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Broad Acres Toy Collection

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Broad Acres Toy Collection

The Museum in Llangeler, has closed and the collection has moved to a new home in Newton-in-the-Isle. Watch this page for details of opening.

28/08/2026

We are back on that “I had one of them” or “Dad had one” …
Childhood memories….things that were around, back in the day.

In this post, we feature the Polaroid Sw***er 2 land camera.
Super light, instant pictures (well fairly instant) and not only a new way of taking photos, but also a fashion icon in its own right.

The look, the style, the swinger…it caught the imagination of those late 1960s/early 1970s “Sw***ers”.

Our model is c1970 and although in good order, is only good as a collectable item or for display, due to the fact that the film stock is no longer available.

Designed by Henry Dreyfuss in 1965, Sw***er cameras are evocative of that period of fast changing fashions and innovation.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

27/08/2026

On post is a splendid Naboo N4 Starfighter from the Star Wars movie, The Phantom Menace.

This large model was made by Hasbro in 1998 and features light and sound effects.

We have it next to a coffee mug, to demonstrate scale.

Another great toy from a galactic franchise!

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

26/08/2026

Oh no! 😟
Not more Cadbury’s ?

Yes …….as we said, we don’t have all of the Cadbury models ( ever ) made. Just the ones that we like. 👍

So here we are with the Creme Egg car, made under contract to Corgi by Microlink who ran the old Corgi factory in the early 1990s.

The Mini Eggs in yellow, came later and were made in China.

Everything else is self explanatory. Dates and info on the packaging.

One crème egg is missing from the special edition, but it’s looking good for its age.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

25/08/2026

Well here is a peculiar thing.
We are back, taking a look at diecast bi-planes.
Actually, just the one but in two different boxes and two different brands.

It’s all about the Cadbury’s Crunchie Stearman stunt plane.

Virtually, the same casting but one is Lledo and the other is Matchbox.

So what’s going on here?

Well, the engine cowling on the Matchbox Stearman is a different casting to the Lledo and incidentally, I have a Lledo with a silver cowling and a Lledo with a blue cowling.
Also note that the Lledo casting has “mudguards” and a pilot.

So here is a thing. Mattel own the Matchbox brand and at one time, owned the Corgi Toys brand, which they sold and it became Corgi Classics, who in turn acquired Lledo. That is a sort of link, but by the time Lledo joined Corgi, Mattel had long sold out.

If anyone knows the back story, we would love to hear it!

We love mysteries here at Broad Acres.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

24/08/2026

Spread the word!
It’s Utterly Butterly!
We do love toy or character related “on pack offers”.
From the year 2,001 we have an empty plastic tub, a card box and a biplane. Well, we would wouldn’t we 😊

Considering that it’s 25 years ago, this example is in pretty good shape.
It’s something for the collector of “packaging” and something for the Corgi model collector.

One wonders just how many of these have survived in such complete condition.

Note: The spread is long gone and the use by date is January 2002. Judging by the Reindeer, this was a Christmas special.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

23/08/2026

Who remembers Matchbox Kits ? They appeared on the market in the 1970s and came in two colour plastic.

At the time, Matchbox claimed that for young modellers, who could not paint, these two colour kits would provide ready made colour. At least, that’s one story we heard!

There is no doubt that the mouldings were crisp and subject matter varied.

On post, we feature the original 1976 issue of the Hawker Hunter.
This kit enabled the modeller to build two different versions, a single seat fighter, Mk F.G. or the side by side two seat trainer, TMk7.
This gave the kit more appeal and of course, once one version was built, it would be off to the shop to get a second one …for the other type.
At just 95p retail, it seems good value, but of course that was fifty years ago!
The later packaging is also shown, for interest.

In the 1970s Paul worked for Hawker Siddeley Aviation, who were at the time, re furbishing Hunters for Middle East air forces.

Photo shows H.S.A. Bitteswell with Hunters on refurb.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

22/08/2026

Here is a question that gets asked from time to time.
Should I restore/repaint a playworn toy?

Well there is no short answer, because there are so many variables to consider.
How much paint has gone? Will it display well, as it is, is it so very rare, that even one with (say) 80% of the paint is worn away, what is left is still too important to discard.

If there are parts missing, then that may depend on if there is another similar model , that you can rob bits off or if a spare part is available from a “Spare parts man”.

The other consideration is, are you planning to restore it back to its original factory finish, or shall it have a different paint job?

It’s all down to personal choice.
Paul picked up this Dinky Transit Van ( number 416 1975-78) for five pounds. The glazing is good, all tyres, wheels and doors are present and to make restoration easy, it has a screw fitted baseplate.

We would love to hear and see some of your restored models. Please feel free to share.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

21/08/2026

On parade in this post, are a pair of military figures, cast in pewter and sculpted by Charles C.Stadden.

They are certainly not playthings, but if Dad had served in the British Armed Forces, then he may well have had a Stadden figure, as an aide-de-memoire in a display case.

The two figures we have here, depict soldiers of The Royal Engineers wearing late post war battle dress and carrying the SLR rifle.

Charles Stadden was a highly respected and capable maker of figure models, in many scales. Our figures are around 9cm high (not including the stand) and were made between 1974 and 1995.

Also shown, are the foundry marks from underneath the plinth.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

20/08/2026

Meet the latest addition to our Robot collection.
ZADAK Star Force attack unit, stands eighteen old inches tall, has sound, flashing lights, walks forward, his chest opens up to fire flashing guns, his ray gun also flashes!

Battery operated, he was imported by H. Grossman Ltd of Glasgow, has the serial number SV2223 is c1980 and was produced in Hong Kong.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

19/08/2026

It’s easy when thinking of the vast range of subjects, that Corgi produced in their diecast model range, to loose sight of what Matchbox had to offer.

The original Matchbix Kingsize, morphed into Matchbox Superkings and some of them were and are super.

In this post, we show the lovely Superking gift set, stock number KS 808 that was released in 1987.

We have two Jaguar XJ6 models, one in 1/36 scale and the other in 1/64.

We believe that this colour scheme was only available in this set and they certainly have that “wedding car” look to them.

At that time, Matchbox Toys Limited were owned by Matchbox International.

Always something different from Broad Acres Toy Collection.

Address

Broad Acres. High Road. Newton-in-the-Isle
Wisbech
PE135ET

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