Majorette
Majorette is a France-based toy company that produces primarily small die-cast car toys in 1/64th scale. Majorette originally produced their wares in Lyon, but in recent years, their manufacturing has been located in Thailand.
History
Founded in 1961 by Emile Véron, Majorette originated making model railways and accessories. The company was originally known as "Rail-Route" in 1964, when the first cars came to market. But by and in 1967, the name was changed to Majorette. The company soon became the largest producer of any French model car manufacturer. They focused on French and European cars, but also represented vehicles of other parts of the world, such as Japan.
By 1982, Majorette USA had been founded in Miami, Florida; however, Majorette models have not been sold in stores stateside since the latter half of the 90s. Majorette was purchased by the french toy company Smoby in 2003; the same company that also purchased Berchet. By 2009, Smoby/ Majorette was purchased by the Simba-Dickie group, after a deal to sell Majorette to French investment firm MI29 fell through.
Toys
The Transformers Mini Car Collection were a combined effort between French toy company Majorette and Japanese confectionery company Kabaya. This line was comprised of vehicles that were not custom-designed vehicles, but rather redecos of Majorette's already existing numbered die-cast cars; these were similar to Hot Wheels and released in 2003. These were intended to represent key characters of Transformers: Armada series. While the paint schemes followed the characters, the vehicles didn't follow suit. Sold as Kabaya candy toys, each vehicle came packed with a stick of chewing gum.
How thoughtful.
Notes
- Majorette had a habit of collecting- er, purchasing other toy car companies: Majorette purchased the diecast scale car/ truck manufacturer Solido (Militaires Solido website)in 1980. Also at this time the, Majorette bought the Portugese toy company Novacar and Majorette production commenced at the Portugal factory. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorette_%28toy_manufacturer%29]</ref>
External links
