#1100 MAJORETTE – BUSSES (SEVERAL MODELS) (1977 to 2001)

A bus is a vehicle like any other, and it is a must in every set of toys for children. As soon as they have a few cars and a couple of trucks, the first bus arrives. So every toymaker usually includes a bus in every collection they have. Majorette is a bit of an exception because it took a while for them to produce their first bus, but afterwards, they did some of the nicest models I recall throughout its history. I am talking about miniature toys, not collector´s items or superdetailed die-cast for adults.

The first one was made for the 300 series, that is the series with car+trailer, trucks with long trailers or bigger vehicles. It was the Autocar (Nr. 373) in 1977. This model quickly got a companion in the Autobus (Nr. 310, in the same series) in 1979, but also made its way to the 200 series, the more affordable 3 inches vehicles with the Minibus (Nr. 262), also in 1979. There are still four other busses we will comment, but which are much rarer that these three.

All models presented here include big parts of plastic, so I assume they were cheaper to produce and reached higher margins for the company. The different models were reused many times, giving each cast a set of colours and decorations (tampographies, decals or stickers) in order to have something different every year or couple of years. Because these models also have a big surface on the sides, they were even used as promotional models. It would be impossible to list all variants ever made of these references, but I will give it a try with the models that appear in the official catalogues, which are not so many. In reality, the colours may vary, as the parts from the previous year were generally not discarded, and thus, we find those transition models, which variants collectors love.

I have to say that I own some other busses not pictured here, so this is the classic entry that will be updated regularly, as I find the time to take more pictures and new models to buy.

Note: when in the following listings more than one colour is indicated, the first one shows the colour of the base, then the colour of the upper part.

AUTOCAR / COUNTRY BUS 373 / NEOPLAN

1977 Red/white "Londres > Paris > Rome" (drawing/prototype)

1978 Red/White "London > Paris > Madrid" (there seems to be several "country-specific" models of this one, such as "Frankfurt > Bern > Roma" in light yellow/white or green/white.

1979 White/red with City Crests

1980 Blue/white "Air France"

1981-82 White "Air France" (Big Logo)

1982-83 White "Air France" (Smaller Logo)

1983 White "Iberia"

1986 White/Red (not readable) "xxx > xxx > xxx > Madrid"

1989 Red/white "Croisière"

1990-91 Blue/white "Miami Beach"

1994 Black/white with colourful grafitti on sides and roof

1995 Blue/yellow "Travel"

1995-97 Red Coca-Cola (Special edition)

1996-97 Yellow "School Bus"

1998-99 Yellow "School Bus" plus colour pencils

2000-01 Black/red "Racing team" with or without two plastic figures

2000 Dark blue "Pepsi" (Special edition)

2005-09 Red "Soccer"

AUTOBUS 310

This one is easy, it only came in one decoration from 1979 to 1987, when it was simply discontinued. Majorette already had the previous model which they will extensively reuse, redecorate and resell as much as they could.

1979-1987 Green/White "Salon de Paris"

MINIBUS 262

The "bestselling" model, as it had the basic price of any other model. I love the detail of the small people sitting inside. The most common decoration is the "TWA" one, which was availabla longer than the other ones, and it is the one I had as a kid.

1979 Orange/White "Alitalia" (drawing/prototype)

1980 White/red "Japan Airlines"

1980-85 White "TWA" 

1986 Green/White "Alitalia"

1990-91 White "Air France"

1992 White/red "Airport"

1994 Red/yellow with red symbols on side

1995-97 White "Airport"

1998 Green/White Football players on side

1999-2001 Orange/white "Airport"

2003 Dark Blue "Airport International"

BRITISH BUS 286

I understand the british bus is an interesting vehicle for a kid, specially for a non-british kid, but it cannot be rethemed easily. The cast was available intermitently over many years. For example, we can find it in the catalogues from 1983 to 1986, but then disappears until 1995. Then four years long without a trace of it, to reappear in the year 2000 in two variants: The classic red one, plus a yellow one decorated with the Circus Pinder tampographies. This second colour variant also appeared intermitently between 2000 and 2009. 

1983-86 Red "Visit London"

1995, 2000 Red "Visit London" (different sticker)

2000-01, 2007-09 Yellow "Pinder" (Circus)

CITY BUS 262A.00

This bus is the update of the at this time outdated 262. It looks like an urban bus, lightly built and with many windows. In the few catalogues I own from the early 2000s, it always appears in an orange colour. The many windows cannot hide the two bars that connect the roof to the body of the bus; this is a minor flaw in the design.

