Sims became the first playwright to have four plays running simultaneously in West End theatres. He also had a dozen touring companies playing his works by that time. He collaborated on many of his plays, and his co-authors included Barrett, Sydney Grundy and Clement Scott. His most successful collaboration was with Henry Pettitt, with whom he created a substantial body of hits, including In the Ranks (1883, 457 performances at the Adelphi Theatre) and The Harbour Lights (1885, 513 performances at the Adelphi). Their Gaiety Theatre musical burlesques included Faust up to Date (1888), which remained a hit for several years and coined a new meaning for the phrase "up-to-date", meaning "abreast" of the latest styles and facts. Their next hit was Carmen up to Data (1890). Both of these were composed by the Gaiety's music director, Meyer Lutz. With Cecil Raleigh, he wrote the hit burlesque opera, Little Christopher Columbus (1893), and among his other musical plays were Blue-eyed Susan at the Prince of Wales Theatre (1892, starring Arthur Roberts) and The Dandy Fifth (Birmingham, 1898) and Dandy Dick Whittington (1895), at the Avenue Theatre, with a score by Ivan Caryll. Robert Buchanan and Sims co-authored five melodramas at the Adelphi between 1890 and 1893, including The Trumpet Call (1891), starring Mrs Patrick Campbell early in her career. On stage, one night, Mrs. Campbell's costume collapsed which, her biographer suggests, extended the run of that play. Sims and Mrs Campbell had an affair, but she tired of it before he did. In 1896, Sims wrote the melodrama Two Little Vagabonds with Arthur Shirley (an adaptation of Les deux gosses) which was a hit at Princess's Theatre and enjoyed many revivals. He also co-wrote some pantomimes, including Puss in Boots produced at the Drury Lane Theatre. Sims's other famous melodramas included: The Golden Ladder Master and the Man The Star of India The Gypsy Earl Scarlet Sin The Silver Falls (1888) The English Rose (1890) The Trumpet Call (1891) The White Rose (1892), starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell The Lights of Home (1892), starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell The Black Domino (1893) His other notable comedies included: *Memoirs of a Mother-in-Law (1881) The Member for Slocum (1881) The Gay City (1881) Later years Sims enjoyed his position as a successful author and playwright and belonged to the Devonshire club, the Eccentric Club and others. He reported earnings of nearly £150,000 in 1898,