Charbens

Charbens was founded in the late 1920s by brothers Charles and Benjamin Reid. The company was based in North London, an area which was home to a number of diecast toy manufacturers including Britains. Pre-war production consisted of a range of hollow-cast lead figures, mainly civilian subjects, and included some horse-drawn vehicles. Zinc diecasting was introduced after the war and the range of models widened. In 1955 the 'Old Crocks' series of miniature veteran cars was introduced, a range which grew to around 35 models. Some plastic components and figures started to appear in the range during the 1960s, and in 1967 the majority of the diecast vehicles were discontinued in favour of plastic figures which continued in production until 1973.