In 1948 the company began producing characters from the Beatrix Potter story books. Then in 1952 Beswick began its Disney range with Mickey Mouse, and later in 1968 produced a series of Winnie the Pooh figures. These figures are extremely sort after today. The Royal Doulton Group bought Beswick in 1969. By the end of 2002 Royal Doulton ceased the manufacture of all Beswick products an end of an era for Staffordshire and the pottery industry. (Information thanks to the worldcollectorsnet website)

In 1793 John Rose and Edward Blackway established a china works at Jackfield, moving to Coalport in 1795. Coalport were innovative in their design and style in useful and domestic items as well as decorative pieces including, inkstands, scent bottles and letter racks painted and gilded exquisitely.

In 1925 'Coalport' was sold to Couldon Potteries and the factory closed in 1926. The Coalport name has changed hands several times and is now owned by Wedgwood. (Information thanks to the Richard Gardner Antiques website)

The first Corgi models appeared in 1956 and covered British-built saloon cars of the period. Names redolent with nostalgia including the Ford Consul, Austin Cambridge, Morris Cowley, Riley Pathfinder, Vauxhall Velox, Rover 90 and Hillman Husky were among the first to be produced. Each model sold for 3/- (15p).

Without doubt, Corgi's best known model is James Bond's gold painted Aston Martin DB5. First produced in 1965 and featuring ejector seat and front-mounted machine guns, it was an instant success earning the UK Toy of the Year Award. Priced at around 10/- (50p), by 1968 more than 3.9 million had been sold. At a recent auction, a rare gold-plated version given only to visiting VIPs to the Corgi factory made £1300. (Information thanks to the official website from Corgi)

Vehicles from the 1950's and 60's are the most sought-after on the secondary market now. Many Dinkys were also manufactured in France, and since 1979, none have been produced in England. (Information thanks to the worldcollectorsnet website)

In 2000, Mattel introduced the 36 "First Editions". A new wheel type appeared, brought over from the Matchbox line. In 2003, for the 35th anniversary, Mattel teamed up with Columbia Pictures to create a Hot Wheels movie. (Information thanks to the worldcollectorsnet website)

Since 1999 the Lledo factory in Enfield, England has ceased producing Lledo models and the new owners, Corgi, now manafacturer Lledo models in China. Because of this the earlier models that we, LledoModels.com sell are often more sought after on the collectors market. (Information thanks to the lledomodels.com website)

Matchbox has not fared as well on the secondary market as Dinky, probably because at their high point Lesney was churning out five million cars a week. (Information thanks to the worldcollectorsnet website)

A small line of 1:64 models was introduced, but later discontinued. The line was called "Micro Champs" and included a series "Michael Schumacher", "McLaren", but were sold separately as well. Series can be divided also into "DTM", "Formula 1", "Indycar" and well.. the rest. (Information thanks to the Wikipedia website)

Naturally, during its long history Royal Doulton has been associated with a number of other key brands. Minton effectively merged with Royal Doulton in 1968, while Royal Albert, as a part of Allied English Potteries, joined when Royal Doulton merged with AEP in 1971. Since then, the business has combined the current three main brands under a shared identity: Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, and Minton. Now, fine bone china, fine china and Lambethware are the hallmarks of quality from Royal Doulton, alongside a host of tableware and other products from the core brands, such as Old Country Roses by Royal Albert, and Haddon Hall by Minton.

Today, Royal Doulton is not only one of the world's oldest chinaware companies, it is also one of the most up to date. Royal Doulton continues to build on its rich heritage with a state-of-the-art production facility in Indonesia and an ongoing rollout of international e-tailing sites. (Information thanks to the official website from Royal Doulton)

Commemorative collectors will find that all the major events, and many minor ones too, are depicted on thimbles, and so are ideal for adding to a collection. Recent events commemorated include the Queen's 50th wedding anniversary, the 1999 eclipse, the liberation of Kuwait, the birth of Prince William and the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Many museums sell replicas of old thimbles, and this is a good way of assembling those rare medieval, Tudor or Roman kinds which would otherwise be very expensive.

Over the years, Wade has produced several hundred of these solid porcelain mini figurines in dozens of different sets. The many ranges include dogs, cats, birds, snow animals, pets, wildlife, farm animals, dinosaurs, nursery rhyme figures, circus figures, miniature houses, leprechauns, monks and even Disney animals. All these figures are highly collectable and some are very valuable as they are becoming more scarce. (Information thanks to the wadewhimsies.com website)

In 1992 the fourth edition of the game was released, marking a newer era of greater mass-market appeal. Four years later the fifth edition upgraded both rules and miniatures, but did not fully replace core game mechanics, as previous editions had.

Warhammer Fantasy Battles is currently in its sixth edition (released in 2000), a change that dropped the card-based supplemental rules of the previous two editions, as well marked a shift toward balance-oriented tournament play. Re-releasing of old armybooks, beginning in 2006 with Warhammer Armies: Dwarves, has begun a new "rules recycling". A new edition is confirmed to be released in Autumn 2006. Various theories concerning its likely shape are being bandied about on many online Warhammer forums. The new edition is considered by many players to very likely be a minor upgrade of the sixth edition rules - fixing major causes for complaint, such as the magic system, and re-wording rules to make them more comprehensible. (Information thanks to the Wikipedia website)