#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

#1037 EFSI – MERCEDES LONG TRAILER “SHELL” TANKER and FLATBED (around 1985)

I have presented in the past several Efsi trucks and trailers, but this is my first “long trailer” made by the Dutch company. I found it in a flea market, and I liked it a lot. It represents a long tanker from Shell, in bright yellow and red.

The truck is identical to the ones we already saw, so I am not going to comment on it. The trailer is, surprisingly, not very well done. The metallic base is reduced to a few long stabs to fit the axles and the wheels in a more or less stable way, and the tank itself is made of plastic. It looks great, but it was probably made to be sold for a rather low price. 

It is, however, a lot of fun to play with, as all die-cast long trailers are, and displays nicely along with other trucks and cars from this brand.

UPDATE (DEC.2024): Shortly after publishing this entry, I got a second "long" Efsi Truck, a flatbed, that I will present as an update. The trailer is based in the same die-cast part, only with a diffeerent part of plastic attached to it, sasving money in bigger casts and replacing zamak by plastic.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MERCEDES LONG TRAILER “SHELL” TANKER and FLATBED
• Scale: 1:87
• Year: Around 1985
• Company: EFSI (Netherlands)
• Size: approx. 15 cm

#998 EKO - SEVERAL MOC VEHICLES (Around 1960-1975)

The history of EKo was already written in entry #551, so this time I would only like to show a series of unused (mint on card) vehicles I bought for no money a couple of years ago. I am afraid there are not so many Eko collectors anymore and so the prices are sinking since a few years already. I still recall some Eko displays in the mid-80s, that were bought by railway and train modellers, 1:87 soldier diorama makers, architects and also children, although, due to their rather weak construction, they were quickly displaced by more sturdy vehicle models pretty soon, remaining these for adults collectors

I like very much the 1:87/H0 scale and the cars from the 60s and the 70s that are being reproduced in scale here. One of them comes with a nice trailer carrying a boat, and a small truck is transportating gas bootles, an usual sight back in the day.

Serie Civil

• No. 2004 Opel Kapitan

 

 

Box Flap for Ref. No. 2004

 

• No. 2054 De Soto con Remolque Canoa

• No. 2088 Microbus Mercedes Benz

 

 

 

• No. 2105 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

• No. 2122 Sava Butano

 

Serie Militar

No. 4035 Barreiros T-90.22 

 

 

 Nice lot!

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SEVERAL MOC MODELS
  
• Scale: 1:87 (H0)
• Year: Around 1960
• Company: Eko (Spain)
• Size: approx. 3.5 cm

#904 WIKING - DOUBLE DECKER BUS, ROLLS ROYCE 1951 and MERCEDES "FRISCHDIENST" (1970, 1978 and 1984)

Wiking is a brand that is oriented mostly for adult collectors. They are not very popular among children and as a result, it is difficult to find them in the places where I usually buy these things (flea markets, die-cast lots...), and if they appear, the prices are mostly high. Wiking models are made of plastic, so they are also fragile and in H0 (or 1:87) scale, not very popular scale for toys.

I own exactly three Wiking models that I will present at the end of this entry.

In recent years, there was a book published with the history of the company Wiking-Modellbau GmbH & Co. KG.

Currently, Wiking is owned by the Sieper Group (also owners of Siku) since 1984, so the book was edited in the same style than this one. Glad that Sieper is putting so much care in the documentation and publication of information about their most renowned companies. Unfortunately, I do not own this Wiking book yet, but there are lots of information available in the Wikipedia and other dedicated websites.

Therefore, it doesn´t make much sense to repeat everything here, but still I would like to comment on the evolution of Wiking models in 1:87 scale, although Wiking also produced models in other scales.

The first models were hollow, with flaps were the axles were attached (similar to some Tootsietoys, but with non-rolling axles), but even less detailed: windows were just engraved. These were in around 1:100 scale.
Starting in 1952, models started carrying base plates and rolling axles with fixed wheels, and the size increased slightly up to 1:90 scale, while the casting quality increased and the plastic thickness decreased.

Windows came first in 1957, initially dark, then in 1966 transparent, as the models came with interior. Scale was corrected to 1:87, but they were still being sold as toys, not collector or hobby items, despite the increasing quality and the H0 scale correction, now compatible to train models (except trucks and busses, that would be adapted much later -1985- to the exact 1:87 scale).

In 1970 the trend changed and the new models saw some simplifications in their construction and their finishing (tampographies, simpler interiors...) and in 1978 they got their first serious competitor with Herpa, that made extremely detailed models at 1:87 scale.

In 1990, Wiking bought the already closed company Roskopf, that offered models from the early 20th century. Models from Roskopf were sold in Wiking packages and later the casts were adapted to be marked Wiking. Some of these models have been available ever since. Many other Wiking classic models have been in catalogue for decades, maybe because the railway and train modelling (that requires the vehicles to be from the same years than the trains, scenery and so on).

Far from losing importance, Wiking has since the 90s grown a lot, providing licensed models for many car brands. And classic cars for which they do not need a license. They also have a series of agricultural vehicles, and innovated in 2008 with series like Wiking Control 87, that were remotely controlled cars in 1:87 scale.

Wiking also produced many accesories, like buildings, figures, traffic signs and roads from the early years on.

Wiking models today are sought after collectables, and the name Wiking remains as one of the most notable classic German toy manufacturers.

And now here are my three Wikings, ordered chronologically after their release date.

BERLINER DOPPELDECK BUS (BÜSSING D2U?) (Ref 72d)  - 1970?
There are two versions of this one. I recognise them easily because the rear door is open in this model with a metal pole in the middle, while the other version, that seems to be newer, has closed doors.

 

MERCEDES BENZ L 608 "FRISCHDIENST" - 1984-1985
The truck was done in several versions. It was used as a promotional item by many companies. This one in blue is quite nice, and the casting is beautiful, including the body and the base.

 

ROLLS ROYCE 1951 (SILVER WRAITH) (Ref 14838) - 1978-1982
This one is a very nice model. It is small and cute, beautifully casted.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DOUBLE DECKER BUS, ROLLS ROYCE 1951 and MERCEDES "FRISCHDIENST"
• Scale: 1:87
• Year: 1970, 1978 and 1984
• Company: Wiking (Germany)
• Size: approx. 6 to 8 cm