robot too, which could clip to the rear of the seat, sort of like an R2 unit fitting into the back of an X wing I guess.
Had a bunch of these when I was young - bloody loved them. Attaching the claws to the Alien flying saucer was usually my go to. Don't think I ever knew them as Britain's Space - it was just Star Guards & Aliens to me.
My brother got them for Christmas but I loved playing with them. Amazing for the overactive imagination! I still have some bits of it in a box in the loft.
Oh wow! Now I know what these are! I remember being in infant school and in their toy boxes, they had the first two vehicles that was shown, I was mesmerised by the gyro / balance ability of them, fantastic!!!
I had a couple of these as a kid. Got them from a small toy shop in my town. Distinctly remember the disappointment of opening the platform kit and finding there was a piece missing. A friend of mine had the floor of his attic decked out with loads of the Britains farmyard stuff, which I thought was kind of boring. Great video. I never saw the later weirder stuff on sale anywhere.
I remember Britain's toys very well. Used to have loads of the farm stuff as a kid. Also had the green alien stuff and the rubber fellas you showed. Used to love my green flying saucer thingy!
![The ENTIRE History of Europe (4K Documentary) [Ancient, Middle Ages, Modern Civilization]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NHfi2yfZ3qs/mqdefault.jpg)
![The ENTIRE History of Europe (4K Documentary) [Ancient, Middle Ages, Modern Civilization]](/img/tr.png)
The best kind of Ashens video. Where he talks about an obscure toy and makes me just want to get on eBay and buy them all immediately.
Do you think it is a coincidence that these toys appear on eBay after the video goes live?
It's not. You're being manipulated. Because guess who put the toys on eBay?
The video is full of subliminal messages, and you're falling for it, not me.
They took away my eBay account because I was selling tons of DNA replication tools and miniature humans.
eBay tries to say you can't sell bodily fluids, but how are you then supposed to stop witches from hexing you?
You gotta "put a bottle" on the witch, by putting a bottle of wizard pee under your bed, and then the witch can't pee herself, so she comes to you to axe you to throw the pee bottle away, and you bargain where she stops hexing, and then you pour out the pee and she can pee again.
That's how you run a business.
I literally did that with the weird 90s Doctor Who playset 😂
It’s really cute
The Final Faction video convinced me to pick up a near complete set at my local Dollar Tree (as of my writing this they’re still available)
I did that with Manta Force…
@@iamlem2542 Final Faction in the UK on ebay isn't cheap.
There's a toy I've not seen for nearly 40 years and had completely forgotten existed! Had loads of these as a kid and vaguely remember loving them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Ashens!
You must be a gen x'r.
Aka old as dirt
lol me too
Loved these. I had the humans and my brother had the aliens.
I had these as well, proper blast from the past.
And yes it was the early 80's. I had Britain soldiers as well, they produced tanks, field guns, staff cars and much more. Great range.
I got some from a send-in offer on packets of crisps. Eventually.
I remember having most of those sets as well. Most of my aliens ended up invading my Britain’s farm. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
Please tell me you did the ol' cow abduction thing.
Ahh the old farm animal abduction set
Omg!! Ancient nerons firing!! I had a load of these!
I’m Swedish and was still fortunate enough to grow up with “Space”.
Britains toys were sold at the bigger toy shops here. Some of my friends had the farm toys or knights, but never Space. But Space was always something we played with when we were at my place. The aliens were the most popular ones, and we built all sorts of combined vehicles.
I was probably 4 when I got my first ship, and I had no point of reference to '50s Sci Fi. I just thought these toys had the coolest design ever. I was very proud to own the alien saucer, still am.
The ingenuity of these is definitely that you could create your own stuff from the different sets. For me they were an even cooler alternative to Lego.
Thank you for giving Space the spotlight they deserve!
'50s
*
Cool story, thanks for sharing
My bum is on the swedish... SWEDISH
The moment I saw the first spaceman I almost screamed - there’s a box of these all beaten-up in my grandparents’ house that used to belong to my uncle when he was a kid - I never knew what they were. Really nice to see them again!
un-beat up that box and give those things some love, maybe even put em up on a shelf for display.
What's weird is that I remember seeing the quadruple tail-fins of the toy in the preview image on a spaceship model on Star Trek: The Next Generation, specifically the warship from the episode "Suddenly Human", but I have no idea if they share a mutual source or are at all related. The other half of that model was a spaceship from _Star Wars,_ so maybe it was bashed together from that toy and the one in this video...?