2004-09 Orange "Aero Bus"

In the SERIES 3000 / 3040/70 or "Super Movers" there was also a bus, which, honestly, I do not recall having seen it. It is much bigger in size (1:55 scale), so if I ever came accross, I probably missed it.

Mercedes, Nr. 303

Red/white with blue/orange/yellow lines

Autocar, Nr. 3046 

1995-96 Blue "Holidays". Represents a Van Hool.

1997 White "Paris"

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: 1) AUTOCAR or COUNTRY BUS 373 or NEOPLAN, 2) AUTOBUS 310 and 3) MINIBUS
• Scale: 1:87
  
• Year: 1) 1981 and 1998, 2) 1979 and 3) 1978 and 1999
  
• Company: Majorette (France)
• Size: approx. 6 or 11 cm

#1099 BULLY – BATMAN (ARTICULATED VERSION) (1989)

This small and poorly manufactured figure of the DC character is maybe one of the most intriguing action figures made along with the Tim Burton movie from 1989. The figure is marked on its feet with the text: TM © 1989 DC COMICS INC. But beside this indications, there is no maker sign or name casted in the body. This probably made many people suspect, that it might be a cheap bootleg or a copy of something else, since, if you had the rights to represent the Batman, why hiding your name?

The truth is that this figure was distributed and sold by Bully of Germany, most famous for their plastic or PVC figures of all kinds. This adds a bit of confusion to the topic, since this figure is made of hollow plastic and is articulated in their shoulders. It is also partially flocked and came with a cloth cloak. All these elements are previously unseen in other Bully toys or figures. Note that I said distributed and sold, but not manufactured, because I think these may have been made by another company for Bully. So the mistery continues...

As you can see in the pictures, the figure is well painted and flocked. It comes with a yellow belt (that cannot be removed), a cloak (removable), and the arms are practicable. Although in the picture of the shop display, that I found on the internet, all figures seem to be correctly assembled, my Batman has the chest logo upside-down. I love this detail, and I preffer this figure to another one with the logo correctly oriented. Also some figures seem to have a cord on the head to be hanged from a zip or somewhere else.

I think it is quite rare, I haven't seen many, or, at least, compared with the plastic/PVC Batman (I show it here, but it deserves it's own blog entry). It was part of the merchandising that Bully offered in 1989, as it can be seen in this promotional pages seen on eBay. The figure is shown on the right side, close to the right border.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: BATMAN
• Year: 1989
• Company: Bully (West-Germany)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 cm

#1098 EXIN - EXIN CASTILLOS 2 (Around 1972)

There is not much I can say about this toy that has not been said before. Exin is the most important Spanish toymaker of all times and this was one of their highlights in the 70s and the 80s. A construction toy that allowed us to build castles and fortresses in the medieval style. Spain is a land with a huge number of castles and this toy would appeal to many children and to their families. As in every construction game, you can follow the instructions provided or try to reproduce the castle of your village or town. You just need enough blocks or bricks to finish your project.

The bricks have an unmistakable color that simulates stone (light brown plastic with white and darker brown seams) and, unlike Lego or Tente, there is not a huge variety of the basic bricks. The most common stone is 2x1, longer bricks (such as 4x1, 6x1...) are rare, so to construct something solid from zero can be a challenge. However, this is how houses and castles are built, so you are closer to the work of a mason than you are with other construction games. 

 

 

What makes the game unique are the pieces to make round walls (to build round towers or to round up corners) and other nice elements that are very realistic, such as different types of windows and doors and hand-painted plastic figures that represent common characters from medieval history or castles altogether. These include: knights on foot or horse, a princess, a ghost, guards and bowmen, among others... The figures were scarcely included in the boxes of Exin Castillos, but could be bought separately in nice "historical" sets, which also included war machines and small accessories. Some of this were made by Elastolin.

 

These sets are today very rare to find.  The toy I have was bought in a flea market in Austria and it seems to be Exin Castillos 2, a middle-sized set, just missing the two bases on which you start building your castle. These bases were made of thin hard plastic, and not many have survived until today. Still, I have the instructions and many figures, plus many other parts I got in another lot bought in a flea market in Spain. I haven't mixed the two together yet. According to the instructions, the castle looks like the one in the pictures. I took some pictures highlighting the figures and some corners and details of the building.

