Majorette's helicopter is maybe one of the most iconic scale models made by the French die-cast manufacturer. It was first available in 1976, and it has been constantly re-released in new decorations until the late 90s.
It is bigger in size than the ordinary 3 inches car, and thus classified with a 300 reference. This is another price category, although the helicopter has many plastic parts and is probably cheaper to produce than the rest of the 300 series models. Maybe this is the reason why Majorette kept it so long in the catalogue...
Apart from that, it was surely a best-seller, since it was the only helicopter in the line until 1988, where the Dauphin 2 (Nr. 322) was also included in the assortment. Being different to the rest of your counterparts, makes you an eye-catcher, and, my theory here is that it sold very well.
It was also not uncommon to see it as the load to a bigger trailer truck, like that one the 600 series.
There have been so many decorations of the Gazelle that listing all would require a considerable amount of time. That is why, I am just showing the two I own. One of them (in "Red Cross" / "Croix Rouge" decoration) is quite old, while the second one (Rescue decoration) is more modern.
The blades can be bent in order to fit in a regular plastic box, and they are of course a bit fragile. Also the tail is made of plastic, and can present stress marks if it is not completely broken.
FACTS AND FIGURES:
- Name: GAZELLE (Nr. 371)
- Scale: Unknown scale
- Year: 1976
- Company: Majorette (France)
- Size: approx. 10 cm
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