Over here in the US there was a shop called Toys International that kept a range of Britains figures. I remember the Space set vaguely, but I was obsessed with the knights and still have a few of my old ones from back in the day. Wonderfully painted, beautiful sculpts on those.
It's a genuine delight seeing how happy he is with the new toy when he opens it...
I was trying to find these exact toys for DECADES! I had tons of them as a kid and they were amazing!
Born in the early 80's and these were TOYS!!!!!
You could actually play with them and not worry about them too much!
To be totally honest, I loved playing own storys, with toys without special backgrounds. You were free to create own characters and worlds without some hardcore fan kids telling you that this and that couldn't be, and you're doing it wrong etc., and you perfectly have to stick to the story... I loved creating my own worlds with own characters and own stories.
Don't we all do that?
I somehow managed to get the Lego egypt, aliens, underwater, pirate, and police set to all make sense together.
Exactly! I had loads of the Britains Space toys and my best friend had loads of Star Wars. I always found the Star Wars toys kinda boring tbh but the Space ones were great because you could make your own stories and backgrounds.
I had a big base thing, it was very cheap and plasticky but you could take the figures out of their bases and there would be fixed places to put them on the big base, it had cranes and gun emplacements and all sorts. This is bringing back so many memories.
I have almost every single thing in this video in a box upstairs. Awesome. A massive part of my childhood in one 28 minute video. 😁😁😁
I had the big silver base.
Yes it was just thin vac-form plastic + a cardboard bottom, but that’s what made it cool.
Cos even though it was huge, even with the other bits added, it was still light enough for a child to pick up/move the whole thing like a spaceship etc...
I never had any white ones/vehicles, but had plenty yellow, green + lots of duplicate pieces etc in like a glittery silver.
Absolutely brilliant, awesome toys.
I loved them + have fond memories of MANY hours having great space adventures.
Thank-you for the warm nostalgic glow Dr Ashen... 👌👍🦑
I was like "Oh cool, foreign toys!" but then the wheeled one came out and a memory surfaced...
My uncle used to travel all over the world for his job in the 80's. I think his was a sales executive for a major telephone company. But he'd always bring home a toy or game for his young son. During the early 90's my family was going through a rough patch when my father got fired, so for Christmas in 1995 I was given a ton of my cousin's old toys. I got a bunch of G1 transformers, He-man/Wrestling/Conan toys, some Thundercats figures, some of those Hologram face toys that Ashens looked at a few years ago. And that Space Gods buggy!
My Dad was a radiologist and for a year or two he was involved with irradiating people with gamma rays from pellets of cobalt 60. He would bring home small lead containers used to ship the radioactive cobalt. I’d play with them.
Metallic lead is way less toxic than lead compounds. Fortunately!
Yes, but kids chew on everything.
I was SO worried that you'd say you played with the spent pellets of cobalt 60!
My science teacher allowed his students to play with mercury and lead.
@@kentuckylady2990 Me and my brother did that in the '60s. We'd break thermometers and play with the mercury, or melt lead over a bunsen burner and throw it in cold water to make "sculptures". Molten lead being a great kids' toy.
My dad worked for a ceramics company and for some reason they used mercury, he brought home a pint-sized bottle of it. We kids used to play with it and no doubt it got into our furniture and carpets. My childhood home may have become a Superfund site by now.
I do remember Britain's toys. As my late mother used to work for them. Also they was hand painted that was why they was so expensive.
My rich friend Giles had the ‘Metal Base’ figures, I had to make do with Airfix 1/32 scale all-plastic figures.
those was the ones we got. My mum used to bring home the rejects or the imperfect ones
Brilliant toy line. I had most of the figures, and the flying saucer type vehicle. Loved the 'Stargards' figures in the yellow suits. Very pulp sci-fi indeed. Thanks for sharing.
You can swap the heads over, too. I had one Stargard in a black suit, as a 'Baltar'- like traitor.
Late eighties, there was a space toy called Starcom. The feet of characters had magnets and the levels of their home base were metal. They had mechanical ships. Ships would have hidden guns that activated by button push.
