Majorette (toy manufacturer)

For the dancers and performers, see Majorette (dancer).

Majorette logo

Majorette is a French toy manufacturer which mostly produces small die-cast cars, particularly in 1:64 scale. Traditionally, Majorette was centered in the area of Lyon.

History

Aston Martin DB9

Majorette was founded in 1961 by Emile Véron - of the family that also created Norev (Véron spelled backwards). Majorette became the main French manufacturer of Matchbox --sized miniature vehicles (roughly 3 inches long but with varying scale). The company has generally focused on everyday French and European models, and the main toy competition was Matchbox of Hackney, London, but also the German Siku and Japanese Tomica. Though French cars like Peugeot and Renault were emphasized, other licensed marques covered by Majorette include North American vehicles from General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler and Japanese Nissan and Toyota (Ragan 2000, p. 37).

At the end of 1980, Majorette purchased revered 1:43 scale car and truck producer Solido (Militaires Solido website). Besides their important domestic presence, through large commercial channels Majorette relies heavily on sales to foreign markets. In 1982, Majorette USA was established in Miami, Florida, though Majorette models have not been retailed there since the late 1990s. Majorette was purchased by Smoby in 2003. In 2008, there was talk that Majorette, then called Smoby-Majorette, was to be divorced from Smoby and sold to MI29, a French investment fund which owns Bigben Interactive for €3,900,000. This venture was abandoned in 2009 when Majorette found itself insolvent again, and through a tribunal at the commercial court of Paris, a sale was granted to Simba-Dickie, who bought Smoby. Majorette and Solido today remain a part of the Simba-Dickie group.

Series and Packaging

Police Land Rover with radar on trailer - from the 300 series.

Over the years, Majorette has adapted to increasing competition, with mixed results. The first series was the 100 series of roughly 3 inch long vehicles (Johnson 1998, 125). Then the 200 series of the same size replace it around 1970 and was very successful as Majorette penetrated many world markets. 100 and 200 series cars and trucks were much like Matchbox, though the focus was on French production cars. Some were cast in a rather bulky and thick style when compared with Matchbox, Siku, or Tomica.

The 300 series combinations of cars with trailers and boats as well as semi-articulated trucks dated from the mid-1970s and were also popular (Ragan 2000, p. 37, 81). One clever example was the handsome Volkswagen beetle towing kayaks on a trailer or the Renault Michelin canvas topped tractor trailer in blue and yellow from the 1980s (Ragan 2000, p. 82; Rixon 2005, p. 96). Buses were also produced in the 300 series like the 'Londonlink' buses of the mid-1980s which were promotionals advertising the new service, but though the labeling was true-to-life, the toy Majorettes decorated so bore no resemblance to the real Londonlink buses (Rixon 2005, p. 103).

Packaging for Majorette models has always had a red or orange motif. For example, 1970s 300 series cars and trucks sported a nostalgic looking art-deco-like blister card package with yellow at the bottom which changed to orange, red and then purple. In the center of the package a downward pointing 'arrow' design went from light green at the top to dark green and blue. Package backs featured 15 other illustrations (not photos) of vehicles in the 300 series with their accompanying numbers. Little gold stickers on the plastic blisters labeled the number and type of vehicle (in French).

Model 3045 Lincoln Limousine.

Into the eighties, vehicles were often placed in clear plastic containers colored in gold, white and red. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the popular display of all series of vehicles was in deep red blister cards with yellow and white trim.

The standard series of cars was about 1:64 scale, but scale varied, not like other manufacturers, like Tri-ang's Spot On which maintained precise scale across all vehicles. Scale varied whether a Majorette vehicle was a small mini car like the cutely-done Renault Twingo or the Volvo Yoplait truck - all being anchored to the 2.5 to 3 inch size.

During the 1980s, many larger cars, trucks, farm and construction vehicles were introduced in the 4 to 6 inch size. These varied from the Lincoln limousine to farm tractors and trailers and cement mixers. All were packaged in the same eye-catching red packaging. Among these were the 600 series of semi-tractor trucks.

Sonic Flashers

One line of cars was known as the Sonic Flashers. These were standard sized Majorettes that, when pushed down on, produced a siren blare with flashing lights. These came in military, police, fire, and ambulance versions. These vehicles had durable electronics - with batteries sometimes lasting an entire decade before losing power. Today Majorette "Light and Sound" vehicles fill this gap - though they are larger, with pull-back windup motors.

Road Eaters

Another line based on the 200 series were the Road Eaters. Regular cars were offered with tampo printing of various food companies' products pad printed on them, such as Willy Wonka "Gobstoppers", "Nerds", "Dweebs" and "Runtz" candy, "Swanson Kids Fun Feast" and "Swanson Kids Grilled Cheese Barnie Bear", "Campbell's Dinosaur Vegetable Soup", "Campbell's Teddy Bears", "Cry Baby" candy, "Pepsi" and "Diet Pepsi", "Cheetos Chester", "Peter Pan Creamy", and "Franco American Spaghetti Os" (Johnson 1998, 126-138). Other food products were also advertised and food coupons were offered with the vehicles. These cars were usually offered in two packs. Another popular line were the 'Circus' vehicles and Coca-Cola brand cars.

Majo-kit

During the 1980s and 1990s Majorette made play sets called Majo-kit. Majo-kit came with plastic pavement pieces that locked together to form the streets of a town. The pieces came in straight pieces, inner corner pieces, outer corner pieces and straight pieces that could be used as parking spaces. Each piece had at least one hole on it where objects such as traffic signs, street lights, parking meters, rubbish bins, flowers and even buildings could be inserted. Some sets would include one or more Majorette car and other sets included figurines that could be played with in the city. The sizes of the Majo-kit, Majorette cars and the figurines were not to scale with one another.

