#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