I had a lot of StarCom thanks to saving mowing lawns money, and when they went on clearance at Toys R Us, I think I ended up with everything but the big shuttle and base. There were soooo many figures you got through vehicles and packs, it's like I had two armies. Since the villains used a lot of robots, it was like the Storm Trooper army I never amassed 😂
Yes! Someone else who has heard of this. I still have a bunch of mine. I occasionally look on ebay and consider either selling it or buying more. I should probably stay away from Ebay.
@MrDalevich just keep them. StarCom is so unique, it's the only toy line that had dedicated vehicles for shipping crates!
I remember these little magnets in their feet I must have been about five. I remember one time my dad stuck it to the bonnet of the car and we drove around only stopping when it fell over and I yelled so I wouldn't lose it
I always wanted then, but sadly never got any. They did look very fun to play with.
What a nostalgia hit! I only had one vehicle which was the gryroscope/X-wing ship and I loved it. I remember looking through toy catalogues and seeing pictures of the rest of the series but I never got any more. I have a distinct memory of getting the yellow ship on Christmas morning and having the dilemma of deciding wether to play with it or watch The Black Hole on the telly.
I remember a kid at school had the good-guy spaceship because I was really impressed with the rotating cockpit thing. I recall there being two variants, but I could be wrong.
I'm in the US but have been collecting Britain's toys for 40 years and thanks to this video I'll make a killing on EBay just in time for Christmas. Your content is truly the gift that keeps on giving thank you Sir Ashens.
Wish ashens would post more old toys vidoes on here. Made my evening, day, week even.
I had a load of these in the early 80s and had completely forgotten about them - thanks for the massive nostalgia trip.
I think they must have been sold off cheap as I had bloody loads of 'em, and that wasn't, usually, my folks style.
I had lots of these, they cost me 30p each! I loved them! My favourite were the mutants!
Well, that's a toy line I haven't seen or thought of in years. A real blast from the past as I certainly had some of these as a kid!
Hes just legendary, decades after and I still love watching him
Ikr, you can always come back to Ashens for some wholesome perma-eternal videos
I love seeing you acting sounding and reliving your childhood. I recently found a box of my old toys, I was doing the same, my children thought I had gone insane and I think I bored them half to death with childhood stories. This was great, thanks mate. Cheers.
with each reveal - oh my word, brought it all back, my dad got a job lot from a toy shop and I had loads of these, but like you say, no back story, but the addition of strange robots and mutants really took my imagination. thank you for this
I had these when I was a kid. I think the bits that aren't broken are probably still in my mum and dad's attic. I loved them. The lack of story didn't matter too much, because I just made up my own ones, but the construction options were always a bit disappointing- it seems like you should be able to recombine them into elaborate space stations and battleships, but there really aren't that many combinations you can make, especially with the goodies. I think you can open up the goodies' ground vehicle and take the little man out as well, but it's a very old memory, obviously.
Here in the US, Britains Ltd figures were likewise only to be found in shops that also carried things like model railroads and Mamod miniature steam engines, but the figures were always of historic military subjects. I never saw the "Space" figures anywhere. Good video!
Edit: I remember the tanks and armored cars were always from Dinky Toys, and were very well done.
This is brilliant. I remember it all in detail. I was amazed that you got muteron and master at the end. Nobody else i knew owned that. I got it for Christmas when I was a child 🤟
I spent the whole video imagining how all the bits could go together to make one big robot. Never has an ending to a youtube video made me feel more validated.
I had this back in the early 80's, I could never remember what they were called, I remember Zoids and other contemporary toys, definitely a blast from the past.
Woo! Another of my favorite format of ashens video.
I remember Brittain's Space, though I mainly think I knew of it through their adverts and catalogues and seeing it in stores than actually playing with it. I liked the idea of the modularity of it, but as you said Brittain's stuff wasn't cheap and I already had Star Wars toys. I think I discovered a few years later that a friend had a pile of it but by that point that was a point of curiosity rather than something I really wanted to play with.
Thank you for prodding my memory about this!
Lord this has taken me back literally decades. Thank you for this.
Crikey! I completely forgot about Britains toys. I remember seeing the displays in Langley's and Kerrison's as I did the full sweep of the shop, soaking in the designs, the colours, the different toy lines... before I doubled back and bought action Force, as I always tended to do.
Thanks for bringing back a happy memory.
Did you go to two toyshops?
@@TheMasterNo6 Yes & no. Those were the two main toyshops near where I lived, when I was growing up (in days-gone-by, before franchises like toys'r'us). I went to whichever one my parents took me to... and whichever one they were more likely to win the game of 'con the naive child into picking the cheaper option'.