Marketing to Confront Matchbox

Though realism and detail were not always as good as Matchbox or Tomica, by the early 1970's Majorette established a reputation of making quality, heavy vehicles, incorporating features like opening doors and hoods, translucent plastic parts, and sprung suspension systems. For example, mid-1970s Majorettes were superior models to French Norev Minijet cars, as demonstrated by the Citroen CX models from both firms - the paint finish on the Majorette is more consistent, and less thickly applied compared to the Norev. Doors on Majorettes are sprung as is the suspension. Number plates and detailed plastic parts set the older Majorettes apart. More plastic parts are now featured on the Norev cars and metal bases are common on their new castings, in contrast to Majorette which has now moved downmarket with plastic bases, and less expensive tampo printing for headlamps instead of clear plastic pieces. Norev wheels are now detailed replicas of the real thing compared to Majorette's generic offerings.

Mini Cooper Cabrio. Majorette 2005

Into the 1980s, a marketing strategy emphasize the toy appeal of the cars, including brighter paints, large tampos and slightly exaggerated bodies. However, this was well executed, and even if the cars lost some realism, they had a particular, attractive solidness and style not like the competition. And in 1980 they bought Solido.

Diecast Outsourcing

The 1990s brought financial troubles and Majorette began to retreat from the U.S. market (Ragan 2000, p. 37). This time period saw a tremendous impact in the quality of the miniatures. After bankruptcy and a takeover, most production was relocated to Thailand. One exception were the Portuguese NOVACAR models acquired by Majorette. These were well-done models with plastic bodies and metal bases - for a time these cars were marketed as a new '100' series, but later regular Majorette models were apparently made in Portugal as blister packages were marked with red "P"s, "F"s, and "T"s for Portugal, France, or Thailand.

At this time, Majorettes began to lose the proud 'Made in France' on their bases and on packaging. Actually, the shiny metal base itself gradually disappeared from new models, replaced by ordinary black plastic, a cost saving solution common in many toy brands. The loss was not only visual or tactile - Majorettes lost their characteristic weight and solidity.

Fortunately, the old Majorette brand survives, though owned by a German entity with products usually made in China. Entering the 21st century, batches of better castings have been introduced, as well as an image face lift that includes a modified logo, and a toning down of the bright aesthetics of the 1980s and 1990s, in touch with the automobile industry's trend of using plainer, metallic paints. Despite some occasional poor paint choices, and an intriguing fixation with the silver grey, the style change has been successful.

Majorette today

Majorette Chevrolet Caprice Police. This casting was made for more than 20 years and is still found in the Majorette line-up today.

Today, as part of the Simba-Dickie Toy Group, its 200 line continues to be made in Thailand and newer models are made in China. The distribution of Majorette via major retailers has been limited mainly to Europe, South America and Asia. Circa 2010, the Majorette lines offered today are standard "Singles" packaged in various ways, "Extractor" series (construction), "S.O.S." (ambulance and police format), "Trailers" - semi trucks and vehicles with trailers (basically the old 300 series), the "Farm" series of CLAAS tractors, "Motorcycles", "Rockerz" 4x4 Monster trucks, "Planes and Helicopters", the "Pinder" Circus series, liveried "Racing" vehicles and racing trucks with trailers.

The "Majo-Teams" offer vehicles of different sizes in different themes, and is reminiscent of offerings during the 1990s. Some of the castings, such as the 1980 Chevrolet 4-door Caprice have been made continuously since the mid-1980s. Lastly, a new line of "Eco Tech" cars features electric, hybrid and other 'green' and environmentally friendly, but cool, vehicles.

Newer Lancia Lybra - note nice detail on grille and with clear plastic headlights.

Some new models were released later than originally expected, for example, the Nissan Murano, Fiat Panda and Mercedes-Benz SLK were due to be released in 2005, but they did not reach the market until Autumn 2006. Only 3 models due to be released in 2005 actually made it onto the market that year, and were reported by collectors to be 'very hard to find'.

About 2010, similar to Matchbox or Hot Wheels, Majorette was moving into plastic cars and trucks of larger sizes. One example from this new "Kids Mate" series was a Mini Cooper in about 1:20 scale. The car is very detailed and complete with all opening features, but all in plastic in a package with bright (but Majorette-like) red colors. Also in this series is a line of plastic, but appealing, trucks; a trash truck, a logging truck, and a container truck. This line seems a more commercial "toy" ground whereas Solido (also a Dickie company) has the 1:43 scale collectibles with Majorette offering the smaller 1:64 line as well.

References

Johnson, Dana. 1998. Collector's Guide to Diecast Toys", Second edition. Padukah, Kentucky: Collector's Books, a Division of Schroeder Publishing.

Militaires Solido Verem. 40 Years of History. Collector's website.[1]

Ragan, Mac. 2000. Diecast Cars of the 1960s. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Co. Enthusiast Color Series.

Rixon, Peter. 2005. Miller's Collecting Diecast Vehicles. London: Miller's, A Division of Mitchell Beazley.

See also

• Maisto
• Tomica
• Hot Wheels
• Siku
• Matchbox
• Norev
• Solido

External links

• http://www.majorette.fr
• http://www.majorette.com/index.php?l=en Majorette's website in English
• http://www.majocollector.com/accueil.htm Excellent source for old and new catalog scans, including a 2007 preview
• http://solijouet.free.fr/english/365z.htm
• http://www.diecastlovers.com/thumb.php?page=1&ipp=All&q=majorette&Submit=Search Majorette's images and characteristics