Charbens Miniatures or "Old Crocks" Series
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These were first made back in 1955 by Brothers Charles and Benjamin Reid who were based at Holloway in North London. The toys were very primitive when compared to those Lesney were making at the time. They can be very fragile too, this is due to Lead contamination of the Zinc used to make them. They are nevertheless charming and highly collectible toys. They were sold in boxes that were printed with a suitcase design and were about the same size as the early Moko Lesney box. There were 34 toys in the series and very few variations. Most of the cars had stamped tinplate steel running boards and mudguards. Early pieces had painted metal wheels and later brightly coloured plastic wheels. The toys had "made in England" on the base and the model details and number were rubber stamped or printed on the box end flaps. They were quite well detailed and very colourful. The first two models were a Darracq and a Spyker, the "stars" from the film "Genevieve", the Darracq was sold with "Genevieve" stamped on the endflap. The range lasted until the late 1960s. |
# 1 1904 Darracq (Genevieve) . . . . . . . . . . # 2 1904 Spyker . . . . . .
Two versions of the #3 Old Bill / London B type bus, left: first issue, right : later issue
# 4 1907 Ford . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. # 5 1907 Vauxhall
# 6 1906 De Dion Boulton
Two # 7 1898 Panhards, Left-with Tiller steering, Right with Steering Wheel
# 8 1906 Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . # 9 1903 Standard .
# 10 1903 Wolseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # 11 1908 Packard . . .
# 12 1905 Vauxhall Hansom Cab . . . . . . . . #13 1905 Straker steam lorry
# 14 Stephenson's Rocket. . . # 16 1909 Albion
. . . # 17 1912 Rover . . . . .. . . . . . . . . # 18 1911 Mercedes Benz
#19 Bedford Horsebox . . . . . . . . # 20 1910 Lanchester
# 21 1922 Morris Cowley . . . . .. . . . . . .# 22 1900 Daimler. . . .
. . . . .. . .# 23 1904 Autocar . . . . . . . .. . .#24 1870 Grenville Steam Carriage
# 25 1905 Napier . . . . . . . . . . . # 28 Mercer Runabout