"See this bright orange truck? He's called Stax. He's a Go-bot. Go-bots are a group of super-secret soldiers who work for Optimus Prime. Stax is also a ninja. You want Stax, don't you? Stax is better than Optimus. Lets buy Stax!"
OMG These take me back. Had so many as a kid. Including the big base, the green mutant dinosaur thing you showed and the one on the other side of the box. One of my all time favorite toys growing up.
Thanks for the memories.....
YES!!!! I love when you talk about odd, old toy lines.
I saw the title “Britains Forgotten Space Toys” or whatever and suddenly remembered I had these figures. I saved up for them with my pocket money. Of course I particularly remembered the twisty gun people, and the slightly saucy ladies who made a bit of an impression on the very young me. What I had totally forgotten about were the vehicles. Each one you pulled out brought a sudden jolt of recognition, nostalgia. I had this one. OMG I HAD THAT TOO. It turns out I had rather a lot of that stuff. Thank you so much for bringing back long lost memories. Particularly the tight suited ladies
the amount of joy in ashens' voice when he was playing with that green thing
Wow, these are really great looking. Yes, I remember the farm stuff but have never seen those cool looking toys. Thanks for showing them. Very enjoyable.
I was very sad that you wouldn't show the muteron (who was in heavy rotation as a generic bad guy at our house!) or the cyborg thingy which I coveted greatly, but you snuck the amazing green chap in! Great stuff!
OMG!!!! I had these and totally forgot about them!!! This was a major blast from the past!!! I had some Stargards and Aliens and the Stargard gyroscopic vehicle. I remember there was a thing about the stands, you could have 2 figures share a stand and link all the figures together like a space walkway or something. Thanks for the vid man!!!
I've been waiting years for Ashens to break out the Britains Space! Thank you :)
Never heard of these toys but the interchangability of them is pretty nice, so much that you can even do your own configurations with them in theory. Also nice robot at the end.
@4:35 A fishbowl filled up with _mustard_ you say? My favorite! lol These SPACE figs are cool! Besides the helmets, I'm surprised more of the detachable bases aren't missing. That ultimate robot was saucy.
That's reminded me of something I had completely forgotten about - I had all the Starguards stuff!! Well, I had the yellow, and my twin brother had the green. Thanks Stuart, that's proper nostalgia right there.
I can envision little Stuart playing with these back in the early 80s, running around the house with his toy spaceship going 'whoosh'. Probably in a patterned or stripey jumper.
When this video started, a filing cabinet in my brain opened. There was a hint of recognition. When I was about five I was taken to a department store called “Wildings” it was Christmas. I remember seeing the coolest Green UFO with gyroscope cockpit. It was too expensive and I wasn’t allowed to have it. That toy has been a vivid memory for over 40 years. And at 10:17 there it is. I had no idea what the toy line was called. I do now. Thank you 😊👍👍👍👍
Damn, I had a friend whose brother was mad into farming (we lived in the country) and had all the old Britain models. As you say, one day the model shop he went to dumped this whole range and sold them really cheap so he arrived home one day with a bag full of the white and red ones. Yeah, the figures weren’t much to write home about but if you had enough vehicles you could spend hours welding them together. I had completely forgotten about these.
I had these toys.
I was bought one by a great aunt. Like you I was mad for all things space and got several other bits of the range as presents later. I had almost forgotten all about them.
Great bit of nostalgia mongering, Cheers
Oh my! I haven't seen these in years! Thanks for the memories.
Just sat and watched this with my dad. He had majority of these shown. Brought back memories for him!
I'm in New Zealand and these are a core memory for me. No idea how they got here or if they were widely available but I loved the hell out of them. The later figures always made me think of the plastic monster finger puppets.
Chur Cuz, dunedin!
I also had some of these in NZ so they must have been been sold here.
I just realized that Ashens is like me when, in early elementary school, I would bring one of my toys to school for "show and tell". Realistically though, Ashens is more entertaining when showing his toys.
Brilliant, I had (and still have) the Stargard, aliens and cyborgs, plus the first two ships in this video. And yes I'm pretty sure they were usually found in model shops like Beatties rather than mainstream toy stores, because those model shops also sold the other Britains figures, like the knights and Turks
I was chatting about this range of toys with my brother the other day and for the life of us we couldn't remember the name of them! THANK YOU!!! Now I need them all again...
