#1080 MAJORETTE SUPER CRISTAL - NISSAN TERRANO, VW COMBI CARAVELLE and HONDA NSX (107, 113 and 117) (1994)

I had interesting conversations with other collectors and miniature car enthusiasts regarding Novacar and the portuguese Majorettes since I started this blog, so I am happy to publish again something related to this particular topic.

I bought these three Majorette Super Crystal blisterpacks from eBay in October 2019, together with other boxed Majorettes and Zylmex, but this is the pace of this blog, it takes years to find a gap to be published!

The Super Crystal models from Majorette have a die-cast base and a plastic body, which allowed to make them transparent and include (or not) glitter in the plastic component. The cars look very different to any other die-cast model or subline and are commonly misregarded by most serious collectors. Still, they are nice toys, and also rare. The interior can be seen from the outside better than in die-cast models, and they remind a little bit of Micro Machines X-Rays, which are slightly older than these. Maybe was it an inspiration for Majorette?

There are not many models available (less than in the original Novacar reference list), but each of them could be found in different colours, so if you are a completists, I have bad news for you: One single cast can appear in up to 10 different „clear“ colours plus the same 10 colours plus „glitter“. I´ll try to list the colours first:

• Green, dark green, lime green
• Red, dark red, purple, pink
• Transparent
• Blue, turquoise

Now, let´s list the models. They use the same reference numbers as the original Novacar (as they share the chassis), but you´ll notice that there are some numbers missing in between. For example, number 101, which was a Ferrari 348 GTB is not available as a Super Crystal. Why? Nobady knows, but most probably it is because it would have been so similar to the 104 Ferrari Testarossa, that they would have been difficult to differentiate. Note that the details are more difficult to perceive in this shiny transparent body.  

Number 106 Peugeot 605 is also missing from the list (was it also too generic in its shape?), and there is also no trace of the two Formula ones  (these were probably not feasible with the glittery plastic compound or the spoilers couldn´t be made in glittery plastic, so they may have looked strange as prototypes.

So the complete list of Super Crystals is this one:

Serie 280 “Super Crystal”

• 102 – Nissan 300 ZX
• 103 – Chevrolet Corvette (’83)
• 104 – Ferrari Testarossa
• 105 – Mercedes 500 SL (Cabrio)
• 107 – Nissan Terrano (here presented in glittery green)
• 108 – Kenworth (T600)
• 109 – (Chevrolet) Impala Police
• 110 – Renault Espace
• 111 – Sport Proto (Porsche 962 Group C Racer)
• 113 – Combi VW Caravelle (here presented in glittery purple)
• 116 – Pick Up Chevrolet
• 117 – Honda NSX (here presented in clear transparent)

The cars could be purchased in single blisterpacks, like the ones I have, but also in double blisterpacks, but I have no notice of bigger boxes or gift sets. Of course, they were cheaper to produce than the standard die-cast series, but the shiny looking made them special so the gain per unit sold was probably great. Unfortunately, the sales were not good, and the line was discontinued after two years. They appear in the Majorette catalogues between 1994 and 1996, year in which the portuguese factory of  Paredes was closed (together with some other in France) and a big part of the prodcution moved to Thailand.

1996 Catalogue

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name:  NISSAN TERRANO, VW COMBI CARAVELLE and HONDA NSX (107, 113 and 117)
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: 1994
• Company: Majorette (France/Portugal)
• Size: approx. 7 cm