This great game was sold between 1968 and 1991. The models 0, 1, 2 and 3 are from the early 70s, the period in which the line grew, sold best and became really popular. By the mid eighties it was not so popular anymore, maybe because of Exin´s own competition with Tente, which had a bigger variety of pieces, was smaller and cheaper to produce. In any case, there are still many pieces out there and many enthusiasts of the toy that organize expositions and even design new pieces to combine with the old ones and achieve higher quality models.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: EXIN CASTILLOS 2

• Year: 1972

• Company: Exin (Spain)

• Size: Around 40x40 cm 

#1097 GISIMA – GS and BMW TURBO (GALLETAS SIRO PROMOTIONAL) (Around 1986)

There are not so many Gisima models as one may think, but some are quite rare and others are common. These two models are probably the ones that were made in bigger quantities, that is, the two most representative of this die-cast maker. The BMW already appeared in this blog in entry #795.

The GS is new to this blog, but I have to say it was my first Gisima, bought in 1984 or 1985. The original one had the same colour as the BMW, and it broke while playing with it. First the trunk, then everything else. I kept the remainings for a long time. This other model in red was bought much later, approximately in 2021, if I recall properly, together with the other car in the pictures.

The particularity of these two, is that they are promotional items, as they could be originally found in the boxes of Siro cookies (galletas in Spanish). Siro had a long tradition of giving away die-cast cars of different makers, mainly Mira and Gisima, but also Guisval o Guiloy were once part of the promotions. It is an open question if a particular model by Gisima was produced more often with the Siro sticker or without it (for retail sale), as these were rare to find in shops, that usually prefferred more renowned brands such as Guisval or Mira.

I once wrote a very long article dealing with promotional die-cast cars in Spain, that I published in the magazine Figuras En Acción, and the longest chapter in that article was the one dedicated to Siro. It is worth the time downloading this magazine and translating the text using Google Lens or any other online translator if you are interested in this particular brand.

Of course I have to remark that both models are copies of Majorette toys, being the GS the GS Camargue. Some other mdels made by Gisima, especially in the first years are knock-offs of more famous international brands, but in the later years, let´s say around the turn of the decade and from then on, they produced their own casts. These models are much more scarce but also more interesting for collectors, despite having very basic casts and not many details. Maybe you want to take a look at some other Gisimas in this blog!

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name: GS and BMW TURBO (GALLETAS SIRO) (PROMOTIONAL)
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: Around 1986
• Company: Gisima (Spain)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#1096 TOP TRUMPS – ECO VEHICLES (PROMOTIONAL) (2007)

Before the electric cars really became a real option for everybody, the interest in this kind of vehicles was already very high.This promotional deck (Marches Energy Agency from the UK) is a proof of that.

Out of the 30 cards that this deck comprises, not all vehicles are electric. Some are just low-consumption petrol or diesel cars, there is also a Hydrogen-powere Honda, a Biodiesel Volkswagen and other vehicles powered by BioMethane. There is even a bicycle, that, of course, has the lowest CO2 emissions and the lowest fuel costs among all of them. Tesla was already a major player in this market and is represented with their Roadster model, but the rest of the brands are either Japanese (Honda, Toyota) or European (VW, Citroen, Vauxhall/Opel, Mercedes, Mini Cooper, Aixan, Reva...). No trace of Chinese makers. Of course, the deck is from 2007, in these 18 years, the panorama changed radically, and it is still changing. The EU Commision recently approved a plan to allow the combustion motor beyond 2035, after having arrived to that compromise to ban them more than 10 years ago. How this will result nobody knows.

Back to the card deck, it is made by Top Trumps, the current leader in this kind of toys. Top Trumps is currently a trademark of Winning Moves from the UK (part of the Hasbro group), and has all relevant licences of the time, which are continuously extended and updated. A complete history of the quartet decks and the Top Trump trademark in the UK can be read here: History of Top Trumps | Top Trumps Game History. 

The deck comprises 30 cards, but they are not sorted in families or in any other way. I present them in the pictures with no particular order.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name:  ECO VEHICLES (PROMOTIONAL)
• Year: 2007
• Company: Top Trumps/Winning Moves (United Kingdom)