Oooh, I had LOADS of these. BOught them from Redgates in Sheffield. Such a great toy line.
thanks ashens
you never cease to give me happy memories 👍🏻
Always a nice surprise when Ashens posts a video! 😊
My father's English, but travelled the world and settled down in Canada - we visit my Aunt or she'd come visit us periodically. Easter vacation of 1982, we were actually in the UK for my birthday, and I got a bunch of these as b'day gifts! They're probably in a box somewhere in my folks' attic now.
Thanks for the serotonin hit of nostalgia!
I have a very vague memory of seeing some of these toys when i was a kid, but for life of me, i'm not sure where it was. It was either on holiday in Yarmouth or in Skegness.
Fantastic! I aged out if the toy market about a year before these appeared, so I completely missed them. Glad to know they existed.
These are really nice, even with the figures being more like small statues
I have some on these that have been sat on a shelf at my parent's house, I've never seen them anywhere else.
I fell like I just got a lovely warm slap of nostalgia, thank you :)
Britains farm toys were immensely popular - and where I lived, in a farming area in Scotland, they were in every shop with even a basic toy section.
Yep. I grew up in Inverurie and I don’t think I ever had a birthday as a young child without getting a Britains tractor or implement.
@Kenny_P_abz You will know Strachans then! One of my favourite shops growing up.
Wow, I used to have the starguards ship and various accessories but I never knew what it was called. Great fun to play with 🙂 I think I had more of the Mantaforce toys growing up though but this brings back great memories. Thanks 👍
The body sculpts are very cool. Some designs remind me of some recent high-end toylines like JoyToy.
I absolutely loved this video. It felt like being invited around a friend's house as he excitedly takes you through every toy he got for his birthday. I did have some of these and I loved them. I got mine through some sort of offer by Space Raiders crisps (if I remember correctly). Sadly all have gone now
When I clicked on this I was expecting something like "UK's toy companies came out with a lot of space-themed toys decades ago and here's representatives of several of these lines that nobody remembers anymore", but this was better than that.
So here is a little bit more information - sort of. KP Outer Spacer (crisps) had a promotion just before these hit the shelf (singular). Collect so many empty packets, postal order, send off and receive 1 or 2 good guys - 1 or 2 bad guys and......... stuff. There was a double sided poster one side dramatic - the other side a spaceship spotters chart that had nothing to do with what they actually released. Also, a certificate to show you were a member of - something spacey that I can't remember. Here was, possibly, the only bit of story unfortunately I can remember very little but I'm convinced there were a couple double sided posters - the whole thing felt like more than they had to give away, and won my instant loyalty - unfortunately I couldn't afford the ships but did have all of those figures.
I knew i had seen them some other place
I remember this promotion, and it took SO long to be fulfilled. You received a leaflet that Addressed you as "Commander" and told you about the Star Guards - giving them a name like "Space Defenders"? , while the Aliens I know were called "Imperial Stryke Force". The ships featured in the leaflet had no resemblance to the actual models. When app.ying for the offer, you were supposed to choose which side you were on. Having a brother, we went for opposite sides! Your choice determined which figures (Star Guard or Aliens) you received - but the leaflet was exactly the same and assumed you were an heroic Defender. (Unless of course someone putting together the promotional material mucked up....)
Then came the Falklands War, and I moved onto a new line of toys featuring a Royal Marine from a new line called "Action Force". Finally, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer helped me put "childish things" aside !! 😂
These kinds of toy lines don’t need back stories. Honestly, any backstory a child would come up is probably far more interesting to the child than something written ahead of time.
"I am Targlech the Undefeatable! You shall bow before me in subservience, human scu... aaahhhh, my bum!"
I was absolutely stunned when l saw these in a toy catalogue here in Austria about 40 years ago. Never had an idea, what they were until now, thx.
That green saucer thing got reissued later as a good guy vehicle in white, with the extra metal X-Wing section. I got it when I was 6 and had to have surgery, my parents bought it for me as a reward for my outstanding bravery.
What was the surgery for?
I'm very proud of how brave you were, too.
@@grapegrappler1424 I had an undescended testicle. So now you know my dark secret.
