OK, I am guilty of grump. The trouble is, when certain folks don’t know, or cannot tell, they still absolutely think they are an authority on certain things. The biggie is Milbro catapults and their reproductions. And the self-appointed ‘experts’ typing drivel have eroded my patience to nothing. AGAIN! Hence this…
When BMW became the new owner of the MINI motor car brand, many owners of classic minis never forgave BMW for making ‘new’ ones, declaring them FAKE.
That these new Minis became a little cult again, all of their own, is now the happy truth. You can get fast ones (6.1s 0-100kph) and my chum Bill Thomas, who was deputy editor of Top Gear magazine, chose a John Cooper Works Mini as his company car. The Mini remains one of the cars that folks club together to talk about like Beetles and GTIs and VW campervans. The International Mini Meet started in Germany in 1979 and still goes on.
Thing is, they are all Minis and made to do the same job.
Brand names in stuff like catapults are also bought and sold. Millard Brothers Ltd, were started in 1887 by Oliver and Samuel Millard, who coined the name Milbro. The London based company originally made airguns, ceasing production in 1982. Thirty-five years later in 2017, Milbro began making air rifles, pistols and accessories, including scopes. For three generations now, Sportsmarketing, known as SMK, have been the sellers of Milbro products and own the brand name. I gather that it was the property of Remington whom they also own. The detail of corporate ownership is less crucial than Milbro having the bye-line, “A UK Company since 1887”.
The Milbro catapult is the most remembered of all and indeed has been copied in solid gold and silver in different sizes, let alone in a dodgy sandcast copy with ‘FULLMARKS’ or “CHILLBRO” replacing the Milbro name. It has also been copied by complete world-class experts, such that there is a whole question of, IS MY MILBRO A REPRODUCTION? The best copies were made by the company who kept the Milbro catapult legend glowing warmly towards the end of those 35 years of abeyance. They made slingshots with the Milbro name on them, when they were not sold any longer by anyone else.
Thing is, they got the “How Very Dare You!” letter from SMK and did in fact cease and desist. They make the best cast slingshots in the world these days.
There was a serious gap of something close to two years between the Slingshot World magazine advert showing that the Milbro catapult was coming back, (how ever daft the mock up was!) and there being any stock to sell to the shops. And here, is the little known reason why folks get confused. A shop that was run by a second-generation son, had a dad who had been the best mates of the boss of SMK’s dad. That shop had been adhesive chums with SMK and had a new-old stock unsold example of the Milbro catapult. This product as a ‘perfect example’ was sent to China for SMK to get die-cast copied. Thus the numbers on the back, and even the ‘Made in Gt Britain lettering’ are faithfully reproduced. And kinda incorrect, as these come from a Chinese factory, just like your iPhone or Samsung galaxy phone does.
When the new ones came out, there were idiots saying they had ‘found them in a house clearance’ and trying to sell them for £25 when they cost £9.99 at the time. I got vexed and made the video below.
But to this day, I still get grumpy with the self appointed ‘experts’ who rant like Cartman from South Park when made a deputy and feel they have ‘authoritay.’ Drives me spare. Not even N. Bird, the world’s leading collector of Slingshots, knows all about the issue numbers and which was made exactly when. But these reproductions are as real as BMW Minis. Only thing is, the bands are literally discarded by everyone. Lone & Grey Outfitters and Ranger sell the new Milbro with replaced bands as stock, as do other shops. I honestly think the stock bands are made to be litigation free!
