Major Who? Majorette Mini Cars!

Friday, July 8, 2016

Major Who? Majorette Mini Cars!

Major what? That's the response many North American collectors have when they hear about Majorette diecast. Of course if you're from anywhere outside Canada or the United States, you probably see Majorette everywhere. North American Majorette distribution has been weak or non existent for the past decade or so, and that's too bad. Majorette makes some incredible accurate and realistic models. I'd put the detail and scaling above Matchbox, but below TLV and Auto World.

I was lucky enough to find a bin full of Majorette basic cars for $2.99 at a local toy store. I was pretty surprised to see them. I knew the brand from when I was a kid. Wal Mart Canada used to sell them until the early '90's and I had quite a few of them. Back then I loved the built in suspension and opening doors on my Porsche 911's and other castings. I didn't have a ton of cash with me, but thought I'd grab a couple models to showcase on here. I selected the Honda CR-Z and a BMW 5 Series wagon. They weren't the coolest cars there, but I hadn't seen either done in 1/64 scale.

My only complaint with Majorette is their scaling. The cars have the scale printed on the bottom, so they're true to scale, but they vary from model to model. The CR-Z is bigger than the BMW, which is obviously not the case in real life. Majorette likes to fill the blister so customers feel they're getting their moneys worth. As a collector, I'd rather have a smaller piece that's to scale. Complaints aside, Majorette castings are incredibly accurate and have more details molded into the castings than your average Matchbox or Hot Wheels. The CR-Z even has a lifting tailgate. Did I mention the deco? There is none. And that's awesome. No need to clutter beautiful cars with tacky tampos.

At 2.99 (About 2.25 USD). the price is right for the quality of model Majorette delivers. Now if they can work out distribution issues, collectors could have at these models, and competition may bring the price under $2 bucks and with a lot of bang for those two bucks. Let me know what you think of the photos!