We had lots of Britains here in Sweden. The WW2 soldiers and the western toys was very popular in my family. And we also had some Space toys to. A few figures. But I always was very fascinated by the booklets with the Space things and I did want all of them. As an adult toy collector I'm always on the lookout for Britains Space. I think the modular vehicles and the freedom to build crazy stuff is awesome! Thanks for the video!
When aliens do end up finding us, they're probably going to be really offended that they're the bad guy in everything
There was a joke like that on one of Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who episodes. A character mentions that something is like a facehugger from 'Alien', and The Doctor stares at him, and says, disgustedly:
"There's a movie called 'Alien'? That's really offensive."
Had a load of these when I was a kid and had completely forgotten about them so thank you for reminding me.
Can’t wait for this years Advent Calendar hope it’s going to be epic
Mind you, you can’t beat the Cheese one.
I can only imagine what they've got, because there's been some amazingly naff ones flogged around ebay and tiktok shop this year 😂
Hand job elf would disagree with you ;-)
Ever since you got that one figure from the line way back when during your Toy Box subscription box romp, and said that you might be doing a review of them, I've been waiting for this day. Well done in making such a video happen.
The terror raiders honestly look like space-stage Spore aliens:D
I had some of this stuff back in the early 80's and much like yourself, just cannot for the life of me remember where or when I got it. It just sort of appeared as other stuff to use in my cross-genre play. A most excellent video!
My query, however, is this: If Otto appears only in the Minions: Rise of Gru, where is he then in Despicable Me One, Two or Three? Will we get a Minions spin-off solely delving into the backstory of this lovable, plump henchman? Or will his appearance and eventual disappearance forever remain a mystery? Oh how I shall toss and turn this night.
I always thought Otto was his actual father.... And he didn't know
What the fuck does this have to do with the video
Had so many of these toys as a kid. Only ever found in a local post office. Have very fond memories of playing with them. I believe the same company did a range of knights as well.
Thank you for the reminder
I was born 78 and my cousins had loads of these i used to play with, completely forgot until i saw this 🙏🏻
You're not the only one who cares about it, I care about it too.
I have a small collection of these toys, some from my childhood, some bought later. I still have a couple of items left to get until I have the full set.
My favorite item is the Stargards car/buggy type thing shown at 11:12 . Very detailed and well thought out. You could take out the inner seat and attach the wheels to it to make an even smaller buggy. It had an "exhaust pipe" at the rear, so it could be attached to one of the larger ships, and there were two holes on the top surface into which one of the figures could be clipped.
It came with a little robot too, which could clip to the rear of the seat, sort of like an R2 unit fitting into the back of an X wing I guess.
Stuff me sideways!! I had totally forgotten about these! I had so many of them! Thank you so much for bringing those memories back!!
Still have all my Britains stuff. Farm and space. Loved it. Loved it. Used my fisher price garage as a base station for the space stuff.
I used to watch you in year 6 im now 18 always come back to these videos.Glad ur still uploading
I LOVE DEETAIL! Mad for these as a child and now. I was always fascinated by the space figures in catalogues but never saw them at local shops
Ads soon asI saw that thumbnail, I did a double-take and got way more excited than I shoud have. I want to get these again!!
I inherited a bunch of these and remember playing with them as a kid. Absolutely awesome.
Thanks for this blast from the past. I had that entire set when I was a kid, but have never seen any of that gear anywhere else!
Had a bunch of these when I was young - bloody loved them. Attaching the claws to the Alien flying saucer was usually my go to. Don't think I ever knew them as Britain's Space - it was just Star Guards & Aliens to me.
I had a bunch of these. Would not have remembered without this video
My brother got them for Christmas but I loved playing with them. Amazing for the overactive imagination! I still have some bits of it in a box in the loft.
Oh wow! Now I know what these are!
I remember being in infant school and in their toy boxes, they had the first two vehicles that was shown, I was mesmerised by the gyro / balance ability of them, fantastic!!!
Ace video as always Stuart
I had a couple of these as a kid. Got them from a small toy shop in my town. Distinctly remember the disappointment of opening the platform kit and finding there was a piece missing. A friend of mine had the floor of his attic decked out with loads of the Britains farmyard stuff, which I thought was kind of boring. Great video. I never saw the later weirder stuff on sale anywhere.
I dig seeing toys that are totally new to me! I would have loved these back in 1981.
I remember Britain's toys very well. Used to have loads of the farm stuff as a kid. Also had the green alien stuff and the rubber fellas you showed. Used to love my green flying saucer thingy!