THE 300
SERIES BY MAJORETTE
We already
talked shortly about the “pre-history” of Majorette with “Rail Route Jouets” in
this entry.
Around 1969-1970,
the original Rail-Route series (sometimes “series 100”) was replaced by the “series
200”,
which were basically a very similar toy, the same size, more or less the same
detail level… Some of these models were not cars, but trailers to be towed by
the cars (they were all built in a scale of around 1:64 or 1:65, except trucks).
Almost at
the same time, Majorette decided to launch the 300 series, in which you could
directly buy, in one single package a truck or car and a trailer that belonged
together: Some could also be purchased separately (for example the boat or the
caravan), or some trailers were exclusive from a certain set. The first are as early as 1968-69 (could be
even older, Wikipedia is here wrong), so I suspect that there were already some
of these in the Rail-Route series… only with other (or no) name.
The name
comes simply from the numbering system that Majorette used (and uses) in their
cars. 201, 202, 203… and 301, 302, 303…
CAMPER CAR + CARAVAN (also DODGE CAMPING CAR + STECKERMAN LOVELY 400) (1979)
 |
| Majorette 313 Camper Car |
 |
| Dodge Camping Car |
 |
| Steckerman Lovely 400 |
 |
| Image from the catalogue 1979 |
 |
| Image from the catalogue 1980 |
As you can notice from the two last images,1980 catalogue was more ellaborated, with dioramas showing the cars offered in th all series (not only 200 and 300).
The series
300 were naturally more expensive than the series 200, because they were larger
(16 cm or
6,5 inches),
and needed more metal to be manufactured. A separate series would also have
some “added value”, and children could get a single (series 200) or double
(300) pack depending on how good they were, or on the occasion.
The
following picture proves that in the year 1969 or 1970 there were already
double packs.
 |
| Different Majorette displays (taken from 1969/1970 catalogue). Note some trucks and cars with trailers in all of them |
An
interesting thing to mention, is that toys belonging to this series were sold
under many different packages. Even at the very beginning car could be
purchased in a cardboard box, a jewel-case or a blisterpack. The type of
blister you are watching her came later, and is a plastic blister box, designed
to be stackable. These were the most spread packaging from the mid 70s to the
mid/late 80s.
FORD CAPRI + ST. TROPEZ (also FORD CAPRI + CARAVAN)
(1979)
 | ||
| Majorette 368 Ford Capri + St. Tropez |
 |
| Ford Capri |
 |
| St. Tropez |
 |
| Image from the catalogue 1979 |
 |
| Image from the catalogue 1980 |
In the Simca 1100 model there is a factory error, because the package is labelled with the name of an older model, present in the 1979 catalogue, that was replaced in 1980 for this one. Probably they still had printed frames for the boxes, so they simply used them.
SIMCA 1100 + BOAT
(1980)
 |
| Set 314 Simca 1100 + Boat |
 |
| Simca 1100 - labelled "Police + Bateau" - Factory Error |
 |
| Boat |
 |
| Image from the catalogue 1979 showing the earlier model |
 |
| Image from the catalogue 1980 showing my model |
FACTS AND
FIGURES:
- Name: CAMPER CAR + CARAVAN, FORD CAPRI + St. TROPEZ and SIMCA 1100 + BOAT (Nrs. 313, 368 and 314) (1979)
- Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
- Year: 1979 and 1980
- Company: Majorette (France)
- Size: approx. 16 cm (with trailer)
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